In a message dated 98-05-11 20:32:15 EDT, you write:

<<  I don't know how much of the ketones pass from the blood to the mother's
breastmilk, but I do know at the Diabetes Center where I work when we work
with women have gestational diabetes (or diabetes mellitus type 1 or type 2
who are pregnant), we provide at least 200 grams carbohydrate  per day and
monitor urine daily for ketone production because ketones are "bad" for
developing babies in utero.  I'm not sure of the effect of ketones, but if I
recall correctly, I think there is concern about brain development. >>

Quoting here from "Protein Power" by Drs. Michael and Mary Eades.

***Ketones are made when fat breaks down...ketosis is the state of having a
measurable level of ketones in your blood. Ketones are an intermediate stage
of fat breakdown, and not only are they not poison as described by several
health writers , but they're used as fuel by most of the body's tissues
including the brain...Dr. Lubert Stryer, Professor of Biochemistry at Stanford
University and the author of the biochemistry textbook used in most medical
schools, says ketones are "normal fuels of respiration and are quantitatively
important as sources of energy...indeed, heart muscle, and the renal cortex
(kidney) use (ketones) in preference to glucose."
...Ketones are a perfectly normal fuel used preferentially by most of the
tissues in the body for their energy needs.  In fact--except for type I
diabetics--there is no evidence for the opinion that ketones are
dangerous.****


By the way, the book also mentions that traditional Eskimos, living above the
Artic Circle, eat virtually no carbohydrates and do fine (and breastfeed in a
"traditional" manner, often for several years).  All this leads me to believe
that breastfeeding is safe...if people have done it for a long long time, and
there are people who still do it, and breastfeeding has continued; and if it's
a "normal" part of weight loss (which many many mothers experience during
nursing anyway, regardless of "diet"), I am going to need specific research on
bf moms and this diet (specifically ketosis and its effects on nursing baby)
before I advise mom not to do it.

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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Joy Berry-Parks
LLL, Central Arkansas
Attachment Parenting Group of AR
Anthropology Apprentice
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"Childhood Decides."---Jean Paul Sartre
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Joy