# inducing lactation to rid body of toxins?



## SaveTheWild (Mar 14, 2003)

OK, now I am sure that you all, like everyone else I have mentioned this to, are going to think I am crazy, but I wanted your advice anyway.

I am not yet pregnant, but I am doing a lot of research about how to best prepare myself for pregnancy and breastfeeding, since I want to do whatever I can protect and nurture my baby. One thing that has really been bothering me lately is the fact that breastmilk carries fat-soluable toxins released from the mother's body. There is no way I would ever choose to feed my baby formula (I know that nothing can be totally planned, but I hope that, even if it is difficult, I will be able to breastfeed) and I know that even with the toxins, breastmilk is 1000% better all around. So that leaves me with the question -- how can I rid my body of the toxins it has accumulated throughout my life (or at least reduce them) before I get pregnant and start to nurse?

From what I have read it is difficult to detoxify fat-soluable toxins, because they are stored in your fat and are not easily "filtered out" by the liver. Breastfeeding seems to work to remove the toxins because the fat cells themselves pass from the mother to the baby.

Sooooooo ..... I was actuallly considering inducing lactation in order to literally pump toxins out of my body before my baby even gets here.

OK, so is that crazy? And if it isn't crazy, how hard, really, is inducing lactation. I have read a lot about it and it seems very difficult and like even if it is sucessful I may not produce a very high volume of milk, which would greatly diminish the detoxifying aspect of the whole endeavor.

thoughts?


----------



## wombat (Nov 3, 2002)

Interesting idea but sounds like a lotta work to me - I wouldn't do it. Just pumping to increase my supply was horrible. I got more plugged ducts when I pumped full time.

There was another post a while ago about a woman wanting to pump, in addition to feeding her baby, in order to lose weight. So lots of creative uses for lactating around here







101 uses for lactating breasts? That'd make a good comic strip









Aren't there other ways to detox? I'm reading 'Having Faith' by Sandra Steingraber at the moment. She's an ecologist who is pregnant and gives a good biological and ecological account of the issues. Makes ya paranoid to read too many of these books though. Even if you do detox via whatever means, you still gotta breathe and eat and drink and are invariably exposed to more toxins. Although I see what you mean about reducing your lifetime exposure supply of toxins. I think it might be simpler to focus on strengthening the body to be able to withstand these toxic insults rather than tear your hair out trying to avoid them.

I wonder if I could justify liposuction for this purpose? I mean then it isn't just a cosmetic procedure. Just a thought. I'd be interested to hear if you know any other ways to detox.


----------



## Quirky (Jun 18, 2002)

Hmmm, interesting idea, but my guess is that it wouldn't work. Adoptive moms who induce lactation have to go through months of cycles of birth control pills, taking domperidone, and pumping every 3 hours round the clock to induce lactation, and many don't develop a full supply ahead of time, if at all. A pump is just not the same as a baby, either, in getting the milk out. So I doubt you could produce enough milk over a long enough period of time to mobilize all the contaminants out of your body to be "pure," so to speak, to nurse a baby.

I have two thoughts: first, if you're overweight, lose the weight if at all possible before getting pregnant. Eat a healthy diet and exercise to do this; don't go on weird diets. The less excess weight you have, the less fat stores you'll have to have contaminants in, IYKWIM. Also, it's definitely harder to lose if after the baby comes....

Second, if you're not a vegetarian already, go (organic) veg. Cutting out meat and fish will go a long way to minimizing your exposures to fat-soluble contaminants, and eating a healthy veg diet will give you time to get rid of some of your body burden of toxins before you get pregnant. Drink lots of clean, pure water, and take your vitamins/minerals.

If you're already veg and have been so for a while, I wouldn't stress out too much about your existing body burden of contaminants, unless you live next to a waste incinerator or something.

I think it's great that you're concerned about this issue; it's terribly important. But I think healthy lifestyle changes are the best thing you can do to get ready to get pregnant and nurse your baby.


