Hi all
I am new to this but for the past month I have been following and 80% raw food diet. I have researched it a little bit in the internet but have only read one book, the Natalia Rose “Detox Diet” one. I don’t know enough about nutrition or raw nutrition and therefore I am worried that I might not be getting enough nutrients, specially protein and calcium. This is my daily diet:
- 20 ounzes of green and fruit juice, comprising of 4/5 pieces of fruit and over half a pound of green vegetables (chard, celery, spinach, romaine, kale, cabbage)
- about five pieces of whole fruit: bananas, melon, watermelon, berries, pineapple, mango, papaya, pear, apple, kiwi, etc (I put oranges and occasionally lemon in my juice)
- Most days I would also have a salad: half an avocado, 1-2 tomatoes, more lettuce, carrots (I eat this on their own as a snack as well), mushrooms, beetroot, corn, a bit of cider vinegar and some cold-pressed olive oil. I make sure I always have my half an avocado a day even if I don’t always have my salad.
- I nearly always have a haldful of nuts, some seeds and dried fruit for snacks during the day, 85% chocolate for dessert and some coconut as well.
- At night time I almost always have a cooked-meal, mostly fish but some days cooked beans, chick-peas or lentils, and the very occasional piece of chicken, sometimes a couple of boiled potatoes and steamed or boiled vegetables to accompany the above. I also have some dairy, as I am pregnant and am afraid of missing out in my calcium intake too much.
I know nothing about sprouting grains, have heard you guys talk about granola, goji berries, hemp seeds, etc but know nothing about it all. What would be a good book for me to get a complete picture of the whole nutrition matter so that I know that I am doing the right thing? Does it seem like my diet above is particularly deficient in protein/calcium? Is there anything I should ideally add to the above?
Thanks for reading and excuse the very long post!
Comments
Hi Superfood
Thanks so much for your answer. I only plan to eat dairy until I stop breastfeeding, and even at that most days I do not eat it and then I feel bad for not having done so, cos I am afraid I won’t take in enough calcium. I also take calcium suplements. If I look at nutridiary for example, it says that 200 grms of spinach have 20% of your daily calcium needs, and spinach as it is is one of the vegetables that has the most calcium. I am going to have to get an awful lot of veggies to make up 100%, not even taking into account that I supposedly need extra calcium during pregnancy.
How will I go about sprouts? I know nothing aboout it.
Thanks again :)
What else can I sprout as well as lentils? And then, how do I eat it, in salads or something? Is there any raw ways of eating kidney beans/chik-peas? Should I be including some grains as well?
Thanks for the pointers towards hemp, flax, sesame and sunflower seeds. At the moment I am only taking pumpkin seeds (should have specified this).
TheRawDance thanks so much for the advice about visiting a professional nutriotionist. It is difficult for me to part with the money right now but I will do it cos I think it’s the right thing to do. In any case I was asking generally regarding protein and calcium :)
I will look into the superfoods stuff. Aren’t there, however, detractors of these, and also people who think that legumes and grains are not at all neccesary? Was it Dr Douglas Graham or am I getting confused? Or was it the higienists? I’m not bothered about these last ones anyway, I think they are far too extremists for my own taste (no disrespect for any higienists that might read this)
Anyway thanks everyone for your good advice.
Mickmaster is right about the calcium, but more specifically, our bodies cannot properly metabolize the protein in cow’s milk. So, it leaches calcium from your bones to help digest it. You are losing calcium by consuming cow’s milk. I actually read a study once (don’t ask me where I found it, I can’t remember. You might be able to find it through a google search though.) that was done by the national dairy council itself. It wasn’t supposed to be released because the findings weren’t what they wanted, but it leaked or something of the sort. Anyway, the study showed that an increased intake of calcium from cow’s milk actually leads to higher rates of osteoperosis. Why do you think so many women get it despite drinking 3-4 glasses of milk their entire lives? (My grandmother for instance.) If you want info on raw vegan pregnancy, breastfeeding, and raw kids, check out www.shazzie.com