I highly encourage new mothers to nurse their babies. I think that nursing is the surest way to feed your baby, taking advantages of the hundreds of thousands of years our bodies have been figuring out what our babies guts need to become established and keep them healthy. Along with obvious advantages nursing has, like creating a bond between you and your baby,breastfeeding also has many other less noticeable benefits to your baby, such as getting gut cultures off to the right ratios, and providing your baby with their first immunity boosters. I will talk more about that later but first lets talk about the foundation to being able to breastfeed well. As I experienced with my first child, nursing is not always easy.
I was only able to breastfed my first daughter for a couple of weeks. My milk acted like a drug putting her to sleep almost as soon as she had latched and when I was able to feed her she acted almost hyper followed by a crash where I would have to check on her just to be sure she was still breathing. After my 2nd and 3rd pregnancies I came to the conclusion that I had sabotaged my first daughters feeding. Before my eldest was born my eating was typical of Mexico, less refined foods then here in the states, but still based heavily on flours, grains, and starches. Unknown to me, I had severely damaged the delicate workings of my own guts, and was so chronically poisoned by gluten (which I am intolerant to) that I had stopped even seeing how badly it was hurting me. After my eldest was born I passed this chronically unhealthy gut culture to my newborn daughter. I was also having problems with my milk production, I produced lots of it right after eating bread or rice and nothing at all some other times. I felt exhausted after feedings and had zero energy to keep taking care of my baby.
When I became pregnant with my second daughter I had been eating all kinds of meat and fish (basically all you can hunt) and plenty of vegetables, fewer fruit ,nuts and zero sugar, auf wiedersehen grains,legumes and dairy! wohoo!
Constipation? gone!, energy? back!, sleep? wonderful, mood swings? none, (well less), cravings? nothing at all really. I never felt hungry before going to bed. I had enough energy to take care of my oldest and go to Crossfit twice a week. On July 23 of 2009 I decided to attend the 5pm class at Crossfit Seattle. I ended up having my second daughter at 9:30 pm that same afternoon after less than 10 minutes of pushing in the squat position (yes! no more chronic back pain and birthing the way your body is designed to was possible for me). You might have heard that is common for some women to have a bowel movement right before giving birth. If my constipation was as severe as it was with my first daughter it would have certainly had happen again and this time it didn’t. Birthing was a lot easier and recovery was 10 times faster.
My daughter had immediately latch to my breast without problems and I never suffered from producing enough milk, I never once burped her after a feeding, she never had constipation problems, never got sick and slept wonderfully during the night for about 12 hours.
Why then, you might think, that she was so different from my eldest? i am convinced the answer is that EATING RIGHT really makes a difference. What we eat has a same effect on both mother and baby composition of the gut flora. A diet of convenience rather than nutrition, full of processed foods has a serious impact on our gut. Babies are born with a sterile gut. Breastfeeding is the only opportunity we have to populate our babies gut with healthy bacteria to lay the basis of our future health. Bottle fed babies create a series of different bacteria which later predisposes them to health problems. In the 60′s and 70′s when breastfeeding became unfashionable, many medical problems arose from that fashion and have become obvious, like diabetes, autoimmune disease, obesity and neurological conditions.
I can keep going on and on about how important eating right is but I have done it for the second time now (with my third child) and believe what I suspected was only further confirmed. Childbirth does not have to be a mega painful stage, your body can cope with the trauma and will release a natural pain-killer. your body was made to birth, if you nourish your body right the experience can be a small price to pay.
Want to have a baby after this discussion? Eating right is important for your health and recovery after a pregnancy but it also has an impact in your daily life and in your baby’s future.
Follow me on how to make hardy and healthy foods 100% from scratch all right here on healthyguts.net where I feed my family the healthy way and you can do it too.
I also understand breastfeeding is important in developing the correct shaped mouth thus preventing overcrowding and orthodontics.
Interesting… but not quite sure that is true or definitely not in all cases. My mother nursed me and I had braces. I nursed my son for 13 months; he is 4 yo now and has a cross-bite.
It is true 🙂 but what it means is that your son’s cross bite would have been far worse than it is, as would your own issues with your teeth.