----------



## member234098 (Aug 3, 2002)

I actually heard that taking excessive vitamin C would wash during lacatation would wash toxins out of the mother's system and into the baby.

I am not sure if this is true. I can't even remember where I heard it.


----------



## SaveTheWild (Mar 14, 2003)

Hi all,

thanks so much for your thought on this (and thank you for not just telling me I am a nut case...LOL).

That "Having Faith" book is awesome -- I recently read it myself. It did scare me a bit though...in fact it was the thing that sent me down this whole breastmilk contamination path.

I do think that it would be nearly impossible for me to sucessfully induce lactation and produce enough milk pumping alone to make a noticable difference in my body's chemical burden. bummer. It would be really great to be able to do something proactive to help. I definately need to do the vegetarian thing and seriously cut down my dairy intake. I am not at all overweight, but I do want to try to get my body fat lower...not so low that I will have difficulty getting pregnant though.

Here is my question about lowering my body fat percentage...if the toxins are fat-soluable, and the liver cannot effectively metabolize them to flush them out of the body, then by losing fat are you just making the toxins concentrate in fwer and fewer fat cells but not really getting them out of your body? Meaning, if you burn fat and the toxns are released into your blod, then then go to the lover andthe liver can't filter them out b/c they are still bound to some fat molecules, then wouldn't they just go get stored again in the remaining fat cells? If that is the case, then only by actually removing the actual fat cells, like what happens when breastfeeding (or liposuction (as suggested above) would you remove the chemicals... I would be much more willing to go through the trouble of trying to induce lactation that doing liposuction... (have you seen on TV how liposuction is done







um, no thanks.

Well, I guess that leaves me without any great options... I am just so furious that we have let the world's environment become degraded to the point that mothers even have to think about this.







It really is unforgiveable.


----------



## stafl (Jul 1, 2002)

It is my understanding (and I could be wrong, and have no sources to quote on this, just my faulty memory) that the toxins stored in your fat cells are more of a danger to unborn and breastfed babies if you are losing weight, and that gaining more weight is the best way of keeping those toxins tied up in your own body. That's what I was told by my doctor and others when complaining about how much weight I gained during pregnancy, and how I wasn't losing it very fast after DD was born.

Anyway, I do think that losing weight now, before you are pregnant, would still be the best way of ridding yourself of some of those toxins. That, and make sure to drink lots and lots of water every day. I personally noticed a great improvement in my overall health, and with certain symptoms of my endometriosis (which is definitely linked to environmental toxins) when I started drinking about two gallons of water every day.


----------



## DaryLLL (Aug 12, 2002)

No, inducing lactation, or breastfeeding, will not decrease toxins in your body. Why would Mother Nature have designed it so that breastfeeding your baby would involve poisoning it with your stored toxins?

It is not recomended to go on crash diets during the breastfeeding periods. Crash dieting can cause you to dump toxins into your blood, and then into your waste and your milk.

Eating an organic diet, and trying to live in a non-polluted area (good luck) would seem to be the way to best prepare your body to be as pure as possible for pregnancy/lactation.


----------



## SaveTheWild (Mar 14, 2003)

Quote:

_Originally posted by DaryLLL_
*No, inducing lactation, or breastfeeding, will not decrease toxins in your body. Why would Mother Nature have designed it so that breastfeeding your baby would involve poisoning it with your stored toxins?*
Oh how I wish it was not true, but sadly it is. (there is a lot of info available on this issue in both books, and on the internet, LLL, etc.) I think the key is that Mother Nature did design milk to be the perfect food, but Mother Nature didn't predict that dioxin, PCBs, TCE, Mercury, and other pollutants would enter our bodies.

It does sound like the key is for me to get my body fat percentage down as low as I can now, without causing my cycle to stop, and then, once I get pregnant and am nursing try not to lose any weight so that I can keep my fat cells intact.


----------



## Quirky (Jun 18, 2002)

I was just reading today in the section on breastfeeding in my Raising Your Vegetarian Child book that mothers who are vegan have something like 1-2 percent the levels of the PCBs and other nasties in their milk as non-vegan moms.

