Ready to Move On

My education at Bastyr University is coming to a close. Hard to believe I have just a few assignments to turn in, one test to take, and I'm done. Literally, done. I'm not just entering a between-quarter break, I'm entering a whole new era – a new chapter in my life.

I must say, I'm ready. I will look back on Bastyr with fondness, as a place of comfort, a “bubble” of natural-health-minded people (not at all like-minded people, but certainly natural-health-minded people!) A place where I had many beliefs challenged, some altered and others strengthened. A place where personal trials seemed to shoot me through a whirlwind of evolution and development, spitting me out on the other side much changed from the person who walked into Bastyr at the end of a 2-hour train and bus commute from Puyallup nearly two years ago.

I'm so glad, so blessed to be here, on the other side. Granted, it has been only two years – not really that long, in the scheme of educational pursuits, or LIFE, for that matter – but I greatly appreciate the changes that have occurred in that time period.

Here I am, with a baby inside, ready to begin focusing my attention in a few less directions at once. Ready to start getting READY to welcome this new life into the world. Ready to start paying closer attention, to start cleaning house (literally!) and moving into that “NESTING” phase.

I almost feel as though, now that I am officially DONE with my education at Bastyr, I am ready to begin teaching myself anew. You can only process so much when you are being bombarded with information at a constant pace throughout school, so, now that I am out of that, I feel as though I can go back, look through notes, and re-LEARN and TEACH myself anew all the things I may have forgotten or “misplaced” in my memory banks. The things you really learn and remember are the things you learn through experience, on your own, fueled by your own drive and desire to know. When you start to feel burned out by the pace of full-time classes, oftentimes that drive and desire wans, replaced sometimes by a reluctant “if I have to, to pass this class” mentality. Now free from that pace, I can take or leave whatever I feel is most relavent to my future. And I am very ready to do that!

So, little baby, here we go!

Protein - How Much is Enough, Part II

One thing I know for sure, when it comes to protein powders and such products, is my desire to avoid anything with SOY in it. The majority of soy grown in the United States is genetically-modified, so, unless it is labeled organic (and is therefore non-GMO), I consider it an unknown risk to my health and my baby. There are plenty of other mysterious substances in our food supply these days that I don't need to add purposeful genetic modification to it. What really makes my skin crawl is the fact that lab workers have to INJECT the target plant's cells with a VIRUS in order to get a new strain of DNA to bind to the target cell's DNA – the new strain of which could come from practically ANYTHING of a different species.

But I'm getting off topic. In a nutshell, by my personal standards, soy is off the list. Even organic, I'd just rather not go there. It frankly doesn't taste that great, and I'd much prefer eating the actual soy beans themselves than some highly-processed soy “product.”

So what other choices are there, then? Whey protein, an abundant byproduct of the cheese industry, is a very common protein powder, and one I would be a bit less fearful of. (Of course I would do my research on finding out all I could about where it came from, etc). Other sources of processed protein would include egg, rice, pea, hemp, and other legumes, etc.

Were I to start using these products, I would not allow them to be any more than a snack in my daily diet. They would be a SUPPLEMENT to my protein intake, like an iron pill is a SUPPLEMENT to the iron I am already getting in my diet. I might add protein powder into my daily smoothie, or use a protein bar as a snack. Given how deeply I have been influenced by the whole-foods focus of my school, I confess that I wince as I consider this possibility, but I wonder if the compromise on whole-foods-only is worth it for the sake of my body's – and my growing baby's – protein needs.

Probably a question that has very individual and personal answers!

Protein - How Much is Enough, Part I

The last couple of days – with temperatures reaching the mid 80s – I have been experiencing edema in my feet and ankles. A funny sight, really – feet, which are already on the thick side, puffy and chubby-looking, connected to ankles that wrinkle with the extra mass and legs that look relatively normal. Roomy sandals are definitely helpful, as are extra pillows for propping up the feet when laying down or a chair or exercise ball to do the same thing when sitting.

Most pregnancy literature doesn't seem too worried about edema in pregnancy. In fact, it's considered normal, especially in the 3rd trimester, where I am find myself at the beginning of now. The only times for worry supposedly are when swelling is experienced in the face and/or occurs suddenly and very severely. These symptoms could apparently be warning signs of preeclampsia or other potentially-dangerous conditions.

Most recommendations are simply to drink plenty of water, elevate the feet as much as possible, and avoid tight-fitting footwear and/or clothes that may restrict blood flow.

Causes of edema are generally linked to normal pregnancy physiology, but some potential causes link edema with insufficient protein intake. The Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for protein among non-pregnant women ages 19 or older is 46 grams a day, or 0.8 grams/kg body weight/day. This figure is increased by 25 grams throughout all three trimesters of pregnancy. According to these guidelines, I would personally need a minimum of 54 grams of protein a day were I not pregnant, but, now that I am, I would need to be ingesting at least 80 grams of protein a day. I have to confess, I don't think I've been getting this much! I am probably close on some days, but, when I analyze it objectively, on most other days I probably fall short. The protein-containing foods I consume on a daily basis include a couple of eggs, a small handful of nuts or seeds, a cup or so of yogurt, and either a legume or meat dish, sometimes both. The more irregular sources of protein may include cheese or nut butter.

I've begun to wonder if using a protein powder, or a protein bar, might be helpful to reach the level of protein intake that I need – and that may be expressed through my recent bouts with edema.

Upon beginning my education in a university nutrition department that highly values WHOLE foods and for the most part rejects highly-processed, made-in-a-lab food products, I realized that things like Clif bars and Zone bars really didn't belong in a diet based on whole foods – at least with no real frequency.

So now I'm drawn to wondering if such things would have a negative impact on my baby and I, were I to experiment using such products to reach the goal of 80 grams of protein a day. I will continue considering this in my next post.