last week's ASK LINDA

Ask Linda! Please feel free to submit your questions to linda@vt-fiddle.com. Questions don't have to be completely raw food related but please bring questions on health, recipes, diet, weight issues, nutrition, parenting, nursing, pregnancy, spirituality or whatever it is you'd like to ask. I'll do my best to answer and will most certainly learn from this as much as I can give. Today's question: "Baby's Digestion...Help!" Hi Linda, Can you help a friend of mine? her baby is 1 month old and they have had constipation problems alleviated by cornsyrup added to breast milk in a bottle. Now that is not working. The mom is eating an allergen free diet including rice and potatoes which she's eliminated and added quinoa. baby hasn't had a bowel movement for 4 days. I told her that was fairly normal. But baby had been in abdominal pain she thinks before they tried the Caro syrup... and constipated for up to 6 days. Any suggestions besides prune juice for mom? all the best today, T Hi there T, Caro syrup for a baby... Oh this breaks my heart. I'm sure the intention was good there somewhere but GMO corn syrup that's super highly processed wreaks havoc on grown bodies' digestive tracts, immune systems and wellness - I can only imagine what it might be doing to the tender little developing body... Anyway, the first thing that comes to mind is for this woman to make herself some green smoothies with good fruits in them. (see basic recipe below.) Fruit are the cleansers and greens are the healers. Dried fruits are ok, like prunes, but she should rehydrate them in some water. She/baby need to have more watery/hydrating foods to help flush out the colon. She needs to do this consistently, meaning daily. Momma can take out dairy in her diet as dairy creates mucus in the body and clogs the system. Wheat/grain products can also be a problem if there are gluten intolerances. If momma is eating lots of breads/pastas, she might want to cut that down a bit and see if she sees a difference. Think of dairy as glue and pasta as paste and it's no wonder why all these "comfort foods" clog up our systems. From what you wrote below, it sounds like Momma is eating rather binding foods - rice and potatoes - these are the things that people eat to help bind up when stools are too loose. If I were working with her, I'd personally want to hear more about what a typical day/week looks like for her to establish what she can be doing differently which might be helping her and her baby. Momma can take vitamin C in healthy doses. One way to know when you've had too much vitamin C is that you get loose stools, so she could take this and probably this would also be helpful to the baby. If Momma is still taking her prenatal vitamins, she might want to consider changing it. Sometimes the heavy iron in them can create some constipation. How are the mom's bowel movements? Healthy probiotics would be good for Momma to take. Nature's Way makes a probiotic called Primadolphilus - you can get it in any health food store. She should be on this. She should also be eating probiotic foods, make her own kombucha - eat FRESH kim chi and sauerkraut. South River Miso has the best fermented miso. Stay away from pasteurized fermented foods as really, what's the point of eating them? :-) There's also a wonderful lil product for babies called Gripe Water. You can find it anywhere now - it was hard to find when our kids were babies. Anyway, it really really helps them with gas pains/colic. Last bit of advice would be to go gradually with whatever changes she makes. No need to do a super boat load of fiber and vitamin C and get the pendulum swinging in the other direction. Green smoothies will be so helpful. I typically empty a Primadolphilus capsule in my green smoothie each day. I also add Vitamineral Green powder to my smoothie which is like taking the best multi-vitamin PLUS it has probiotics and digestive enzymes in it. Hope this helps! I know how upsetting it is to watch your little one distressed and not feeling well. This too shall pass. xoxo, Linda Basic Green Smoothie Recipe by Linda Mahns Serves 1 I serve this in my cafe. It's a basic recipe that you can adapt with whatever greens and fruit you have. These are the basic ratios though. Be sure to rotate your greens, so that means to use things like spinach, chard, kale, collards, lettuce, edible weeds, etc. If you are new to green smoothies, start by using romaine lettuce or red leaf lettuce. Then gradually get yourself into the greener greens. Experiment and have fun! 1 banana, 1/2 cup peaches or mango, (fresh or frozen) 3-4 green leafies, washed & de-stemmed 1 tsp VitaMineral Green, 1 small squirt raw agave, or coconut nectar (feel free to use honey or dates or no added sweeteners if the fruit alone tastes sweet enough for you) fresh water Put all ingredients in the Vitamix and then add water to the 2 cup mark. (Best to add ingredients first and then add the water to make the smoothie thick and creamy. If you add 2 cups of water first, you'll have a very thin green drink to drink.) Blend and serve in your favorite glass. This makes 16 oz of green smoothie.