Even being vegetarian would help, just don't eat much dairy (and what you do eat make sure it's low to no fat and organic).

But since animal fats are the biggest source of dietary contaminants, I would think that this would be the most important step you could take in minimizing your intake.

Here's a link to the book, I've really enjoyed it so far.


----------



## SaveTheWild (Mar 14, 2003)

So, since I am obsessed with this issue, I did some more internet research adn found a good source of information. Here is the Natural Resources Defense Council's (NRDC) report:

http://www.nrdc.org/breastmilk/default.asp

and their suggestions about what to do: http://www.nrdc.org/breastmilk/whattodo.asp (basically what we have all been discussing -- reduce animal fats in our diets)

and their page full of links about this issue:

http://www.nrdc.org/breastmilk/links.asp

I figure, the more information the better, even if I don't like what I read...


----------



## Quirky (Jun 18, 2002)

T wombat, your PM box is full!

sfgal, good find on the NRDC site.


----------



## SaveTheWild (Mar 14, 2003)

It me again. I guess I just can't help but replying to my own post. sorry.









So earlier in this post, in response to a post by DaryLLL, I stated that info on this topic was available in many places, books, medical journals (OK, I didn't say that, but should have), on the internet, and *on the LLL website*. I remember reading something about the issue on LLL before, so I went there to find more info about it today. .. *There was almost nothing there on the topic.* I found some references, but they were buried in other sections and really not very in depth.

Since there doesn't seem to be much controvery on the science which shows that toxins do in fact enter a mother's breast milk, and LLL is clearly the forefront in terms of breastfeeding education, etc, the fact that there wasn't much information on this issue there seemed very bothersome to me.

I am wondering if LLL doesn't want to provide information about toxins in breastmilk because they fear that it would be used by the formula pushers as yet another ploy to get women to stop breastfeeding. I can understand this fear, but, in my opinion, this doesn't provide an excuse not to provide information to mothers about the issue.

LLL is a powerful organization and could have a lot of clout in getting the legislature, media, etc. to take notice of, and do something about, environmental pollutants making their way into our babies through milk. Again, I am only opining on what the motivation of LLL is in not publicing this "toxins in breastmilk" issue, but if it is because they doen't want people to have the information because they will misuse it or blow it out of proportion and stop breastfeeding, I think that is terrible. Pretending something isn't true doesn't make the issue go away. I think the best thing LLL could do would be to address the issue head on and join the fight to protect mothers from pollutants that harm our babies.

While it is probably true that the information about toxins in breastmilk would be misused by some people, the information is already out there, LLL is not keeping the info away from anyone by pretending it isnt' there. I guess I just feel like they should be a totally complete source of breastfeeding information.

OK, sorry, just my little "toxins in breastmilk" rant of the day.

Thoughts on this?


----------



## Elphaba (Nov 19, 2001)

sfgal, i was reading a book called "Fresh Milk" this evening and there was a section that discussed reducing dioxin in the body through breastfeeding. the woman in question nursed for over 3 years and reduced her dioxin levels by two-thirds.
funny that i read that and then found this thread.


----------



## SaveTheWild (Mar 14, 2003)

Quote:

_Originally posted by Elphaba_
*sfgal, i was reading a book called "Fresh Milk" this evening and there was a section that discussed reducing dioxin in the body through breastfeeding. the woman in question nursed for over 3 years and reduced her dioxin levels by two-thirds.
funny that i read that and then found this thread.







*
that is such a coincidence. I always find it so interesting when that happens... I guess you were meant to find this thread...or I was meant to read "fresh milk"...


----------



## DaryLLL (Aug 12, 2002)

Hi,

I did not mean to imply that no toxins were released by breastmilk. I guess I was thinking the amt released would be in small amts and released very slowly. And I thought inducing lactation would be an inefficient (and tiring) way to reduce toxins before pregnancy. I mean, you wouldn't want to do it for 3 yrs!