It’s thought to play a role but apparently the evidence is not as solid as it is for other contributing factors: mouth breathing (for whatever reason) and a soft, mushy diet (a la SAD) that makes for underdeveloped musculature in the jaw and face. Artificial nipples like pacifiers and bottles might also undo the positive effects of breast feeding. One thing seems to be for sure: genetics play a role in a very limited percentage of cases; malocclusion is almost entirely an environmental issue and that’s good news, imo.
There’s an overview of the topic in a lecture by Michael Mew and a dentist from AHS 2011, available on the vimeo site. He goes a little bit into a better way to correct the underlying problem of a narrow palette (orthotropics) vs. orthodontics which deals only with one of the effects of the problem.
Yes! I too believe that breast is best! I’m on my second baby now and am loving it. I do, however have to say that not ALL babies will sleep 12 hours right away… Even if you are eating clean. Each Baby is different but it is so important to put the RIGHT things in your body to give your baby the best milk possible.
Absolutely, my kids just like to sleep that much.. : )
It isn’t a good thing for babies to sleep so long (though if they do it naturally, there’s not much you can do about it). The frequent feeds are great for normal brain development, for supply and to keep fertility at bay. (Which is not to say those who don’t bf or bf often will be brain damaged ;)).
Diet can be so important. Both of my kids had sensitivities to foods I was eating and passing through my milk (dairy and soybeans). I think most lactation consultants know this, but I think that advice can be very difficult for people to follow. That said, I think it’s too simplistic to say diet is everything. My older son had a very difficult birth–he was early, running a fever of 102, and was delivered, upside down, after 5 hours of pushing. (His shoulders were wide, inflexible and stuck, no squat would have saved me.) That first 48 hours of nursing were awful, and it never got better. I don’t think changing my diet would have helped at all. I did eliminate dairy, since I didn’t go paleo until after my kids were born. That helped with his digestion, but it didn’t help with the whole nursing process–he still couldn’t latch, and would still scream with frustration until his face turned purple and his lips turned blue. My younger son was full-term, and delivered after an easy labor. He latched on right away and nursed like a champ from the start. Soy and dairy gave him a rash, so I eliminated them from my diet, but that made no difference in how he nursed.
I think as mothers we have to be very careful in assigning blame for a difficult nursing experience. Like Robb said in his post yesterday about the difference it would have made for the I Caveman folks to have had generations of expert hunting advice given to them throughout their lives by tribal elders, women have lost that same nursing expertise. LCs help fill the void, but it’s still a very difficult process for many, many mothers. I think we would do better to advocate for quality nursing instruction at birth and until nursing is well-established. I was so lucky to have wonderful LCs who helped me try my best to nurse my older one, but who also were able to help me realize it wasn’t working. Is diet important? Yes, but there are many non-paleo moms who nurse just fine, and, I’m sure, many paleo moms who struggle. If your child is unable to latch, I don’t see how diet will help. I don’t think making mothers question whether their diet was responsible for a bad nursing experience helps in a productive way.
You make some excellent points.
I would never advocate that eating Paleo foods would rid the world of complicated births. (My own mother had 4 hard births). Birthing and all related post natal activities are inherently dangerous to both the mother and the child, and it is only in recent history that medical science and practices have reached a point where births that should (medically speaking) have ended in death were instead successfully carried through. This is one of the greatest things about western medicine, our ability to KEEP PEOPLE ALIVE. Unfortunately I do not think the same effort was put forth by the medical community to research what keeps us HEALTHY. All the experience and advice I try to pass on to other families is only that. MY EXPERIENCE. For me assigning blame to what I am convinced where the root causes of my hardships during my first pregnancy and nursing is not only easy but I think it is necessary. And if my experience can help someone better their own experience with their first, or second, or third child.. Then I think it is a message worth giving.
I have not (and do not want to) experienced ALL the possible scenarios of a pregnancy. If anyone has found other sources and habits that seem to promote health for them and their families then do them! But I have yet to meet (although I am sure there are some …) people who have truly switched to a PALEOLITHIC diet (not an “almost PALEO or pretty much paleo) who have not noticed at least some changes for the better in their overall health. if you are experiencing hard labors or poor nursing and you have tried everything else (as I did) then I feel very strongly that it is time(or past the time) to look at the one thing which we as a western culture seem to take for granted, WHAT ARE YOU EATING. I would argue that diet is the most important thing you could consider, not just when pregnant or nursing but for EVERYTHING. What we eat is crucial for how we feel and how our bodies react to stimuli. We have made ourselves so chronically sick that we do not even notice it until the symptoms become dire. I highly encourage everyone to do their own research and look at the facts as they see them, but I am convinced that anyone who puts in the real effort of making the switch to Paleo will see results similar to mine.
