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Hello all, new member (heavily pregnant) needing support/input/advice!

Hi, I love this site.

A bit about me: English, moved to the Netherlands last year with my husband and two little boys, currently 7 months pregnant. I discovered raw food a couple of months back after stumbling upon it trying to find a healthy way to be vegan, and have been steadily trying to integrate it into our lives ever since. Because of the pregnancy I’m very wary about doing too much all at once, in case of the likely detox harming my baby. Also I’m encountering a lot of resistance and even animosity from my husband.

I’m not sure what I’m asking here, actually! I just want us ALL to eventually be 100% organically raw and I’ve no idea what the best way is to achieve this… My kids are fairly fussy eaters already, so I don’t know how best to approach them with new food ideas/recipes. They eat plenty of fruit, although are wary of new types so sadly we’re fairly limited on variety, and they won’t touch leafy salad stuff. Cucumber and sweet peppers go down well and the odd raw carrot sticks, but other than that I’m stuck for ideas.

I’m also not sure what my own approach should be because of the baby – is it better to quickly go 100% now and not worry about the detox affecting the baby since overall nutrition will be higher, or will it be better when I’m nursing and thus risk milk rejection by the baby?! I certainly can’t wait until I’ve finished nursing since I fully intend to nurse for as long as the baby wants to. I’m also concerned that I will find it too difficult to transition over a long period of time (I definitely come under the heading of “cooked food addict”!).

So, that’s me at the moment. Confused, mainly! Look forward to any gems of wisdom (or just “hello”s!).

Katie

Comments

  • Hi Katie!

    I can’t speak on the pregnancy aspect (congratulations!) I too am new to raw foods. I would suggest finding a few simple recipes and start adding them to the meals as ‘side dishes,’ serve a salad at the start of meals and fruit as desert. That way no one is being asked to give up their main dishes and they can get used to the variety of raw food one can eat. I’ve been trying that with my mom…she’s constantly amazed how good the ‘side dishes’ are and now asks for more raw ‘sides’ instead of cooked whenever she comes over to eat. You could also have the kids pick out and help make recipes. Hope this helps. Best of luck on your journey!

  • I just joined this forum, and don’t want to step on any toes, but….aha, the but! But just a warning to you as you are pregnant. I don’t know if soy is a product that is used in the raw food regimen, but in case it is, soy is not the benign food product that producers would have you believe. I was just reading a websight that goes into all the dangers of it, particularly with regards to babies, whether born or in-utero. That site is: http://search.mercola.com/Results.aspx?q=vitami…

    And if soy is not used by the raw food-ist, then good for you!

    Regards, Deb

  • elizabethhelizabethh Raw Newbie

    Hey hey,
    I don’t know about the pregnancy thing, so sorry, I can’t give you any advice on that…Buut I have a few ideas of how you might incorporate more raw foods into your family’s diet.
    The easiest way to “trick” people into eating raw is to serve them amazing desserts. You won’t find a shortage of recipes on this website. Pies, cakes, truffles, etc…I’ve never had a non-raw person even tell that the goodies were raw before I told them.
    I would highly recommend you purchase the book ‘Ani Phyo’s Raw Food Kitchen”, which is full of some of the most delicious and easy recipes i have ever encountered.
    best of luck to you!
    I would advise you see a naturopath, preferably one dealing specifically with detoxification, about the pregnancy vs. detox thing.

  • Hi all,

    Orchid: Good idea about side dishes – I don’t know why I haven’t thought of that before (other than the ubiquitous pepper/cucumber/carrot sticks)! I’m going to try that this evening. Sneakily, I’m afraid, next to a meal they know they hate (lasagne!). I wish you all the best with your own raw food journey, sounds like you’re doing great already getting your mum involved (I’m working on that too but I have to practice what I preach a little more first!).

    Dieselsmom: I’m totally with you on your soy concerns and it’s nice to know there are others out there! That’s one of the main reasons I’ve failed in the past with ordinary vegetarianism/veganism (cos EVERYBODY else seems to eat it!). I stumbled upon the raw diet looking for a healthier way to eat vegan, I think very few people use soy on a raw diet apart from the odd dash of nama shoyu or similar fermented-soy sauces… I tend to avoid those too.

