Megan Rand

Tag: babies

  • Gluten Free Morning Glory Muffins

    Gluten Free Morning Glory Muffins

    When my daughter Lily was born, my mom and I made triple batches of a family Morning Glory Muffin recipe and put them in the freezer.  I knew that I would be hungry due to lack or sleep and nursing, but I didn’t know that I would be THAT hungry!!  In the middle of the night when my daughter was up to feed I would get so hungry that I would have eaten ANYTHING.  Luckily, we had lots of muffins (although they only lasted a week or 2!).  I would pop them in the toaster (since they were frozen) and then add some good fat such as butter or coconut oil.  Nursing moms need 500 more calories a day than they did when they were pregnant!  Now I understand why I was so hungry.

     

    As I am getting closer to delivering baby number, I realized that I really needed to make some Morning Glory Muffins.  But, many things in my life have changed since over 5 years ago when I was pregnant that first time.  After Lily was born I had a drastic drop in my overall health and my adrenals and hormones were shot.  Which, to make a long story short, ended up in a major food and lifestyle overhaul as well as a change of career  the field of health and nutrition!  As painful as it was, I really feel blessed in my new career, so I guess things really do happen for a reason 🙂

     

    But, to get back to the point, now with my new lifestyle, the old Morning Glory Recipe wasn’t really within my “healthy standards” now that I am strictly gluten free and avoid refined sugars.  So the recipe needed an overhaul and I don’t have the gluten free baking skills to make that happen, but my good friends Hayley and Bill at Primal Palate definitely do!

     

    Not only did Bill and Hayley redo the recipe to be paleo, free from refined sugar and gluten, they also made me a batch, froze them and mailed them to me!!! That is why I love this community.

     

    It took a few tries to get the correct flour combination for the grain free version which you can read about on the Primal Palate blog and also find all of their other fabulous recipes!

     

    Here is the adjusted gluten free recipe created by Hayley and Bill at Primal Palate:

     

    Gluten-Free Morning Glory Muffins

    Ingredients

    Process

    1. Preheat the oven to bake at 350 degrees, and line a muffin tin with parchment muffin papers.
    2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the arrowroot flour, coconut flour, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon.
    3. In a small mixing bowl, blend together the maple syrup, eggs, and vanilla extract.
    4. Using a box grater, shred the carrots, and apple, and set aside.
    5. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry, and blend with a hand mixer, until the batter is smooth.
    6. Add the shredded carrot and apple to the batter, and blend again with the hand mixer to combine.
    7. Stir in the raisins, crushed pineapple, and chopped pecans.
    8. Using an ice cream scoop, scoop the batter into each muffin cup.
    9. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. Remove from the oven, and allow to cool.
    10. Serve with grass-fed butter or ghee.
    *Primal Palate recipes are created using Paleo, Primal and Gluten-free guidelines. Learn more about our diet and lifestyle at www.primalpalate.com.
    A big shout out to all of the mamas out there who are up in the middle of the night taking care of their little one. It may not be an easy job but it is the most important job in the world.  Try to take some time to nourish and fuel yourself, because a hangry, exhausted, mama is of no use to your precious baby!!
  • Healthy Microbiome; How We Get Our Good Bacteria

    Healthy Microbiome; How We Get Our Good Bacteria

     

    What is a microbiome? Well, the short version is that our microbiome is the community of microorganisms that live within and on the human body. This includes organisms such as viruses and bacteria.  Some are commensal friendly bacteria and some are pathogenic bacteria that can cause disease. Although the bacteria is not only in our gastrointestinal tract or gut, that is what we will focus on here. The Human Micorbiome Project has helped our understanding of the importance of gut health.  Having a more varied species in your mircrobiome is linked with lower risks of disease and greater long term health.