Will eating right make you free from disease and sickness? Keep you from ever feeling depressed, or make it so that bus on 33rd st doesn’t smack you on your way to the store? No and anyone who says differently is selling something. But it definitaly made my children healthier and made me feel better, and in the end that is all I could ask for.
Medical science actually caused more deaths – look up Ignaz Semmelweis – who was one of the first to note that women who gave birth in hospital with doctors were more likely to die (due to lack of handwashing). We have a seriously false perception of the medical establishment with regards to birthing in thinking that they have “saved” us. The amount of births that would naturally end in death is low and a lot lower than MDs would lead us to believe. (Don’t look at 3rd world countries as comparison, there are issues of poverty there – I’d like to see if there are any stats on HG deaths during birth). Even when the head is supposedly too large for the canal this is often a myth because the baby is not in the proper position yet (head flexed). It is very rare to actually have issues in this department (having an abnormal hip shape that won’t allow baby to pass through). Many of the deaths we know of from birth refer to periods during the agricultural times, and not HG times. Yes some would have died and maybe fewer die today but birth is extremely medicalized and doesn’t need to be.
Thank you for posting this comment. All the pro-breastfeeding-you’re-a-bad-mom-for-formula-feeding stuff out there is very hurtful to women like me. I spent months working with multiple professionals trying to figure out why my daughter would not latch. It wasn’t until after my second wouldn’t latch either that a cattle farmer friend of mine (seriously) suggested it might be an issue with my own breasts. It was, but the bad thing is that there are very few doctors who will or can address those sorts of issues. So, I was pressured and made to feel like the worse mother ever for feeding my children formula by lactation consultants, family, friends and strangers. But no matter how hard I tried, and how much I was doing it right, and how “perfect my breasts were for breastfeeding” crap that I heard, I couldn’t feed my babies without a bottle. I couldn’t even pump anything. It was horrible and it had NOTHING to do with my diet (I was paleo during all of this). I hope other mothers don’t ever have to go through what I did emotionally. I’ve had to go through therapy to cope with the pressures and guilt that I went through.
BTW, neither of my children are obese, sick, developmentally challenged (my first born was reading at a first grade level before she was 3), and they were both formula fed. Now they eat a paleo diet. Sure, breast milk is ideal but an emotionally healthy, happy mom is more important.
THANK YOU FOR THIS POST!!Our bodies are so AMAZING! I am very passionate about breast feeding and have found the same to be true with myself and my daughter.
Just a little story on gluten, this is pre-paleo: We were not giving her any gluten, (with a few exceptions; cupcake on her 1st birthday), becuase I have a “gluten intollerance” (diagnosed at age 4). We went on a vacay with friends this past July (my daughter had just turned one). My friend’s daughter was also on the vacay (the girls are 3 weeks apart!) For snacks my daughter was eating what was given- crackers, cereal, etc. She ended up being VERY CRANKY and fussy the whole vacation. I felt hopeless and confussed, as this was not my happy girl! Looking back on it now, I KNOW it was because of the gluten ladden crap we were giving her. I found paleo shortly after this and we are all eating like queens and kings. :o) My daughter is no longer fussy, still nursing at 16 months and HEALTHY AND HAPPY!
Your welcome Jessica and yes! isn’t it amazing how much kids change when they’ve had gluten… I would go crazy with almost 4 kids under the age of 4 if they all were hyper. I’m glad we don’t have to go through that anymore…
Great info – thanks! I am considering trying to get pregnant in the next few years and really wanted to hear a Paleo mom’s experience.
I went Paleo in December and my first niece was born in February. My sister couldn’t breastfeed for long, so baby G was put on formula within the first couple of months. I had one look at the contents of the ingredients and felt very conflicted. What if you can’t breastfeed for long? What are the options?
When you changed your diet for your second and third child, how long were you able to breastfeed them?
Erin,
I breastfed baby #2 for about 8 months and baby #3 for about 6. However I could’ve had breastfed them longer with no problems, but I usually start them on solids at around 4 months ( I give them chicken livers,organs and I keep breastfeeding until they succesfully eat everything on their own ).
