The Ypsilanti daily press. (Ypsilanti, Mich.) 1928-1962, 1944-10-21
Your Health
Expectant Mothers
Not Advised to Eat
For Two
BY Loaan clendennIna, M. o

WE HAVE long since quit
preaching the doctrine that the
expectant mo.ner has TO eat for
two. Lots Of women liked the idea
and it let them satisfy their APP
petite to their hearts content with
a clear conscience. But when put
into practice it resulted in a cum
DR.. Clendening will answer
questions of general interest
only, and then only through
his column.
bersome and even dangerous
weight gain. Many a once pretty
woman who has lost her figure
forever can ascribe it to the in
dulgences of the table or between
meals as practiced over one or two
pregnancies near together.
OF course there is a germ of
truth in it. There is some extra
weight involved in the process
which the mother has to make out
of her diet. The baby weighs about
seven pounds, say six and half
to seven and a half. The womb
increases in size about two pounds.
The water, membranes and after
birth weigh about three to three
and a half pounds. The mothers
muscles, breasts and other parts
naturally increase somewhat -
which is necessary and may
amount to as much as twelve
pounds. Altogether there is a ma
tural increase of aboLt twenty
five pounds. But this is gradual
ly accumulated and can easily be
supplied out of the daily diet with
out much increase in normal in
take. 1t is far less than the thirty
to fifty extra pounds some women
come out with after the baby is
born.
Diet During Pregnancy
AS to the individual items Of
diet which may need to be mani
pulated in the expectant mothers
diet, there is some discussion. The
protein out of which the babys
flesh is built would at first thought
theoretically be increased. But
most of US eat more than our reg
ular amount of protein anyway
and it is the exceptional woman
who needs to increase the protein
deliberately during the prospec.
tive state.
Some authorities believe that at
this time p, TENS contain toxic
substances wAich it is difficult for
the kidneys to get rid of and may
lead to some Of the most serious
complications of pregnancy. One
thing is certain, however, ana
agreed to by all, the protein in the
mothers diet should be Of the
highest biologic quality-the flesh
proteins derived from fish and
poultry and beef, the milk pro-
teins and eggs. ri glandular
tissues with low point values
such as liver, kidneys, sweetbreads
fulfill these requirements very
satisfactorily.
Other Nutritional Requirements
Besides protein the expectant
mothers nutrition requires plenty
of minerals. There is a whole new
human being in the process Of
formation with a whole new set
of bones and that means plenty of
calcium. There is a whole new
blood system and that means iron.
And nervous system which
means phosphorus. Fortunately
there is one common food sub
stance which gives a good supply
of calcium and phosphorus and
that is milk. Milk is however poor
in iron and this must be made up
from red meats, potatoes and
spinach and eggs. There is
disease peculiar to pregnancy
named osteo-malaria where the
bones turn soft from the fact that
calcium is removed from them. II
the mothers diet is poor in cal
cium nature takes the calcium to
form the baby's bones from tie
mothers own bones.
Iodine is still another mineral
Of which the body demands an
extra supply during pregnancy.
Its function is in maintaining the
thyroid gland in good activity. In
most climates the food contains
plenty of iodine - enough for
mother and baby-but il the mpth-
er should be a resident of the
states in the Great Lakes region,
where the supply Of iodine IN the
soil is not very high it would be
well to step up the iodine intake
OF the expectant mother ar.ifi-
cially by taking a few grains Of
sodium iodide a day.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
D. lis it true that every
one carries a certain amount y
syphilis in the body?
Answer No, the average Is 8
per cent of the population. That is
what the proportion was among
the draftees in this war and also
the last, so the proportion seems
to run about the same from year
to year. 1t is, however, an old SUI
perstitious bugaboo that everyone
has syphilis.