Where There Is No Doctor 2011 123
HARMFUL IDEAS ABOUT DIET
1. The diet of mothers after giving birth:
In many areas there is a dangerous popular belief that a woman who has just
had a baby should not eat certain foods. This folk diet—which forbids some of the
most nutritious foods and may only let the new mother eat things like cornmeal,
noodles, or rice soup—makes her weak and anemic. It may even cause her death,
by lowering her resistance to hemorrhage (bleeding) and infection.
After giving birth a mother needs to eat
the most nutritious foods she can get.
In order to fight infections or bleeding and to produce enough milk for her child,
a new mother should eat the main food together with plenty of body building
foods like beans, eggs, chicken, and if possible, milk products, meat, and fish.
She also needs protective foods like fruits and vegetables, and high energy helpers
(oils and fatty foods). None of these foods will harm her; they will protect her and
make her stronger.
Here is a healthy mother who ate
many kinds of nutritious foods
after giving birth:
Here lies a mother who was not given nutritious
foods after giving birth:
2. It is not true that oranges, guavas, or other fruits are bad for a person who
has a cold, the flu, or cough. In fact, fruits like oranges and tomatoes have a lot of
vitamin C, which may help fight colds and other infections.
3. It is not true that certain foods like pork, spices, or guavas cannot be
eaten while taking medicine. However, when a person has a disease of the
stomach or other parts of the digestive system, eating a lot of fat or greasy foods
may make this worse whether or not one is taking medicines.