Postpartum University® Podcast

Postpartum Mineral Repletion How-To Guide EP 179

• Maranda Bower, Postpartum Nutrition Specialist

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Could your postpartum fatigue, hair loss, or mood swings be signs of mineral deficiencies? 

This week we’re diving into a crucial but often overlooked aspect of postpartum health—mineral repletion. Learn how minerals like magnesium, zinc, and iron play a critical role in recovery and well-being.

We're uncovering why whole food sources might be your best bet for addressing these deficiencies. Join me to learn how bioavailable nutrients can transform your energy, mood, and overall health during this transformative time. Tune in to discover the critical role that minerals play in your postpartum recovery and why whole food sources are your best bet. 


Check out this episode on the blog: https://postpartumu.com/postpartum-mineral-repletion-how-to-guide-ep-179/

 
KEY TIME STAMPS:
 
 0:02 — Maranda introduces the importance of mineral repletion for postpartum recovery
0:40 — Why mineral deficiencies often go unnoticed and how they affect postpartum symptoms
2:38 — The critical role minerals play in physical and mental health postpartum
4:34 — Testing for nutrient deficiencies before addressing mental health issues
7:14 — Maranda’s experience with mineral-deficient water in French Polynesia
11:07 — Impact of processed foods on mineral levels and overall postpartum health
13:23 — How environmental toxins and medications hinder mineral absorption
15:35 — Surprising impact of hormonal birth control on mineral depletion
16:38 — Replenishing minerals through quality water and whole foods
18:39 — Easy recipes for homemade electrolyte water and mineral-rich teas
21:29 — Incorporating whole foods and herbs to support postpartum wellness 

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Speaker 1:

Depression, anxiety and autoimmune symptoms after birth is not how it's supposed to be. There is a much better way, and I'm here to show you how to do just that. Hey, my friend, I'm Miranda Bauer, a mother to four kids and a biology student turned scientist, obsessed with changing the world through postpartum care. Join us as we talk to mothers and the providers who serve them and getting evidence-based information that actually supports the mind, body and soul in the years after birth. Hey, hey, welcome. I have such a hot topic for you today mineral repletion in postpartum. I'm going to tell you, adequate mineral intake can be the difference between feeling well and thriving versus feeling exhausted and experiencing such a wide range of health issues in postpartum, from hair loss, fatigue to emotional overwhelm, mood swings. I will tell you, so many of the symptoms that we experience and call normal and postpartum are really strongly related to nutritional deficiencies, and a lot of those are are for minerals, and I'm going to tell you, I just recently created a mineral guide. I'm going to drop that for you and while I was creating this guide and I know that there's several other guides out there on the market right now and I really wanted to make this so different, because what I'm seeing is that a lot of these guides are heavily promoting supplements, right? So here's your drink and your mineral cocktail and I want you to add all these powders. And I really wanted to get away from that and focus on providing you with the tools that you need to obtain these essential minerals from real whole food sources so that it's bioavailable to you, which means that it's easy to digest, that it tastes really freaking good, and I wanted to have this approach that emphasizes like this natural method and how that can give us this radical health and healing in the postpartum period and beyond. And there's some missing components that I am seeing from a lot of these guides that I really wanted to add here. So, first off, I wanna tell you a little bit about why this is important.

Speaker 1:

So minerals they're vital for a multitude of bodily functions, especially in the postpartum period. We are so mineral deprived from creating a human being, from birthing that baby into the world and then through breast milk. If you're breastfeeding, then a lot of those minerals are being given to your baby through your breast milk, and so if you're not getting enough during your day, and oftentimes you're already depleted in the in the early stages of postpartum because of the labor and birth experience. I mean, how many people are deprived of food during that time as well? You know it's, it's, it's very, very so. Much is happening to our bodies in that 10 month period of time of growing a human being, birthing that baby and then sustaining that baby's life with our own body. It's such a miracle, it's such a beautiful thing, but it requires so much of us. It requires a lot, a lot of minerals, and so they, these minerals.

Speaker 1:

They play a crucial role in bone health, muscle function, nerve transmission, mental health, hydration. We have magnesium and zinc right for brain function. They help alleviate symptoms of depression and anxiety. Iron deficiency is one of the most top contributors of symptoms of postpartum depression. A lot of women who are experiencing depressive symptoms are experiencing iron deficiency and so oftentimes, if they're going to a provider and this is one of the most frustrating things I've ever seen, I've said it so many times If you're going to get a diagnosis of depression and or anxiety, you need to make sure that you're doing a test for your nutrient levels first.

