Jackie Nutrition Corner: Chlorophyll from InnerFresh Pro

I know that when we have seen ladies starting to bleed or spot, we would immediately getting them off their feet and starting them on Chlorophyll due to the benefits of thickening the blood to try to prevent a miscarriage. But there is another wonderful benefit from Chlorophyll for the ladies that are in their first trimester and experiencing morning sickness. We’ve all seen dogs go out and eat grass when their tummies are upset. Well an easier way for pregnant ladies is to take Chlorophyll! Chlorophyll is "plant blood." It absorbs sunlight and converts it into energy through a process called photosynthesis. It is the basis for life on this planet. Its chemical structure is almost identical to hemoglobin, one of the components of human blood, except the central atom of chlorophyll is magnesium and the central atom of hemoglobin is iron.

From a practical standpoint, research and decades of clinical experience have shown that chlorophyll can be

1. a very effective tool to help heal external wounds and lesions, and
   
2. a good, safe dietary source of vitamin K.

There is a study suggesting that 5 milligrams of vitamin K along with 25 milligrams of vitamin C has been shown to effectively treat the nausea and vomiting associated with pregnancy. (Am J Obstetrics Gyn 52; 64:416)

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 PRENATAL?

So many times I am asked about prenatals and what vitamin and mineral pregnant women should be taking. I wanted to address this, as it is extremely important and the outcome of mother and baby depends on it.

I have listed on my ESSENTIAL NUTRIENTS tab a couple of prenatal formulations from the company INNATE RESPONSE. If you are in the first and second trimesters you take the one, and if in the third trimester or postpartum, you would take the other one. These are food state vitamins and minerals derived from foods. They are easily assimilated and well tolerated by those with nausea. The required amounts of iron as well as the minerals are there, which is very important in pregnancy. I would highly recommend these. Remember you will get a 10% discount if you click on the purple flag and order these using our website as your referring physician.

There is also a new vitamin and mineral supplement made by the makers of the glyconutrient complex. It is composed of vitamins and minerals all from one plant in the mustard family, called Brassica Juncea. This Indian mustard plant is hydroponically grown with all the vitamins. minerals and phytochemicals required and added to the roots of the plant to feed it. The plant sprouts are harvested and put into a tablet. I have only been on it one week, myself, and I feel the difference. It is a new technology that I believe helps the body to get all of what it needs from less supplementation.

We were meant to get all our vitamins and minerals from plants; and this is exactly what you are taking in the form of a pill... a plant! It has been on the market only for one week now, but I feel it could be very beneficial for pregnant mothers. I am looking forward to the reports from pregnant women on energy levels when supplementing with this plant vitamin and mineral supplement. I would also recommend 4-6 spread out through the day.

As always, clear your dietary program with your obstetrician or midwife. Take these prenatal suggestions to your attending practitioner and inform them of what you are doing. If they don’t like them, ask questions to find out why not.

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.

AMNIOCENTESIS, ULTRASOUNDS & OTHER TESTS

Tests are important in pregnancy. If the mother is over 35, the practitioner might recommend an amniocentesis. This will test for genetic defects or mutations such as Down's. There are some risks to taking the test, as it is intervention. For those unfamiliar, a needle is inserted into mother's tummy and into the amniotic sac. Amniotic fluid is retrieved and tested. In our clinic, amnios were recommended, of course, but if it didn't matter to the prospective parents whether the baby was Down's or not, they could elect to not opt for the test and eliminate any risk or intervention. The genetic mutation for the genetic disease Tay-Sachs, according to the medical textbooks, is found in the Eastern European, Jewish cultures, but many children with this genetic affliction are being born to families with no known association in their ancestry. New parents may choose to have amnios to rule-out any genetic complications such as this one, especially since this mutation is showing up more so in Hispanic cultures. Tests such as this are designed to predict complications or problems in the baby, and are for the most part, elective.

One test that is somewhat controversial in preventative medical cultures is the serial ultrasounds. The fetal ultrasound is required in pregnancy and serial because at least 2 separate tests are required. The reason for this is that the first ultrasound is taken early in the pregnancy, and then a second ultrasound in the latter part of the pregnancy. The serial ultrasound can be very informative as the changes can be observed along with the growth curves. If there is an abnormality that wasn’t noted in the first ultrasound, this could be cause for suspicion and further tests may be required to rule out these suspicions. Let’s face it, the more data we have, the better. Ignorance breeds fear! Plus, know what you’re dealing with so that you make be able to make it better for a better outcome.

Some alternative practitioners, however, believe this is a harmful test for the fetus. Ultrasound waves are believed to affect fetal brains in a negative way. In my practice of at least 2 decades working with my midwife, we have had virtually no incidence of any kind of neurological/brain problems with ANY of our kids. Ultrasounds are pulsed waves and these waves bounce off the baby to record the image. These tests give the senior practitioner more data about the fetus and in more cases than not, it serves as a preventative benefit. In 25 years of practice working with pregnant women, we have found more benefit with serial ultrasounds, than not.

