MAGIC FOODS FOR BREASTFEEDING MUMS?

Many new moms wonder how breastfeeding will affect their diet. “Most writings for the nursing mother…set up complicated ‘rules’ about dietary intake…Thus one barrier to breastfeeding for some women is the ‘diet rules’ they see as too hard to follow or too restrictive.”Fortunately, there are no hard-and-fast “diet rules” for breastfeeding mothers. You don’t have to change your eating habits in order to give your baby the best.

You may have come across a mother or you are a mother who has asked the following:

“DO I HAVE TO EAT MORE THAN USUAL TO MAKE ENOUGH MILK FOR MY BABY?”

Although it used to be estimated that nursing mothers need an extra five hundred calories a day to produce milk, recent studies indicate that this recommendation may be too high.
 The food a nursing mother eats is only one of her sources of energy. She also draws on the fat stores she laid down during pregnancy. Milk production is such an efficient process that during the early months the energy supplied from stored body fat may be all the extra energy that is needed for some mothers, especially those who are not very physically active. Researchers have found that a woman’s metabolism becomes more efficient during lactation. This may mean that each extra calorie goes further in a breastfeeding mother, safeguarding her own health and assuring she has the energy she needs to produce an adequate milk supply for her baby. Losing too much weight too quickly, though, indicates that mother needs more calories.
So Really the extra Njahi,porridge or high energy dense food only needs to provide utmost only 500 extra calories!

“IS IT ALL RIGHT TO LOSE WEIGHT WHILE BREASTFEEDING?”

Breastfeeding makes it easier to shed the extra pounds put on during pregnancy.lactation may be an ideal time to lose weight. Breastfeeding naturally mobilizes fat stores, even fat accumulated before pregnancy. But it is important to go slowly. nursing mothers do nothing consciously to bring about weight loss during the first two months after birth. During that time your body needs to recover from childbirth and establish a good milk supply. Most breastfeeding mothers will lose a few kgs while following a normal diet. Breastfeeding mothers often shed extra kgs gained during pregnancy when their babies are three to six months old.
 If you aren’t losing weight as quickly as you’d like, you can begin by increasing your activity level and decreasing your caloric intake. By taking a two-mile walk five times a week with the baby in a stroller or baby carrier while at the same time eliminating 100 calories from your daily diet (the number of calories in three teaspoons of margarine or butter), you can expect to lose two or three kgs a month.

“IF I DON’T EAT WELL WILL MY MILK STILL BE GOOD FOR MY BABY?”

Even with a less-than-ideal diet, a mother’s milk is the perfect food for her baby. “All over the world women produce adequate and even abundant milk on very inadequate diets.” While it is true that a mother who is not eating well will produce the milk her baby needs, any new mother–no matter how she feeds her baby–will feel better, have more energy, and be more resistant to illness if she eats wisely and well.

“WHAT DOES ‘EATING WISELY AND WELL’ MEAN?”

The principles of good nutrition are the same for the breastfeeding mother as for the rest of the family: eat a wide variety of foods in as close to their natural state as possible. Don’t limit yourself to only a few choices in vegetables or a strictly meat and potatoes diet. Chicken, turkey, fish, eggs, and dairy products are all sources of animal protein, in addition to “red meats” like beef, pork, and lamb. Legumes such as beans and peanuts are also good sources of protein, especially when combined with grains, seeds, certain nuts, and dairy products.

“WHAT CAN I EAT OR DRINK TO INCREASE MY MILK SUPPLY?”

There are many myths about “magic” foods that will increase a mother’s milk supply–for example, “you need to drink milk to make milk.” However, cows don’t drink milk, and there is no evidence that particular foods or drinks affect milk supply. Milk supply is determined mainly by supply and demand–the more often a baby nurses effectively, the more milk there will be. Conversely, the less often (or less effectively) a baby nurses, the less milk there will be.
If you are concerned about your milk supply, you can determine whether your baby is getting enough milk by counting your baby’s wet diapers and bowel movements. At least six to eight wet cloth diapers (five to six disposables) and two bowel movements a day (fewer bowel movements are normal in a baby older than six weeks) indicate that the baby is getting enough milk. A weight gain of at least four to seven ounces per week (at least a pound a month) is another indication that the baby is getting enough. If your milk supply is low and your baby is nursing effectively, nursing more often will quickly increase your supply.


So there you have it you can still survive with normal food there is no magic in too much extra energy foods. There is simply no connection in those energy dense foods and production of milk! However, foods that increase your blood level (Vitamins), foods that repair your worn out tissues (Proteins) are vital for your body as a mechanism for repair after giving birth!

