Morning Sickness
Happy Friday!!
After this crazy mixed up schedule I was on all week, I'm super excited to have the weekend off.
Now, let's get down to this business of morning sickness. My girlfriends have told me horror stories of catching a whiff of food and spending the next 30 minutes hovering over the commode. After hearing that, it's hard to believe that morning sickness is a good thing.. but it is! The doctor we interviewed today (Dr. Richard Lowensohn at OHSU) says it is a sign of a strong implantation of the fetus, and the appropriate hormonal flucuations that come with it.
One great tip the doctor offered: if you are pregnant and have morning sickness-- try keeping some dry toast at your bedside. Before you even lift your head off the pillow, take a few bites and let it settle for a little bit. The doctor says many women start to feel sick the moment they sit up. Also, as many of you probably know.. morning sickness is a bit of a misnomer. It can happen at all hours, but sticking to bland foods in small quantities throughout the day is your best bet. And, the doctor says it should clear up once you are out of your first trimester. Oh yeah, don't sweat it if you lose some weight in that first trimester. Just make sure your healthcare provider knows what is going on.
I emailed the lead researcher in Liverpool.. here's a bit more on the study:
Dr Craig Roberts, from the University’s School of Biological Sciences, said: “We reasoned that if certain foods induce pregnancy sickness, then dietary patterns across the world might reflect incidence of pregnancy sickness. To test this, we collected rates of nausea and vomiting in pregnant women recorded from studies across the world and looked at the average diet of women in these countries. We found that high overall food intake (calories etc) was correlated with pregnancy sickness, but also that the amounts of certain types of food predicted the incidence of pregnancy sickness. To account for other differences across parts of the world, we repeated the analysis restricting it to studies from countries in Europe and North America. In this more controlled analysis, we still found that incidence of pregnancy sickness was correlated with oilcrops, sugars, alcohol and meat, and with low cereal intake. This suggests that some or all of these foodstuffs could play a part in inducing pregnancy sickness.
“Our results only analyse patterns of diet, and cannot pin the cause of pregnancy sickness to any specific dietary component. However, we think that we have evolved an aversion to foods containing high levels of toxins or teratogens, and that these could carry over into modern living. Countries with high levels of alcohol and meat in their average diet could therefore induce higher levels of aversions and nausea/vomiting. Countries with a high cereal intake (particularly corn) may have lower nausea rates because cereals have especially low levels of plant toxins.
“Let me first say that I think any change in diet should always be in consultation with a GP. However, our interpretation of the data is that while there may be no particular harm in eating, say, meat, now that we have refrigeration and best before dates, our bodies may be pre-programmed by evolution to avoid these particular foodstuffs in the first trimester. It may be that the nausea women feel towards certain foodstuffs could be helpful, and that although it is inconvenient and miserable, their nausea could be nature's way of avoiding problems in pregnancy for both mother and foetus.”
Any mom's out there have tips and tricks to share?? Or particularly good horror stories ((like my friend who got sick in the movie theater))? Email me: sstricklen@kgw.com
Mercury & Tuna story update: A gal with the PR firm for the agency that represents tuna manufacturers asked if I'd share a link to its website as a counter to those who feel tuna is unsafe. Happy to!!!!
And finally, I have to share this picture I took. We are remodeling our house and I walked into a local tile showroom and immediately fell in love with this tile.
Guess what.
It's $170.00....... A TILE!!!!! ((and they are 8 inches by 8 inches)).
Oh well. Maybe if I win the lottery.