We have seen questionable problems with fetuses several times and were able to prevent a terrible outcome at the birth as a result of attending to the fetus in utero. One example close to home was with Jackie’s pregnancy. After the 1994 Northridge earthquake, Jackie was pregnant with her 3rd child. She fell over a bookcase and the trauma damaged the fetus and caused a hole in the baby’s heart. We found this through an ultrasound early in the pregnancy. She was put on bed rest for 6 weeks, lying on her left side. We fed her nutrients such as CoEnzyme Q10, protein powder shakes, specific free form amino acids, A to B CALM, to name a few, to help the heart repair itself. Another ultrasound was done and then another to track the repair process of the heart. As a result, the heart repaired itself completely due to the intensive care we initiated, and Savannah is a healthy 12 year-old-girl without heart problems. Without the initial scheduled ultrasound, this might have never been detected, and this little girl could have had a terrible problem with delivery and with her quality of life due to the early heart issues noted early on in the pregnancy.

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.

“Pregnancy Is a Natural Event and Not a Medical Problem.”

Perhaps you have heard this from me before. Jackie helped to put together my continuing education seminars for chiropractors, with this statement boldly on the brochure. Pregnancy IS a natural event. If you go to third world countries, you can still find women who work in the fields, provide for their families and care for their other children up until labor ensues. Then they simply go out to the field somewhere, squat, have the baby, come home and continue with what they were doing. These women are most likely eating off the land, without white flour, sugar and processed foods, and are extremely strong and healthy. Most westernized women are planning on the calendar when to induce their delivery or when the planned cesarean will take place.

I met a woman who is an executive in a company, and her first baby is due on the American Thanksgiving, which is November 27th this year. In the States, this day is a national holiday and a four day vacation for most. Her doctor had told her that he would like to induce her two days before he leaves, so that he can go out of town for the holiday!! This should be criminal. The woman told me that she and her husband agreed to this because they wanted their doctor to deliver the baby. They have no idea what to really expect.

Going down this road is VERY painful and drugs such as synthetic oxytocin are often used to induce the contractions. Many women who have induced labors require an excess of analgesics and other pain medications that will then transfer to the fetus. Also, inductions further increase the chances of caesarian sections which recent study shows can lead to respiratory problems in the infant. Inductions were primarily used for emergencies only, not because delivery will interfere with vacation plans! Labor and delivery are supposed to be natural events, and now some doctors are unnecessarily inducing labor, which could turn into a medical emergency! This uncalled for intervention and lack of respect for the baby will lead to more pain and more chemicals for both mother and child!

Indigestion, Lower Back Pain, Headaches: Are They Really “NORMAL” in Pregnancy?

There is a certain mindset today regarding pregnancy: if you are pregnant, it is “normal” to feel bad. Women frequently say to me, “I am just beginning to feel pregnant. I have indigestion, tender breasts, lower back pain, fatigue and the list goes on.” I believe that if a woman is balanced nutritionally and is healthy, she should be surprised to be pregnant.

Remember in old movies and still sometimes today where women suspect they may be pregnant, do the test and are surprised to find out they ARE pregnant! Probably the only way they suspected was because they missed their periods. I have two friends who had this happen to them. They were suspicious because they missed their periods and were surprised when they took the test.

Another friend did not stop her period at all. She still had the same monthly bleeding, but she was gaining weight. She was eating according to Pritikin and was going to the Pritikin center here in Los Angeles, only to find that she was gaining weight quickly. She decided that she might be pregnant. When she went to get checked, the doctor could hear the heartbeat! She was four months pregnant and didn’t have a clue!

It seems today that these cases are more atypical than typical. When a woman is experiencing discomforts, she simply is missing something in her diet or lifestyle or both. And when women say that these discomforts are “normal” in pregnancy, I don’t believe it is . Women should feel different when pregnant but not miserable. They should feel full of life and enjoy their pregnancies, not feel burdened by physical ailments just because they are pregnant. The three most common ailments are indigestion, lower back pain and headaches. These are all caused because something is missing in the woman’s life.

Indigestion

Indigestion is more common than not in pregnancy, but it is NOT normal. Indigestion is caused by the physiological suppression of hydrogen chloride (HCl) and other digestive acids because of the increased secretion of progesterone used to support the uterine lining for the pregnancy. If a woman is stressed, this will further decrease her enzymatic output. If she doesn’t eat relaxed or sits in a parasympathetic state, she will go into a sympathetic state of the nervous system. The difference is that a sympathetic state would also occur if she were running from the bear in the forest. Her body is not supporting digestion in the sympathetic state and will therefore create indigestion.