By the time baby #2 was 8 months she was eating everything . Baby #3 was slightly different since his development was way faster, he ate everything by 6 months… I did however give them goat’s milk for about a month after they ate everything for transtioning purposes only until they drank water only .
If you happen to breastfeed only for about 4 months for whatever reason I recommend you give baby goat’s milk since it resembles breastmilk along with chicken liver and try to get him/her to eat solids right way. if you happen to have no milk before 4 months for whatever reason then goat’s milk along with minced raw liver in the milk was the way my greatgrandmother and grandmother used to do it (they were goat herders).
You can check Weston A. Price Foundation, they have recipes on how to make homemade breastmilk, some of the recipes they have might call for cow’s milk which in my personal opinion can be difficult to process on baby’s stomach. You can also look into a breastmilk bank around your area.
Hope this helps a bit!
I just have to chime in here with a couple of things – first of all, this is a great post and I wholeheartedly agree with you that breastfeeding is where it’s at. It’s the only food that babies are supposed to have. Some things in this reply had me cock my head a little bit, though.
Babies don’t need, and shouldn’t have, solid food until they meet several milestones AND are at least six months old. They should be sitting independently, able to feed themselves, have use of the pincher grasp, and have totally lost their tongue thrust reflex. Four months is always too soon for solids, and even the AAP (along with the WHO) recommends exclusive breastfeeding, no solids whatsoever, until six months.
Also, and I’m not sure that this is what you’re recommending here, but there is no point at which babies cease to benefit from breastfeeding. Meaning, just because they can eat solid food and eat lots of it, doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t still be getting the bulk of their nutrition from breast milk. There’s a saying, “Under one, food is for fun.” Solid food is supplementary to liquid nutrition, be it from formula or breast milk, for their entire first year. The transition away from mostly liquid to mostly solid nutrition shouldn’t happen until after their first birthday.
In reply to Erin, I’d like to say that there are very few circumstances under which one truly, absolutely, cannot breastfeed. Our society makes it incredibly difficult, and there are definitely times when the stress of continuing outweighs the benefits (like working a high stress job where pumping is not an option, say). But generally speaking, if you can breastfeed for two months, you can breastfeed for two years. If weaning becomes necessary, then if the baby is over a year, goat’s milk would be appropriate. Before a year, WAPF has instructions on how to make homemade formula that doesn’t have the nasty ingredients that commercial formulas have (HFCS being a big one that comes to mind!). If you’re looking for more specific information on breastfeeding, check out http://www.kellymom.com or http://www.llli.org.
I want to acknowledge Shannon’s comments. It can be very tricky to assign explanation to breastfeeding issues. I spent 7 years working with new moms though La Leche League, the world’s authority on breastfeeding and source of excellent mother-to-mother help for breastfeeding. What is the solution for one mother doesn’t necessarily work for another. Issues in breastfeeding are tremendously varied and as women we run into trouble assuming that the solution to our breastfeeding issue is the solution to other women’s issues. As always (I know I drive people crazy with this) any discussion of nutrition and breastfeeding is negligent without a powerful emphasis on the Mama getting plenty of necessary fats. I love this conversation. Thanks for giving it a space.
Thank you! That’s why I always recommend LCs or LLL as a resource for struggling moms. I know what would have helped me, and I certainly made changes to my approach for my second child, but I think I was just lucky to have one of those babies who latched on and would nurse forever. I think it’s too complicated of a process for there to be one simple thing to do to make it go well. I’m very happy Chelo was able figure out that, for her, diet was key for successful breastfeeding. That’s a wonderful thing for her and her children. And I agree that eating Paleo is the best way to go in general.
But, I know if I had read this post in the middle of my struggle with my older son, I would have found it deeply upsetting and seen it as implying it was my fault my child was having so much trouble because I was following the diet my doctor and LC told me to follow. In hindsight, going Paleo likely would have helped in terms of him being able to digest my milk better, but when there are latching/sucking issues, it’s a long, uphill battle regardless of what you’re eating. We need to be careful that when we embrace the idea of “breast is best” and give suggestions for what might help, we also acknowledge that it can be incredibly difficult for many women for many different reasons.
I’d love to see the LC/LLL community become educated on Paleo so when they tell a mom to eliminate dairy or soy or gluten in the hopes it will help with nursing they can give them resources to ease the transition away from those foods. It was incredibly overwhelming to be told to get rid of a food that was a large chunk of my diet (dairy) and another (soy) that is in nearly everything that comes in a can, box or jar while dealing with a newborn. Perhaps Robb can take this on as part of his effort to work with the medical community?