Speaker 1:

That should be required first and foremost before anyone receives a diagnosis of a mental health disorder, because so many nutrient deficiencies and mineral deficiencies are related to the symptoms of deficiency. Are depression and anxiety, right? They're secondary, so you can't just take some pill or go to therapy to get better from that. You're going to have to have nutritional support, okay, so off my soapbox on that one reducing fatigue, right? Iron, magnesium, preventing hair loss, zinc, selenium, gut health, right? Magnesium is a huge one in that. So, no matter where you are in postpartum or the years after postpartum or you're in the motherhood journey, maintaining adequate mineral levels is essential for your overall health and wellbeing and recovery, and it's so much easier than most people think. Right, we don't need to have all of these mineral cocktails and all of these things.

Speaker 1:

I'm gonna tell you all of this here shortly. This is the missing component that I think so many people are forgetting and and not talking about, and that is one of the biggest factors that deplete minerals. Yes, childbirth, breastfeeding, growing a human being, but I'm going to tell you the biggest, one of the biggest mineral depletion. The reasons for mineral depletion is poor water quality. Okay, staying hydrated is so important, as we know, but consuming water that's been distilled, reverse osmosis, deionized, purified, softened, that is going to dilute your body's existing mineral levels. So you can be taking in all of the minerals, all of the things, all of the supplements, all of the cocktails, all of the stuff, but no matter how much minerals you consume, if you are drinking water from a source that doesn't already contain minerals, you're going gonna be leaching them from your body. Your body cannot take water in without minerals and minerals cannot be taken into your body without water. They are a necessity, right? And if you're not doing this, this is what leads to an imbalance of electrolytes. Electrolytes are minerals. It causes symptoms like headache, fatigue, muscle cramps. So if we're engaging in drinking poor water, then that's what we're going to experience. It's actually. It was so interesting.

Speaker 1:

On my recent trip to French Polynesia, we flew out to like the middle of nowhere. We had to take a boat to another like little place. It was a little tiny atoll space If you don't know an atoll, I highly recommend looking it up and it was a population of 200 people and our host for this place that we were staying was incredible. Like this place was absolutely amazing. The host, henry, was insanely awesome. I just like. Everything was so well cared for and done like anything we wanted, and he was telling us the water is not safe, you cannot drink the water.

Speaker 1:

If you're going to drink the water, it has to come from this little machine thing that he had and and I kind of like, I looked at him like like, tell me more. And he was like, oh, it's not that there's anything wrong, there's no, there's no bacteria, there's no parasites or anything like that. Right, the water is is very clean and filtered water. So he's, he said, you can brush your teeth with it, you can shower with it, you can scrub your food with it all of the things he said. But you can't drink it because it's rainwater and it contains no minerals. He said you can't drink it because it's not safe, because it has no minerals. And I'm like mind blown because I've never, ever heard anyone say that in the States.

Speaker 1:

As a matter of fact, things like reverse osmosis and deionized and purified water and softened water, those are standards for you Americans. That's what we drink all the time, either something that we purchased that literally from the store that's what comes out of the time Either something that we purchased that literally from the store. That's what comes out of most people's faucets. Right, that's what we have and that is it is causing so many issues that we're not even aware of. So water quality, I will tell you, is, first and foremost, okay. First and foremost, take care of water. What you want to be drinking is mineral-rich water sources. That includes spring water, aquifer water, well water, mountain stream water, right Water from pure sources and, of course, yeah, you have to be careful all of the things like making sure that your water is coming from a safe space, no contaminants or whatever. But mineral water, artisan water, is another one. They're usually come from aquifers. Like you want to make sure that it comes from the ground? Right, it's got to come from the ground and that is where the mineral lies, and then it collects the minerals and then, when you drink it, you benefit from it. So please, just change your water quality and you're going to change your freaking life. Hey, I'm going to be a hundred percent straight with you.

