Re: Iodine, bromine, etc.

Hey Sarah,

My mom mentioned the same thing -- that when she was young, the reputation was that Iodine would cause breakout.

Consensus over at the Iodine forum is that such a breakout is a healing/detox response. i.e. it's not the Iodine itself, but what the iodine is forcing out (metals, bromine, etc.). I have not had such a response, but as I mentioned I am not taking as much as many people over there on a consistent basis.

Generally, in the world of cleansing and detox, "healing crises" -- an increase of symptoms after beginning a protocol or therapy -- are regarded as a sign that toxins are being released. I had a breakout after I started doing the oil pulling that was pretty bad, and then it went away pretty quickly and the rest of my skin got really clear, too. Like many things, I am sure it depends on the individual and what he or she brings to the equation in the way of stored toxins.

My theory about weight gain during pregnancy is that we get cravings or urges to satisfy needs for certain nutrients. An easy way to address the craving is with carbohydrate, which gets stored as fat. The body has to process a lot of carbohydrate to get some basic nutrients, so a lot of energy doesn't get used up and thus gets put on as weight (and is the hard weight to take off as the body really likes to have it around in case of famine!). My solution was and suggestion is to eat nutrient-dense foods, focussing on high-quality proteins and fats first and then filling in the gaps with vegetables and whole-grain pasta, etc. The prenatal nutrition expert I liked so much said that we are seeing this epidemic of premature births because the babies just begin to starve in there and figure they will have a better chance on the outside!

My other theory is that eating a high-carb diet to reach pregnancy calorie quotas produces too-big babies. I think when we eat all the carbs, it gets passed on to them and is stored as fat, too. I was at the kids' museum today and was astonished by the size of some little boys who were there. Nothing healthy about that at all. It is really hard for their motor coordination to develop when they have too much weight to carry around, etc.

(Then the mothers will put them on low-fat milk at one year, depriving them of the fat they need, when really the solution, in my opinion -- as a Weston A. Price believer -- and experience as a mother, is to feed high-quality fats and proteins rather than grain cereals, which are non-nutrient-dense, so that the baby gets what he or she needs for proper brain development.)

I'm not advocating not gaining pregnancy weight -- I went from 135 to 205 pounds -- at all. But it came off pretty quick, too.

I make a smoothie every day or so with raw eggs, flax seed oil, banana, the milk we get. It can be a little oily, but I also think it's really a nutritional powerhouse (as compared to a bagel, for instance).

I only wish it would cure migraines...

Hope you are well. Any progress on locating other AZ home-birth moms???

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