It’s a known fact that vitamin and mineral supplements are essential for a healthy pregnancy and beyond. But did you know that most over the counter vitamins use fillers such as coal tar, sand, dirt, and soap to bind the vitamins together? The FDA only requires manufactures to list the active ingredients within their product and not the fillers. These such vitamins do not have the synergic compounds of naturally-derived Vitamins. The result is that they are neither as well absorbed nor beneficial to your body. On the other hand, taking supplements that are made from naturally-derived whole food based sources allow your body to recognize the vitamins and minerals. This results in better absorption and positive benefits.

Here are a few ways to check and see if your body is actually digesting your current supplement and whether or not it contains fillers:

1 Soak one of your vitamins in about 3 inches of white vinegar for about 20 minutes. If you come back to an intact un-dissolved capsule, then it is most likely not dissolving in your stomach. Instead it is just passing through you body and finding its place in your toilet.

2 If you see dirt floating to the surface of your vinegar, then most likely the manufacturer is using sawdust as their filler.

3 Take a dry vitamin and wrap it in aluminum foil and bake it in the oven at 350 for about 10 minutes. If you see some black goo creep out, that signals coal as filler.

Here are 3 products on the market that use whole foods as their base for their supplements and stand out from the average supplement such as Centrum

Honestly, I have only and only use Shaklee supplements (when I remember to take them ;P. After seeing & learning about the company on Treehugger, Healthy Child Healthy World, Oprah, Dr. Oz and its website, I became an independent distributor and brand loyalist for it made sense to me. They have both a multi-vitamin with an iron and non-iron formula (more practical for men).

Please use this information provided as an educational, perspective expansion resource for determining your options and making your own informed choices. It is not intended as medical advice or to diagnose, prescribe, or treat any specific illness.

So I do not know about you, but I have found that the last two days have been a little off kilter. One of my clients whose due date is a month from now actually had to go to the hospital for she was cramping, spotting and began to have contractions. Once I heard that she was back home safe and sound (the bundle of joy still tucked in its oven) my high alert radar began to fade. I looked out side of my window and saw the beautiful full moon and then began to think. I typed in Full Moon and Pregnancy and found this article that captured what I was just thinking. Apparently some maternity units actually have more staff available during periods of full moon. The reason is because quite often, expectant mothers experience false signs of labor (Braxton Hicks) during the full moon. The moon’s gravitational pull affects the amniotic fluid in much the same way as it affects the ocean and the rivers. I just saw on Yahoo that today’s full moon will appear to be the largest full moon of the year because it is at its closest point to earth. The moon’s gravitational pull is an interesting phenomenon.

This summer I attended a screening for ‘Orgasmic Birth’. This fascinating documentary was created by internationally respected childbirth expert, Debra Pascali-Bonaro. The film sheds light on the beauty and “other” side of childbirth, the side that has not been discussed in the out and open. Babies are created using all of the same sex organs and hormones that are used to deliver the baby. Now this statement I am about to make may come off a little blunt and graphic, but I feel that it gets the point across. If a woman is being forced against her will to have sex, then it hurts tremendously. The fear, the violation and all of the other emotions make her sexual mechanisms resist. The result is pain, uncontrollable breathing and so forth. Now when a women feels safe, is connected to the act for which she is performing, and for the most part, in a private setting for which she feels is her own space, then she is able to relax and reach an orgasm. So to tie this together to my point and the message behind Orgasmic Birth, if a women is allowed the respected space to labor at her own pace, surrounded by supportive birth partners and medical team, then she is more inclined to feel safe, let down her inhibitions and open to and surrender herself to the miracle of birth. And yes, pleasure and ecstasy are possible during labor.

For far too long there has been this projected notion that childbirth is nothing but a scary, intolerable act (This is so not the case). For the most part, the common visuals one has of childbirth are those from mainstream TV and movies (definitely, not the best examples) those clips show the typical cliché of a women screaming at the medical staff & partner, confound to the bed and not happy at all. Then you have the media’s grid lock focus on statements made by celebrities whose fears becomes instilled and influence the general public (by no fault of their own for there are definitely stories that can be told about hospital births in the US).

Thankfully, ABC’s 20/20 is taking a bold step in a great direction to shed light on the “other” side of the story of childbirth Friday, January 2nd. The show will be featuring a segment on ‘Orgasmic Birth’. Though I am excited that such a topic will be discussed on such a popular show, I am going to wait and make my rave or rant after it airs. After being excited to watch the doula segment air on the Today show a few weeks back, I was disappointed with the overall tone of the segment. (Every women deserves the right to have continous support through out labor. That is not a luxury. And while yes doulas can range between $500-1500+ for childbirth, the benefits are so much worth it. That segment failed to mention the astonishing cost of hospital birth, epidurals, and c-sections. Doula have a major impact in reducing the need for epidurals and c-sections)

So check out Orgasmic Birth’s website and watch the segment on 20/20 and share your feedback.

The FDA has reached their conclusion that levels of melamine alone or cyanuric acid alone, at or below 1 part per million (ppm) in infant formula do not raise public health concerns. Traces of any amount, especially those above the FDA’s minimum raises alarm in my mind as well as many others I am sure.

Melamine is widely used in plastics, adhesives, countertops, dishware, whiteboards. Because melamine is rich in nitrogen, companies who are trying to increase their production of formulas add the substance to increase the apparent protein levels of their product. This in addition to diluting the raw milk with water. It is not naturally occurring and is not approved to be directly added to food in the United States. Though, somewhere in the world of governed loopholes, melamine is approved for use as part of certain food contact substances. This does leave legal room for traceable levels of melamine to show up in certain food commodities.

Behind the scenes, the FDA had conducted tests over the past several months on U.S. made formula. You can check out some of those results here. Some definite red flags from the report show that melamine and cyanuric acid, a related chemical were found in the baby formula made by U.S. manufacturers Abbott Labs, maker of Similac; Mead Johnson, maker of Enfamil; and Nestle, maker of Good Start. The sad and alarming news is that these 3 brands make up 90% of all of the formula sold in this country.

Shortly after the China infant formula contamination scare, Nature’s One made it a integral operational process to test each production run of their “Baby’s Only Organic” and “PediaSmart” products for Melamine. The products are manufactured in the U.S.A. with no milk protein or dairy derivatives purchased from China.

They also are the only carriers of organic lactose free milk based formula, Baby’s Only Organic® Lactose Free. It is a great solution for parents who wish to avoid soy proteins and for babies who are lactose intolerant. Instead of corn syrup, which is found in all other lactose free formulas, the company uses brown rice syrup. The formula is designed to address common digestion problems that result in fussiness, gas and bloating. You can only purchase here and the company offers free shipping if you buy by the case or they have a maximum shipping rate of just $5.95.

Of course I have to mention that the healthiest, sustainable, economical sense for providing your baby with the nutrients and goodness he or she needs is breastfeeding. Here are just a few benefits of breastfeeding as referenced from the NRDC:

• Breast-fed children are more resistant to disease and infection early in life than formula-fed children
• Breast-fed children are less likely to contract a number of diseases later in life, including juvenile diabetes, multiple sclerosis, heart disease, and cancer before the age of 15
• Mothers who breastfeed are less likely to develop osteoporosis later in life, are able to lose weight gained during pregnancy more easily and have a lower risk of breast, uterine and ovarian cancer