by Sarah Pope / Affiliate Links ✔
Last evening, I chatted with Sean Croxton of Underground Wellness Radio about how mothers and fathers can most effectively be health warriors for their children, fighting the many battles encountered from pre-conception through high school.
Raising healthy children is much more than eating a traditional diet during pregnancy and breastfeeding once the baby is born. There are numerous other battles both large and small along the way that need to be safely navigated, and I had a chance to go over some of the decisions I’ve had to make with my own children.
Some of these might be surprising to you such as why you should really think twice before buying a new home or car when starting a family to the lowdown on school lunches, dental visits and more.
I always enjoy Sean’s easygoing, fun interviewing style, and I’m sure you will too. Listen in below if you have a chance or download to a portable device for convenient listening later!
If you tried to call in and did not get your question asked on the air, feel free to ask below in the comments section and I will do my best to answer the questions in a timely fashion.
Category: Podcasts
Sarah Pope
Sarah Pope MGA has been a Health and Nutrition Educator since 2002. She is a summa cum laude graduate in Economics from Furman University and holds a Master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania.
She is the author of three books: Amazon #1 bestseller Get Your Fats Straight, Traditional Remedies for Modern Families, and Living Green in an Artificial World.
Her four eBooks Good Diet…Bad Diet, Real Food Fermentation, Ketonomics, and Ancestrally Inspired Dairy-Free Recipes are available for complimentary download via Healthy Home Plus.
Her mission is dedicated to helping families effectively incorporate the principles of ancestral diets within the modern household. She is a sought after lecturer around the world for conferences, summits, and podcasts.
Sarah was awarded Activist of the Year in 2010 at the International Wise Traditions Conference, subsequently serving on the Board of Directors of the nutrition nonprofit the Weston A. Price Foundation for seven years.
Her work has been covered by numerous independent and major media including USA Today, ABC, and NBC among many others.
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Reader Interactions
Comments (14)
Miranda I enjoyed the Podcast. I had a question about the GBS testing. I went in for my initial appointment and they took a urine sample. Unbeknownst to me they ran a GBS test and it came out positive. I heard that if it is in your urine that your baby’s chances of being GBS positive are higher. Would you recommend antibiotics in a situation like this?
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- Amy de Vernon
Hi Sarah,
You mentioned that you followed the Weston A Price Pregnant and Nursing Mothers guide during pregnancy and lactation. Were you able to consume red meat and fish every single day? Or just red meat some days and fish some days? As other ladies mentioned on the Price diet page, it just seems like too much to eat in one day. Also, what do you do when you just don’t feel like eating red meat esp. during that first trimester? I also didn’t want to eat it 3rd trimester and ended up being iron anemic. I drank raw milk (at least one to two cups per day) regularly, but still ended up with a long labor (34 hrs.) too. I will say though, my boy was very healthy and weighed more than he looked (nurses even had to bring a second weigh scale to make sure – he looked so small!) Advice for next pregnancy?
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- Julie Knight
Thank you so very much for doing this interview. Great to hear you speak.
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What about clothing? There seems to be little info out there about this. On a limited/tight budget and 3 kids under the age of 6, most of our clothes are hand-me-downs or from garage sales. The smell and feel of these are horrendous! I wash “new to us” clothes anywhere from 3-7 (maybe more??) times to try and get out the detergent and smell, soaking them once or twice for several hours or overnight (in what I recently found out GMO vinegar.) I make sure my kids have organic pj’s, underwear, and cloth diapers which I was separately-however it is certain that every so often some organic piece finds its way into the “regular” laundry. Other than that, we buy very few new with tag clothes (which I wash twice before wearing as I’ve read they may be sprayed depending on what country they originate from???)
What do you know and/or what are your suggestions?
Cotton being one of the most highly sprayed crops, what is your suggestion if you cannot afford all organic clothes?
Are there certain countries of origin that use GMO cotton for clothing?
Obviously, organic oeko-tex certified is best, but what about clothing that is new and is sprayed after being made?
What would be a good alternative or the best choice?
Any suggestions Instead of GMO vinegar to “extract” clean clothes already washed in chemicals, etc. ?
Thank you so much!Reply
- Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
Washing new clothes before wearing them in nontoxic, fragrance free detergents is always a good idea. I don’t use fabric softener unless it is white vinegar. Organic clothing is always preferable but it is not practical for the majority of people (including me). Finding a green dry cleaner is very forward thinking too.
- Juliya
I just wanted to thank you Sarah for the wonderful information in the show. I couldnt agree more with most of the things but was totally surprised with other things such as new baby furniture???? Didnt suspect that one. I had 2 baby girls in the past 2 years and have gotten a new set for the first one…oops.
About ultrasounds., my sister in law got hit hard with speech delay in her twin girls a few years back. She was living here in the US and they did A LOT of ultrasounds to ‘make sure’ things were good. Plus she was given the epidural, which she regretted because she couldn’t feel how she was pushing and pushed too hard with the 2 girls and got red eyes and among other things. When the girls were about 1.5 years old, she moved back to Russia. The girls were not talking past 3 years old and she dug into information, searching for answers and ways to help them. They ended up getting physical therapy on there mouth (weird, i know) but they had to be taught now to move their tongues…. with great results but much effort. My sister in law is so convinced its the numerous unneeded ultrasounds.
