Nourished Mother

Loving My Mama Breasts

From Heidi

 

My body has undergone many shifts as it grows and matures.  Each change has come and I have adjusted rather gracefully and in wonder of the magic of my body's ability to adapt in response to hormones, nutrition, and life.  The current change I am learning to embrace is the transformation of my breasts during the mothering of my two children.  In the reflection of the culture that saturates this country my breasts are deflated and sagging.  They are becoming the opposite of what the media impresses upon the masses as “sexy”.

I know this breast change is usual to most nursing and post nursing mamas and as I near the time for weaning my daughter I fear that the little lift and fullness that the milk allows will disappear and they will deflate and sag even further.  This is the first year that while “skinny dipping” at the river with my friends and acquaintances I felt the want to cover my breasts when I was not luxuriating in the cool water.  I felt ashamed and uncomfortable with my new breast shape and elevation.  I knew in my inner self that this shame of my breasts was bourn of misinformation and a skewed view of beauty.  I began to reach out to my information resources on the internet and re-educate my shame. 

Before I expound upon my enlightening discoveries I will tell a little about my previous relationship to my breasts. My interest in breasts began while watching my mother and her specific technique of fastening her bra, as well as seeing my great grandmother collect her hefty sagging breasts up from the level of her belly button to a “societal acceptable“ height into her bra.  I remember my mother recount her grandmother telling her that “You don’t need to wear a bra until you could hold a pencil under them.” and singing an altered version of a popular song “ do your boobs hang low do they wobble to an fro, can you tie them in a knot …..”.  At the time  (I was probably 5 or 6 ) I did not have a negative image of my great grandmother’s breasts and found it delightful that she could find humor in her dual-pendulum bosom.

Around the dawning of puberty I began to clue into breasts, their sizes and parts.  A few of my friends began puberty early and I watched the boys tease them.  When my breasts first budded one began before the other and I went to my mother fearing illness like cancer.  We actually went to the clinic to be sure I was OK and the nurse assured us that it was just the beginning of my breasts. Soon my other breast caught up and I went with my mom to buy a training bra to support my sore little buds during P.E.  I was fascinated by all of the lacy and frilly bras in the store and a bit disappointed and that I only fit into one of the plain and rather unattractive colorless triangular bras. As the months passed I would cup my palms over my breasts to measure them, not being able to believe that I would ever have what my friends called “cleavage”.

So thus my relationship and identity with my breasts flourished. It wasn’t until my interest in sex peaked that my breast growth took off, or visa-versa. It happened so quickly I was un able to keep up.  I remember my dance teacher pulling me aside after dance class one day and telling me I needed to buy a larger sports bra. Around that time I found my first steady boyfriend and we began exploring sexuality.  That is when I began to see the sexual power of my breasts.  I took to wearing small tight t-shirts that showed the shape of my breasts and nipples.  One day I was called to high school principle and she told me that I was making my male teachers uncomfortable and that I needed to wear a bra.  I felt angry and misunderstood and confused by my new breasts and society. 

As I entered my second year of college my need to wear breast enhancing clothing waned and I became more comfortable with myself and the world around me.  My breasts we no longer in their peek fullness and firmness and were settling into a relaxed  but perky hang.  Once I met the man with whom I wanted to have children, my interest in breasts turned to their baby nursing capacity.  I still liked to wear clothing that allowed my breasts to be attractive, but I no longer thought of them only as sexual attraction tools.  I would steel interested peeks at nursing mothers and I attended a pregnancy class to gain insight into the entire process of growing and nourishing a baby. 

During my first pregnancy my breasts filled and plumped and I was intrigued by the little bit of colostrum that would occasionally come from my nipples. It felt neat that my breasts were held up by resting on my growing belly.  When my son was born he nursed fairly easily and I was surprised by the pain accompanying the let down of milk.  My breasts became solely for the purpose of nursing.  I didn’t want my husband to give them sexual attention and I all but forgot their sexual display for society.  My breasts were humongous when the milk came in.  They were larger than my son’s head.  As the milk regulated itself and my breasts relaxed in shape I found it easier to nurse my son in varying positions (On my lap while sitting cross-legged, from either breast while laying on my side, while carrying my son in the front carrier) around the time that my son was almost two I had very little milk and I saw my breasts as a tad bit sagging but not deflated.

(From the always amazing Hathor the Cow Goddess)

 Before I could give those evaluations of my breasts much thought I was pregnant again with my daughter and my breasts began to swell with pregnancy and I was once again amazed by their monstrosity when my milk came in. This time with the regulating of my milk my breasts appear to me as deflated and sagging.  So we come to the present moment.  My daughter is a year old now and my milk is present but no longer leaking with every let down.  This time around I was able to allow my breasts to be for nursing and sexuality with my husband.  I do not anticipate that I will have any more children and so I see my new breast shape and size to be what I have to learn to be comfortable with and eventually embrace with love.