Speaker 1:

The postpartum world is changing right now and I know you feel it. It's in the politics, our community spaces. There is an urgent need to implement a different approach to postpartum health. If you're an alternative provider or postpartum advocate, you need to be with us in the Postpartum University. Pro Membership Get the method, the tools, the handouts, the advanced trainings and so much more to not only help your clients and your business grow, but to help you grow too. Marketwatch says that the afterbirth services and nutrition and support is set for extraordinary growth by 2030. Don't miss your opportunity to help women and families who desperately need your holistic support. Go to wwwpostpartumucom. Slash membership. We're accepting registrations right now and we can't wait to see you there.

Speaker 1:

Another, you know, top contributor to all of this is poor food quality and we know this, right, the modern diet. Often we've got highly processed foods and those really really do contribute to mineral deficiencies. It's so funny to me because here in the US and this is what I know in the US we have, like these processed foods that are literally stripped of their mineral content, and we see this often in like breads and cereals and things like that. They're stripped of all of their nutritional content. They're given high sugar, right, they're out of fats, additives which really interfere with the body's ability to absorb and utilize minerals, and and then what we do is we add back man-made forms of minerals and vitamins into the food itself, right, as if that was gonna make a difference, right? Why strip it in the first place? I have no idea, but it's not as bioavailable to the body, which means it's not easy to digest those man-made minerals and those minerals that have been added in. And on top of it you've got all these other unhealthy fats and additives and high sugar content that prevents the absorption of that.

Speaker 1:

So eating a diet that is whole foods, unprocessed foods that is critical for maintaining adequate mineral levels here's another component too is exposure to toxins. So environmental toxins, heavy metals, lead, mercury, pesticides that really interferes with mineral absorption and utilization of those minerals. Toxins bind to minerals and they prevent their absorption in the gut and that leads to deficiencies. They also toxins damage the gut lining, so that prevents nutrient absorption from happening. Even if the nutrients are able to get through without being binded to those toxins, then they're not going to absorb because the gut lining has been damaged, so you're just literally passing it through, so reducing your toxic exposure.

Speaker 1:

I have an entire episode on detoxing in postpartum, which is a natural process that our bodies are already designed to do and do very, very well of in postpartum. We recognize this, we see it all the time. We have profuse sweating. We have, you know, in the very early stages of postpartum profuse sweating where, like lots of lochia is coming out, we have to pee like crazy. And it's not just the hormones leaving our body, it's also the toxins leaving our body, and that's because in pregnancy our body is not able to detoxify as it once was, but in postpartum that soon as that hits in like that body is going. So there's ways in which you can support that naturally without harming your baby if you're breastfeeding or anything like that. Here's another kicker, and I don't believe a lot of people recognize this.

Speaker 1:

Of course, medical conditions and medications can lead to mineral deficiencies diuretics, antacids okay. So if you're experiencing heartburn and things like that and you're taking antacids on the constant, even antibiotics, those can interfere massively with mineral absorption. Okay, and most people are completely unaware that even hormonal birth control strips the body of magnesium, zinc, selenium, b vitamins, calcium, vitamin C. It's absolutely asinine how much hormonal birth control takes from our bodies. It is so important to do your research on this subject and make sure that you speak to a healthcare provider who understands these risks and help you manage any medical conditions or medications that you need to be on and really adjust your diet to compensate for all of these losses. This is massive. And if you can be off of those medications or hormonal birth control, do everything in your power to make that happen, because it is so harmful for the body and in multitude of ways. And in this episode I'm just talking about minerals and that's it Okay.

Speaker 1:

Of course, stress can also deplete minerals. Too much physical activity, which is Also deplete minerals, too much physical activity, which is also another thing, you know, if we're sweating intensely, we're gonna have mineral loss. Those electrolytes sodium, potassium, magnesium those are what needs to be replenished through the water that we're drinking. Right, If we're sweating a lot and right now it's summertime, we're all sweating. If you got a baby on you, you know you've got a little heater. I used to call my baby's little heaters all the time. I swear. They were just always like this little bundle that always felt so hot. They always made me hot. Breastfeeding and hormones made me hot. Right, pregnancy made me hot. Like you know, it's always sweating. So if you're that person who's like totally feeling that right now, where you're feeling like you're dripping from every orifice of your body that leaches your minerals, and so you just need to make sure that you're drinking water from really awesome sources, right, that's not going to deplete you even more, okay.

