Eat Right 4 Your Baby: The Individualized Guide to Fertility and Maximum Health During Pregnancy, Nursing, and Your Baby's First Year: The ... Pregnancy Nursing and Your Babys First Year - Rilegato

D'Adamo, Peter J.; Whitney, Catherine

Rilegato

ISBN 10: 0399149961 ISBN 13: 9780399149962

Casa editrice: Putnam Pub Group, 2003

Riassunto

It's what we've all been waiting for. Four blood types, four diets, four plans for overcoming obstacles to having a healthy pregnancy and child. Eat Right 4 (for) Your Baby provides blood-type specific diet, exercise, and supplement prescriptions for fertility, prenatal care, pregnancy, nursing, postpartum, and the vital first year of a child's life.

This is a complete, easy-to-use guide that every health-conscious parent-to-be should have.

FERTILITY
? Blood-Type Super Foods and protocols to aid conception and foster a healthy pregnancy
? Which blood types are chemically incompatible, increasing the risk of infertility and miscarriage, and what you can do about it
? A guide for dads-eating right for their type to increase their fertility
? How eating right for your blood type can increase fertility and reduce the chance of miscarriage

PREGNANCY
? Blood-type diet strategies to maximize health and fetal nutrition in each trimester
? How to overcome common pregnancy side effects including morning sickness, varicose veins, and food cravings
? Blood-type susceptibilities to serious conditions-high blood pressure, gestational diabetes, toxemia-and tactics for preventing them

AFTER THE BIRTH
? Which blood types are most susceptible to postpartum depression, and how to avoid it
? Blood-type strategies for getting back in shape after the birth of your baby

YOUR BABY
? How to use the blood-type diet to increase the supply and quality of breast milk
? Adapting the blood-type diet to the special needs of your breast-feeding baby
? Blood-type-specific infant formula recipes if you can't nurse
? Your baby's first blood-type diet

Su questo libro

L'autore:

Dr. Peter J. D'Adamo is a noted naturopathic physician, researcher, lecturer, and author of the revolutionary Eat Right series. His extensive research and clinical testing of the connection between blood type, health, and disease have garnered international recognition and led to groundbreaking work with many illnesses. Dr. D'Adamo was selected Physician of the Year in 1990 by the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians, and Clinician of the Month for February 1991 by Preventive Medicine Update. His books have been translated into more than fifty languages.

Catherine Whitney is the coauthor of numerous bestselling books on health and medicine.

Estratto. © Riproduzione autorizzata. Diritti riservati.:

1

Blood Type and Fertility:
A Vital Connection

Fearly in my practice as a naturopath, I discovered, almost by coincidence, that when my female patients followed the correct diet for their blood type, fertility increased dramatically. Even women with long-standing fertility problems, including repeated miscarriages, were able to conceive and carry their babies to term.

It wasn't immediately apparent why this was so. Just a couple of decades ago, our overall understanding of genetics was still fairly limited. Like so many discoveries, observation predated the explanation. Today, we have the knowledge to explain what once appeared to be simply a happy phenomenon. I am now able to predict with some degree of accuracy which of my patients will have problems conceiving, and am able to offer blood type-specific guidelines that effectively overcome those problems. It has been one of the more gratifying aspects of my work. A Question of Compatibility

Rachel and Eric were typical of many couples who come to my clinic. I first met with them in July 1993, after they had tried for almost ten years to have a child. During that time, Rachel had become pregnant twelve times. But each hopeful beginning had ended in a devastating miscarriage within the first two months. For the last couple of years, Rachel and Eric had been treated by a physician who specialized in reproductive health, and Rachel had become pregnant twice more. But again, both pregnancies had ended in miscarriage. At thirty-seven, Rachel was running out of time-and hope.

Rachel initially heard about me from a woman she'd met in her fertility specialist's waiting room. Even though she decided to go ahead and see me, she was clearly skeptical of the concept that making changes in her diet according to her blood type could enhance her fertility. "I don't even know my blood type," she admitted. "But I guess I have nothing to lose."

I began by blood typing Rachel and Eric and found that Rachel was Type O and Eric was Type A. The result wasn't surprising. Research has shown that many of the problems associated with fertility result from some form of blood type incompatibility, either between the mother and her fetus, or between the mother and the father.

Why would this occur? Each blood type is a chemical marker called an antigen. These blood type antigens can act like barriers against foreign intruders, such as bacteria, viruses, and parasites. When our immune system encounters a harmful foreign intruder, it creates antibodies against it. These antibodies serve as an early warning system. The next time the foreign intruder is encountered, it will be attacked and destroyed. The antibodies we make against other blood types are actually induced early in life by bacteria and sometimes by the first foods we eat.

Blood Type O carries anti-A and anti-B antibodies and rejects anything with an A-like or B-like antigen. Type A carries anti-B antibodies, and Type B carries anti-A antibodies. Only Type AB carries no anti-blood type antibodies, which is why Type AB individuals can receive blood transfusions from anybody.

Several studies conducted over the past forty years have concluded that infertility and habitual miscarriage may be the result of antibodies in the woman's vaginal secretions reacting with blood type antigens in the man's sperm. In one of these studies, it was determined that the majority of miscarriages were of Type A or Type B fetuses, caused as the result of incompatibility with Type O mothers who produced anti-A and anti-B antibodies. What seems to be missing in many physicians' understanding of miscarriage is that these anti-blood type antibodies are often the result of provocations produced by eating the wrong foods for one's blood type. These foods act in many ways as a "bad blood transfusion," sensitizing the person against future exposure to foreign blood type antigens-including that of a spouse.

