502: Motherhood: Controversial Ideas On How To Nourish For Fertility, Pregnancy, And PostPartum Recovery With Sally Fallon Morell
Nov 25, 2024
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Sally Fallon Morell, the President and founder of the Weston A. Price Foundation, shares her bold insights on nourishing fertility, pregnancy, and postpartum recovery. She advocates for nutrient-dense diets rich in animal fats and emphasizes that babies shouldn't be exclusively breastfed in their first year. Sally discusses the pitfalls of commercial baby formulas, promotes homemade alternatives, and critiques modern dietary guidelines. Her views on childbirth settings and dietary choices encourage mothers to prioritize their nutrition for better health outcomes.
A diet rich in animal fats and nutrient-dense foods like liver enhances fertility and supports healthy pregnancies.
Postpartum recovery emphasizes the need for nutrient-rich diets and sufficient rest to promote maternal health and lactation.
Deep dives
The Role of Animal Fats in Enhancing Fertility
Animal fats play a crucial role in enhancing fertility, a concept supported by both traditional wisdom and scientific studies. It is emphasized that a diet high in full-fat dairy, liver, and other nutrient-dense animal products significantly boosts the chances of conception and supports healthy pregnancies. For example, research showed that women consuming full-fat dairy products were more likely to conceive compared to those on low-fat diets, which raises concerns about mainstream dietary guidelines. To prepare for conception, women are encouraged to adopt this nourishing diet for at least six months prior to trying to conceive to build essential nutritional stores.
The Importance of Traditional Foods for Pregnancy
Certain traditional foods are highlighted as being particularly beneficial during pregnancy, including liver, cod liver oil, and egg yolks, all rich in vital vitamins. Vitamin A is particularly crucial, as it supports proper fetal development, including the formation of vital organs. Evidence from traditional cultures shows that they valued these foods for their nutrient density and role in pregnancy health, which is echoed by modern scientific understanding. Therefore, women are urged to consume these foods consistently before and throughout their pregnancy to ensure a healthy birth outcome.
The Necessities for Postpartum Recovery
After giving birth, it is essential for women to focus on recovery by maintaining a nutrient-rich diet that supports their energy levels and lactation. Foods rich in collagen, such as bone broth, alongside liver, egg yolks, and high-fat dairy provide necessary nutrients for healing and energy replenishment. Additionally, adequate rest is advised to aid physical recovery following the stresses of childbirth. This comprehensive nutritional approach promotes not only the mother's health but also the quality of her breast milk.
Critique of Modern Baby Formulas
Commercial baby formulas are criticized for lacking crucial nutrients, particularly cholesterol, which is vital for an infant's brain development and overall health. Unlike traditional diets that include animal fats, baby formulas often rely on vegetable oils and skim milk, which do not provide essential fats that babies need. Homemade formulas, based on raw milk and organ meats, are proposed as superior alternatives, capable of addressing deficiencies seen in many commercially available products. This highlights the importance of returning to nutrient-dense, traditional foods to ensure optimal growth and development for infants.
Animal fats enhance fertility. Babies benefit from breastfeeding but should not be exclusively breastfed for their entire first year. Women should consider giving birth in a hospital! These are just a few of the controversial views that Sally Fallon Morell shares on today's episode.
Sally is the President and Founder of the Weston A. Price Foundation, and, as such, she offers valuable insights based on ancestral wisdom related to fertility, pregnancy, and childbirth. She covers dietary choices to enhance conception, and to hasten postpartum recovery. She also goes over how to best nourish a baby and why baby formula is so problematic.