212 Achieving pH Balance to Treat Specific Ailments
good for building healthy fetuses. The supersaturated coconut oil is also
good for the fetus because it normalizes energy production and is itself
a good source of energy. Green, leafy vegetables are important as a
source of omega-3 fatty acids.
Although saltwater fi sh is the best source of the docosahexaenoic
acid (DHA), an omega-3 fatty acid, the Food and Drug Administration
warns that women who are pregnant or planning to become pregnant
should avoid shark, swordfi sh, king mackerel, tuna, and tilefi sh because
they contain enough mercury to harm the developing fetus’s brain.
Salmon, mackerel, sardines, and anchovies are not on this list and are
even better sources of DHA fatty acid.
High fat consumption during pregnancy, while vital to the fetus, has
one drawback; it destroys vitamin B 6. This is one of many reasons it is
necessary to consume plenty of quality protein, especially red meat
with its whole range of B vitamins. Besides the use of protein as a build-
ing block of the body, its supply of B 6 replaces what is destroyed by high
fat levels. Choline, another B vitamin, which is plentiful in meat,
enhances the fetus’s memory by altering the hippocampus, the memory
center of the brain, according to researchers at the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill.^15
The B vitamins also play a key role in normalizing excessive hormone
levels. Pantothenic acid destroys excess insulin, and when insulin levels
fall, estrogen levels also drop. If high levels of insulin and estrogen in the
maternal blood are absorbed into the fetal blood system, “they may alter
mammary tissue in such a way that it responds to estrogen during
puberty by becoming malignant,” according to an article in the New York
Times by Lawrence K. Altman.^16 The normalization of estrogen and
insulin during pregnancy may prevent cancer after birth. A study con-
ducted by Pamela J. Goodwin, M.D., found that women with breast can-
cer and high insulin levels were eight times more likely to die of breast
cancer than those with breast cancer who had low insulin levels. One way
of preventing breast cancer while at the same time building the intelli-
gence and immune system of your baby is to breast-feed for two years or
longer. According to a Yale University study of women in rural China,
this reduces the chance of developing breast cancer by 50 percent.^17
Nina Planck, author of the book Real Food: What to Eat and Why,
wrote an excellent article in the New York Times about the dangers of a