Even healthy pregnancies sometimes leave scars.
You know that book I’ve been promising for a while? The one about pregnancy? Well, I had planned on making it a little ebook, one that says a whole bunch of stuff you sort of already knew but needed to read it to really believe it. Well, I started getting really into writing and decided to write a full sized book instead.
Victory Belt Publishing, the guys who published Robb Wolf’s Paleo Solution and Sarah Fragoso’s Everyday Paleo, will be publishing it, which is hugely exciting because they have a track record with best sellers. Of course this means it’s going to take a little longer before you get to read it but the upside is that it’s going to be waaaay better!
It will be a full sized and full color book, containing just about everything you wanted to know about your pregnant and postpartum body and you’ll be able to pick it up at Barnes and Noble or where ever you like to shop for books.
The book should be published mid summer (as long as I make all of my deadlines!). Forgive me if I comment a little less than usual but I have a whole lot to do. That doesn’t mean I’m not reading the comments though. I am! I really look forward to all the little jewels of thought that everyone contributes. Conversation is an important part of developing ideas so please don’t stop commenting!
Today, I’m giving you a little teaser of my chapter on stretch marks. The chapter is about 4 times as large as what I’m presenting here but since many of my readers are pregnant right here and now, I just had to get you off on the right foot by offering, at least, a few ideas on how to maintain your pre-pregnant body.
While the book will reveal a ton of details about the physical complaints we have with our postpartum bodies, all you really need to know is that sticking to an ancestral diet, eating special foods, avoiding processed modern foods, and exercising every day will keep you healthy and pretty all the way through pregnancy and beyond.
What are Stretch Marks?
It is said that stretch marks are an inevitable consequence of stretching skin. But if you think about it, there must be something else at play here because not all women whose bellies have carried a baby to term are marked with the scars we refer to as stretch marks.
Stretch marks affect between 70% and 90% of pregnant women but they don’t necessarily have to affect you. Stretch marks are a result of disrupted hormones, nutrient deficiencies, and other mishaps of lifestyle habits. Nature designed us well and, as long as we follow nature’s prescription, stretch marks probably won’t leave their mark on most postnatal women.
Striae, or stretch marks, form on the dermis layer of the skin, just underneath the outer layer called the epidermis. When the skin stretches, the connective tissues in the dermis layer can become compromised leading to blood vessel dilation (these are the early stage red or purplish lines). Later, as the body tries to heal itself from the breaks in the top epithelial cells, cells begin dividing to fill in the gap. If the damage was deep enough, the cells produce a fibrous mass (a scar) to heal the wound. In this case the melanin production will cease and the skin will be left with white hypopigmented scars.
Keep Reading..
