Chapter 6 - Right from the start

Home | TLR Contents | Search | Discussion | Events | Own the Book | UNLIMITED Learning Preview | Contact us

Right from the start	217

  "Many of those fats come from marine life. Now of course it's an old wives' tale that fish is good for the brain. It happens to be that we now have absolute scientific evidence for this. We find that the fats found in fish and seafood of all sorts are especially relevant to the growth and development of the brain." And those same fats are vital for developing the body's immune system.
  They are also needed to build and maintain the myelin insulation.
  Crawford wishes everyone would return to "the unsophisticated foods of nature": plenty of green leafy vegetables, fruit, nuts and vegetable oil.
  If Crawford and his dietician, Wendy Dole, could get one message through to every potential mother in the world, it would be simply this: the most important time for your child's brain-growth is before you become pregnant.
  Women who have used oral contraceptives should be especially careful of their diet before pregnancy. "The pill" reduces your body's stores of pyridoxine (one of the B vitamins) and folacin or folic acid, a vitamin needed for neural development. Severe folic acid deficiencies can cause serious malformations of the brain and other organs.
  Crawford says pregnant women in particular should include bananas in their regular daily diet. "Not only are they a good source of potassium, they also contain good supplies of folic acid."
  Zinc and iron are minerals essential for early brain growth. Where pregnant monkeys have been fed a diet low in zinc, their infants later play less with others, act withdrawn and have difficulty learning complex tasks. Iron is needed for all cell growth and multiplication. It also influences the oxygen supply to the blood.
  Most dietary experts say that a simple, sensible diet is best before and during pregnancy: three meals a day, plenty of fruit, vegetables, nuts, fish and lean meat. An iron supplement during pregnancy is highly recommended. The diet should be high in foods that are rich in iron and zinc, such as beans, peas, broccoli, carrots, whole wheat bread, berries and brown rice. And don't try any special diets to keep you slim.
  The other "no-no's" during pregnancy? "Smoking, alcohol and drugs,"3 says New York researcher Ian James, Professor of Paediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynecology at Columbia University's Presbyterian Medical Centre. He says "for every one cigarette the mother smokes, the baby smokes two". Smoking starves the fetal brain of oxygen - at a time when oxygen is vital for cell formation.

First	Prev	Top	Next	Last

Contents Page   Preface    Introduction