The Kind Mama

Book excerpt: The bestselling author of The Kind Diet offers practical solutions for a healthier, more vibrant approach to new motherhood When did making babies get to be so hard? Infertility is on the rise globally, affecting as many as one in six couples. But instead of looking at diet and lifestyle as key factors, doctors are racing to pump their patients full of expensive and invasive fertility treatments. Once pregnant, women just accept that carrying a baby will be the gassy, swollen, irritable, sleepless nightmare that has become the new normal. Once their babies are born, they assume it will be just as challenging—from breastfeeding woes to screaming fits and constant trips to the doctor. It doesn’t have to be that way. In The Kind Mama, Alicia Silverstone shows that if we kick nasty foods that fight our bodies and replace them with nutrient-rocking “clean” foods that heal and nourish, we can create a more positive baby-making experience, from conception through the third trimester (and beyond). By encouraging basic diet and lifestyle modifications and drawing on wisdom from medical experts, friends, and her own experience, Silverstone has created a one-stop guide that empowers women to take charge of their fertility and pregnancy, and helps them to embark on a healthier, more vibrant path to parenthood.