So here are some of the things I discovered during my internet research on this topic.  The first is the growth cycle of breasts.  When breasts are first formed the entire area of the breast ductal tissue is dense and stimulated and the fullness of the breast is distributed evenly.  The newly stretching skin hugs the breast giving it a taught, full, rounded appearance.  This is the only time in the life cycle of the breast that they will appear like this because of the pituitary hormones allowing for the reception of estrogen by the breast tissue.  Because of this hormonal relationship that is not present in later life breasts will never appear as they do when they are freshly formed (even plastic surgery breasts eventually sag due to stretching of the skin).  Once this phase is complete the breast ductal tissue settles mostly to the lower area of the breast and the skin stretches . At this point in maturity the breasts fullness are made up of fat as well as ductal tissue.  The breasts do not reach their full developmental maturity until they create milk. While a woman is pregnant the body rids the breast of most of it’s fat to make way for the activated breast ductal tissue and milk.  It takes around 6 months for the breast to regain it’s previous fatty matter once the milk is dried up.  After weaning breasts may still sag and any stretch marks may remain depending on nutrition and genetics.  When menopause occurs the breast tissue is dramatically minimalized due to the lessening of estrogen and most of the fullness is made up of fat, creating a drooping shape.

Breasts come in all shapes and sizes.  Ductal tissue, fat, hormones (estrogen and progesterone), genetics, and glands play a large part in how breasts develop and take shape.  Most often one breast will be larger than the other and in some the difference is dramatic. While doing my research I ran across a web site that showed  a plethora of normal (non popular culture/ media idealized) breasts.  This was good for me to see, to know that I am not unusual, my breasts are just one miraculous sculpture amongst the many.  BREASTS ARE FOR NURSING CHILDREN.  I am lucky that my husband is attracted to my breasts in their new shape, but I think it would be wonderful if boys and men were educated to this fact.  It would be helpful if men were taught to see the sagging deflated breast of a post-nursing mother as glorious. Like wide hips can be considered attractive because they are good for birthing, breasts that point down could be considered attractive because it is easier to nurse a baby with a breast whose nipple is pointing downward. Also glorious simply because they brought life into this world.

  I am learning to embrace my breasts as mature, having gone thought the final stage of development which is milk making. I AM A MAMA AND THESE ARE MY LIFE GIVING TOOLS.  The understanding of this comes down to what people (men and women) are taught my their families and culture, what is seen as beautiful.  For example some tribes find stretching the lip out  with a plate to be desirable, where here in the united states that is not high fashion beauty.  Can you take a moment to look down at your breasts or view them in the mirror and remove all preconceived ideas about what they “should”  look like?  Just for a moment even, (those ideas about your breasts will still be there to pick back up afterwards if you so choose).  If you are able to do this with your own breasts, can you sustain this self love of your breasts?  And if so can you turn outward and do the same for all of  the other breasts you see every day?  I would not even call this “accepting your breasts, or overlooking what you see to create a false mental image, because  THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH YOUR BREASTS, THEY ARE WONDERFUL AND ARE AS THEY SHOULD BE OR ELSE THEY WOULDN’T BE.  There is a man around where I live who sings a song about loving and honoring saggy breasts.  It is all about how he loves them and they fed children and how they are still sexually attractive to him.  When I first heard the lyrics to this song I giggled and wondered why he would love saggy breasts (I was so brainwashed by culture) but now that I am one of those saggy breasted mothers I say hallelujah this man is sane.

Take good care of your breasts.  If you love them up then they are easier for others to love, they will emanate the beauty you know them to be.  Have  you ever seen a person who would be usually considered plain or unattractive to popular culture but they are so filled with joy in themselves that they are beautiful?  Loving your breasts is the first step to caring for your breasts.  Other aspects include nutrition.  Easting lots of fresh organic fruits and vegetables allow for your body to rebuild and replenish itself.  Vitamins C, E, A, K and B complex are good for skin health and elasticity (repairing stretch marks and elasticizing stretched “sagging “skin).  Some foods stimulate the breast ductal tissue with what is called Phytoestrogen. Here are some of them that you can research more (a few are not recommended to take while pregnant or nursing) : Soy, flax seed, sesame seeds, garlic, dried apricots, sweet potatoes, pomegranate, olive oil, peanuts, maitake mushrooms.  Women have been using breast enhancing phytoestrogen herbs for centuries some of which  are: saw palmetto, dong quai, red clover, wild yam, green tea, ginger, turmeric, iodine, fenugreek, fennel, black kohosh.  Phytoestrogen also helps with estrogen related bone loss.  If you are susceptible to estrogen fueled cancer refrain from phytosestrogen foods.   Breast massage helps to shape, tone and promote growth.  Susan Weed, the herbalist, has a few good breast massage oil recipes in her literature. Qigong is also helpful for circulating energy through the breasts chest and shoulders.  There are qigong exercises specific to the breasts if you want to research and learn more about qigong.  Ironically I have read that bra wearing actually can speed up sagging of breasts. All breasts eventually sag because they are not held up by muscles but by ligaments.  When breasts are continually supported by bras the ligaments atrophy and the breasts sag quickly.  It is recommended to wear bras for support during exercise because extreme bouncing will stretch the ligaments and skin of the breasts, but otherwise to leave off your bra when ever you are able.  Lastly I notice my breasts appear more saggy when I hunch my back. Nursing my children has caused my shoulders to be more hunched over for reaching my breasts to my babies mouth.  So working on good shoulder posture and light exercising of the pectoral muscles will reduce some of the sag.