I have not seen any properly conducted studies about just how fast and fully they are released, with before and after testing. If you have any links, I would like to see them, please. If one woman reduced her toxins aby 2/3, is this backed up by research? Did she make no other changes in her diet? Did all the toxins go into the baby then? One story, of course, is just one story.

But now you have got my curiosity up. I will do a google. No, I do not think LLL would neglect to release info like this for such an ulterior motive! If you say you did not find anything on the LLL website, the info may still be available to Leaders thru other channels. I will look.

Of course LLL recs a whole foods diet to all. So, lowering the amt of non-organic animal fats in the mother's diet (to reduce toxins and for other reasons) would tie in with the nutrition concept.


----------



## SaveTheWild (Mar 14, 2003)

I found a great link. This is an excerpt right out of "Having faith: An Ecologist's journey into Motherhood" -- the book a few of the posts discussed above. It beautifully expresses the frustrating dillemma we all face.

http://www.bcaction.org/Pages/Search...etter071I.html

here's another one: the national academies of science just last week put out a report on dioxin in food and breastmilk. It is good to see that at least the issue is getting some real attention -- even if there isn't a real solution yet.

http://www4.nationalacademies.org/ne...1?OpenDocument

OK, one more...

http://www.chej.org/SF/protectingbaby's.html (this is from the center for health, environment and justice)

I am seriously feeling like there needs to be a national campaign -- like the million mom march or something -- to make polluters stop pumping dioxin into the air and into our food, and to stop using chemicals that are making their way into our bodies and our babies bodies. I know that we are very small voices in this mess, but as they say, many small voices can come together to really shout!


----------



## mariamommy (Jul 2, 2003)

Since you are not yet pregnant, you could try fasting. Fast is the quickest way of letting the body release toxins, and that is why during the second, third, fourth day of fast you will feel very sick - it's called the healing crisis. I'm sure you are capable of studying the subject in the internet. Or just try a 24-hour fast on your own (with water or lemon juice), probably at some point you'll start feeling headache or general malaise because toxins are entering bloodstream from wherever they've been stored.
As far as what I understand, the cells will start simply dumping the toxins out into bloodstream when you fast. Some people might evfen have to slow down that by breaking the fast or just doing juice fast instead of water only fast.

Also, found this when doing a quick search:
http://www.barleans.com/literature/g...cleansing.html

Maybe a green drinks fast would do even better.

Also, if you fast, remember to cleanse your colon with enemas or take something to make you go, otherwise some of the toxins released will just stay in there...

http://www.mnwelldir.org/docs/detox/cilantro.htm
This one is about cilantro and chelation therapy.

HTH

maria


----------



## Yin Yang (Jul 9, 2003)

_Moderators Note

Post deleted for failure to comply with advertising guidelines. Please reread the Rules and Guidelines.

Please avoid:

4- Posting to advertise your product or business. Acceptable advertising on the boards is available and information may be obtained by contacting the administrator._


----------



## wombat (Nov 3, 2002)

SavetheWild, thanks for the nrdc links, they were really interesting. Somehow I got onto reading about carpet fumes.. and got rather sidetracked, having just moved into an apartment with new carpet - I didn't know it emits toxic fumes. Ahhh, dd has been laying on it. Have been furiously vacuuming twice a day now. Like I really needed something more to do...

I like the way Steingraber expresses it as a human rights issue. Simple pollution doesn't seem to motivate big business and government much these days.

It was good to learn about how the earlier milk has more toxins in it. I've got a freezer full of pumped milk and a baby who after months of bottle preference now has no idea what to do with a bottle nipple... I think I'll just toss that earlier milk.

While I was pregnant, I also read The Prenatal Prescription. It had lots of good stuff about how prenatal nutrition affects the baby. Fascinating stuff.

I was thinking about how that lawsuit against the Oreo makers re the trans fatty acids. I just thought that was a great use of the law to make everyone sit up and pay attention. Nothing like a good legal threat and concern about profits to make big business move. I wonder what case you could make out of this issue. I mean these chemicals are far worse than trans fatty acids.