    Elizabethh: The desserts is a good tip definitely – any particular goneraw recommendations?!? I’ve been making smoothies and chocolate nut milks etc. (with varying success rates!) and did raw ice cream recently which was a hit. Thanks so much for the book tip, I’ll definitely check it out. One question though: is it mostly using a dehydrator? Because I haven’t got one yet – I’m not sure how much use I’d get out of it and I also don’t want to freak my husband out too much (they’re expensive and he’s not backing me on the raw thing yet!).

  • hallo sis.

  • There’s a good cheesecake one called Michael’s Cheesecake. No dehydrator and looks like cheesecake. Make it instead of your yummy philadelphia laden one! ;-)

  • rawmamarawmama Raw Newbie

    Everything I read when I was pregnant and while nursing said to NOT suddenly go 100% raw because of causing harm to the baby with detox. Yes, I have read about some people doing it suddenly, but I wouldn’t and didn’t because of fear that I’d really hurt the baby physically. I would go for the transitioning over a period of time even though that sounds harder. You don’t have to take years to do this, you can make it simple like fruit with ground flax seeds in the morning, big green salads with lots of veggies, avocadoes, olives or nuts (you need fats) and about 2 T. flax seed oil, and a green smoothie would be GREAT for you because of the amount of nutrients you’d be consuming from the greens (including your proteins from the greens). I also would see the advise from a naturopath as dieselsmom said, if possible, or at least meet with a vegetarian nutritionist and they will have some plant based knowledge of what you should be eating for pregnancy and nursing. I met with a vegetarian nutritionist and that helped me feel so less overwhelmed! I did that thru my obgyn office, they set up someone and my insurance covered it. Right now you have to think about the 2 of you instead of just you…doing it gradually will work well also with nursing…nothing worst than a sick or unhappy baby :( Then you’d really be hating yourself for causing pain…you have the rest of your life, enjoy the pregnancy, don’t fret about being 100% raw right now, just enjoy browsing the recipes and make something fun each day. Eventually your family will like something. AND even if they never go 100% raw, they’ll at least be having vegetables with their chicken! ;) tee-hee The best tip that I received was from Paul Nison when it comes to feeding family food that is not raw…don’t tell them it is raw. Just put it on the table and say nothing :) Find the foods that they’ll go for, do they like sweet, salty, sour, crunchy, smooth type foods? Whether they like salads or not, I’d make it a part of every single dinner and make the kids eat it. Sorry, I’m strict that way, BUT I found that shredding it, including the lettuce, was a giant hit with the kids! OR have the veggies out and say, “you have to pick 2 veggies for your special salad.” Also I took our daughter to the salad bars and she got to create her own salad (the junky pasta section was not an option) and then she was hooked on making her own salad. Maybe that might help? How about raw soups? Flax crackers with dips and hummus made fresh or guacamole or salsa? Another tip, put out fresh cut veggies before dinner for them to dip and snack on. If they fill up on those before dinner and are not hungry when you put that cooked meal in front of them, then you’ve taken them one step closer to good health ;) BUT don’t tell them your plan, just do it without saying anything about your plan to being raw…fruit or veggie trays work…

  • I would suggest lots of smoothies! For you & your boys. Children are naturally drawn to fruit, so offer them all they can eat.

    I definitely agree with allowing your children to choose their own foods, just give them a wide variety of healthy choices. Make raw ice creams, etc, to entice them.

    And of course, don’t push it. By you going more raw, your family will see the benefits and want to join. Also, if your husband suddenly has to make his own ‘cooked’ dinner, he may be more inclined to try your raw version. ;)

  • Have you read Natalia Rose’s “The raw food detox diet”? She recommends transitioning slowly. That is what I am doing and it is working great for me. I would definately be weary about going 100% 7 months pregnant. But if you do it gradually than you could be raw in a few months or in half a year while you are still breast feeding without any dangerous detoxes. Btw my name is also Katie and I am also an ex-pat only American living in Norway :-) Welcome to the site, and good luck girlfriend!

  • Hi Katie. You may already have it but have you come across Kate Wood’s book eat smart eat raw? loads of kid friendly recipes and uk based so all familiar ingredients. I think she is fantastic. Good luck with it all.

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