Here are the web sites that I referenced:

www.adishakti.org

www.greenbush.net/fenmorin.html

www.ayurvediccure.com/breast_size.htm

www.breast-mapping.com/understanding1.html

www.ehow.com/about_4687198_help-woman-gain-breast-tissue.html

www.qigongrochester.com/articles/breast_health.pdf

www.007b.com/bra_sagging.php

www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/featus/sk

www.penmarkpotions.com/product-breastoil.htm

And here's a documentary about breasts and our relationship with them:

http://www.sugarpictures.com/Films/Breasts.html

I hope that my story and research will help other mothers regain the confidence in and honoring of their breasts.  LEARN TO LOVE YOUR MAMA BOOBIES TOO!

Groovin' on the Daily

From Amber

I've posted about this before, but again I feel compelled to share the inspiring work and comforting words of Scott Noelle, creator of Enjoy Parenting and The Daily Grove. The Daily Groove is a concise, supportive, and very wise daily email that encourages those on the conscious parenting path. You can read it in about a minute, and you'll be amazed that he can continue to come up with such needed information and ideas five times a week (even geniuses need to rest on weekends).

Here's what today's email had to say. I found it so helpful and, well, relieving:

:: Finding Your Groove... One Day at a Time ::

Watching children grow is one of the pleasures of
parenthood. Some days you wake up and your child
appears to have grown a few inches overnight!

But these apparent quantum leaps are in fact the
culmination of countless tiny changes, each of which
seems insignificant by itself.

Your inner growth as a parent is no different. You
wake up one day and realize you've found your groove!
You're enjoying parenthood most of the time, and your
"bad" days are now *better* than your "good" days
used to be.

And while you'll certainly have "aha!" moments --
your *inner* growth spurts -- it's the many, small,
day-to-day choices that, over time, transform your
path through the wilderness of leading-edge parenting
into an easily traveled groove.

Today, set an intention to "improve your groove" in
some small way that would be easy and fun for you.

Isn't it nice to know that even if you only get 1%
"groovier" every day, you'll be 365% groovier in a
year?!

Sweet Medicine

From Amber

Check out the so very many awesome posts from the recent Herbal Blog Party on Sweet Medicine, hosted by Kiva Rose!

Lovely yarrow, taken in June, just feet from the lake, in my home town of South Lake Tahoe (be sure to peep Green Man Rambling's post on yarrow over at the blog party, I loved it!).

Earth-Body Education

Hello! Amber here. My friend Heidi, one of the coolest, smartest, most interesting people I know (the woman built her own small straw bale house while mothering her two year old son *and* pregnant with her daughter!), will be posting here from now on alongside Anna and myself. Here is her fabulous first post!:

I don't know the reasons for this, since it equates in a dramatic dampening of my spirit, but i often get sucked into the vortex of the inside of my house.  My children along with me.  just the other day i took a blanket and pillow out under the big black oak outside the front of my home and lay on my back to read while my children swung on the ancient creaking board swing that hangs from said black oak.  i lay looking up into the patterning of leaves and remembered.  i couldn't believe i had forgotten, I remembered that this is the type of activity that nourishes my spirit.  a deepening of relaxation and slowing of breath.  grounding deep into the earth.  suddenly my previously anxious needy children from just minutes before found intriguing activities of discovery.  my year old daughter rediscovered the feeling and taste of an in-mature acorn in her mouth.  my three year old son flew high in the sky his belly on the swing, smiling his sweet smile into the warm summer air rushing against his face.

i am impressed upon by the need for my children to learn socially appropriate behavior by being exposed to groups of children and one-on-one play.  the norm for socialization in the united states is school.  I like the idea of children learning together and growing along side one another as playmates, but i am not as interested in the state curriculum, or the desk oriented learning.  i was introduced to the idea of "Unschooling" by my friend jessica and read the book "teenage liberation handbook" by grace Llewellyn and there after bought a book about elementary age unschooling. But both books draw a large blank for preschool and kindergarten age children ( the ages that my offspring are now). Unschooling is a form of education which allows the child to learn at their own speed and in areas of their interest.  The unschooling theory is that children left to their own curiosity will have a strong drive to learn and be able to go more deeply into the subjects in which they are interested,  with out the assignments and due dates altering their natural flow of learning.  Often unschoolers will take classes and find mentors in their area of interest like music or building.  still there is not much literature concerning unschooling for young children and i am feeling around in the dark.  this writing is an exploration of my learning process as i feel into the unknown.

this summer i decided to try and give my son some socialization and i put him in an arts and farm camp.  It turned out that he was not ready for such a structured environment and most of the activities in the camp, were doing things that he is already exposed to at home.  the result was that he buddied up with one of the children and they ran off to play outside of the group only returning to the activities with great convincing.  i ended up deciding to take my son out of the camp since i didn't want to pay for him to play with a friend who he could play with for free any other day.  So back to the natural rhythm of summer life with less driving to town for camp and more time playing at the river. maybe some day he will be ready for that type of structure but in the unschooling fashion i am not going to force a learning on him at a time when he will not be able to integrate it.

