This is the main thing holding me back. Glucose is most readily available through carbs. Glucose is imparitive to the brain development of infants. When nursing, my fear is that baby would not get enough glucose for proper absorpstion and development. Also, what about all the nutrients in grains. Where else would you recieve this from? I want my baby to have the best of everything, including nutrition, so I just gotta be sure.

Just make sure you get lots of good carbs from whole grains, fruits and veggies and your body will make the glucose from them. What you eat is basically what the baby will receive through the breast milk, and will eventually develop a taste for. My dd will not touch white bread but loves whole wheat and whole grain breads which is all I ate for grains while nursing her. She is now almost 3 and developing normally - maybe even a bit advanced mentally. (she has started spelling out certain words on labels like "S-T-O-P - stop!")

Wow she is smart!

Bear in mind that an exclusively breastfed baby spends the first six months in ketosis. Breastmilk is a high fat, low carb food, no matter what you eat. If you need glucose for your baby (which does seem doubtful), your body will produce it from the food you eat. Protein can be broken down to glucose, just not as easily as carbs can.

This link says babies need twice the glucose adults do til age ten
http://www.ipce.info/library_3/file...er/glaser_2.htm

I remember reading many times that glucose is the many fuel for babies brain development and that it's harder to get glucose from low carb food.

I'm just a mama bear. I gotta make sure I'm doing the right thing. I only want the best for my babe. It one of the main reasosns why I nurse. I am relieved to hear ketones dont go into the breast milk.

The key is to eat healthy and balanced. As i am sure you know white flour products and sugar are necessary for NOBODY! Babys need LOTS of GOOD fats, omega 3's and an array of vitamins! My suggestion for you is to eat lots of meat w/fat, coconut oil, grass fed butter, veggies, whole/soaked grains, fruit, nuts...GOOD CARBS are what you and the baby needs..not carbs from white bread..kwim?? Check out the Weston A. Price Foundation website..there is a great pregnancy/breastfeeding diet on there that should give you all you need. Make sure your taking Cod liver oil daily also! (google weston a price)

your pancreas makes carbs for your brian via glycogenisis or some spelling-dont worry if it didnt word the inuit people wouldnt exist

Glycogenesis:

is the process of glycogen synthesis, in which glucose molecules are added to chains of glycogen. This process is activated by insulin in response to high glucose levels.

Glycogen is synthesized depending on the demand for glucose and ATP (energy). If both are present in relatively high amounts, then the excess of insulin promotes the glucose conversion into glycogen for storage in liver and muscle cells.

Gluconeogenesis:

Gluconeogenesis is the process of synthesizing glucose from non-carbohydrate sources. The starting point of gluconeogenesis is pyruvic acid, although oxaloacetic acid and dihydroxyacetone phosphate also provide entry points. Lactic acid, some amino acids from protein and glycerol from fat can be converted into glucose. Gluconeogenesis is similar but not the exact reverse of glycolysis, some of the steps are the identical in reverse direction and three of them are new ones. Without going into detail, the general gluconeogenesis sequence is given in the graphic on the left.

Notice that oxaloacetic acid is synthesized from pyruvic acid in the first step. Oxaloacetic acid is also the first compound to react with acetyl CoA in the citric acid cycle. The concentration of acetyl CoA and ATP determines the fate of oxaloacetic acid. If the concentration of acetyl CoA is low and concentration of ATP is high then gluconeogenesis proceeds. Also notice that ATP is required for a biosynthesis sequence of gluconeogenesis.

Gluconeogenesis occurs mainly in the liver with a small amount also occurring in the cortex of the kidney. Very little gluconeogenesis occurs in the brain, skeletal muscles, heart muscles or other body tissue. In fact, these organs have a high demand for glucose. Therefore, gluconeogenesis is constantly occurring in the liver to maintain the glucose level in the blood to meet these demands.

The most important nutrient for healthy brain development in infants and children is fat, not sugar. After all, the brain is mostly composed of fat.

Excert from interview on Larry King Live...

"KING: Are some under risk switching to low carb?

ATKINS: Very few people. I would say it shouldn't happen to a pregnant woman or a woman who is feeding her infants. It shouldn't happen to a person who already has kidney disease. But a few statements like that which we make, but basically other than that, very, very few people get in trouble from carbohydrate restriction. "

"KING: OK. Aurora, Illinois, hello. CALLER: Hello. Hi.

I have just had a baby two and a half months ago and wondered why it wasn't safe for me to do the Atkins diet.

ATKINS: Well, it is safe for you to do the maintenance level of the diet. But you don't want to give the keytones to an infant if you're feeding them breast milk.

KING: And she would be getting the keytones from what?

ATKINS: From being on a strict version of the diet. But you wouldn't be getting them if you're just on a low carbohydrate maintenance level. "

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRI.../25/lkl.00.html

Geez, dirtywater, thanks so much for posting the same transcript in every post in here!

I replied to it in "Low Carbing and breastfeeding" but can't be bothered doing it over and over again.