The Hemp Connection:
lentils

Most people, by the time they find this blog, have been introduced to the idea that carbs are"bad".

I propose a new way of thinking.

Carbs, when eaten to satisfy insatiable carbohydrate cravings, are being used to feed a potentially destructive biochemical imbalance.

Carbs, when eaten as part of a balanced diet, and when chosen from unrefined foods that also provide fiber, vitamins, minerals, and anti-oxidants, can be incredibly important in overall health and recovery from PCOS.

By now this blog has quite a bit of information on what you can do to help your carbohydrate cravings. So today I wanted to talk about a carbohydrate that can be helpful to include.

Ezekiel bread gets its name from the fact that its ingredients are all mentioned in the Bible verse Ezekiel 4:9.

"But as for you, take wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet and spelt, put them in one vessel and make them into bread for yourself; you shall eat it according to the number of the days that you lie on your side, three hundred and ninety days."

The bread is supposedly nutritionally complete. I'm not so sure about that, but I do know because it contains bean flour it is much higher in protein than your average bread. And, Biblical scholar or not…it can be a great food to add to your diet so that sandwiches, a handy convenience food, don't have to be eliminated from your"things I can pack for lunch" list.

I like to call our PCOS diet an"aggressive Mediterranean" diet. And because this recipe originates from the Bible, it falls in that category.

These days, Ezekiel bread is pretty easily found in most healthy food stores. The folks at Food for Life have trademarked the name"Ezekiel 4:9", and they've ventured into other products such as pasta, that you may be interested in trying.

If you cannot find Ezekiel bread in your local store, I found the recipe online for you to make it yourself.

Turkey sandwich piled with veggies…here I come!

The relationship between nutrition and pre-eclampsia is getting stronger! Researchers have reported that using a multivitamin supplement containing folic acid in the second trimester of pregnancy helped to reduce the risk of pre-eclampsia. Personally, since folic acid is also recommended to any woman who is trying to conceive, I'd recommend taking it all the time instead of trying to guess when is the right time.

I've worked with many women trying to conceive, who have trouble changing their food habits. Some, out of fear of those changes or frustration at the challenge, give up, let the reproductive endocrinologist be the primary person fixing the problem, and figure they'll worry about their diet later.

Bad idea.

What you eat when you're preparing to become pregnant, while you're pregnant, while you're nursing, and while you're getting back into shape after all of that, are all vitally important. There's no such logical strategy as putting nutrition on the back burner, letting the doctor fix the problem, and worrying about the food later. It all fits together…and it affects more than just you!

By the way, good sources of folic acid include: lentils (right now is great weather for soup!),boiled collard greens (great if you're a Southern belle), chickpeas (whoo hoo for hummous!), papaya (always great in a fruit salad), frozen peas (easy to keep in the freezer), asparagus (this is the season when it starts getting cheap), broccoli (easy to keep around), strawberries (not a hard thing to have to eat), oranges (a winter favorite).

Wen SW, Chen XK, Rodger M, White RR, Yang Q, Smith GN, Sigal RJ, Perkins SL, Walker MC. Folic Acid in Early Second Trimester May Reduce Risk of Preeclampsia Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2008;198:45.e1-45.e7.