     

    So how do we get a variety of species? I recently watch the Mircobiome Series from Rebel Health Tribe and was blown away by the information. This came at the perfect time for me as I am about to bring another child into the world.  Understanding how an infant receives a variety of good bacteria is a very important topic to me. My 5 yr old had leaky gut (intestinal permeability) at the age of 3, eczema rashes and many food intolerances. I am hoping to avoid this situation with my second child. Unfortunately with my first child I was unaware of my own poor gut health before conceiving. Since the majority of an infant’s gut bacteria get passed down from their mother it is not surprising that she ended up with an unhealthy microbiome.

     

    As a Functional Diagnostic Nutrition® practitioner we use functional lab work to look for underlying imbalances. In the process of trying to get to the root of my daughter’s eczema, we ran many labs. The most eye opening was when my daughter and I simultaneously ran a stool test to look for pathogens and our results were exactly the same. We both had an overgrowth of enterobacter. My daughter’s gut health was a mirror of mine.

     

    Since I have focused on supporting my gut health for a couple years, I already know that my second baby will be much better off. We now know that the more diverse the species are living in your gut, the healthier you are overall. Each person has their own unique microbial community that is as different from one person to the next as their fingerprint. Even twins, born from the same mother in the same environment have different species in their gut. So let’s talk about how you get these different species in the first place.

     

    How did we get our unique microbiome? We don’t have our full set of gut bacteria until we are about 2 ½ years old. If you want to get a more detailed understanding of this subject, I highly suggest that you watch the Mircobiome Series from Rebel Health Tribe.

     

    • It Starts in utero. We used to think that when a baby entered the world the gut was sterile but we now know that while in utero the baby’s gut has already started to be inoculated. Immune cells from the mother will grab the good bacteria and transfer it to the baby through the umbilical cord. This gets the baby ready for the biggest inoculum of bacteria as the baby passes through the birth canal.
    • The birth canal. At the end of the first trimester, the vaginal population of the pregnant mother starts to shift to mimic that of the gut bacteria. The bacteria that helps babies digest milk also starts to grow so that when the baby enters the world through the birth canal the baby gets bathed in this bacteria. This prepares the infant to be able to drink milk, it’s primary source of nourishment for the next 6 months.
    • Skin to Skin. Luckily skin–to-skin contact has become a popular practice right after a baby is born, first with the mother and then the father. This is the next step in populating the microbiome since this is how the baby gets the friendly skin based bacteria from the parents. The good bacteria on our skin is like an invisible layer of body army that alerts our immune system if something is about to attack.
    • Breastfeeding! Another incredibly powerful way that nature helps pass different bacteria on from the bother to the baby. Breast milk contains 400-600 different species of bacteria! But did you know that the most abundant nutrient in breast milk are actually oligosaccharides, which can’t be digested by the baby? Why would a baby’s only source of nutrition be made up of something that they can’t digest? The milk is heavy in oligosaccharides because it feeds the baby’s bacteria that it just got from mom and helps it make a permanent home. This shows how important the role of the bacteria is!
    • Community – Pass that baby around. Ever wonder why you just want to kiss and snuggle every cute little baby that you see? Cute kissable babies have an evolutionary advantage. The baby that gets passed around from relative to relative or among community members comes into contact with bacteria that their mother didn’t have. The more diverse the species that they acquire the better off they are. So put down that antibacterial hand sanitizer that you spray on your visitors and pass that baby around!!!
    • Environment. The environment is where baby gets the remainder of the bacteria to populate the microbiome.   Ideally we will find this environmental bacteria in nature that hasn’t been altered by man, such as in the pristine mountains and woods. Consider letting your children play freely, get dirty and even eat some dirt if they want to while camping or hiking. People living in rural environments tend to have more diverse species. This tip doesn’t just apply to babies, this is a great way for adults to repopulate with good bacteria. Take a hike!

     

    How fascinating is this? Hopefully this will help you set up your little one for success. Now I know a lot of you might be thinking, but what if I had a c-section or couldn’t breastfeed? There are medical reasons when c-sections are necessary and they can save lives, so if this is your situation there is no need to beat yourself up about it. Just be aware that your baby might need a little extra help populating it’s microbiome. After all, I was a c-section baby and I have been able to restore my microbiome!!!

