Pregnant Possibilities
Special Guest - Dr. Neal Barnard, President PCRM
Recorded - Sept 24, 2020
Topics discussed:
probiotics like kombucha, Kefir, Sauerkraut
herbicide: atrazine effect on pregnancy
herbicide: glyphosate effect on pregnancy
Hand Sanitizer - with Triclosan
PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls
endometriosis and impact on pregnancy
The Pregnancy Advantage.
Our objective is to help women to get their bodies pregnant ready...and also provide support if you are experiencing difficulties in conceiving.
Exciting news, we are currently working on The Baby Advantage program, which will begin at conception and take you through your first year!
Dra. Maria Jose De La Fuente asks all of us… who… is working with me on The Plant Based Advantage, en espanol…. Coming soon, our website PlantBasedLatino.net
She asks what do you docs think about probiotics like kombucha, Kefir, Sauerkraut?
Dr. Barnard, you wrote a book called Your Body in Balance…. Which is like the owner’s manual for the Thyroid. If anyone would like the Cliff notes… check out the video series Dr. Barnard and I completed….you can find it under videos at SimplyPlantBased.net.
In your book you discuss the second leading herbicide in America atrazine.
Can this impact pregnancy or perhaps conception?
Widely used as weed killer for corn and sorghum crops
Sprayed on lawns and golf courses
Gets into rivers and streams and
gets into the water
Tract
atrazine concentrations in the water in 22 Ohio communities
Look at pregnancies = atrazine and drinking water = low birth weight
Another major herbicide and desiccant is glyphosate.
What are the issues here?
Could it also have an impact on fertility? On the gut microbiota?
Kills plants by blocking the enzymes they need for growth
Test tube studies have shown when mixed with breast cancer cells, glyphosate attaches to their estrogen receptors and pushes the cells to proliferate
It acts like an estrogen.
2015 WHO determined glyphosate is probably carcinogenic to humans
Triclosan, is one of the major antibacterial agents that was used. In theory, this was banned. But I'm still seeing it in quite a few products. Can this chemical have an impact on fertility?
Health risks, including, Disrupted thyroid function
Because of potential health concerns, due to the possibility of antimicrobial resistance, endocrine disruption,
triclosan has been designated as a "contaminant of emerging concern (CEC)", meaning it is under investigation for public health risk.
Triclosan is thought to accumulate in wastewater and return to drinking water,
propagating a buildup that could cause increasing effects with ongoing use.
Triclosan can react with the free chlorine in chlorinated tap water to produce lesser amounts of other compounds, such as 2,4-dichlorophenol.
From Wikipedia - Endocrine disruptors,
Chemicals that can interfere with endocrine (or hormonal) systems. These disruptions can cause cancerous tumors, birth defects, and other developmental disorders. Found in many household and industrial products, endocrine disruptors "interfere with the synthesis, secretion, transport, binding, action, or elimination of natural hormones in the body that are responsible for development, behavior, fertility, and maintenance of homeostasis (normal cell metabolism)."
Any system in the body controlled by hormones can be derailed by hormone disruptors. Specifically, endocrine disruptors may be associated with the development of learning disabilities, severe attention deficit disorder, cognitive and brain development problems; deformations of the body (including limbs); breast cancer, prostate cancer, thyroid and other cancers; sexual development problems such as feminizing of males or masculinizing effects on females, etc.
Let’s discuss PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls
definite carcinogens in humans.
What are your thoughts on what these chemicals can do...if there are issues for expectant mothers?
effects such as endocrine disruption (notably blocking of thyroid system functioning) and neurotoxicity are known.
PCBs collect in body fat and milk fat.
PCBs biomagnify up the food web and are present in fish and waterfowl of contaminated aquifers. Human infants are exposed to PCBs through breast milk or by intrauterine exposure.
were banned in 1977.... But they still persist in the environment.
What are these doing to us?
Something else we discuss in The Pregnancy Advantage is dealing with health issues that might contribute to infertility. One common one is endometriosis? Can diet help this?
- Special Guest: Dr. Neal Barnard - Pregnant Possibilities - Q&A w/ Drs. Debra and Jeanne (Sept 24) ( Download)
- Special Guest: Dr. Neal Barnard - Pregnant Possibilities - Q&A w/ Drs. Debra and Jeanne (Aug 13) ( Download)