On our way home from our last day of camp i was feeling frustrated.  irrationally wishing i could force my son into being able to work with structured learning environments (this was probably coming from a sense of personal inadequacy feeling that it was the fault of my parenting that he was not ready.  I was also hoping that i would be able to gain a little one-on -one time with my daughter since my son and i had been bumping heads lately around the house. ) I decided to take us home via the back way past the river.  the water was still a bit high for safe swimming but the beaches were freshly  cleaned and amended from the spring flooding.  We parked on the side of the dusty narrow road and found a trail leading down to the river near the bridge.  The trail we chose was a tricky one.  steep, requiring good balance, foot traction, poison oak dodging and a bit of rock climbing.  Anarion who was over amped in the car from his day of play at camp now calmed and concentrated as he expertly met the challenge of our desention to the water.  once down at the river there was about a hundred yards of boulders to navigate in order to reach the nearest substantial beach (and sand toys in tow be needed sand).  My daughter strapped to my back i speedily made my way to the beach trusting in the ability of my son to make his way in his own time. 

 I reached the beach and released my daughter to play.  this particular day was overcast and i sat with my back against a large boulder and relaxed in the defused warmth of the sun, one eye on my daughter and one eye watching for my son's head to peak  over the largest bolder obscuring my view of him.  the river had left a peninsula of sand between the shore and a water sculpted rock a little ways out in the current leaving shallow wading pool on either side of the peninsula.  the water was frigid but my daughter fearlessly waded in.  I got up and removed her clothing so i wouldn't have to cary a soggy baby back to the car.  as i was able to relax i began to enjoy the magnificence of her contentment and her scientific exploration of the sand with her hands and shovel.  learning weight and density and speed of the sand slipping through her fingers.  And there he came, my son, over the large boulder, jovially singing a nonsense song as he confidently climbed his way to me.  his energy was grounded and focused and engaged in learning about the workings  and wielding of his body.  he jumped off of a tall rock to land in the sand and immediately found a wavy stick of driftwood to be a tool for play.  We enjoyed our play until dinner time and my angst about the camp dissolved. This few hours at the river was a so much richer learning experience for my son than his whole day of inappropriate camp. 

since then ( in our usual summer flow) we have been at the river often.  i am always watching and wondering at the speed of both of my children's learning when the learning is through play and exploration.  My son has taught himself to swim around with his floatation vest and his enjoyment of learning about the water and strenghteniing his body through swimming, nourishes my soul.  there are often other children at the river which allows him to practice socialization.  his play times at the river are his most peaceable.  the usual argumentation between he and another child is around a toy and when no toys are present there is most often just enjoyment and rumpus fun. 

As a child most of my memories of play involve me out in nature, up a tree or on a rope swing.  When my family moved to town i was amazed that it was harder to know what part of the season we were in since i had based my sense of the passing year on the plant life around me and their cycles. Nature was indeed my greatest teacher of physics and math and botany, and quiet observation.  I learned harmony through the bird songs and rushing of wind in the leaves of trees, the gurgle of a gentle creek.  I hope that as my children look back on  their life memories and they are filed with nature and the sensuous learning through their strong smart bodies.

I am still feeling around discovering what is best for my children.  I know my son would love more play time with his peers as well at time away from the family to discover himself.  I am looking at play groups and programs for learning in nature based ways.  I like field schools where the learning is based on location of study, like learn about plants in a garden or nature setting, or go to the ocean to learn about tide pools.  There are also "Forest Schools"  for the very young (unfortunately not near my home) that bring children out into the forests to learn through what is present in a forest. Waldorf appeals to me but their under emphasis on reading doesn't work for my son who is super interested in books and reading and can already sound out small words. Montasori is neet how it encourages the child to initiate and guide their own learning process, but lacks the nature element. At the moment play groups are the best thing i have come up with for his need to spend time away from the family and the home environment offers many opportunities for learning.  he creates architecture with his blocks and plays around on his papa's drum set, he cuts shapes out of paper and mocks up items for his imaginary games from the clean recycling can, i involve him in my cooking and cleaning, we go on outings and to gatherings.  he is a sponge sucking it all in.  I know he does not need a school to learn and succeed in life, but i am a seed in the wind of this society of schooled children. I am looking for a place to land and be watered by support and root into my resources.   

 

- Heidi Woods

For All My Sisters

     

from Anna

I know that Amber and I have been so occupied with summer fun, at our opposite ends of the country, that neither of us have posted anything much lately-- so here're some things I've been meaning to share...

