At the dawn of history, woman must have been viewed by her male counterpart as a incomprehensible portal due to her capacity to give birth. The womb is a crucible, a re-generator of flesh and a magical receptacle within which the mysterious powers that govern the universe interact with mankind, ensuring its survival. For this reason, early sculptures from paleolithic and neolithic times clearly depict man’s veneration for woman and her mysterious powers of creation.
The current edition of Time magazine also carries a photograph of a pregnant woman in an absorbing and delicate profile.http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2020815,00.html
This article explores the epigenetic environment of the nine months we spend in the womb, and draws some startling revelations. Researchers show that these nine months will have long lasting implications for mental health, cardiovascular disease, stress management, and obesity. This epigenetic influence depends greatly upon chemical influences in the womb. We know from the ground breaking research done in 2004 in the project entitled, Ten Americans, (see blog post “Detox For All”) that multiple carcinogens, endocrine disruptors and neurotoxins can accumulate in the womb and damage the infant before birth. The amniotic fluid itself is very similar in chemical and mineral makeup to cerebro-spinal fluid and blood plasma. In brief, our gene expression is already being primed, or influenced by the epigenetic intrauterine environment. If this environment is toxic, it will affect the later gene expression of the unborn infant. Simply put, the fetal genes are being modeled by the prevailing conditions in the womb itself, and this will have major repercussions later in life.
However, this is not bleak news: because it also shows us that early intervention in the form of preventive medicine can be introduced into prenatal care. Detox for the mother will ensure a detoxed amniotic environment for the fetus. The upshot of this, hopefully, is that more research will now be directed towards preventive prenatal medicine. For now, high quality oral chelation products, and fiber detox supplements including inositol and rice bran, such as “Beyond Fiber”, made by Longevity Plus.
Conventionally, doctors have instructed nursing mothers to eat wisely, avoid stress, and to take extra folic acid to prevent neural tube defects such as spina bifida. Governments have ensured that folic acid is added to common foods such as breads and packaged cereals. However, supplementation with folic acid alone has not been sufficient to truly protect developing fetuses from neural tube defects. New research from England is suggesting that inositol ( a vitamin) should be added to the pregnant mother’s regimen, along with her intake of folic acid. The inositol appears to enhance fetal tissue growth in such a way as to protect against neural tube defects.
Absorption of folic acid itself is also a key consideration, and supplements which provide three different forms of folic acid, such as “Beyond B12″, or ” HRT+”, also from Longevity Plus, would provide greater scope for absorption.
The more we learn about toxins embedded in our organs, the more we can also learn how to protect ourselves or cleanse ourselves. And in this way we can strongly influence gene expression in a positive direction, by removing those epigenetic toxins which would otherwise lead on to disease conditions in later life. It is a humbling and sobering thought that even the crucible of life, the womb, requires our scientific intervention to assist it to produce healthy beings, and not diseased ones.