Since Rachel was Type O and Eric was Type A, there was a heightened chance that Eric's sperm could be rejected, although that didn't seem to be the case here, as Rachel was able to repeatedly conceive. More likely, the incompatibility was between Rachel and her fetus, which would occur if the fetus were Type A.

A Type O mother and a Type A father can produce either Type O or Type A offspring-although A is dominant over O. If Rachel's fetus was Type A, blood type incompatibility could not be ruled out as the cause of miscarriage.

The good news is that mixed-blood type parents can have healthy babies, even if they produce antibodies against each other's blood type antigens. How? By creating the properly balanced immune system and minimizing provocations that might compromise it.

Rachel began following the Type O diet, being especially careful to avoid foods that triggered an antigen-antibody reaction. Eric began following the Type A diet, which contributed not only to his overall health, but to the health of his semen. I suggested to Rachel that she follow the protocol for at least six months before trying to conceive.

Ten months after her first visit, Rachel became pregnant again. In her sixth month, she came to see me for a checkup. She looked wonderful. Her mood matched her looks.

"Everything seems to be going well, Doctor," Rachel beamed at me. "I feel good, Eric is ecstatic, and we're both taking it step by step. We've never gotten this far before, so we're just trying to relax and enjoy every second." It was clear that Rachel was thrilled, but she was also very nervous. Now, in addition to her previous miscarriages, she was worried about her age and the possibility of her fetus having Down's syndrome or some other developmental disorder. Her obstetrician recommended amniocentesis, which is common for women over age thirty-five. I advised against it, because the procedure carries a risk of miscarriage, there was not a family history of Down's syndrome, and their religious beliefs had convinced them that any child is a gift from God, so abortion was out of the question. After talking with Eric, Rachel decided to forgo the amniocentesis. In January 1995, Rachel and Eric gave birth to a perfectly healthy baby girl they named Rebecca.

Even though Rebecca was blood Type A, Rachel had been able to create a welcome environment in her womb. Rachel and Eric assured me that they would continue to make the blood type diet a part of their lives-and a part of their daughter's life when she began eating solid food.

Not for Women Only

Naftali is a Blood Type O patient I "inherited" from my dad, who had been his physician since he was a boy in the years following World War II. Naftali had contracted a very high fever either from a viral or bacterial infection when he was young, which had apparently damaged the cells in the testicles responsible for manufacturing sperm. Naftali and his parents are Hasidic Jews originally from Eastern Europe, and the family had very limited medical care immediately after the Holocaust.

Fertility is a big issue in Naftali's community, and as the son of a renowned rabbi, he was expected to produce an heir. Consequently, this caused a lot of stress for him and his wife.

Pious Jews do not easily consent to semen analysis, since semen is viewed as a precious seed. However, when it comes to health, Judaism is a remarkably flexible religion, and after much consultation Naftali was allowed to have his semen analyzed.

Result: Naftali's semen had no sperm in it.

When I began working with him I could only promise to do my best. Naftali's wife had no fertility problems, but would be following the diet for her blood type, which was AB. I began Naftali on the basic Type O diet, plus a few herbal supplements, and he followed it assiduously. Six months later we again tested his semen.

Result: Semen showed one sperm cell, nonmotile (not able to move).

Well, anyone else might have been discouraged, but this man was relentless. If any individual could do the program perfectly, it was Naftali. "One cell!" he exclaimed. "It's working!"

Four months later Naftali came in with the good new that his wife was pregnant, and they have since had another child. I cannot tell you the final results of his sperm count; the rabbis have now decided that since his "seed" is viable, it cannot be tested anymore. Why tell you this story? Because you might think that following the blood type diet is only for females.

But this is not true. Fertility is a joint endeavor.

I'm not trying to give infertile couples unrealistic hopes. Obviously, blood type incompatibility is not the only cause of infertility. Nor does the blood type diet magically resolve all fertility problems. But it's just common sense to approach pregnancy in the optimum state of health. Following a dietary regimen that is geared precisely for your blood type seems an excellent choice for enhancing your system's response to the many stresses involved in bringing a child to full term. And there is no question in my mind that you can minimize the risk of incompatibility with the right diet.

Why Diet Matters

So, what does diet have to do with fertility?

Simply put, there is a chemical reaction between your blood type antigen and the food you eat. That's because the proteins in foods have antigens as well, and these antigens are similar to the blood type antigens. If you eat food that contains a foreign antigen, your immune system will create anti-blood type antibodies to it, and it will be rejected by your system.

These antibody reactions can dramatically affect your health-weakening your immune system, increasing inflammation, disturbing your digestive processes, and upsetting your metabolic balance. They can also be a factor in infertility or miscarriage when a mother and father have opposing blood types or when a mother is carrying a fetus of an opposing blood type.

It stands to reason that the best way to minimize the chances of blood type incompatibility is to eat foods that are right for your blood type and avoid foods that trigger an antibody or antigen reaction. To this day my w...

Su questa edizione

• Editore: Putnam Pub Group
• Data di pubblicazione: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0399149961
• ISBN 13: 9780399149962
• Rilegatura: Copertina rigida
• Numero di pagine: 429