Social Surrogacy – more than scary
April 22, 2014Moral and ethical obligations questioned in IVF laboratory worker case
May 7, 2014It really never ceases to amaze me how some books get published. I’m not speaking of self-publishing, but actually embraced by a literary agent. And in this case, when the author is a celebrity, it appears as if the red carpet leads to the door of a welcoming publishing house.
A new book to hit the shelves is authored by actress Alicia Silverstone entitled, The Kind Mama: A Simple Guide to Supercharged Fertility, a Radiant Pregnancy, a Sweeter Birth, and a Healthier, More Beautiful Beginning.
Yes, everyone has a right to author a book but when a delicate subject of how “infertility” can be managed by eating more “greens,” it’s time to hit the “eject” button.
In the Daily Beast, Lizzie Crocker, highlighted the book in her article, From ‘Clueless’ to Clueless: Alicia Silverstone’s ‘The Kind Mama’.
Crocker prepares readers in her opening, “The book presents a laundry list of amazing promises. Silverstone will ‘show you the way to have a luminous, present, ailment-free pregnancy.’” She crisply continues, “Why go to an obstetrician when a Hollywood star can ‘help prevent or even cure your PMS, insomnia, allergies, breakouts, weight struggles, thyroid condition, lupus, multiple sclerosis—while significantly lowering your risk of heart disease, diabetes, and cancer?’”
And when touching upon the subject of fertility and the pregnancy road, Silverstone, it appears, has all the answers.
Remember the “greens” I mentioned earlier? Well, Silverstone promotes the eating of plants for a litany of reasons. Silverstone writes that eating plant-based foods, “means not only boosting the odds of conceiving but also setting the stage for a transcendent pregnancy, a smoother birth, a healthier baby, and long-term protection from almost every disease there is.”
It makes me mad that infertility is looked upon something other than a disease; and, if you eat right or relax it will go away. It’s like telling someone with diabetes or cancer they need to go on a great vacation and “bam” their disease is gone!
This book’s nonchalant view of obtaining fertility is insensitive to the multitude of women who are battling infertility every single day. While infertility is emotionally heartbreaking and draining, women are undergoing fertility treatments, artificial inseminations, in vitro fertilizations, and for some, sadly miscarriages.
Infertility is a medical issue and cannot be remedied by eating more green leafy vegetables.
But Silverstone disagrees.
She conveys that eating these plant-based-foods, also referred to as, “kind foods,” can alter a woman’s chance of conception.
Silverstone goes on to say in her book that consuming “kind foods” has the ability to, “supercharge fertility; reduce your likelihood of miscarriage; infuse breast milk with all kinds of nutrient goodness that make your kids smart and healthy; and help stave off diseases like cancer, heart disease, diabetes.”
Yes, the breast milk mention has been known for years to offer the active, natural ingredient of alkylglycerols, which has been suggested to boost immunity for infants.
But for this book to even suggest that a “kind diet” can supercharge fertility and decrease the chance of a miscarriage is downright infuriating to those of us who fought and continue to fight a long-term battle with infertility.