I love questions so #AskTheNutritionist!

Email me on: ndutaniceness@gmail.com

WHY THE OIL YOU USE TO COOK COULD BE THE REASON FOR YOUR ILLNESS

Food cooked from fats is tasty and easy to eat. There are some fats that negatively affect our bodies when consumed and should be avoided. In Kenya’s market fats available are either solid or liquid in nature. 

But just which type of fat is best for cooking your meals?

Chemically fats can be either saturated, unsaturated or trans-fats. The saturated means that they have a chemical composition with carbon atoms saturated with hydrogen atoms. Saturated fats are usually in animal fats especially the dairy products. Very few plants have saturated fats, the palm and coconut oil.

Trans fats are made when manufacturers turn the liquid oils to solid for instance kimbo and blue band. 

All Trans fats and saturated fats are solid at room temperature. These are the two fats that are severely harmful to your health when cooking because they raise bad cholesterol in your body. This is thought to form a layer in the arteries that causes blockage in the heart leading to heart attacks or strokes.

Let’s review the unhealthy cooking oils in the market that are either saturated or Trans fats:

Kimbo,chipsy,kasuku,cowboy, and all other solid fats are highly hydrogenated and clogs in arteries if used for long

 

                         

 The good oils:

These are normally in liquid form, but caution should be taken because, the oils sometimes change and become solid in nature after sometime...For instance, instead of buying Rina vegetable oil, go for Rina sunflower oil since it does not solidify at all costs and does not clog your arteries! 

This same criteria goes with other liquid oils like elianto, rinsun,golden fry, etc.
 The best bets are all sunflower oils, canola oils, peanut oil, corn oil, safflower and non-hydrogenated oils.

I know you have questions..Drop them on the comment box below..

THE HERBAL MAASAI MAGIC

From the last post the magic of the Maasai’s gait is profoundly related to their herbs intake. Most common names you hear among them are traditionally known olkinyei, jacket plum also known as oldimigomi, olsokonoi and olkiloriti. Ideally these are wildly grown among them and act as food additives for their meat and milk intake. Amazingly, these herbs lower cholesterol and have antioxidants which make the masaai beat cholesterol ingested in their body and thus lowering all heart diseases among them.

Visiting them indicated that all these herbs are drawn from special trees in their habitats that are also used to treat various diseases besides beating down cholestrol. These include:

Malaria:

Although treatment is available in health centers, the use of the jack plum plant for instance is common and in fact is made into liquid which when ingested lowers fever and malaria.

Dental hygiene:

Almost all the herbs they take are medicinally inclined. Funny enough, their teeth are always intact apart from their ritual to remove one tooth as a tradition. This adds to the cholesterol value of a herb like the olkinyei.

Ceremonial and other STDs healer

In ceremonies their herbs are believed to be important and associated with blessings and rites of passage. But one thing that caught my attention is the belief that the herbs cure diseases such as gonorrhea and syphilis among others!

After interacting with their herbs use I thought that we should all move to masaai land and borrow their herbs use!

Bottom line is the use of plant foods to supplement our animal food intake is vital to beat cholesterol and fat intake in our bodies!

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HIGH FAT FOODS, NO CHOLESTROL! THE MAASAI COMMUNITY SECRET

Every day in today’s hospitals is a day to treat heart disease, high blood pressure, high weight issues, and clogged arteries all due to high cholesterol diets that people have resulted to.

However, this is not the case for the masaai people that eat highly unhealthy foods that consist of milk, meat and blood almost on a daily basis! They exhibit no signs of cholesterol or lifestyle diseases that translate to heart issues and diseases.

So do you want to know their secret?

Being pastoralists, like most of the people their worst problem is diseases and poor nutrition and high child mortality not to mention sanitation issues. They are however free from lifestyle diseases which every person can actually emulate!

1 1.Physical exercise that is the wonder drug

Life is good to enjoy but without physical action there is definitely loss of health. The masaai though enjoy milk and meat but they still have to walk into the forest to look for firewood and other feeding material for their animals! They go around fetching water and utilizing the meat and milk they take to prevent heart diseases! So while we wonder why they have such nice postures as to keep one leg lifted from the ground for such long hours we should remember the technology we like to have to ensure convenience in our lives.