     

  • How to Conceive Naturally Book Review

    How to Conceive Naturally Book Review

     

    Although I am currently in my 2nd pregnancy, I consider this my first holistic pregnancy. This time around I am much more in tune with my food choices, sensitivities, gut health, adrenal health, chemicals, pesticides, GMOs, toxins, and things in our environment to be avoided.   Unfortunately, I was unaware of most of these topics when I got pregnant with my first daughter and we paid the price!! We spent 3 years of my daughter’s life investigating gut dysfunction and food sensitivities. We went to numerous doctors and spent tons of money on lab testing.

     

    [image url=”http://gingernewtrition.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/DSC01029-300×225.jpg” raw=”true” alignment=”left” margin_left=”0″ margin_right=”2″ margin_top=”0″ margin_bottom=”0″ border=”smallBorder” width=”300″ height=”225″] I was fortunate enough to be able to work with Christa Orecchio at The Whole Journey, not only as my nutritionist, but I was also able to complete an internship with her. Both experiences changed the course of my life and my health. So I was so excited to see her philosophy of digging to the root cause of a health issues applied to the topic of fertility, conception, healthy mamas and healthy babies in a very detailed book. What an amazing resource for our future mamas!!!

     

    When Christa asked if I would like an advanced copy of the book to review, I was like a kid in a candy store (I mean an organic honey sweetened chocolate kind of store of course)!! Little did she know I had already pre-ordered a copy on amazon and was counting down the days until it would be released so that I would have time to read it all in before my looming due date in December.

     

    I don’t think I have devoured a book in such a short period of time!! The content-rich How To Conceive Naturally and Have a Healthy Pregnancy After 30 was co-written by Christa Orecchio and Willow Buckley. Willow is a classical homeopath, labor doula and mother of two. The combination or Christa’s clinical experience and Willow’s experience with pregnant mamas provides a unique take on health, fertility and pregnancy. The book is filled with information but is written in a way that is very digestible (pun intended!). Since I am currently in my 3rd trimester, I jumped right to the chapter about Weeks 27-40 and next I took copious notes as I read the ultimate postpartum survival guide. I then went back to the beginning of the book and read it all the way through!!

     

    Although the title of the book says that it is for women over 30, this book is for everyone who is interested in a healthy pregnancy and baby! I am seeing younger and younger clients with fertility problems, autoimmunity and hormonal imbalances. My goal is for women to start thinking about their health and fertility a few YEARS (or at least a few months) before trying to conceive. An extra year of effort now can save you a lot of heartache and time in the future when you have a happy baby who is set up for optimal health not only as a child but also as an adult.

     

    This book is for anyone who:

     

    • Is confused about what to eat for optimal hormonal health
    • Wants to get pregnant, whether it is now or in the next 3-5 years
    • Has had trouble trying to conceive
    • Is currently pregnant and wants to navigate pregnancy is the most natural manner
    • Is wondering how to deal with pregnancy symptoms without drugs & interventions
    • Wants to be a super dad
    • Is wondering how to survive the postpartum period

     

    Although I was most personally interested in the information in a book about pregnancy and the postpartum period, I think that the most powerful information in this book is the 12 Week Preconception Action Plan. This part of the book spells out exactly how navigate the 12 weeks before you start trying to get pregnant. But this book is like no other pregnancy book that I have read before. They cover the kind of topics that I help my clients with, such as loving your liver, balancing your hormones, tracking your thyroid health, taking time for yourself and crowding out junk foods with nutrient dense foods.

     

    Wondering if your body is ready for pregnancy?

     

    Take this test to find out if you are ready to rock or if it is time to focus on yourself and do some health detective work first.!!

     

    Grab your copy now!!! This Fabulous book is released today!

    [image url=”http://gingernewtrition.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/How-to-Conceive-Naturally-300×300.jpg” raw=”true” alignment=”left” margin_left=”0″ margin_right=”0″ margin_top=”0″ margin_bottom=”0″ width=”600″ height=”600″]