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This is the weekly record chart for the Lacto-Ovo version of the Brewer Diet--which you can print and post on your refrigerator.
See here for portion sizes...
If you check off each food every day, you will know that you have satisfied the Brewer minimum recommendation for 2600 calories,
80-120 grams protein, and salt-to-taste. Please check off only one box for each food (i.e. put a check mark in either "Milk"
or "Protein" for a glass of milk, but not both)
Please check the notes after the chart for information on how to adjust this Basic Plan for special situations such as hot
weather or the inclusion of extra exercise in your life.
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Foods
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Sunday
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Monday
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Tuesday
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Wednesday
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Thursday
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Friday
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Saturday
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Milk
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Milk
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Milk
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Milk
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Calcium
replacements
(add more
as needed)
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Calcium
replacements
(2 per
soy milk)
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Egg
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Egg
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Protein
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Protein
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Protein
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Protein
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Protein
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Protein
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Protein
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Protein
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Green
Vegetable
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Green
Vegetable
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Whole
grains
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Whole
grains
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Whole
grains
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Whole
grains
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Whole
grains
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Vitamin C
Source
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Vitamin C
Source
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Vitamin C
Source
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Fats
and Oils
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Fats
and Oils
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Fats
and Oils
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Fats
and Oils
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Fats
and Oils
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Vitamin A
Source
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Vitamin A
Source
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Salt
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Water
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Snacks
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Supplements
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Reprinted and adapted from The Brewer Medical Diet for Normal and High-Risk Pregnancy, by Gail Sforza Brewer with Thomas
Brewer, M.D., 1983.
The Brewer Medical Diet for Normal and High-Risk Pregnancy available here
Lifestyle Adjustments: As you evaluate your nutrition and lifestyle, it would also be helpful to evaluate your level
of activity and add extra nutritious calories if you use extra calories during the week, with jogging, biking, skating, skiing,
or other sports, or other extra calorie-depleting activities, like teaching, dancing, waitressing, nursing, doctoring, or
other activities that keep you on your feet all day. Caring for other children, working both outside and in the home, caring
for other family members, and housework would also use up a lot of calories, especially as the baby gets bigger and you burn
up calories just carrying around the extra weight of the baby, uterus and extra blood volume. You can also evaluate whether
other stresses in your life might be using up extra calories. If you have had extra stresses in your life, then adding extra
nutritious calories and other nutrients to compensate for those calorie-burning stresses would help to keep your blood volume
expanded and your pregnancy and baby healthy.
See here to help you evaluate your daily nutrition patterns
See here for a nutrition/lifestyle self-assessment which I highly recommend
Eating Patterns:The usual eating pattern that we suggest that pregnant women can use to keep up with their nutritional
needs is as follows: breakfast, mid-morning snack, lunch, mid-afternoon snack, supper, bedtime snack, middle-of-the-night
snack. If you are having trouble keeping up with the amount of food that you need, or if you are having trouble keeping your
blood pressure within a normal range, we suggest that you eat something with protein in it (glass of milk, cheese cubes, handful
of nuts, handful of trail mix, etc), every hour that you are awake.
Morning Sickness: If you are dealing with nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea, it is vitally important to try to alleviate
those problems as soon as possible, since they also contribute to depleting your blood volume. You can try frequent, small
snacks, herbs, and homeopathy to help you in this effort. If you decide to try using ginger, which can be very effective
for "morning" sickness, use it only in small amounts, and only just before eating some kind of food, since too much ginger
can cause bleeding and possibly miscarriage.
See a resource for homeopathy for morning sickness here
In September of this year (2008) a study came out from Denmark which seems to emphatically support something which the Brewers
and their supporters have been saying for over 30 years. That is that pregnant women who lose extra salt, or burn extra calories,
through extra exercise NEED to compensate for those losses by adding extra salt and calories to their diets. When they do
not make special allowances for their unique needs in this way, their blood volume will drop, and they will develop rising
BPs, pathological edema, pre-eclampsia, HELLP, IUGR, premature labor, underweight babies, and other complications associated
with low blood volume. This particular study was looking at only pre-eclampsia, and only at recreational exercise, but those
of us who understand the Brewer principles understand that the same principles do apply to all of these other complications,
and to any source of salt/fluid/calorie loss, as well.
"Pregnant exercise 'unsafe'"
Read more.......
"Women who exercise during pregnancy face risk of pre-eclampsia, researchers warn"
Read more.......
"Exercise in pregnancy linked to fatal raised blood pressure condition"
Read more.......
Adjusting for Salt Loss: It would also be helpful for you to evaluate whether you are ever in situations that result
in your losing extra sweat and salt--situations such as gardening in hot weather, exercising, living in hot homes during the
winter, or living without air-conditioning in the summer, or working in over-heated working conditions. If you do have one
of those situations, it would be helpful for you to add extra salt and nutritious fluids to your daily nutrition. This extra
effort will help to keep your blood volume expanded to where it needs to be to prevent elevated blood pressure, pre-eclampsia,
and other complications.
Calories plus Salt plus Protein: Eating the recommended amount of protein every day isn't enough to keep your blood
volume expanded to where it needs to be for preventing complications in pregnancy. It is also vitally important to make sure
that your intake of nutritious calories and salt are also at the recommended levels, with special extra allowances added as
needed for your unique situation.
Herbal Diuretics: Unfortunately, some areas of the "alternative medicine" community have followed mainstream medicine
in the belief that diuretics are important and useful for treating edema and elevated blood pressure in pregnancy. Many pregnancy
teas and some supplements and juices include nettle, dandelion, alfalfa, bilberry, or celery, all of which have diuretic properties.
Diuretics are no safer for pregnancy in herbal form than they are in prescription medications, so it is important for pregnant
women to watch which herbs they are taking.
See here for more information about the use of herbal diuretics in pregnancy
Empowering Women: I would also like to add here the assurance that Dr. Brewer was not blaming the mother for her situation,
as some would claim that he was, and neither am I. He is clearly blaming her doctor for not having the routine of examining
her nutritional status and doing a differential diagnosis for her. He is saying that if her doctor is not doing this with
her, then it is most important for her to do it for herself, for the sake of her own health and that of her baby.
See here for the Vegan Vegetarian Brewer Pregnancy Weekly Record
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