The other day one of my most entertaining friends sent me a photo of her breakfast.  Yes, kind of a weird thing to text to someone first thing in the morning but considering my profession it made sense.  Here is her masterpiece:

While looking at the above photo, I – in my crabby and unshowered state – stood in the middle of my not-clean house and realized that while Mr. Milk had already had about 2 gallons of breakfast I had broken my own rule of eating something containing protein and/or fat (yes, even if it’s just a piece of cheese or a handful of olives hastily grabbed out of the fridge with one arm while holding a small, drooling human with the other) within an hour of waking to get your metabolism going for the day.  Rather than remedy this by eating something healthy immediately, I decided to reply to her text with the following snarkily-composed photo of what I was eating for breakfast .

Don’t ask me why those items were in my house to begin with (and I promise I didn’t actually eat, drink, or smoke them for breakfast), but all joking aside I am sure that at one point in most of our lives we’ve sacrificed a healthy breakfast in the name of not having time.  So, here is my quick list of quick breakfast ideas!  Please feel free to expand on this list with your favorites by posting them in the comments section.  Alternatively, please also feel free to post the most nutritionally devoid breakfast you ever ate because that makes for entertaining reading for me

Quick ideas that take 5 minutes or less to prepare:

• Hard boiled eggs, peeled the night before
• Smoked salmon and cream cheese (or butter) on a thin slice of bagel or a piece of sprouted or gluten-free toast
• Smoothie made with coconut milk or whole milk organic yogurt, coconut oil, frozen berries, and some banana, mango, pineapple or papaya for added enzymes
• Whole milk organic cottage cheese with fruit that was prepared the night before (see my friend’s photo for artistic placement of fruit)
• Fried egg sandwich on sprouted or gluten-free toast (melt butter in a pan, put toast in toaster, crack eggs into pan, put lid on pan, run around house looking for car keys and by the time you find them the eggs and toast will be done)
• Fried eggs (prepared as above) with sliced tomato (grain-free alternative but not friendly to eat in the car)
• Soaked oatmeal with assorted raw nuts and seeds and a little honey (soak rolled oats overnight in water in the pan you will use for cooking, in the morning drain this water and add new; soaked oats cook as quickly as “quick oats” and are much easier to digest which makes them a better choice if you like to include some grain in your diet)
• Warm soup in a thermos (this was one of my favorite breakfasts on cold winter days in Iowa…haven’t yet tried it here in Hawaii)
• Handful of raw nuts

And my baby’s awake from his nap…so the list stops here!  Don’t forget to add your favorites to the comments section so others (including me!) can benefit from what you’ve figured out.

Yesterday I took my baby boy out to run a bunch of errands with me.  We went to Whole Foods, Costco, Ross Dress for Less (yes, the Filipino half of me literally cannot drive by a store that has “dress for less” in the name without stopping and I did buy a pair of bright orange baby board shorts for the boy for only $1.99 so it was a successful trip), and finally to Long’s Drugstore.

While at Long’s, I was in the baby section browsing for baby spoons since Mr. Milk is almost 6 months old, at which time he will become Mr. Milk and Poi as we begin to introduce solid foods.  Appropriately, the birth control and sexual health products are located directly next to the baby products.  This may seem strange to some, but when Mr. Milk started fussing because he was fed up with being in his stroller, the thought of a rapid-fire sibling arriving drove me to thoughts of birth control…which conveniently was right there!

And here’s where this blog ventures into the TMI category, which my husband does not appreciate but he understands why I write about such things because if I don’t then who will?  Most couples with a young baby realize that there is very little time for intimacy (please agree with me here other parents lest I think it is just us!) but I thought maybe I’d buy something fun in faith that we would soon have opportunity to use it.  While browsing over the sexual health products I noticed that KY’s new highly touted product – KY Yours and Mine – was on sale for almost half off.  I tend to prefer natural products such as natural lubricant by Emerita but Yours and Mine has such exciting commercials that I thought I’d at least read the label to see what was going on.

And here is where I discovered the wrongest of wrong placement of artificial sweeteners – peppered in among other slippery chemicals is Splenda (to see for yourself check out the ingredients where Splenda is listed under it’s chemical name, “sucralose”).  Splenda is an artificial sweetener that is similar in structure to table sugar, with the exception of a chlorine molecule where half a water molecule used to be.  This substitution makes the product taste a lot like sugar, but the body can’t break it down the same way so it is not processed as sugar.  My main issue with this is that chlorine in that form is not something that people (especially children) should be exposed to because chlorine competes with iodine, a nutrient in the body that is vital for growth and hormone balance.  Anyone who has heard me lecture knows that I have a personal vendetta with Splenda more than any other artificial sweetener because its creators freely market their product to children, whereas most other artificial sweeteners have enough self respect to stay in products targeted for adults.  And now KY has gone a step further and made Splenda available to our children before they’re even conceived.

It’s a sad day in TMI blog land!  So please, don’t make the next generation swim through a Splenda bath on their way to new life.  Just say no to Splenda on your private parts!