Thanks for the interesting article, Chelo.
When you introduce solid foods to babies and you ensure they are paleo foods [minus the gluten,soy, PUFA, HFCS etc] are you making sure your baby will be gluten intolerant for the rest of their lives? or when they grow up they will be able to have the occassional bread slice/pizza or processed food without an allergy attack? not that you want to feed your kid these foods.. but you just might have to… any experience or scientific data on this will be highly appreciated…
Your welcome Anju.
The fact is gluten itself as I and my husband have experienced first hand, symptoms, such as health problems, dygestive symptoms etc… of gluten are worth taking seriously. My husband for instance never knew why he grew up being an overweight kid along with severe fatigue. I myself had more serious reactions to gluten such as constipation, abdominal pain, diarrea, bloating to mention a few.
If research is what you are looking for I invite you to read this http://robbwolf.com/2011/06/10/your-childs-health-starts-in-the-gut/#comments
Back to the kids, my oldest daughter (4yr) has a ssevre if not extremely damaging reaction to gluten making her unable to progress (motor skills). once she came home and someone in accident at a kids party gave her a piece of cake ,she had fever for several days, she couldn’t digest anything right, her speech got delayed, CAOS. Was I mad? of course, should I’d been there to check on her, ABSOLUTELY.
My second and third don’t have as severe reactions but you can tell they feel bad, bloated, they can’t sleep or they become really hyper and upset all at once. it’s less noticeble in them but as damaging and NO FUN FOR A MOTHER : ).
For all these reasons I DO NOT EVER WANT TO compromise my kids health by give them gluten. That’s why planning is a good thing. Whenever I go out I’m prepared with food, even in the remote choice of being without it and finding myself surrounded by fast/crap food I WILL DO ANYTHING to ensure they don’t eat it . I will teach them how certain foods will hurt them and when they get older and start going to school, there will be situations I won’t be able to control it’s true, as for my #2 and #3 recovery will be much easier and if they ever choose to have it when they’re adults they will realize how bad they’ll feel afterwards but when your life depends on ZERO GLUTEN because it can damage you in a neurological level like my first then I don’t see it even as a choice for her or for me to even attempt on giving it to her.
I’m just drawing conclusions from my own experience with my kids, but doctors in general tell you to limit exposure to certain common allergens until 3 years old (legumes, berries, chocolate) and limit exposure to things like cow’s milk, wheat and other things until your child is 1. The whole process of getting a child off breastmilk/formula is about giving them tastes of food and seeing how they react to them, both in terms of liking the taste and how their bodies react. There’s lots of scientific literature out there on it, and many parenting books go into a lot of detail, Dr. Sears, for example. My son is sensitive to soy and dairy, but he can have the occasional slice of soy-free pizza without too many issues. However, we did notice he doesn’t really care for non-paleo foods. I’m not sure if that’s because they do a number on his stomach like they do on mine, or because he didn’t have a chance to develop a taste for them, like my older son did. When he’s old enough to tell me, I’ll let you know!
I would compare it to when I went paleo–once you get that stuff out of your (or your child’s diet), you will suffer to some degree when you eat stuff like pizza and birthday cake. Whether you do it or not depends on how bad that reaction is. Chelo is right to be strict with the reaction her kids have–how scary!! Just like you wouldn’t feel bad about keeping a kid with a peanut allergy from having a PB&J, I will never give my younger son soy. We do occasionally let them have things like birthday cake and ice cream that’s not loaded with the stuff you listed. But then we also connect the dots for them in terms of how they feel/behave and what they just ate. I think it helps them understand the why of how we eat better than my preaching to them about how grains hurt their tummy or red food coloring makes them hyper.
For me and family gluten is not AN OCASSIONAL OPTION is a NEVER OPTION. #glutenkills
My only issue is that I want and need to eat paleolithically however my body barely wants to eat things that look like “food,” it is horrible and I can’t seem to get help for it from my doctor or anyone I really talk to. I feel sick when I eat meat and vegetables, to the point of wanting to vomit, and needing to lie down. (This happened after I’d been eating paleo for months, and was about 3 weeks). For fear of and actual starvation I had to change back to SAD eating. I initially feel fine when eating grains and legumes (yuck) but within hours my IBS acts up terribly. I really feel screwed on this one because in principle I want to eat paleo and in reality eating any other way causes me to have the world’s worst IBS. Any tips? At 11 weeks now and I really hate how I feel.
