The Do’s and Don’ts of Pregnant Women

The inherent health of a child is determined by the health of the parents at the time of conception.

Therefore, in order to begin a life healthy, both father and mother must prepare their bodies for the great event of reproduction. It is necessary that the would-be parents prepare their bodies 6 months before conception. They should detoxify and rebuild healthy cells and tissues through the
Detoxification & Rejuvenation Programme, followed by maintaining a healthy diet and positive lifestyle. It is your child’s birthright to be healthy.

After conception the child, to a great extent, is at the mercy of the mother. It is dependent upon the mother for all the provisions of development, growth, and protection from evil.

A father plays a very important, though intangible, role during this period. His spiritual and emotional support of his pregnant wife constitutes her spiritual and emotional well-being, which is very important for both her own and the baby’s development. His tender loving care and assurance of love will bring his wife emotional stability and self-acceptance during this period of traumatic change, which, in turn, will contribute to better health and development of the child.

Although food is, perhaps, the greatest influence that may bear upon the development of the child prenatally, it should be pointed out that any and every factor of life that affects the health of the mother, whether spiritually, emotionally, or physically, either positively or negatively, will have similar effects upon the health and development of the baby. Expectant mothers need pure fresh air, plenty of rest and sleep, and freedom from worry and anxiety. Drugs, serums, vaccines and junk food have no place in the prenatal period; neither are negative and discouraging words.

Husbands, protect your pregnant wife from being overworked and reduce your sexual demands upon her. The best motto is abstinence during pregnancy. True love and intimacy is of the soul and the spirit, which is way above the intimacy of the body.

It is the universal rule throughout nature that pregnant female animals do not receive their mate.

The time of the greatest growth and development of the baby’s brain and nerves is during the prenatal period and the first 2 years after birth. It is believed that the whole well-being of a person is determined by the time he is 4 years old. Therefore, you can see how important it is that the mother supply her unborn child with the very best nutrition. A well-nourished mother (this does not mean overfed) will give birth to a well-nourished, well-developed vital child.

If pregnant women keep themselves healthy and happy, visits to their physicians often are not necessary until they are near the delivery date.

MOTHER’S DIET

I am concerned over the life style of most typical couples today. Everyday you find them rushing to go to work; there is no time for cooking. So most of the time they eat fast food or hawker food (both of which are high in fat and salt and low in fibre and life-giving nutrients).

The diet of a mother, prenatal or nursing, should not vary much from the healthy diet of a normal woman. Perhaps the biggest difference is now she is responsible for the future of a child, so she can “make or break” her child’s health before it is born.

Therefore, she should take extra care that she follows a diet that is feeding her body, not breaking it.

Avoid all forms of alcohol, cigarette smoke (this includes secondary smoke), tea and coffee. Avoid also refined foods like white rice and white flour products. Reduce salt and other sources of sodium to a minimum.

Eating for two does not mean you have the license to eat whatever you want and any amount you want, resulting in excess weight, swelling limbs and faces, kidney burdens, hypertension, difficult deliveries and later, cancer.

Avoid sugar; it is not only a calcium robber, but it also reduces your body’s resistance to diseases.

Avoid salt (Sodium Chloride) as much as possible. Sodium Chloride (table salt) is poisonous to your system, which causes swelling in your limbs and face, and hypertension. The latter is totally avoidable by abstaining from salt and-following a proper diet as suggested. No doubt sodium itself is necessary for life. High concentrations of it are found in seafood, carrots, beets, poultry, meat, kelp, dark green leafy vegetables, celery, and seeds. So consuming a variety of whole, natural foods offers an abundant supply of sodium needed by your body.

Sodium is the only mineral which we overly use in our food. An excess of it causes a chemical imbalance in the body.

