Thanks for all of the information-rich responses! I have some reading to do now.... -j An alien implant forced Brad Cooley to write: > On Mon, 2 Oct 2000 19:31:04 -0700, jeremy bornstein <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > >I'm seriously considering impregnating someone. (Yes, someone > >specific.) I've just started eating paleo and am very happy with it > >myself. The prospective mother, however, is a vegan. > > > >So, for the optimum health of my potential future progeny, how > >important is it for me to prevail upon the prospective mother to > >reconsider her diet? > > > > She probably doesn't have to go strict paleo to have a healthy baby. My > wife had fertility problems, irregular periods, etc. until she started > eating paleo. She had a normal period shortly thereafter and got > pregnant. We had gone 4 years without using birth control. > > As for her diet during pregnancy, I was very adamant that she stick to the > paleo regime, until she ordered "Chuckwagon Cheese Fries" at Saltgrass > Steakhouse. I, of course, said "What are you doing?! You can't eat > that!" She promptly began crying uncontrollably. So I quit commenting on > her diet. Everything turned out fine though because she was very > interested in making sure that she was getting adequate nutrition. She did > her own reading on prenatal nutrition (which was almost always near-paleo > strangely enough) and made sure to eat plenty of meat and fruit and take a > prenatal vitamin. She had a very easy pregnancy and relatively easy > birth. She gained only 25 lbs and lost 35 within a month of giving birth. > > >(What to do once the child is born is another issue which I would also > >be happy to discuss.) > > > > If you want a paleo-baby, you will want to breastfeed. Well, not you, but > the prospective mother. You may want to leave the research to the mother, > but it seems to me, based on my research and experience with my 5 month > old, that a diet centered arount meat is essential to having an adequate > milk supply and a growing baby. My baby is in the 95th percentile for her > size and age. This is consistent with other breastfed children that I know > whose mothers do not restrict their diet to vegan/vegetarian. I am aware > of one vegetarian mother that had to start eating meat because her milk > supply was dwindling. In fact, my wife has started craving red meat that > is cooked medium rare as opposed to well-done red meat or chicken which she > preferred before the baby. > > Also, Native Nutrition by Ronald Schmid has some information on the effects > of diet on pregnancy and breastfeeding. You can also research the > following website which has some information on problems with > Vegan/Vegetarian prenatal diets and the impportance of Omega 3 fatty acids. > http://www.best.com/~falcao/archives/nutrition.html#General > > Good Luck, > > Brad -- jeremy bornstein <[log in to unmask]> A good soldier is not violent. A good fighter is not angry. [lao tsu, _tao te ching_] http://dissolute.com/