I myself had only one ultrasound with my first….thank God no issues, actually she was singing her ABCs by 1.5 yrs old. Great ear. with my 2nd though, I had two ultrasounds and she isnt saying much at all when her older sister was saying one word by now. I know i know, kids are different and I am comparing only for the wonder if ultrasound had any effect. Ahh, may I had the wisdom and strength to decline ultrasound if and when I am pregnant with my third.!Reply
- Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
Hi Juliya, we live in a toxic soup and it is hard to anticipate every single mine that is out there for us to step on! I was definitely doing better with my third child than with my first. Much of this we unfortunately learn the hard way as Moms, which is why I blog to warn others about what’s out there to avoid 🙂
Yay, great show! Thanks!
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I really enjoyed this podcast, thank you as always Sarah! I’m pregnant now, at 6 months and still haven’t had any tests done. I just don’t see a reason to do most of them. My midwife has asked me to go to the health department and get my lab work because there is only so much she can do and she wants to make sure everything is going well. It’s good to know that there is no problem with refusing certain tests. I’m not sure what all they will want to do, but that StrepB test is really not something I was looking forward to. My widwife mentioned that most women who drink a lot of milk end up positive for strepB, and I drink A LOT of raw cows and goats milk. I guess I’ll just call them and see what tests they want to do and do some of my own research before I go in for an appointment.
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- Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
The only test I thought was extremely valuable and did do was the hematocrit finger prick test. There are soooo many tests … just so unnecessary in my view. I actually even skipped the gestational diabetes test with my second and third pregnancy (should have skipped it for the first one too). I knew I didn’t have blood sugar problems … was eating great, little to no sugar (except sometimes natural ones like maple syrup occasionally) and gaining a normal amount of weight.
- Dionne Lewis
Hi Sarah
Great interview!
Wanted to share my own thoughts-
1) with regards to ultrasounds, IV antibiotics, the GBS test and all the things that you are “coerced” in doing when pregnant, I agree one needs to “opt out”. My first child was born in 2001, before I had any knowledge of WAPF and I agreed to the IV with antibiotics, because he was extremely early (35-36 weeks) and no test for GBS was done. Big mistake! He was extremely anemic, constantly sick as a child, had learning disabilities and has had tooth decay even now on a WAPF diet with limited grains, and sugar and lots of cod liver oil and probiotics. What made everything worse was the addition of formula, which as we all know has no nutritive value whatsoever. Also, my last son (I have three children) they determined that he was not growing well in utero, so I had to have numerous ultrasounds from my 28th week onwards. He is speech-delayed at 6 1/2 years of age and he is deaf. We are now paying for these mistakes and if one person reads this and decides not to do the things that I did, it would be worth it. Luckily, no vaccines and further antibiotics are in place at our house – we have learned our lesson. If you are pregnant, take it from me, you need to have someone on board who has knowledge of WAPF, is willing to give you non-invasive care and is willing to encourage a natural birth. I will never have another child in our conventional medical system (I live in Canada).
2) We as mothers need to insist that our children eat as much traditionally grown food as possible. That means sending packed lunches every single day. Some other good foods to send – my daughter eats 7-8 slices of pastured bacon for lunch with baby tomatoes. My oldest loves his fermented veggies for lunch along with pastured meats and raw milk cheese. My baby eats lots of raw milk cheese and pastured meats as well. If they get bored, they can work with me in order to find a good traditionally made food to select for lunch.
3) Pamela’s is a good brand of cookies – I am in Canada and we get them here. They are made with real butter and palm oil. And also, they are gluten-free, which is why I like them.
4) In regards to the new houses and cars and equipment, I could not agree more. We live in a several years’ old house and have a very old car. I received some hand-me-downs for my first son and my mother, for many years, has sewed pajamas for my children. Otherwise, they use their dad’s decades old shirts to sleep in. New clothing is also contaminated with lots of chemicals as well…
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- Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
Thanks for sharing – I commend you for your courage! Ultrasounds are horrible and I cringe whenever women tell me they are having them in a nonchalant tone like it was nothing. They are a big deal as your story shows and should only be used for medical issues that could threaten Mom or baby. By the way, with my third pregnancy, even my midwife was pushing for an ultrasound because I was in my 40’s and the baby’s growth appeared to slow in the final weeks. I knew everything was fine and refused the ultrasound. My daughter was perfect and born at 40 weeks, 7lbs, 9 oz. I had been told she would be underweight and lucky to be 5lbs! When you eat traditionally, babies are denser (heavy bones from the raw milk and cod liver oil) and more compact. Healthcare practitioners aren’t used to women on traditional diet .. lesson being, think for yourself.
I won’t even buy new furniture unless it’s totally made of emission free materials.
- dmt
Would you ever put any kind of sealers on your kids teeth?
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- Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
No I wouldn’t and the reason is that these sealers are estrogenic even the BPA free ones. I have also been apprised of situations where the tooth crumbles underneath the sealant.
