Green Babies, Sage Moms By Lynda Fassa

This was a fairly good book. It’s a quick and entertaining read, packed with lots of great information. This book is mainly written for pregnant women. I wasn’t expecting this when I went to read it and was a little surprised there was so much reference in the book to this fact. This book would be good for anyone to read, not just pregnant women.

The number one thing I loved about this book is the recognition of chemicals and how they are affecting our lives. This author really gets it, and numerous examples are given on how to cut out chemicals for the well being of ourselves and our children. Everything from pesticides sprayed on lawns to our food to the chemicals in cosmetics. I was impressed by the author’s depth of knowledge in recognizing all these chemicals. The author runs her own company of organic cotton babies clothes, which brings to light the issue of pesticides we and our babies breathe in when we are wearing cotton. Another thing I really liked that the author was smart to add in this book is about diapering services. Some people feel a diapering service is the way to go when they want to cloth diaper. Cloth diapering is a step ahead of the rest, but a diaper service isn’t the way to go. The diapers must be washed in bleach. Not good for baby or the environment.

A chapter that I absolutely loved in this book is the chapter on beauty care. There are recipes to make your own highlights without chemicals as well as treatments for cracked heels and everything in between. The bottom line is that beauty doesn’t have to be sacrificed when chemicals are removed from the equation. On the contrary, removing chemicals can enhance beauty and health. We can still pamper ourselves with natural remedies that are inexpensive and easy to make without the need to slather harmful chemicals all over our bodies. You will love this chapter.

One more aspect about this book that I absolutely adored was the discussion on vegetarianism. One of the best ways a person can contribute to making a difference on this Earth is to become a vegetarian. It is so much more economical. I’ve heard that we could eliminate hunger if everyone became a vegetarian. This is because the animals that we use for food need to be fed, well, food, and that contributes to hunger of other people. Conventional animals used for food are also severely mistreated and malnourished. There are many problems with the eating of meat, and I’m proud to say that I am a vegetarian. I loved how the book recognized that it is also perfectly safe for children to be raised as vegetarians as well. The number one question I get asked as a vegetarian is if I ever miss meat, so I’ll just answer that for anyone wondering: No, I have not ever once missed meat. I just don’t. Period. I actually feel relieved to not eat meat. Enough said on that!

Some of the downsides to this book. There seems to be a recognition of the harmfulness of vaccines and the toxins contained in vaccines, yet I still got the impression the author is in support of them. I do not support any vaccines as they are toxic chemicals that cannot produce health. I felt this was a bit hypocritical of the book. For more information on why vaccines are harmful, please visit our website at www.theholisticparent.org/vaccinations.

The book also makes many references to global warming. I know many people deeply believe in global warming. My opinion differs slightly, however. Since the purpose of this review is not to debate global warming, I’ll keep my comments minimal. Here’s my take though. We’ve only been recording temperature for a very short time in the history of the Earth. For as many people that believe in global warming, there’s just as many that believe the Earth is cooling. There seems to be “good” science on both sides of the argument. I personally feel we haven’t been recording temperature long enough in the Earth’s history to be able to determine what the temperatures are doing. It’s arrogance on the part of humans to believe we can know for sure. The truth is that the Earth goes through natural cooling and warming phases. With that being said, I do feel we should still be good stewards of this place we call home. We are faced with many other issues, a huge one being pollution.

Before I start to sound too picky about a book that I actually liked overall, I would also like to add that I didn’t feel all the advice in the nutrition section was that wonderful. There were some things mentioned that really aren’t all the great for a baby to eat, such as cheese or white potatoes. That’s my personal opinion based on the research I’ve done. Much of that chapter was also focused on easy ways to feed a baby food. It mentioned companies that have frozen foods and such that you can buy to give your baby. It talks a lot about cooked food for babies. Uncooked food holds so much more nutrition. I was just a little disappointed with this chapter because there was no mention of simply using a hand blender to make baby food. We would take all kinds of raw fruits and veggies, stick them in a little bowl, and use a hand blender on them for about two minutes. That’s the best nutrition for baby if the produce is organic, fresh, and uncooked. Our baby had no trouble at all eating it.

Overall, this book is a fun read. There is plenty of helpful advice, just don’t make it your only source. Most of the advice is sound, but use good judgment. There are many topics that are covered in this book, but none are covered in too much depth, so consulting other sources is always a good idea.