It's really awful thinking about it but I conceived my dd in Japan - she was Made In Japan







- I had spent 4 years there subsisting on canned tuna sandwiches and fresh tuna and swordfish. Not to mention the pollution in Tokyo. And the product labels that I couldn't read. I remember using this mosquito repellant - it's like a little nightlight which you put some chemical canister in and as it heats it emits fumes that kill the mosquitoes. It was really effective but I wonder what the hell was in that! I remember always lecturing my mum about her smoking and her saying she couldn't help it, she got hooked before it was known how bad it was... I have visions of my dd saying that about the tuna fish I ate in Japan one day


----------



## SaveTheWild (Mar 14, 2003)

Quote:

_Originally posted by wombat_
*Somehow I got onto reading about carpet fumes.. and got rather sidetracked, having just moved into an apartment with new carpet - I didn't know it emits toxic fumes.*
I don't know what your weather is like out there now, but from what I have read, the best thing to do with new carpet fumes is to ventilate your papartmetn as much as you can by leaving the windows open, in a way that you can get a cross-breeze if possible.

Quote:

*It was good to learn about how the earlier milk has more toxins in it. I've got a freezer full of pumped milk and a baby who after months of bottle preference now has no idea what to do with a bottle nipple... I think I'll just toss that earlier milk.*
Yeah, one thought I had was to pump and feed during the first few months, to try to help reduce the levels of toxins earlier...having never had a baby or nursed though, I may be in fantasy land on that one -- it is probably a lot harder to pump and nurse, especially in the beginning, than I am expecting.

about tossing the milk -- you may be able to donate it. breastmilk is always better than formula, so if there are other babies out there without access to breastmilk, yours could come in handy...



*Quote:*

It's really awful thinking about it but I conceived my dd in Japan - she was Made In Japan







- I had spent 4 years there subsisting on canned tuna sandwiches and fresh tuna and swordfish. Not to mention the pollution in Tokyo. And the product labels that I couldn't read. I remember using this mosquito repellant - it's like a little nightlight which you put some chemical canister in and as it heats it emits fumes that kill the mosquitoes. It was really effective but I wonder what the hell was in that! I remember always lecturing my mum about her smoking and her saying she couldn't help it, she got hooked before it was known how bad it was... I have visions of my dd saying that about the tuna fish I ate in Japan one day








I am sorry to have led you down this path... I hate thinking about those things too. But really, we can only do so much, you know. I am sure your dd will be fine. What I try to tell myself, is that we are all constantly encountering chemicals -- the best we ca do is to try to limit our exposeure to those we can control, an then just hope for the best...










oh, for those who are confused by the references to sfgal, I changed my username from sfgal to SaveTheWild yesterday...


----------



## wombat (Nov 3, 2002)

" Yeah, one thought I had was to pump and feed during the first few months, to try to help reduce the levels of toxins earlier...having never had a baby or nursed though, I may be in fantasy land on that one -- it is probably a lot harder to pump and nurse, especially in the beginning, than I am expecting."

We had a lot of latching problems and subsequently a supply problem so I've pumped since dd was born. I ended up building up an oversupply with the pump. So when dd could finally latch well and overcame her artificial nipple problems, I didn't have to pump 6-10 times a day. But boy did I get engorged then. She's now 5.5 mo and I'm still engorged at night. I only have to pump once at night now and that's just for comfort and to prevent plugged ducts if she doesn't have a good night feed. So it is feasible to use the pump to get more milk out, and therefore toxins but I swear, it'd be a full time job in itself. It'd be like nursing twins, your baby and the pump. And because of the engorgement, you're really tied to the breast pump if you go out longer than a few hours. My whole life used to revolve around what I could do in between pumping. If you do decide to do this, make sure you rent a Medela or Ameda hospital grade pump. They're more powerful and can get more milk out in less time.

