Eating a special way can prevent hypertension in pregnancy

Pre-Eclampsia means “before the seizure.”

Dr. Tom Brewer, pictured here with a young friend, devoted his career to understanding and preventing one of the most common killers of pregnant women. In his day the disease was called Toxemia. The diet works.

Recently this high blood pressure syndrome was called Pre-eclampsia and pregnancy induced hypertension (PIH). Now, some call it by the general name of pregnancy hypertensive disorder or pregnancy hypertension.

Tom Brewer, MD noticed that, though, some women got it when their livers were ill before pregnancy, most women got Toxemia in pregnancy when they didn't get enough of the right foods to eat. He taught women to eat higher amounts of protein than they were getting.
As his rate of pre-eclampsia went down he noticed the numbers of premature babies went down, too.
First in Louisiana and then in California, Dr. Brewer worked with low-income farm workers and their families. He called in the extended family to talk about nutrition at his clinic. His families had only a 2% prematurity rate. His pre-eclampsia rate was even lower. (See his book, Metabolic Toxemia of Late Pregnancy.)
Proper eating--what an easy way to save babies and mothers.

A pregnant woman’s liver and kidneys have much work to do supporting pregnancy. Eating enough of the right foods will grow more blood. A healthy amount of extra blood in pregnancy will support the work that the liver and kidneys must provide.
It can be odd to think of blood as a tissue that can grow or shrink, but that is what happens essentially. As the womb grows, blood vessels along the muscle walls grow, too. And where is the blood to fill those extra vessels? Protein foods!

A woman needs to eat enough calories, drink enough fluids and get the salt and protein she needs to expand her blood.
With constricted blood, her vessels will be under a lot of pressure to push what little blood she has in her body around. This pressure can cause bleeding in vital organs like the liver, kidneys and brain. So far, when the women I have worked with use Tom Brewer's diet every day, their blood pressure has come down and they have been able to finish their pregnancies to term--Over and over again.

Please check out the late Dr. Tom Brewer's website:

www.blueribbonbaby.org

Dr. Brewer promoted

    # 100 grams of protein a day, including a quart of milk and two eggs
    # Salt-to-taste
    # A gallon of pure water (which can be used in beverages, like herbal tea)
    # Green leafy veggies, like raw spinach, cooked mustard greens and broccoli, and
    # A yellow vegetable, like a yam or carrots, 5 times a week
    # Whole grains, each day, like brown rice, long cooking oatmeal, quinoa, millet
    # A whole baked potato, twice a week
    # Butter, not margarine
    # Vitamin C, daily

Ina May Gaskin and The Farm midwives have worked with Dr. Brewer to make a vegetarian version of this diet. It can be seen on the Blue Ribbon Baby Site. Joy Jones, RN has a nice website promoting Dr. Brewer's Diet called Mindspring.com.

There additional things to eat to protect a pregnancy from high blood pressure:

Midwives from far and wide have added a few details to Dr. Brewer's Diet. We've found these additions very helpful when the blood pressure is creeping up. 

Cod Liver Oil which has been studied and shown to reduce the chance of pre-eclampsia if taken daily from the 2nd trimester. Omega 3 oils help baby’s brain development, mother’s skin, and hormonal function. Don't take oils without having food in your tummy, though, or you could get queasy. Nordic Naturals has a nice, no burp kind, and it has no or virtually no mercury or other heavy metals.

The midwives interested in Dr. Brewer's Diet have added a recommendation for an absorbable calcium-magnesium supplement and/or recommend Red Raspberry Leaf tea each day for the minerals it contains. And of course, we should all know that at all times, childbearing aged women should be taking in folic acid each day before and during pregnancy.

A gentle boost for digestion, which helps the liver, are 2-4 Tablespoons of Chlorophyll liquid (barley extract, no alcohol) in a full glass of water, apple juice or your cup of tea each day. A shot of lemon juice in the water/chlorophyll mix is nice. This iron boost is non-constipating. You'll notice a color change in your stool, and an increase in hemoglobin (iron) levels if they were low to begin with. Many women keep drinking this chlorophyll mix after the birth to restore iron levels. A very few women have reported nausea. Be sure to mix the chlorophyll in a glass full of water. After birth, 4 Tablespoons over the day is recommended.

Alternatively, a chlorophyll rich, green veggie drink with blood pressure soothing additions could include fresh, raw spinach, a very ripe cucumber, a spring of corn silk (organic), a clove of fresh garlic and, for flavor,  carrot or celery or both.

Just doing one thing or another will not bring down a hypertensive trend. 

Will so many calories grow a really large baby?

There is a good possibility that eating so much food through pregnancy will grow a large baby. Dr. Brewer saw so much improvement in the health of the babies in his families under his care that he would rather have a few babies that were too big, than so many underfed women with malnutrition have sick, stillborn or premature babies.