This song I love so much from the wonderous Ani Difranco, about her baby girl & adjustment to motherhood-- I think it'll definitely speak to you:

 Present/Infant

And whether you're a mother or not, this is a terrific video from the always amazing Sinead O'Connor, that just speaks to me so much as a woman. It's totally as if she's sitting you down in her kitchen, in the heart of her home, and having a good sister-talk with you. You may recognize the song as an Abba cover, if you're old enough or hip (or maybe unhip?) enough:

Chiquitita

 

I also want to share this new website: The Belly Project, that reminds me of one of my favoritest sites ever The Shape of a Mother. Check them both out if you haven't already, to feel empowered by your normal, beautiful, wonderous body, no matter its shape or size.

  

A few more exciting links for you sisters:

Fertlity Awareness, Food, and Night-lighting from the Weston A. Price Foundation

Prehistoric European Cave Artists Were Female from National Geographic

Birth Matters Virginia video contest winners for amazing videos on birth politics

Period Talk! an interview with Mothering's Peggy O'Mara at Lunapads 

 

and to wrap it up on the lighter side of things:

Make your own panties from recycled old t-shirts 

and this hilarious video about "lady friends":

Sarah Haskins in Target Women

 

All my love!

More on Tooth Decay and Nutrition...

From Amber

Check out Cheeseslave's post Do Bread and Cereal Cause Cavities? Reversing Dental Decay With Food.

Family Tooth and Mouth Care (things you never knew you never knew...)

From Amber

I was recently lucky enough to come across some information which is all too important but also all but invisible and unknown in our culture. Even those who use herbal remedies and live "natural" lifestyles unquestioningly follow their dentist's advice and believe sentiments such as "plaque and bacteria cause tooth decay". I am forever grateful to have learned what I have at the serendipitous time I did and can't wait to share some of it with you and, hopefully, inspire you to continue research in this area and to keep passing on the knowledge...

Despite the fact that I grew up eating processed foods and my husband Graham grew up eating whole foods, I only developed my first cavity at age 25 after being pregnant and breastfeeding while his mouth was full of mercury by age 10. 

I was befuddled when I first made this realization in my mind, until he told me that he drank two sodas a day growing up. The fact that they were vegetarian and we were meat eaters *may* also have contributed to these outcomes, as a nutrient rich diet is necessary to prevent tooth decay and animal products are the most nutrient rich foods humans can eat.

But I recently learned a few other reasons why Graham's teeth may have been more susceptible to bacteria and decay than mine, and how to reverse the decay that is taking over his mouth. At the Northern California Women's Herbal Symposium (I blogged about my experience here) a few weekends ago I took a five hour intensive entitled Holistic Dental Health. It was taught by Rupam Henry, who I had been told about by a friend when I mentioned to her my endeavor to rebuild my partially decayed tooth. Rupam is a 13th generation German healer and is sort of the underground expert on alternative dental prevention and treatment, with a background in Ayurveda, pediatric and general dentistry, and a depth of knowledge of herbs and nutrition.

Of the many, many new things I learned from her that day (all of which seem like totally necessary information to me and most of which I'll be sharing with you here) was the concept of fluid direction in the teeth. There are small tubules in the teeth which, when healthy, exert an outward pressure, keeping foreign material out and building the tooth from the inside out. When the body is in poor health, when immunity is down and internal chemistry is out of whack, this outward pressure loses its force and the reverse happens- acids and bacteria instead push into the teeth through the tubules.

To fully grasp what this means, allow me to quote her handout directly: "The health of the mouth is mirroring the state of the immune system and the chemistry of the body." (To learn more about the importance of body chemistry and hormonal balance in dental health and more about these tubules and fluid direction, see Ramiel Nagel's book Cure Tooth Decay, discussed below).

This concept is reflected in the title of a book I recently picked up from the library, Healthy Mouth, Healthy Body. Which brings up another point driven home by Rupam: Bacteria is not the cause of cavities and gum disease. For millions of years primitive peoples did not brush or floss their teeth and had mouths full of bacteria but no decay or cavities. The causes are acid, lack of good nutrition, use of processed foods, and overly sweet foods. After years of work in general and pediatric dentistry, Rupam has seen people who brush and floss constantly but have a mouth full of cavities, and people who don't brush or floss at all but are cavity free.

Which reminds me of the research of Dr. Weston A. Price. Many of you are familiar with Dr. Price as the sort of founder of the traditional nutrition movement, but may not realize that he based all of his studies on the health of indigenous peoples upon their dental health. He was a dentist who, in the 1930s, was alarmed with the rapid downfall in dental health he was seeing in his patients, especially the high numbers of cavities. He suspected the sudden rise in availability of processed foods was to blame and set out to travel the world in search of the few remaining groups of traditional peoples still eating their ancestral diet with no access to processed foods. He was alive at a time when a fair number of these tribes still existed and travel to remote locations was just becoming possible, and he had enough money to make the journeys alongside with his wife. The world is blessed that this confluence of events happened, because we wouldn't have this incredible body of oh-so-very-important knowledge without him.