Speaker 1:

So in this guide that I made for you, I'm giving you an entire chart of minerals and their functions Super exciting, but I really want to share with you and this is where nutrition goes wrong all the time we have these individual roles in minerals and trace minerals in the body. Those are essential, but equally important is recognizing that these nutrients and these minerals, they don't work in isolation. They interact and work together. They work synergistically with each other. For example, calcium and magnesium they're both crucial for bone health, but they also work synergistically with vitamin D, which helps with the absorption and utilization of vitamin D. Similarly, iron and copper they're both involved in red blood cell production and they work together to prevent anemia.

Speaker 1:

So there's so many other components that we don't necessarily take into account, and this is why it's so important to eat a balanced necessarily take into account, and this is why it's so important to eat a balanced, varied diet with foods that are nutrient rich, whole foods whole foods, because those components of the food are so perfectly well-made, right, god, the universe, whatever you want to call it has made this perfect whole food item, and all of those components that it's built with are what is helpful for it to digest, and so when we eat that food, we're benefiting immensely from not only the vitamin and mineral and whatever it has within it, but also the properties that it's been given to help it digest, to benefit you. And that's the beauty of whole foods. So I have a whole chart in there. It's beautiful and I also give you so many ways to incorporate mineral richness into your postpartum life.

Speaker 1:

So water sources I give you one of my most favorite homemade electrolyte waters. This is so easy that you don't need those powdered supplements or anything like that. I'm telling you Whole Foods, that is what we have, and I do this every day in the morning After I wake up. I do my morning routine and one of the first things I do is get my electrolyte water and it's just a glass of water and we have well water. I y'all know I live in the middle of nowhere. I live on 40 acres my. We check our water once every three to five years. I just got done checking it. We have a really hard water, which is not always the greatest for, like I don't know. I've never had issues washing with my clothes or anything like. Yes, your appliances kind of take a hit. So far, so good. We've had our appliances for 10 years now. Um, nothing major has happened. But we like our. Our water source is really rich, but I also love to add the additional richness and it just tastes really good. And so here's what I do I put a little pinch of Himalayan sea salt, like a little, a little tiny spoonful of honey, and a squirt of lemon juice.

Speaker 1:

I actually was doing lemon juice for a couple of months and I recently switched to lime juice just for, like, an extra flavor, and I love it even more. And we got this lime tree. I'm telling you I legit have a lime tree in Alaska, in our garden space, and it started producing limes and I'm, like I'm just over the moon so excited. So we don't get that benefit, like I don't have, you know, outside of apple trees. We don't have anything else, like I'm not able to produce like oranges and all of the fun stuff, right, so to have a lime tree and which I will tell you was marketed as a lemon tree. We thought it was a lemon tree, a long story. It produces limes, which is super exciting. But anyway, just a squeeze of that, mix it all into a glass and drink, and it's so incredible.

Speaker 1:

I also love herbs. Herbs are so rich in minerals Nettle leaf, red raspberry leaf, alpha alpha dandelion. I have some recipes in this book that are just for you. I have so many recipes, um, with with herbs. Um, I have a product that I do use for iron, um, so if, if any of you are iron deficient, um or uh, your ferritin levels are really low, I have something that's even more spectacular for you in this mineral guide, and then, of course, a couple of my cocktail recipes.

Speaker 1:

I've got some bone broth, herbal teas, some electrolyte lemonade, a couple of snacks that are really amazing and some other amazing tips and tricks for you that are gonna just blow your absolute mind, and I'm so excited to share this with you. So listen and I'm gonna give you the link right here in the show notes download your mineral repletion guide and let me know what you think on social. I want you to DM me on Instagram. Let me know how this helps you, how you love the snacks and and really just love your body. Give it some minerals we all need it and enjoy. I'm excited to have a conversation with you about this and, no, like it's just, it's such a beautiful, important thing in our lives to be able to nourish ourselves so so deeply. So give that gift to yourself and we'll chat soon.

Speaker 1:

I am so grateful you turned into the Postpartum University podcast. We've hoped you enjoyed this episode enough to leave us a quick review. And, more importantly, I hope more than ever that you take what you've learned here, applied it to your own life and consider joining us in the Postpartum University membership. It's a private space where mothers and providers learn the real truth and the real tools needed to heal in the years postpartum. You can learn more at wwwpostpartumucom. We'll see you next week. You.

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Maranda Bower

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