Have you had your gallbladder/liver checked? I have heard of similar symptoms when things get congested in that area. You also might try homeopathy. We have been doing that along with the GAPS diet/Paleo and it has helped with our digestion so much! Good luck, keep researching and you will find what works for you!
Erica, I really struggled eating paleo when I was pregnant as well. The first trimester was the worst and all I could stomach was carbs. By the second and third trimester I started to feel better and was able to eat eggs, meat and veggies without gagging.
Hang in there – you should start to feel better.
Also it is worth keeping an eye on how you are feeling as Monica suggested,, it turned out I was having problems with my liver this pregnancy which accounted for some of the nausea and other symptoms.
All the best!
Pregnancy it’s a time when your body will get OUT OF WACK, hormones, reactions etc… I really can’t help you much but for you to really look the source of the problem. Your gut could be a possible cause, having the lining of your gut damaged made me feel similar with my first pregnancy and I got “better” later just because my body adjusted to the problem.
You might try to do what Monica suggested http://www.gutandpsychologysyndrome.com/gaps-diet/
Oh Erika, that sounds awful! Kris Kessler (The Healthy Skeptic) just released a podcast on digestion which I listened to while making dinner – very worthwhile. He has some great resources on pregnancy too, but doesn’t link to them in that podcast unfortunately. He has noted elsewhere that we need / want less protein in early pregnancy (there’s a developmental reason, but I forget) and crave carbs instead, which (for those same developmental reasons) he feels is right and can be indulged. I think it’s something about the likelihood of toxins being in meat and veg is higher than tubers, so the body stays on the safe side.
And yes, difficulties processing fats and proteins can be a hydrochloric acid problem, or a gallbladder/liver problem, both of which could be affected by pregnancy. Food Renegade has some posts on pregnancy and real food (or in her case, tater tots!).
Can you manage mashed potatoes with ghee and/or chicken stock? A friend of Indian origin said her mom gave them the water from boiling rice when they had GI problems – a little nutrition but not much of anything else, to tide you over.
Lets hope that, at the very least, your body will sort itself out in the next couple of weeks as you move out of the highest-risk first trimester 🙂
Chris Kresser and I talked about digestion for the podcast we did as well just two weeks ago for those interested: http://balancedbites.com/2011/10/balanced-bites-podcast-episode-8.html
His Healthy Baby Code Program is linked all over the place from here on Robb’s blog– on the sidebar as well as below the post’s ending above.
Speaking of babies gut bacteria, having a c-section vs having a normal vaginal birth can affect things as well
http://jn.nutrition.org/content/138/9/1796S.full.pdf
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1774211/
Chelo, Do you have any information about the effect of ketosis on a bacterial vaginal infection? Not really related to breastfeeding or pregnancy… I am 26 and have followed a paleo diet for about 6months. The last month I haven’t been as strict eating some corn, beans, and rice 🙁 I have since cut those out and am back to a strict paleo for the last week. I am fairly confident I have a bacterial infection and have severly limited my carb intake to hopefully address the issue. Any info would be kindly appreciated.
mmm great question Danielle… I have to do some digging but as far as my experience goes with myself and my kids, starch does create bacteria leading to some awful yeast infections (the more strict you are the worst, plus the hormonal imbalance during pregnancy makes you more prone to it yucckkk I hate it) but not really from tubers (like sweat potatoes), only rice or corn and beans as you mentioned.
As soon as starch is out of diet it resolves (including tubers) and then I can slowly introduce tubers again, might take a while. I have done some gut healing, along with probiotics and digestive enzyme to make sure i get any trace of gluten, of some other stuff flushed out of my system, it takes about 2 weeks for the body maybe more depending on how severe it is.
Along the lines of ketosis, I might ask Robb. All I really noticed on ketosis is strong pee odor and resolving of temporarily yeast bacteria but again never really looked into it, since I haven’t been in ketosis for very long in the last four years! (pregnancies and brestfeedings won’t allow me : )))….
Good luck and congratulations!!!
Oh man!!! It totally posted my picture!!! Darn you Automatic Sign-In!