What happened on his travels has been documented and retold in countless books and on countless websites. Basically, Dr. Price found that the people who were eating traditional, nutrient dense foods with no processed foods had near perfect dental health with no cavities, despite the fact that they had never seen a toothbrush. (As a quick primer to the work of Dr. Price and the concept of traditional nutrition, I like Sally Fallon's article Ancient Dietary Wisdom for Tomorrow's Children. My favorite book that delves deeply and beautifully into the uses and benefits of traditional foods, including recipes, is Jessica Prentice's Full Moon Feast. To learn more about how contemporary scientific research has proven Dr. Price's nutritional theories correct, read Nina Planck's Real Food: What To Eat and Why).

 

Dr. Price photographed the radiant smiles of the people he studied, and endeavored to find their relatives living nearby with access to processed food in order to photograph their teeth as well for comparison. Here are four aboriginal women. The one on the top right is the only one who was still eating the diet of her ancestors, the other three had converted to a modernized diet:

These images are all over the internet and can be seen in Dr. Price's book Nutrition and Physical Degeneration (<-- that is the entire book that someone put on the internet. Warning: it's very dense, but also fascinating).

Okay, so, it's simple. The health of the teeth and mouth has everything to do with the overall health of the body, which has everything to do with nutrition. I just came across this funny, but oh-so-poignant, image. Though we can't see the insides of their mouths, we can certainly guess which guy has the most tooth decay:

So rather than spend the next 6 hours typing out everything I've learned I will a) suggest you head over to Rupam's and especially Ramiel's websites that are linked above and b) tell you what Graham and I are doing to try and halt his tooth decay.

But actually let me spend a paragraph praising Ramiel's work first. If you or anyone you know has cavities or issues with tooth decay, get this book. It may be the most worthwhile $30 you ever spend, and has the potential to save your teeth and profoundly change your life. When his daughter was one year old her teeth started rotting away and he began a frenzy of research to learn what could be done. Years later he wrote this book, the only one of its kind available. This information is not available all in one place anywhere else. There is a large section specifically on children's dental health at the end of the book. It's amazing how little we as a culture know about dental health, even most herbalists are still in the dark. And any questions that may come up for you reading this post will be answered in his book (or maybe website).

Here is a video of Ramiel on a Bay Area morning show. This covers only a little of what is in the book, as nutrition is only one (but certainly the most important aspect) of healing and preventing tooth decay:

So let me make this clear, in case you are as surprised and incredulous as I was to learn it: you can rebuild teeth. If there is a gaping hole you will not rebuild the whole structure, but can re-mineralize the tooth enough to build a layer of dentin on top, covering any nerve that might be exposed and preventing further decay.

This is something people need to know! I plan to do my part to share this information whenever I can until it, like herbalism is now doing, starts to really penetrate the mainstream.

So the deal with Graham's teeth is that most of them are full of mercury, which we will probably spend thousands of dollars on credit cards to remove over time (a long and precarious process in itself that requires a lot of nutritional and herbal therapy to help the body handle it, I still have to research that) and 5 of his teeth are rotting under the fillings. This is a good place to note that fillings don't fix or heal teeth in any way- if they are prone to decay because of bad nutrition and imbalances in the body they will continue to rot underneath the filling.  A conventional dentist would recommend a root canal for Graham right now, but Rupam said that he is right at the precipice where, if he profoundly shifts what he eats, he can save himself from the root canals. (Here's more on the issues surrounding root canals).

We are going to have the mercury fillings removed from the 5 rotting teeth first and have them replaced with a temporary (non mercury, of course) filling and ask for 3 months time for Graham to try and rebuild the dentin with nutrient dense, mineral rich foods and herbs. In 3 months he'll go back and we'll see if we've succeeded. If not, a root canal may be in order.

Oh, have I mentioned the most challenging part of all of this for Graham? Completely eliminating sugar, and actually all sweets except for maybe stevia, and coffee. Sugar doesn't just sit on the teeth and wear down the enamel, it completely throws off the body's internal chemistry and leeches necessary nutrients from the body. You can see how this would effect the teeth. Coffee is highly acidic- which does wear down enamel- and also throws off body chemistry and can wreak havoc on the adrenals (again, for a detailed explanation of body chemistry, how it effects teeth, how to decipher yours, and how to balance it read the book Cure Tooth Decay).

But along with the nutritional aspect we will also focus on building immunity and balancing his internal chemistry. We will get pH strips from a drug store and check his saliva (should be at 7) and urine (5.8) in the morning and make the effort to alkalize his body. Lots of greens and daily herbal infusions (nettles, oatstraw, red clover, spearmint, etc.) will help us do this. We will also use the pH strips to check the acidity of the water we get from a nearby spring. There are alkalizing solutions you can buy to add to water if needed. A water pick will also be purchased from the drug store.

Along with the daily mineral rich, alkalizing herbal infusions, we will also be taking an adaptogenic herb every day. Adaptogens help the body to adapt to every kind of stress it encounters (I have heard a number of herbalists say "In these times. EVERYONE needs adaptogens!" and I think it's true). You can read my favorite article about adaptogens written by my favorite herbalist on my favorite blog, Kiva Rose with The Medicine Woman's Roots. We bought some tulsi and ashwaganda at the co-op yesterday. We will also be taking bitters in tincture form before every meal, another good practice for everyone all the time (for more on bitters see my previous post: Optimal Digestion For Optimal Health: Fermented Foods and Bitter Herbs. This post will explain why strengthening Graham's digestion will help his teeth too).

