For parents-to-be, having a baby is a time when they are particularly mindful of their diet, lifestyle and supplementation choices. With a magnitude of overwhelming information and recommendations around what constitutes good choices during pregnancy, it can be difficult for patients to ascertain appropriate protocols and methods to minimise potential negative outcomes.
According to a recent report by the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics, . The authors included recommendations that reproductive and other health professionals advocate for policies to prevent exposure to toxic environmental chemicals, work to ensure a healthy food system for all, and increase the capacity for women and men who are planning a family, as well as pregnant and breastfeeding women, to eat fresh fruits and pesticide-free food.
Organic foods are grown without synthetic pesticides, fertilisers or routine use of antibiotics and growth hormones. According to Marc Cohen, pesticides, including insecticides, herbicides and fungicides, are widely used in Australian agriculture and there is currently very little information on the chronic health effects of pesticides in the wider Australian population.
A search performed on the US National Library of Medicine database Lactmed revealed that numerous pesticides, insecticides, herbicides and fungicides were found to display residues in human breast milk, and with the effects of pesticides on the general population, largely because of dietary exposure currently unclear, adopting an organic diet appears to be an obvious solution for reducing dietary pesticide exposure.
Preconception, pregnancy and lactation are vitally important times when the support of a confident Naturopath can greatly assist in ensuring the health of your child. At True Medicine it is our goal to help couples wishing to start a family make healthy babies. For an appointment call 07 5530 1863 today.