Super-charging mother's milk

For baby Benjamin

Benjamin needs to start breastfeeding to leave the hospital (for context, see this post). Sadly, his reflexes for breastfeeding have been damaged by the lack of oxygen he suffered at birth. Fortunately, babies are resilient and we are doing everything possible to restore his reflexes. He has made tremendous progress already and is well on his way to successfully breastfeeding.

We're planning on starting something called quantum reflex integration soon - more information here. I will let you know how it goes. This modality came highly recommended by my friend, Marsha Lessard, who runs Brain Treatment Centers, Ashburn, Virginia. She's seen great results with this in children, particularly autistic children.

Benjamin has been taking mother's milk via his nasogastric since he rewarmed after cooling.

How are we nourishing mom to optimize nutrition for baby?

My wife is spending almost every waking minute at the hospital, where the food is as bad as ever and the closest dining establishments are Five Guys, Tropical Smoothie, and Jimmy Johns. While I do indulge in the occasional sandwich or burger with fries, let's just say white bread, feedlot beef, and deep fryer oil (for the fries, obviously) are not ideal foods for a developing, let alone recovering, brain.

I'm feeding my wife instead.

Here's the standard meal-plan:

• Breakfast - granola with coconut milk and honey (with the comb)

• Lunch - stew consisting of meat, root vegetables, onions, and bone broth

• Dinner - same as lunch

This is plus or minus some nuts and seeds at two or three meals each day, and fruit as desired. Throw in the occasional piece of chocolate or lactation cookies for good measure.

Why are we eating such a restricted diet?

• Simplicity of preparation. We are not in a position to cook elaborate meals with driving back and forth to the hospital.

• Avoiding foods that might make Ben gassy - legumes, greens, and so on. We want to make sure that Ben gets as much nutrition as possible.

• Eating for nutrient-density. This an extremely nutrient-dense meal-plan. There are very few things you could add to this to achieve higher nutritional density. Most of those things would be foods that the average person would struggle to stomach much of. Molasses and cod liver oil are two examples - a little of each of these goes a long way.

• Potassium-density. As soon as you pivot from root vegetables to, say, grains, you lose an enormous load of potassium from the diet. Potassium is essential for life and most people do not get an optimal amount. Potassium is critical for brain and neurological health, so I'm focused on making sure mom has plenty to pass on to Benjamin.

• Eating for optimal digestion. Raw foodies are often fond of saying, "raw food is the most digestible." I beg to differ. Countless patients have come to me over the years with impaired digestion and confirmed that raw food often tears their stomachs up, but cooked food, because it has been broken down by heat, is tolerable. This is why, as a general rule, the sicker the patient, the more cooked food I recommend.

• Comfort. Warm soups and stews are comforting, and we need the comfort right now. Rich, decadent food doesn't appeal to me at all right now.

• Portability. We are transporting everything we cook to the hospital. Four 16-ounce thermoses hold enough food for Michelle and I to eat two square meals each day.

What are we supplementing Michelle with?

While I am a big fan of personalized nutritional supplementation, acute illnesses are not a time to wait for labs to come back. Often, acute illnesses are more about speed and overwhelming nutrient loads than finesse and precision. Besides which, we know from the nature of Benjamin's injury that he needs tons of minerals, omega 3 and 6 fatty acids, and B vitamins and methylation equivalents to restore his brain.

Here is what Michelle is taking each day:

1. LifeGuard multi-vitamin/multi-mineral from Perque Health.

2. Vitamin C from Perque.

3. EFA/DHA Guard, also from Perque.

4. Vitamin D with K from Trace Elements Research (my favorite vitamin D supplement, if you don't have access to a Sperti D).

5. Magnesium Plus Guard, from Perque.

6. Choline citrate, from Perque.

7. Sunflower lecithin, from Now Foods.

Why are we using all of these things?

1. Michelle's most recent serum magnesium was quite low, thanks to 1) pregnancy, 2) a 17-hour labor, and 3) the stress of our baby boy being in such a difficult position.

2. Fish oil is needed for the developing brain, and one of the things about brain injuries is that the omega-3 fatty acids take a beating due to the oxidative stress. These are scarce in the diet, unless you make eating fatty fish a serious habit. This is one of those situations where supplementation is ideal to replace the fatty acids the brain has lost as a result of the injury. Lots more may be said on fish oil - a story for another day.

3. The LifeGuard multi is my favorite multi-vitamin/multi-mineral and the only one I've ever actually endorsed. I could go on at length about why, but suffice it to say it's loaded with just what a developing and recovering brain need.

4. Vitamin D - see this post.

5. Choline citrate - choline is an essential element for the brain AND helps move magnesium into cells.

6. Sunflower lecithin helps produce milk and is loaded with phospholipids that the brain needs, particularly in recovery from injury.

I'll be sharing more about various other supplements in future posts.

If someone called me and said, "my loved one is in the hospital, what can I give them to help them get out?" this is essentially the supplement list I would hand them, plus or minus the fish oil, because of how many contraindications it has. For example, Benjamin was bleeding for days due to his severe lack of oxygen, even requiring platelets and fresh frozen plasma. Fish oil is contraindicated in bleeding, because it does inhibit platelet aggregation. This is also why most surgeons stop it prior to surgery.

We have a range of other supplements we may add as we go. More on these later. Right now, this is a substantial pill-burden for Michelle. She has felt a bit overwhelmed by this at times.

Why Perque? Russell Jaffe, MD, PhD, has impressed me with his attention to detail and his thoughtful formulations. He's a stickler for quality. His supplements are much more expensive than knock-offs you'll find elsewhere, but they are worth every penny. You won't hear much about Perque out there on the internet - why? Because it's the kind of brand that doesn't pour money into marketing, but rather spreads by impressing clinicians who then share it with their colleagues. The margins on Perque products, because of the quality, are lower than most supplements. This means that I actually make LESS money recommending them to patients, but we are not here to sell supplements. We are here to get results.

Most of your supplements... are not what they're cracked up to be. That's a story for another day.

We appreciate your prayers for Benjamin, Michelle, and myself. We’ve been touched and awed by the outpouring of support we’ve received from you all. I hope you’re enjoying these posts. Please share them widely — this is some of the best material I’ve ever written and will change people’s lives for the better.

Until next time, be well,

Dr. Stillman