I am also making him a daily decoction of licorice root and elecampane root and mixing it with calendula infusion for him to use as a mouth rinse to prevent further rot and as an immune boosting, strengthening tea. (I got this recipe from the incredible Heather Nic an Fhleisdeir on her radio hour The Village Herbalist at HerbMentor. I cannot recommend HerbMentor enough as a resource for learning about using herbs in daily life. It is, along with Netflix, our only monthly "extras", and it is so worth the money for the health-enhancing information I've found there! Heather's "classes", which is basically what The Village Herbalist talks are, are so full of information and recipes and compared to what you would pay to take classes like that in person it is a steal! Heather is also on Facebook and you can glean some wisdom from her there too. Oh and she just started a new program on HerbMentor called Think Like An Herbalist which is also outstanding.)

So that's our protocol. It is nothing less than a total life shift, especially for Graham. We feel so grateful that I was able to meet Rupam and learn all of this from her, and from Ramiel's book, and from The Village Herbalist. It is a turning point for us and we are welcoming it with joyful enthusiasm and the excitement of seeing what profound changes this shift will make in Graham's health and in our overall lives.

I am also working on a post about little tips for general mouth care, look for it in the next week or two!

Pick-Your-Own Adventure

 

from Anna

Today, Stella and I headed out to meet some of our mama and baby buddies for an awesome afternoon of strawberry picking. We had such a blast. There is nothing like a band of toddlers going wild in a berry patch, lemme tell ya. 

So, I thought I'd share a few photos from our sticky, sweet adventure... and this article from Chelseagreen.com: 5 Reasons You Should Pick-Your-Own This Summer.

 

 

 

 

     

 

 

 

 

Kids in Their Natural Habitat

from Anna

I read an article in Mothering many months back that really inspired me. It was about some Northern European preschool where the children play outdoors all day long. Yes, all day... every day. Rain or shine. Sometimes they don warm coats and scarves, sometimes they need rain slickers and galoshes... but they are out there in the fresh air, playing not just with "natural toys" but with nature. I thought about how really marvelous this is, and really anachronistic, too, in a time when most kids find fun in front of screens in carefully climate-controlled (and often sterilized) environments. Around the same time I read Richard Louv's wonderful book Last Child in the Woods, in which he coins the term "Nature Deficit Disorder" and describes how limited access to the outdoors and lack of unstructured play there has contributed to an alarming rise of childhood depression and attention disorders. I realized reading this book, and especially after reading that article, that I should be getting the Wee Girl out there to play every day, and that there was no good reason at all that I should be searching for indoor fun because of "bad" weather... that barring truly freezing temperatures or howling thunderstorms, we should still be able to have lots of fun outside, even in the winter. So that's how we ended up spending many days during these past cold months enjoying the parks around town, more often than not as the only folks climbing and swinging and marching through the trees in our mittens and fleecy hats. I heard a few words of caution from family concerned that I might be dooming the child to a rotten case of pneumonia... but of course, being cooped up inside with all the germies during the cold months is what really contributes to all the winter sickies, and Stella came through the season with flying colors and barely a sniffle. 

And moreover, she really enjoyed herself. Now that the weather is warming up, and everything is turning green and lush, it's marvelous to be able to point out to her (or have pointed out to me!) how everything is changing, and to see all sorts of little creature-friends who weren't there before. It's exciting to think that she will have an authentic understanding about the cycles of the seasons, and be familiar with the plants and animals and wonderous what-nots that many kids might only recognize from their picture books or television screens. She really does seem to prefer being outside, too... even when it's raining or "yucky" she points out the windows, pulls me to the doors. We've started taking a good long walk to the river and playing at the park every Saturday afternoon while The Papa is at prayer services-- I used to try to keep her amused for those hours indoors, in the playroom, and it was always a hassle. Now we both look forward to enjoying a glorious springtime stroll and some good old running around and climbing all over before we head over to see the other kids and play with the toys inside for a much shorter span of time. She's so much less fussy and stir-crazy. Today we went to a playdate to meet up with a bunch of babies and toddlers we know, but Stella wasn't really into it after she had made her rounds of the house, inspecting all the toys and exploring her options. She wanted out. We ran around on the grassy commons outside our friend's house, chasing butterflies, looking at tiny flowers, touching tree bark, collecting sticks. She even met her first bee. 

I think this has all got to be pretty good for her. I think among all the intriguing points that Louv brings up in his book about why kids need nature, the most striking is that children need to be on the move-- they need to run wild, use all that energy, revel in the joy of being in their bodies. Trying to calm kids down, keep them quiet and still, sit them at desks, focus their attention on "work"-- is really the biggest part of our crisis with hyperactivity and attention problems... we expect developmentally inappropriate behavior from small children, and put them in "classroom" situations long before they can be ready (and who ever, at whatever age, really wants to be ready for dreary days at a desk when there are butterflies to chase?!). With less and less time outdoors, and more of that precious little time spent in very structured, competitive recreational pursuits, it's no wonder kids can't focus, can't relax, can't enjoy themselves. Hmmm... and it sounds like a lot of grown-ups you know, too, right?