As I write this, the ashes of my Filipino grandma are being buried at Arlington Cemetery, right next to Grandpa.  She didn’t speak much English so we didn’t have a lot of deep conversations, but we had endless snuggle moments like those in the photo above (I’m the sleeper on the right and my cousin Christine is on the left).  We also had many moments centered around food!  Grandma was a great cook and stuck to the traditional Filipino style of cooking, which included lots of fat in the form of coconut, meat, eggs, broths, all sorts of shellfish, and fish (with the heads of course).  I think her way of eating and feeding her children and grandchildren the same way is the reason our family has enjoyed good health and beautiful skin for generation after generation.  Some would say it’s just genes, but I know Grandma did something to keep those genes happy and to ensure they would be passed on as her legacy.

On a personal note, I get a lot of flack for my coconut obsession but I must give credit where credit is due – my love affair with the coconut began as a very small child when Grandma taught me how to make kankanin (sp?), a  Filipino cake made of sweet rice, coconut milk, coconut cream, and brown sugar.  Thank you Grandma!

As you read this, hopefully something is coming to mind for you of what your own grandparents did to stand in the gap and eat or live in a way that would ensure that you would receive the best of their genetics.  And hopefully what you learned from them can be passed down to the next generations so we don’t forget how people ate and lived before the invention of fast food.

So, thank you Grandma for loving me and cuddling me and when there weren’t a lot of words to say that I could understand, thank you for feeding me and teaching me that coconut and shellfish and other foods that are persecuted by the anti-fat fear mongers were okay to eat.  There’s a whole lot more I could thank you for but since this is a nutrition blog I will leave it at that.

I would say rest in peace Grandma, but I know that as soon as you crossed over to that side of life, Grandpa was there to greet you and the two of you have already started your next adventure.  I miss you, but I know he missed you more!  I love you both forever.

This weekend will be my first mother’s day!  As I revel in my new role as a full-time milk cow my thoughts turn to all the other new moms out there who are also learning how to be the provider of love, warmth, shelter, adoration, and of course…milk, to their wee bundles of joy.  Here are a few things I have learned that I hope can help you also.  Feel free to post more info that you may have learned in the comments section – we milk cows have to help each other out!

• If you find that your milk production is low, make sure you’re eating enough healthy fat (I recommend the Weston Price diet for pregnant and nursing moms) and drinking enough water.  Some women have to double their water intake from what they were drinking before nursing just to keep up with milk production!
• If you will be separated from your baby for an extended period of time (going back to work, medical reasons, etc.) use milk producing herbs such as fenugreek to keep milk supply up.  I recommend 2-3 cups daily of Traditional Medicinals Mother’s Milk Tea which can be purchased at most health food stores.  If tea doesn’t work for you, you can usually buy some form of herbal tincture that is indicated for breast milk production and use that in water or juice (just follow package instructions for dosing).
• Pumping may be useful also if you really want to get milk production going so you can freeze extra milk for later during those times that you have a sitter or are going to be at work.  In my case, I don’t have too much extra to pump since Mr. Milk wants milk on the hour every hour until he finally passes out into a 4-hour milk induced coma by early afternoon.  However, it is really nice to know that I have 2 bottles of breastmilk in the freezer that I pumped a couple weeks ago and stored for the occasion when I need a break from being on call for milk duty.
• If you decide to pump, please, for the love of milk, make sure that the nipple flange on your pump is the correct size for you.  Most pumps come with a 25 mm flange that works for most people, but those of us with larger milkshakes may need to bump up to the 27 mm flange size.  And no, you don’t have to have National Geographic nipples to need a larger flange size.  If you experience any pain or discomfort while pumping that is not alleviated by rubbing a little bit of coconut or jojoba oil on the flange to allow for lubrication, you may need the larger flange size.  They’re around $15 and can be purchased at Target or online and are WELL worth the investment if you need them.  Your nipples will thank you.
• If you find that your baby has trouble latching on and this is not relieved by working with a lactation consultant, you may want to consider having your baby’s head, neck, and spinal alignment evaluated by a chiropractor or an osteopathic physician.  In fact, even if your baby doesn’t have trouble latching on this would be a good idea as the birthing process is pretty intense for you and for baby!  For the first couple of months after my son was born I was producing way more milk on my right side than my left.  I had heard this was normal and figured it was okay, except for the inconvenient thought of having to wear two different bra sizes if things didn’t normalize.  My son’s head was perfectly round after birth due to a relatively easy labor and his small size so I didn’t think his nursing would be at all affected by spinal alignment.  However, when I took my son into our chiropractor for his first evaluation at about 8 weeks of age, he had a little bit of misalignment in his neck that may have made it harder for him to nurse on the left side.  The doctor gently manipulated it out – no cracks or pops (photo of my ridiculous smiling boy getting his first adjustment below).  That evening after nursing a few times during the afternoon, I noticed that I was completely even!  And I’ve stayed that way.

• Once your baby is accustomed to latching on, I highly recommend trying the side lying position for nursing.  It is great for middle of the night feedings if your baby is near you and can be easily brought into your bed to nurse.  This helps make up for the lack of sleep!  It’s also nice for mid-day feedings just to give both of you some time to lie down and rest together.

