Can you start a Raw diet while nursing?

[peacefulmama]

Hello!
I'm brand new to this site and I am interested in starting a 100% raw diet. I am nursing my 2 year old and also my 7 month old little boys. I've heard that you shouldn't go 100% raw while nursing becuase of the detox. I've heard it will make the boys sick. Is this true? If so, any suggestions to switching to raw without a lot of detox symptoms for me and the boys?
Thank you for any information!

[Sharon in Colorado]

What is your diet like at this moment?

If you are already a vegan then there shouldn't be much of a problem. I have my doubt about there being problems with breast milk when you detox. I've heard more about reactions from breast milk when women are eating dairy or stronger substances like brocolli or onions.

You can try going 100% for a few days and see if there's a reaction. If there is, I would not re-introduce any cooked wheat or any animal products. Do your cooked at night and stay raw the rest of the day and see how they fare with that. Maybe in a couple of weeks, eat cooked dinners twice a week, then a month later drop all cooked.

[Rawkinlocs]

This is my personal view and take on it (which I KNOW differs from what many will say on this very forum)...

Breasts are NOT a normal channel of elimination for the body. If they were, then ANY baby who was nursed would get sick if mom was not her healthiest or eating her healthiest, etc. Say a mother was on drugs and then decided to stop once they began nursing (or even better yet, when women who smoke find out they're pregnant, no one tells them "Oh you'd better keep on smoking because the detox will make the baby sick!")...the woman is going to be encouraged to stop smoking or using drugs or taking certain medications if she is nursing because...

the foods and substances taken into the body WILL effect the milk

So, if you decide to eat raw foods, the baby is going to benefit from the raw foods and the nutrients they provide. Why not give your baby the absolute best in terms of food and nutrition? But let's say you decide to continue eating cooked food while nursing...does that necessarily guarentee that baby will not get cold symptoms or an ear infection or any other sicknesses babies get?

If you decide to not switch to all raw, what cooked foods will you be eating? Dairy? Meat? Sugary foods? Any of those could possibly produce harmful effects in baby. I know when nursing my daughter (who is now 7) she developed horrible eczema in part (if not totally) due to MY poor eating habits while I was pregnant with and nursing her. Perhaps she may have not had to go through that problem with her skin had I known about and began eating raw.

So, I don't believe in not starting raw when you find out you're pregnant or begin nursing because I personally do not believe that my personal detox episodes will effect the baby. Mothers who are not raw can still get "sick" with colds or cold symptoms (due to AUTO-ntoxication and not DE-toxification) and so can babies of mothers who are not raw. I say give your baby the best in terms of nutrients that you can and are willing to do.

[rawbeliever]

I don't know very much about this topic, but my friend is currently pregnant, and I think I read somewhere that the mother's body always gives the best to the child. I would bet that breast milk is somewhat similar, that the body would circumnavigate polluting the breast milk with stored toxins in the mother's body. I'm with Rawkinlocs. Also, you could just transition slowly, say, over the course of a month or so, introduce more and more raw meals into your diet. That should keep the detox to a dull roar.