Want to Stay Healthy While Pregnant: Eat Like a Cave Man!

Whether you are pregnant or not, the best way to eat is like our ancestors did. I always say to expecting mothers, “Eat like a cave man.” Cave men and women ate everything fresh, plants freshly picked, fruit right off the tree, whole grains and fresh meats that were not shot with hormones and antibiotics!

In addition, cave men and hunters and gatherers ate in small portions and frequently. When they ate protein, they ate as much meat, for example, that they could fit in the palm of their hand. Nuts and seeds were eaten in a similar manner and only a few at a time. They ate grains that were whole and not processed; the cave men didn’t bake their bread! Whole grains contain fiber, B vitamins, Glyconutrients and minerals that are beneficial to the body’s growth and health.

When grains are processed, they are stripped of nutrients, becoming more starchy than nutritious instead. Starch, when eaten in the form of white bread or rice for example, will turn to glucose in the body, stimulate an insulin response and then become fat! We do not want this to happen. To avoid this reaction we all should eat a low glycemic diet, which means to eat foods that will not instigate an insulin response in the body.

When you eat fresh and eat foods that are not altered, you will keep yourself more fit, especially during pregnancy. In order to maintain a healthy and fit lifestyle during pregnancy, mothers should think what a cave man would eat.

Join Dr. Vicky's Educational Forum and receive your weekly tips, monthly newsletters and conference calls. As a new member, you can also “ASK DR VICKY” an online question that may be included in your upcoming FREE teleconference call. Topic for this month is: “Pregnancy, Newborns & Pediatrics.”

Healthy Answers Online is one of the only websites of its kind providing nutritional secrets, suggestions and the latest information and technology available to maximize health and eliminate the common discomforts of pregnancy and improving the outcomes of her and her unborn baby. The site also addresses issues related to newborns, babies, kids, children, parents, fertility, labor and delivery, post-partum and breast feeding.

How to Stay Fit during Pregnancy

Many women are concerned about keeping fit during pregnancy. So what can a mother do about staying fit, and what must she do to prevent tremendous weight gain? It is important that we understand what diet and exercise might do to help carry women through their pregnancies.

First off in pregnancy, mothers-to-be must understand which foods are will be good for them. Compliance during pregnancy can be better for a woman than when she is not pregnant; although when cravings are present, pregnant women are known to be non-compliant. Knowing what to eat and what not to eat is the key to managing weight gain. By no means should a pregnant woman partake in a diet such as the Beverly Hills diet, Grapefruit diet, Atkins or Pritikin to lose weight. Pregnancy is not the time to be on a weight loss plan. It is a time to eat the most nutritious foods possible to help to feed both mother and baby.

It might be easier to make a list the foods that are not advised during pregnancy such as sugar and sugary foods, dairy products (cow milk and cheese), white flour and breads, processed grains, chips, sodas, fried foods, fast foods, frozen processed foods, artificial dyes and artificial sugars (Splenda, aspartame, Nutrasweet, ascuflame). These are the foods that can cause extra fat beyond the normal 25 or 30 pound weight gain.

The most common question is that if pregnant women should not eat dairy, how can the get a sufficient amount of calcium? The answer is to eat green leafy veggies, sesame seeds, and to take extra vitamins like A to B CALM (get a discount by clicking on the flag on the Essential Nutrients page). For over 23 years, I have seen nothing but great results with this product, which is why I consider it one of the many mandatory supplements a woman should take during pregnancy.

Dairy will make you fat, end of story. Cow milk is for cows, not for humans. Cows often grow to huge beasts, which is what will happen to a pregnant woman if she eats a lot of dairy. Milk and cheese have antibiotics, pus, and cow hormones. These most certainly do not do a body good! Milk, including organic milk is not a clean food for pregnancy! Go to Not Milk to see what cows are really being fed.

Next on the do not eat list is sugar. It is nothing but trouble. PERIOD! Sugar will cause a pregnant woman to quickly accumulate unnecessary fat. Wherever sugar goes, water follows. Therefore, pregnant women who insist on eating sugar will see lots of edema, or swelling. This is not good, because it could invite not only tremendous weight gain for mother and baby and gestational diabetes, but also pre-eclampsia (edema, hypertension and protein in the urine). This can be a serious situation all because of sugar. That is not worth it ladies.

Eating out too often and eating fast foods is also a problem, because we don’t know what is in the foods served or where they got them. Staying home and eating clean, organic foods is the best way to maintain your health and stay fir during pregnancy.

Join Dr. Vicky's Educational Forum and receive your weekly tips, monthly newsletters and conference calls. As a new member, you can also “ASK DR VICKY” an online question that may be included in your upcoming FREE teleconference call. Topic for this month is: “Pregnancy, Newborns & Pediatrics.”

Healthy Answers Online is one of the only websites of its kind providing nutritional secrets, suggestions and the latest information and technology available to maximize health and eliminate the common discomforts of pregnancy and improving the outcomes of her and her unborn baby. The site also addresses issues related to newborns, babies, kids, children, parents, fertility, labor and delivery, post-partum and breast feeding.

What Is an Essential Fatty Acid?

Essential fatty acids (EFAs) are involved in oxygen transport, energy storage, cell membrane integrity, intercellular communication and the control of inflammation. There are two kinds of EFAs, the omega-3 fatty acids (O-3 FAs) and the omega-6 fatty acids (O-6 FAs). The o-6 FA promotes inflammation and blood clotting that helps our body to heal itself. The o-3 FA facilitates anti-inflammatory action and blood thinning. Both groups of fatty acids compete for the same limited supply of enzymes.

Diets with high O-6 FAs/O-3FAs ratios will diminish the effectiveness of the O-3s dependent processes, leading to an overabundance of O-6 in the body. Therefore, keeping the ratio balanced is extremely important. The average ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 is 16 to 1. This means that most North Americans have an overabundance of O-6 FAs in their diets. When the ratio is unbalanced, the excess O-6 FAs may result in chronic disease states.

Consequently, we should concentrate on maintaining a balance between these two very important EFAs. The best to obtain EFAs is from a food source because the body will not synthesize these fatty acids on its own. O-3 FAs are commonly found only in a few foods including selected seeds (flax) and nuts as well as fish. O-6 FAs are found from cereal grains, most processed foods, meat, milk, eggs and some vegetable oils such as corn, sunflower, safflower and sesame. Eating as much wild fish such as salmon, as possible to help us increase our O-3FAs is advisable. Farmed salmon has too much mercury, which can result in neurotoxicity or poisoning of organs and systems such as the liver and the gastrointestinal tract

Children and pregnant women have to be especially careful with mercury contamination. The best way is for everyone to supplement every day. Flaxseed ground, oil or capsules are very beneficial sources of O-3FAs that should be added to your daily diet. We need EFAs and a balanced ratio of them for our bodies to run effectively.

Join Dr. Vicky's Educational Forum and receive your weekly tips, monthly newsletters and conference calls. As a new member, you can also “ASK DR VICKY” an online question that may be included in your upcoming FREE teleconference call. Topic for this month is: “Pregnancy, Newborns & Pediatrics.”

Healthy Answers Online is one of the only websites of its kind providing nutritional secrets, suggestions and the latest information and technology available to maximize health and eliminate the common discomforts of pregnancy and improving the outcomes of her and her unborn baby. The site also addresses issues related to newborns, babies, kids, children, parents, fertility, labor and delivery, post-partum and breast feeding.