God, now I've read up on napthalene (moth balls). I didn't know that was toxic either. I moved about 4 times in 2 years each time packing my books with moth balls... arrghhhh
OT - in an attempt to give dh practice sleeping with a baby, during the 9th month of pregnancy, we slept with the SnuggleNest in our bed with my childhood baby doll in it. He used to complain to high heaven about how my doll stunk of moth balls. He was always trying to toss the 'baby' out of the bed. I'd packed her in moth balls too while in storage for 8 years!

I finally managed to finish Having Faith tonight. I wish I'd read that book a lot earlier. I feel like I need to get a chemistry degree before I can safely shop and use household products now. I guess I'm just thankful I wasn't having a baby 10-20 years ago - sounded even worse then.


----------



## welldone (May 30, 2003)

I wonder what SaveTheWild ever did? Care to share an update?

I've had these concerns myself, ever since read Having Faith. Unfortunately for me, I read this great book when my daughter was 6 months old, not pre-conception. If only I had lost weight and change my living habits BEFORE children!

So, now I'm left with the big issue: Do I lose weight, or breastfeed?

My daughter is now 14 months old, and I never had a plan for breastfeeding. I knew I wanted to nurse a year, but that was all. Now, I'm shooting for age 2, or when she wants to wean. Problem is, I need to lose about 50 lbs! I do not want to get pregnant with #2 until I lose weight (and reduce the toxins in my body), but I also don't want to wait until my daughter is 2-3 to start losing weight. And, I don't want to wait years before getting pregnant again!

Basically, I'm unhappy and unhealthy in this overweight body. But, I've been hesitant to lose weight while my daughter is nursing. The simple answer would be to wean...but turns out, that's not so simple. Comments/suggestions?

For those interested in a great detox/weight loss program, check out the Fat Flush Plan by Ann Louise Gittelman. Great book, great plan. Not only is it good for weight loss, but the book has plenty of scientific research to back up the specific foods she chooses. She advocates an organic diet, free of caffiene and other harmful substances. She focuses on detoxifying the body, espeically during the two week Phase One. Some do this two week detox every season, or annually.
www.fatflush.com


----------



## DaryLLL (Aug 12, 2002)

If you lose the weight gradually, as anyone should, you will not dump toxins inot your milk

Read,







Eat Well Lose Weight While Breastfeeding


----------



## myrrhmaid (Aug 20, 2002)

i just wanted to add that vit. c removes water soluable toxicans from tissues and organs and grapeseed extract removes them from fatty tissue.


----------



## SaveTheWild (Mar 14, 2003)

I am so glad to see that this issue is still interesting people. It has obviously been a huge issue for me! Anyway, by way of update, as of now I basically decided not to induce lactation (although I still may change my mind). I have a very demanding job and when I really try to imagine the practical implications of doing this, it started to get a bit overwhlming. (Its one thing to pump every few hours at work when you actually have a baby. Since I am not even pregnant yet, it would be a bit hard to explain why I was doing it (i.e. people would think I was a freak).

I am still convinced that it is probably the best thing to do to rid the body of the toxins prior to actually breastfeeding a baby, since you are actually shedding molecules of fat along with their accumulated toxins. I am just sadly coming to realize that the practical hurdles may be too much for me to overcome. I haven't completely given up on the idea though.

I am assuming noone else tried it (?) If anyone did , please, please, please let me know how you managed.

Cheers!


----------



## SaveTheWild (Mar 14, 2003)

Reinvigorated by this thread, I did some more google searching and found this site
http://www.borstvoeding.com/abon/bf_toxins.html It has a ton of citations at the end with links to studies, reports, etc.

and this http://members.aol.com/JanuszB/milkpage.htm another one with a million links to info.


----------



## NadiaSJ (Aug 15, 2003)

How about doing a purification rundown offered by the Church of Scientology before you get pregnant, of course. I know a lot of people who have done it and have heard many great things. You can check on the website to get more info, maybe you can find a facility near you.

Purification Rundown

Good Luck!


----------