In any case, I was thinking again the other day about that school where the kids spend all their time in their natural habitat-- and it is truly their natural haunt, what children have evolved to enjoy, explore, learn from (as with so much of modernity, babies have no natural inclination to adapt to our weird whims when their innate prehistoric biological expectations are thwarted!) and I couldn't find a link to that article. I did find this, however, and it's a good little read: Bye-bye Classroom. 

I'm hoping that maybe we can round up a gang of other kids and parents who really want to devote themselves to the idea of keeping outdoor play at the tippy-top of the agenda... not a hard task when the summertime is right around the corner, but I hope we won't be the only crazy pair out there sloshing in the rain or chasing squirrels in our parkas come next winter.  

Could You Bottlefeed Discreetly, Please?

   

from Anna

It sounds like a joke right? I assure you it's not the beginning of a satire... it's increasingly becoming a real concern of mine.

Let me start by saying a few things about how I feel as a breastfeeding mother and aspiring lactation professional... undoubtedly and unreservedly, I support nursing mothers and support the right to feed children from the breast anywhere and anytime they hunger, thirst, or need comfort. Call it the "natural order", call it "the way G-d intended"... whichever way you look at it, it's good and right. I certainly don't attack any bottlefeeding mothers for their choices, I've never verbally accosted a lady with a rubber nipple in her kid's mouth, and I hesitate still even to talk with pregnant mamas about their plans for nourishing their babes for fear of offending. I have definite strong opinions about how infants and small children should be fed, but I'm generally not confrontational by any means. And while I sure do feel, as stated above, that women have every right to breastfeed publicly and proudly, I admit that I feel generally okay, personally, about being fairly modest in the practice of it. I've read online posts from mothers who proudly describe pushing a shopping cart around Wal-Mart with their wee one in the childseat nursing from their breast as it hangs from out the top of their tanktop, and other such anecdotes. That sort of thing is not for me. I'm sure on several occasions I've made a person or two uncomfortable with my willingness to nurse my daughter right there, right then, right in the thick of things... but I always try my best to cover up and keep things in place when in company of others. Now that my daughter is well into toddler age, I do more often excuse myself to a more secluded spot-- firstly, because she doesn't always make it easy for me to be modest about feeding, with her acrobatics and grabbiness, and secondly because I do want to be respectful of other parents who will have to deal with questions from their own kids who may have never seen an older baby nurse.

Some of my "more militant" sisters-in-boob may feel like that latter bit is a terrible concession, that children (and their mothers!) should be exposed to nursing toddlers, so they can see it as acceptable and be educated. They may feel like I'm wimping out on the crusade of normalization. Mind you, I don't always remove myself, and I never feed my daughter in a bathroom (I think that's absolutely disgusting)... but I am coming to have a little more sympathy for those mothers who wish I could be more discreet. Strangely, maybe perversely, it's because I really do wish they could be more discreet about their bottlefeeding.

I admit we have a pretty sheltered little world when it comes to clashes over parenting styles... in the circle I hang with, it'd be considered weird not to nurse, wear your baby in a sling, have a family bed. I've been extremely lucky/blessed to find great friends who are wonderfully committed to attachment practices, and natural family living. We don't really associate much with folks who find our mothering/fathering philosophy to be bizarre or objectionable. Even family who may have been shocked at first by our choices have gotten used to the way we do things.

Lately, however, I've found that due to some changes, our little crunchy fam has found itself in the midst of a larger group of families, many of which have very "conventional" ideas about bringing up kids. Recently, there have been several times that Stella has noticed strange new things... most notably a baby being fed out of a plastic bottle, or little girls "feeding" their babydolls with little play bottles.

Whoa! It hadn't even occurred to me until now what to say about this, or how to explain. I mutter things incoherently; I tell her "that's the baby's cup". I'm always a little flummoxed. I'm one of those mothers that screens books, toys, clothes, and has never let in an image of a bottle or pacifier... seriously. Like I said, I'm not going to berate anybody for their choices, but I admit that these things make me very uncomfortable, and I don't want my daughter accepting them as normal. The first time I saw my daughter pick up a toy bottle and plug it into the little gaping mouth of a doll, I nearly soiled myself.

Weird situation, huh? Suddenly, I better understand the moms who don't particularly want to stutter through an explanation about why some babies suckle at the breast when that is a strange new thing for the inquiring kid.

And one can't really go about asking bottlefeeding mothers to excuse themselves to the other room, either, when one heartily defends the rights of mothers to breastfeed anywhere...

It's ironic, and yet my discomfort persists...

All I can do, I suppose, is roll with it-- and explain as I can, as she understands, what it is we value in our family, why we think it's vital, and why some folks may do things differently...

It's just such a profound sorrow to me that given how I feel about breastfeeding, and how dedicated I've been to it, I've seen my daughter pretend bottlefeed when I've yet to see her pretend-nurse...