Indigestion can also lead to a whole slew of other problems such as hiatal hernia, anemia, cramping in the calves and feet, fatigue, hair loss, and not absorbing calcium in which case her body will pull calcium from her bones for the fetus’ needs. So this is NOT something to take lightly and just suck on Tums. Some antacids contain aluminum which is absolutely contraindicated for pregnancy, because it further depletes the stomach acids, which is the opposite of what really needs to be done.

Severe pain beneath the sternum may accompany the indigestion. This would be the creation of a hiatal hernia which is very common in pregnancy. A chiropractic adjustment most often times provides INSTANT relief and correction of the hiatal hernia, but will not fix the problem at hand.

To relieve the discomfort caused by indigestion is to analyze the woman’s lifestyle and eating habits as well as adding digestive enzymes to each meal. I have seen thousands of women benefit from enzymatic supplementation in pregnancy. There are several that I recommend, all listed on the ESSENTIAL NUTRIENTS page.

Another good thing to do is try some acid! That’s right! Sound crazy but eat more foods with acidity. Oranges, cooked tomato sauce, lemon squeezed on your foods and in water will trigger the brain to stop producing acid. Sometimes the body gets busy and puts the regulation of HCl on the back burner and it just keeps going on and on and on. By eating the acidic foods, the body sees that it doesn’t have to produce so much and will cut back.

Lower Back Pain

This discomfort could be one of the first signs that a woman is pregnant. When a woman experiences low back pain (LBP) during her period, it is usually because she is secreting relaxin to allow the cervix to open up to release the menstrual blood. During pregnancy, she will secrete relaxin in surges to allow for the ligaments to relax and change her body to accommodate the growth of the fetus. This should not be a severe discomfort. More often than not, these women who have LBP are, first of all, out of alignment. When the pelvis and spine are misaligned or “subluxated”, she will experience LBP. A simple chiropractic adjustment should relieve this quickly and effectively.

Sometimes, more vitamin E will help solve this problem. I have listed a recommended supplement on the ESSENTIAL NUTRIENTS page. Vitamin E supports the uterus as well as the buttock muscles. Some experts in nutrition believe that vitamin E helps to reduce the chances of miscarriage. If you have a chiropractor who does Applied Kinesiology, as I do, he/she can test the muscles supporting the lower back that relate to vitamin E. Upon tasting the supplement the muscles will strengthen. This will help to support a pregnant woman’s lower back and pelvis, therefore minimizing and hopefully eliminating LBP.

Headaches

One of the very first signs of pregnancy can also be headaches. The reason for this is that the pituitary gland just got the message that there is a pregnancy and must alert all endocrine glands to start producing in order to create and maintain the pregnancy. These types of headache will mimic a “hormone” headache, a dull, overwhelming headache. Hormonal balance is the key here. The Phytosterols and the Glyconutrient complex along with a chiropractic adjustment should help to relieve this discomfort.

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.

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Although many doctors were not introduced to the study of nutrition in medical school, some have been learning more about nutrition and the integrative benefits with medicine. There is a paradigm shift occurring due to the fact that patients are becoming educated on the benefits of nutrition. And when dealing with pregnancy, nutritional therapy has been clinically confirmed to dramatically improve the health and well-being of mother and her baby to support a healthy pregnancy, labor and delivery.

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We believe in education and make well-informed decisions. We belief that with Dr. Vicky’s Health and Wellness Vol. 1 you will feel confident in moving forward in a positive direction and taking charge over decisions made for the well-being of your family. With our help you and your children can experience the wonderful journey of conception, pregnancy, labor and delivery, and caring for your infant properly as you guide them into a healthy and happy adulthood.

Thank you,

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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.

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.

Homeopathic Teething Remedies

Instead of reaching for infant pain relievers consider a healthier alternative to easing your baby’s teething pain. Some homeopathic teething remedies can make a big difference for your kids. Some babies respond well to Hyland’s Teething Tabs. However, if the child has a runny nose and is clinging or wanting to be held constantly, the best homeopathic remedy is 30C Pulsatilla by Boiron. If the baby seems irritable, achy, and feverish and has other flu symptoms, then 30C Gelsemium by Boiron is the remedy you want. Have your child take four tablets every 15 minutes until symptoms subside and again when they reappear. Continue to give the remedy until the symptoms cease to reappear. Another remedy that will help with flu symptoms for children and adults is Oscillococcinum, also by Boiron.

Because children secrete more enzymes to help cut the teeth, gas and bloating can sometimes follow teething. To alleviate these symptoms try mint tea as well as A to B Calm. For a natural sleep aid, give you child chamomile tea. It will help the child sleep and be more restful.

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.

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.