2. Cosmetic resolution

Today we have had to hear about the best lose weight options that range from the gym to other parlors that claim to help a person lose weight in matters of hours! The bottom line is you need to practice the following:

• Unglue the bum out of your comfortable seat and do some exercise.
• Take stairs to 10^th floor instead of using a lift.
• Instead of going shopping by a car, just walk or cycle.
• Limit the time spent on the coach watching TV, instead, either engage in trimming the fence, cutting grass or playing with kids.
• Banish the customary mentality of mature men and women are not supposed to be seen running. Take a few runs around the estate every day, either in the morning or evening.
• Visit your relative on foot if they live nearby. Walk to church etc.
• Finally, as a last option, join the gym not as a show of how loaded you are, by as a means to physical fitness for the sake of health.

3. The miraculous herb

I know you must have been wondering what makes them so healthy after all! Well, the masaai have a certain herb they always enjoy from barks and leaves in addition to the milk and meat they eat. The plant has chemicals that are an important part in preventing their heart diseases. This herb is called the olkinyei or the jacket plum. This plant significantly lowers cholesterol since it has polyphenols, phytosteroids and other water soluble fibers, antioxidants, flavanoids, all of which beat cholesterol taken in significantly!

So is this herb available in the market?

 Find out in the next post on this page!

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THE TRUTH ABOUT ALCOHOL AND BEER BELLIES

So in my line of consultancy, I have come across various people asking me what about beer? what about a little wine? and what if I am just the occasional drinker.
I will first clarify that morally, I do not advocate for any amount of ingestion of alcohol. But then again choices in life are sometimes self made and thus I speak for all when I stipulate the nutritional truth about alcohol.

In the first Place,
Alcohol, also known as ethanol, is made through a process called fermentation. During fermentation, yeast breaks sugar down into ethanol and carbon dioxide. This process is done without any air present, and once complete, the carbon dioxide gas bubbles out into the air, leaving ethanol and water behind. Distilled spirits, such as vodka, rum, gin, and whiskey, are fermented and then distilled to separate the ethanol from the water.
Various sources of sugar are used in these processes, resulting in different forms of alcohol. The sugar from crushed grapes is used to make wine; malted barley is used to make beer; sugar cane or molasses makes rum; grain, potatoes, beets, molasses, and a variety of other plants are used to make vodka.
The technique used to make the beverage will determine the alcohol content. You will see the percentage of alcohol per volume listed on the bottle, as well as the proof of the drink. The proof of a beverage is twice the alcohol content, so a drink with 12% alcohol per volume is 24 proof. Generally, a 12-ounce glass of beer, a 5-ounce glass of wine, and a 1.5-ounce shot of liquor all contain a ½ ounce of pure alcohol and are considered one drink.

Yes, as a nutritionist I am aware of the various types of alcohol in the market, as it is the truth about all of them is that they improve metabollic/digestion rate but provide empty calories to your body!!

 There is a popular belief that pot bellies in men are caused by drinking beer. This is why pot belly is referred to as ‘beer belly’. However, lets evaluate the facts, there are people who do not drink but develop pot belly. At the same time, there are people who are daily drinkers yet are extremely skinny. Therefore we should not generalise beer as a bad evil that impregnates men.

Today I will tackle the beer belly in men:

There are several reasons why beer is blamed for pot bellies in men.

1. The first reason is that beer is high in calories. 1 gram of alcohol contains approximately 7 Calories. This is the second highest number of calories compared to other macronutrients in food. 1 gram of fat contains 9 Calories, 1 gram of carbohydrates contains 4 Calories and 1 gram of protein contains 4 Calories. Calories in beer are referred to as empty calories. This implies that most of these calories end up converted into fat.

A 500 ml beer (approximately 1 pint) which is 5 % v/v alcohol contains approximately 170 Calories. This means that consuming 5 beer bottles of 500 ml gives a total of 850 Calories. These are only derived from beer. When you add the calories from the other foods then you exceed the daily recommended calorie intake.

2. Beer consumption leads to hunger, this can cause a person to eat additional unhealthy foods which are also high in calories such as barbecue meat (commonly referred to as choma), sausages and other fatty foods. Actually, many beer drinkers say that fatty foods reduces the level of drunkenness.

3. Beer also leads to dropping of blood sugars level. This leads to lethargy. Lethargy leads to reduced activity which implies that less calories are burned. The burning of less  calories increases the likely hood of accumulation of fat and hence pot belly.

Men with ‘beer belly’ are at high risk of many healthy problems. These include:

• Stroke
• Some types of cancer
• Abnormal lipids
• Insulin resistance
• High triglycerides
• Low levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL), or “good,” cholesterol
• Metabolic syndrome
• Type 2 diabetes
• Sleep apnea
• Heart disease

I love questions. Why not leave them in comments section.