Potassium (K), which should be predominant in the body’s cells, is instead displaced by sodium (Na). The cells react to this displacement by drawing in water to dilute the sodium concentration, thereby causing water retention. Many pregnant women look “bloated” from face to feet because of this phenomena. Metabolic processes depend on the high concentration of potassium (K) inside the cells. Thus, this chemical imbalance will affect the normal metabolic processes, which then affects the normal functions of the cells and organs. All natural foods have a higher percentage of potassium (K) than sodium (Na) – even those foods that are naturally high in sodium. (See how nature caters to the chemical balance in our bodies!)

Cooking and processing food reverses the ratio of sodium (Na) and potassium (K).

The demand for various nutrients (the building block of the cells), especially protein,
Vitamin A, Vitamin B, Folic Acid, Vitamin C, Potassium, Iron, Calcium, Iodine, Zinc, etc. increases during pregnancy. Deficiency of any nutrients may affect the normal healthy growth of the baby. E.g., deficiencies of Vitamin A in pregnancy have been related to abnormalities of the eyes in babies. Results from the studies on the effect of potassium deficiency show abnormalities in the kidneys. Lack of iodine may lead to retardation in both physical and mental growth of a baby.

The Creator has provided us with an abundance of natural foods that contains all the nutrients we require. Whole grain, mint leaves, sunflower seeds, bananas, greens, and apples are high in potassium. The main source of iodine is found in kelp and fish.

A rich source of protein is found in green vegetables, nuts and seeds, avocados, bananas, fresh beans and soy bean products, sprouted beans and yoghurt. Common proteins like meat and eggs not only contain toxic chemicals that are detrimental to the body, but they actually putrefy in the intestines, causing auto-intoxication and the death of friendly intestinal flora.

Iron is important during maternity. The best sources of iron are from vegetables and greens. Two or three glasses of Spirulina drink is helpful because Spirulina contains more organic iron than beef liver by weight. Juice from wheat grass, lettuce and other greens, beetroot and carrots all help in the building of our blood cells.

COOKING

Cooking destroys important vitamins and alters the structure of food. For a healthy balance, you should go for 75% raw food and 25% cooked food. 60% of your food should come from vegetables and fruit; 40% from carbohydrates, fats and proteins.
Lots of nutrients are lost through cooking. Boiling vegetables results in a loss of folic acid, vitamin C and other vitamins by as much as 60%. Besides the loss of those nutrients, living enzymes are destroyed through cooking. We require living enzymes in our body for every metabolic activity that occurs. Asians have not cultivated the habit of eating raw vegetables. All of us should consider including raw vegetables in our diet, whether pregnant or not.

Almost all the food conveniently available to us these days is unwholesome and processed. E.g., white rice, white flour, and white sugar products are high on the list. They are refined, with important fibre and life-giving vitamins and minerals removed. Many people are constipated or have sluggish eliminating systems because of consumption of refined foods. Sluggish elimination causes auto-intoxication or self-poisoning. Be aware that in taking white flour products, you are not only robbed of the fibre and other nutrients, you are also taking in bleaching agents used to whiten the flour.

COW’S MILK

What about cow’s milk? We are bombarded by many sources with the myth that milk is a perfect food for everyone, young and old. However, there is also a small voice crying out “Don’t drink that milk!”

Many people, especially Asians, most of whom come from ancestors who never drank cow’s milk, do not have enough enzymes called lactase to properly digest lactose found in the cow’s milk. Many skin problems and respiratory problems are due to an allergy to milk called lactose intolerance. Simply by switching from cow’s milk to yoghurt, goat’s milk or goat milk yoghurt, many children can be saved from asthma, constant bronchial problems, eczema, boils, digestion problems, constipation, etc.

FOLIC ACID

Folic Acid is essential for the development of the baby’s brain and the nervous system, especially in the first few weeks of his life. Women who consume lots of fresh vegetables and green juices and after conception of the baby need not worry about folic acid deficiency. Since the mother often doesn’t realise she may be pregnant during the few weeks of her baby’s life, women would be wise to have a habitual intake of green vegetables and green juices all the time.