That’s it for now.  As I said before, moms everywhere should feel free to post advice in the comments section to keep others from having to learn what they learned the hard way!  Also, please include Ina May’s Guide to Breastfeeding in your reading list of new mom materials.  It is an excellent book that’s easy to read and is sure to provide useful info for even experienced milk cows.  In fact, everything I have read so far by Ina May Gaskin has been wonderful.  I would definitely include her on my list of “people I haven’t met but if we knew each other in person we would be BFF’s” along with T-Pain and Patti Stanger.

Happy mooooooooooooooooo-ther’s day!

Yesterday while watching a ridiculous competitive cooking reality show (I like to watch those when I’m nursing Mr. Milk, which feels like half my day) I saw a commercial congratulating the big soda companies (Pepsi, Coke, and a third one that I can’t remember) for their commitment to removing high calorie soft drinks from schools.  It was a feel-good commercial meant to inspire and give me hope for the future but all it did was inspire me to get up on my blog soapbox and rant and rave about what this actually means.

If you go to the “responsible marketing” section of the Pepsi website, you will see that regular sodas containing high fructose corn syrup are being replaced by bottled water, no-fat or low-fat milk, juice, “juice/water beverage combinations containing no added sugar”, and in high schools “beverages containing no more than 40 kcal per 240 ml”.  My primary rant is against these last two types of beverages – both of which contain a variety of artificial sweeteners.

The “juice/water beverage combinations containing no added sugar” is not clearly identified but most likely refers to beverages such as Propel fitness water, which contains two types of artificial sweeteners: Splenda and Acesulfame K.  Splenda is an artificial sweetener that falls under the category of “halogenated sucrose.”  In this case, it is a sugar molecule that has chlorine attached to it.  Chlorine is a highly toxic chemical that in large doses can cause death (it is used in chemical warfare) but in smaller doses such as those found in food and water can cause suppression of the thyroid, which over the long run leads to hormone imbalance and weight gain.  Acesulfame K is another artificial sweetener which is even creepier to me because it is sometimes listed as “acesulfame potassium” which makes even vigilant parents who read every ingredient in their child’s drink think it is just a fancy form of potassium, an important mineral for health.  It is no such thing!  Acesulfame K is a possible carcinogen that was not adequately tested for toxicity prior to being approved by the FDA despite being nominated twice for testing.  Rather than conducting a full toxicity test on this artificial sweetener, it was fed to genetically modified mice to prove that it was safe for humans.  Yet another thing that makes me feel like I’m taking crazy pills.

The other option that will be stocked in high schools – “beverages containing no more than 40 kcal per 240 ml” – refers to diet sodas, most of which contain aspartame.  Aspartame is a highly addictive excitotoxin (the term used to describe toxins that over-excite the nervous system and cause destruction of nerve tissue) that breaks down into methanol, formaldehyde, and other chemicals when digested.  Aspartame ingestion has been linked to brain disorders including headaches, insomnia, seizures, and emotional imbalance.  I don’t know about you, but when I recall my teenage years I think I had more than enough emotional imbalance without adding aspartame to the mix!

It is so sad to  me that soda companies are running ads congratulating themselves for taking high calorie sugar sodas out of schools to combat childhood obesity while they are replacing them with toxic drinks that will likely affect our children in even more serious ways.  Since my son is only 3 months old, I have full control over what he drinks (milk, hence the name Mr. Milk) but most parents have little to no control over which drink their child chooses from the vending machine.  The only answer I have to this is to encourage parents to teach their children to choose water from the vending machine or, if they must have a sweet beverage, choose juice.  Even better would be to send them to school with a drink such as water, iced herbal tea, or coconut water.  If they prefer something fizzy they could have sparkling water with lemon or other fruit for flavor or kombucha – a fermented tea with amazing health benefits.  For first-time kombucha drinkers, I usually recommend GT’s bottled kombucha in grape flavor.  It tastes like a slightly tart grape soda and is more palatable to kids.  Once they get used to that, you could try brewing it at home and sweetening it yourself with a little fruit or fruit juice.

Congratulations!  You’re officially into your third trimester.  Your baby weighs about 2 1/2 pounds and is over 15″ long – about the size of a butternut squash.  It is quite appropriate, by the way, that your baby’s size is compared to food because once he is born he will likely be so cute you want to eat him up!  This week begins a state of rapid weight gain as your baby packs on muscle tissue and all his other body systems continue to develop (especially the lungs and brain).  It’s especially important from now on that you eat several small meals throughout the day to keep the nutrition flowing to your baby as he grows and also to keep you nourished as your body prepares for the amazing and intense work of delivery.  Be sure to obtain plenty of zinc in your diet during this time.  This important nutrient helps your baby to properly develop muscle tissue and proper zinc levels will help you to make a complete and speedy recovery after childbirth.  Foods that are rich in zinc include grassfed beef, wild-caught seafood (especially oysters, but make sure they’re from unpolluted waters), pastured egg yolks, sesame seeds or tahini (sesame butter), raw almonds, pumpkin seeds, and – appropriately – roasted butternut squash seeds.