Our midwife practice has suggested these adaptations to the diet. I suggest a moderate to low amount of dairy. To get the needed calcium, I suggest 3 cups of Red Raspberry Leaf tea from a bulk source every day. Also, a handful of almonds, and at least weekly, a serving of turnip or mustard greens among the daily greens. A calcium supplement is suggested. Whole, cooked grains, such as brown rice, slow cooked oatmeal, millet and quinoa, are preferable to breads (even whole grain bread). Avoid white food: white rice, white flour, white sugar, and white potatoes - and keep the milk to a minimum. There are exceptions, and there are better choices than others, for instance, goat milk or whole cows milk are better choices than 2% or skim. 

One of my partners is hesitant about the high calorie intake of the Brewer Diet, but I hesitate to recommend fewer calories and less protein grams on the website at this time. 

So, to reduce the chance of a ten-pound or larger baby, we also suggest a brisk walk on most days of the pregnancy, swimming or dancing is also good movement. Prenatal yoga is gentle, but helps the metabolism. Stretching exercises can be substituted for those who avoid yoga for religious reasons. Regular movement in pregnancy helps the birth go better and recovery be shorter than couch potato behavior.

Merging the Brewer Diet with the "Eat Right for Your Type" suggestions seems reasonable to reduce the chance that some blood types have of turning foods that aren't suited for their type into the sugar that grows large babies. 

Big babies can and do have easy births. But bigger babies also experience certain birth complications in higher numbers than babies under 8 pounds 13 ounces. We've helped plenty of births of babies over ten pounds, its not that there is anything inherently bad about large babies. They sometimes sleep longer sooner than small babies. However, we want optimal health. This discussion is to raise awareness, not to be ideological. 

What!? No ice cream?

What you don't eat is important, too. Carbonated water or pop can strip needed minerals from your body. Alcohol, fried foods and peanut butter are hard for your liver to cope with. Cooked spinach, rhubarb and certain over-the-counter pain killers are hard for your kidneys to process. These are just the common foods, but junk foods and processed foods are harder on your digestion and give fewer vitamins, if they give any at all.

A treat now and then may not be a problem to someone who eats well everyday and eats food as close to the original as is comfortable. For instance, fresh fruits rather than sugared and dyed fruit strips. Whole grain oatmeal rather than frosted breakfast bars. See what is in your cupboard and find five things to eat or improve on each week.
But if you are experiencing a sign of pre-eclampsia, see your doctor or midwife and ask if there is any medical reason you can't add eating a well rounded, high protein diet along with their recommendations for care. Remember The Brewer Diet is not a fad diet. Don't let the words high-protein fool you. It is a well-rounded diet. Carbs are included. You will have to eat like a teenage track runner.

How many grams of protein are really necessary?

A healthy vegetarian may only have to eat 75-80 grams of protein a day to keep a healthy pregnancy blood pressure. Whereas, a mother expecting twins or triplets will eat 150 grams, or more, every day.

45 grams is the average American intake if you don't try to eat more protein (unless you are a burger lover already). You will notice if you count your protein grams that you will feel out of sorts at 45 grams of protein.

60 grams will keeps many pregnant women from suffering some pregnancy ills, like exhaustion; but it may not be enough for protecting your blood pressure.
80-100 grams is protective, and 100 can correct high blood pressure if the cause is malnutrition.

Work with your medical provider

You will have to work closely with your doctor or midwife to check your blood pressure as it is not something you can feel accurately in your body. In other words, you can feel fine and be very sick with high blood pressure. Many well-fed American pregnant women are malnourished because they either aren't getting the right foods or aren't getting enough of the right foods to support their vital organ health.

Eat well in the first trimester, too

Eat as well as you can in the first trimester when nausea may interfere with your goals of really good eating everyday. Please don’t fast in your first trimester. The placenta is being formed and develops a placental bed.
Your efforts will be rewarded as the placenta sets down a healthy bed to feed your baby from.

The Brewer Diet works

--if you are willing to eat the food this way everyday! Some women who were riding a high blood pressure trend saw their high blood pressure come down and they ate less precisely, less protein and supplements. Quickly the blood pressure comes up again. But we have had 100% success (as of Spring 2009) with a combination of the Brewer Diet, garlic (choosing the deodorized kyolic garlic oil capsules allows you to take 10-40 capsules a day), calcium-magnesium, and, a few of the mothers needed homeopathy or herbs in addition. Most women do well with a protein rich diet and plenty of leafy greens.

No, Country Kitchen, green beans are not the daily greens I’m speaking of. Women need the leafy greens, like raw spinach, cooked turnip greens, kale, collards and broccoli.