SUPPLEMENTS AND MINERALS

Regarding supplements, many preparations that are available for pregnant mothers are in the form of inorganic combinations. Inorganic forms of supplements not only fail to provide nutrients for the body, but they also actually introduce poisons into it. Inorganic minerals, even though they are absorbed from the digestive tract, cannot be utilised in tissue construction. Therefore they are rapidly expelled from the body. The kidneys, liver and organs must do much additional work to eliminate these inorganic minerals. Those minerals which are not eliminated are stored in the tissues and cavities. They are poisons to the body, affecting the functions of various organs.

Minerals that are found in water all come from sand and stones which are inorganic. Therefore, it is important that everyone, especially expectant mothers, take distilled water or drink freshly made juice, which come from distilled water and loads of organic minerals.

FATS AND OILS

Our bodies need fats and oils. God has put various forms of fats and oils in vegetables, fruit, nuts and seeds. Animal fats are not only hard to digest, but they also act as storage for chemicals and pesticides, These pesticides, including DDT are ingested through animal feed. Even though the sources of all available commercial oils are good, oil may turn rancid very fast, especially when exposed to light, heat and oxygen. Therefore, it is necessary to process the oil with high heat and chemicals in a commercial plant, resulting in worthless, chemicalised, toxic oil. This is the only way whereby producers make it commercially viable to be displayed in the supermarket in clear bottles (constantly exposed to light and heat) for months.

The best oils which I can think of for cooking are coconut oil and sesame seed oil. Both should be homemade to avoid chemicals and to maintain freshness. Margarine is worse than butter because of the process of hydrogenation. This vegetable oil has become toxic and is cancer causing.

For a healthy mother and baby, and for a smooth delivery, take 2 tablespoons of flax oil in non-fat yoghurt once a day. (Weight watchers, do not worry about your weight gain. If you eat a healthy natural diet, your weight gain will be minimal.)

FLUIDS

Make sure you drink enough fluids during pregnancy and nursing. Some excellent health drinks to nourish the body are apple cider vinegar and honey in distilled water, freshly made vegetable and fruit juices, coconut water, Spirulina drinks, and Super Green Food which may be drunk as often as desired.

EXERCISE

Exercise is important for both the mother and the unborn child. Walking and bouncing gently on a rebounder is one form of exercise that is safe and highly recommended. Exercising daily is an excellent habit to cultivate. It has far-reaching consequences on the body, both internally and externally.

CONFINEMENT

There are a lot of do’s and don’ts and taboos concerning confinement. I believe mothers under confinement should truly be confined, limiting physical activities to only caring of the baby. The mother deserves one month of nest after the stress of 9 months of pregnancy and the trauma of childbirth. The expanded pelvic bones need time to grow back into place. If you want to avoid backaches, stay in bed and limit your activity as much as you can. If your mother, mother-in-law or relatives are not able to help you during this month, then a Pui-Yit (Orang Jaga) is well worth the investment. Pui-Yit and older people may occasionally conflict with your views of a proper diet. Make very clear to them your diet expectations before they come to help you.

Otherwise, it is better to do without them.

During confinement, you may eat the same food as when you were pregnant. There should be absolutely no alcohol taken and only a moderate amount of ginger should be eaten during this time. Eat as many fresh fruits and raw vegetables as you wish; they won’t give you any ‘wind’as commonly claimed. For women who plan to breastfeed, drink large quantities of good quality fluids in the form of Spirulina drink, Super Green Food, fresh juice, soy bean milk, and nutritious soups which may be made from vegetables, potatoes, or chickens mixed with herbs. (Make sure the chicken is organically grown, free from hormones and chemicals.)

PEACEFUL MIND

While diet is extremely important, let me remind you that your emotional and spiritual health is even more important. So above all, choose to stay happy; pray and trust God for all things.