Gillian McKeith's Food Bible (30 page)

The only people who don’t have a say in what they eat are babies and small children. Therefore, parents, please understand the big level of responsibility we owe our little ones. Everyone else can be empowered to help themselves. If you’re a teenager and you’re reading this, good for you—the earlier you start to care about your health, the better. It’s vital to be empowered with your health and all aspects of your life. Don’t let the world and society take control of you. Grasp the real power from within that rests with all of us.

That brings me on to my next topic—ageing. No sooner have we left puberty than some start to feel the pressure to fight the ageing process. It’s all about creams, potions, and injections to keep us looking young and wrinkle-free. Many people convince themselves that growing older means losing health and vitality. Not at all! I want you to start embracing your age, and your wisdom. I know women in their 50s who are bursting with vitality and sexuality, contrary to all conventional wisdom on menopause. I have friends in their 80s who are fighting fit and refuse to lead a sedentary life. I knew a man in his 90s who set himself enormous physical challenges to keep active year after year. You don’t have to retire at 60 and settle into an armchair. Too many people are programmed to gear themselves into ill health with age. Not moving your body is one of the quickest ways to get old. And the “not moving” brigade is getting younger and younger.

If you understand your body’s requirements through the different stages of life, you can fuel it accordingly and preempt any problems. Ageing is not our scrooge but rather the gift of life. You and your family can experience the very best of life at any age—just follow my plan and you will reap the rewards. The following pages will explain how.

Babies

From day one, nutrition plays an essential part in all our lives. Personally and professionally, I am an advocate for breastfeeding, if at all possible. It’s good for your baby, and it’s good for you, too. For the baby, breastfeeding can improve development and growth, immunity, intelligence, and organ strength, help prevent allergies, and sometimes even promote a calmer disposition. And for mom, breastfeeding can be relaxing, calming, bonding, emotionally nurturing, and good for your immunity and for more balanced hormones, and thus may lessen the risk of postpartum blues and other related problems.

I always get a kick out of thinking about when I started to breastfeed my first baby. The pediatrician told me that I had the most abundant milk she had ever seen. The funny thing is that my clients often report a similar story: thick milk and milk flow. I know that healthy nutrition is the key.

I must also stress, though, that it is always a mother’s choice when it comes to feeding her baby. Don’t beat yourself up if you end up not breastfeeding. Occasionally the choice may not be there for you; breastfeeding comes easily to some and not so easily to others. I want you to be happy either way. Acceptance of what you do and who you are is paramount to your physical and spiritual well-being.

What’s good about breast milk?

Each mammal produces milk that differs in the quantity and types of proteins, fats, minerals, vitamins, and trace elements—a biochemical makeup that is unique to that animal. Because breast milk is designed for human babies, it’s much easier to digest than formula or cow’s milk. Human milk contains at least 100 different compounds not found in formula.

Milk is essential for the development of every organ, bone, cell tissue, and physiological system of the new baby. A study published in the
American Journal of Public Health
showed that
babies who were exclusively breastfed for the first six months suffered 30 percent fewer illnesses. The breastfed babies in the study experienced fewer incidences of diarrhea, colds, ear infections, vomiting, and fever.

Breast milk is especially rich in the nutrients required for brain development, healthy bacteria for the baby’s digestive system, and iron and zinc, both essential nutrients for growth. The milk you produce in the first few days is ideally suited to the nutritional requirements of your baby at that time. During the first few days of life, it is particularly important that your baby receives a substance from the milk called colostrum, which contains all the maternal antibodies. Since the baby’s immune system is not fully developed at birth, these antibodies fight early infections, illness, and disease. Colostrum is also extremely high in protein and healthy fats for the development of the brain and nervous system. Easy to digest and loaded with enzymes, colostrum helps establish the foundation of your baby’s digestive system for life. As the digestive system matures, the nutritional content of your milk will change accordingly.

It is now thought that babies who are breastfed have less likelihood of developing allergies such as hayfever, asthma, and other respiratory problems, and less risk of obesity, heart disease, and other conditions later in life.

Advantages for you

Breastfeeding not only promotes bonding in the days after giving birth, but also has many health benefits for mom. It releases the necessary hormones to instruct the uterus to clamp back down to its prepregnant size and burns huge amounts of extra calories, helping mom return to prepregnant weight more quickly.

Breastfeeding may be the best treatment for postpartum depression because the breastfeeding process itself encourages hormone levels to readjust, slowly settling down from the effects
of being pregnant and giving birth. If mothers stop feeding too soon, then the body doesn’t have a chance to adapt gradually to these changes in hormone activity; the result is an increased incidence of mood swings and depression. In cases of my own breastfeeding clients, I have noticed that women who continue to breastfeed tend to be calmer and more balanced.

What’s the downside?

To make breastfeeding work, you have to be prepared to feed on demand. Your body knows how much milk to produce only by the frequency of your baby’s sucking. The more sucking that occurs, the more milk is produced. If you limit either the amount of time your baby spends on the breast, or how often you allow the sucking, then the amount of milk produced will often not be enough for your baby. In the beginning, until the nipples and surrounding area toughen up, it can be painful. I would urge you not to throw in the towel at the first twinges of discomfort, as your nipples will toughen and the breastfeeding will get easier by the day.

Breastfeeding on demand can in turn feel very demanding on your body and your energy. To make it easier, give up trying to be superwoman for a while. Just focus on you and connecting with your new bundle of joy.

The following are the most common problems for breastfeeding mothers and ways to prevent and sort them out. Breastfeeding problems are rare, but armed with this information you run far less risk of ever encountering them.

Let-down reflex

A baby can be positioned perfectly, but if mom feels afraid of feeding, stressed, or uninterested, then she may not “let-down” (release) her milk. The let-down reflex occurs when oxytocin is released from the brain, causing breasts to tingle, tense up,
and the nipples to stand out; milk will then eject easily. If this reflex does not happen, then the baby will get only a blue-tinged fore-milk or nothing, and certainly not the richer, thicker, more nutritious hind-milk, which satisfies hunger. You will know all about it, as baby will be fractious and crying a lot. In order to encourage the full release of milk, I always recommend relaxation techniques, breathing exercises, and visualization.

Insufficient milk supply

My own mother was told by her GP that she could not breastfeed me when I was a baby, because she had insufficient milk supply. In my experience, most new mothers who are told that they cannot feed their babies actually have poor-quality blood. Many women give up breastfeeding because they think that they do not have a good-enough milk supply. But if you follow my general advice on nutrition and enjoy a diet packed with fresh, natural foods you should produce all the milk your baby needs.

Herbs can help to boost your output

Just take one of these herbs at a time. If you decide to stop breastfeeding, then discontinue the rotation. Herbs can be obtained from the fresh leaves of tea, or capsules, tablets, or liquid tinctures.

Agnus castus (also called chasteberry or Vitex)

I recommend this for every woman after giving birth. Agnus castus stimulates production of prolactin, helping to ensure a healthy milk supply. It’s best to start agnus castus one week before you anticipate giving birth, and continue for two weeks. Take it for three weeks if you feel that the quantity of your milk is subsiding.

I also recommend:

Blessed thistle

Catnip

Chicory

Dandelion