Too much fruit? Raw Kids Health.

[MareeM]

My family has just started going raw. I am worried about my kids health. They don't eat many veggies yet (I'm hoping this will change) and seem to mainly eat fruit and nuts. They have always been picky eaters. I can't do anything with the food as they only seem to like it plain, by itself and not mixed with anything else. My 2 1/2 yo only eats very few vegies & in small amounts - carrots, celery, cucumber and lots of avocado. That's it. Otherwise he will eat fruit, nuts, dried fruit and some seeds. He has always loved dairy and grains. I am hoping to entice him with some yummy raw breads, once I get my grain order.

All I have at the moment is barley, oats, quinoa & adzuki beans & lentils (which are all sprouting at the moment). Does anyone have any good recipes for bread like creations out of these?

I am hoping they will also like almond milk, which I want to make - am waiting for the almonds to sprout - is this necessary? They look like they may be starting...

So what about them getting too much fructose - why is it "normally" recommended that we only have 2 fruit per day. Could this be bad for blood sugar levels?

[Lunar*Fey]

This probably isn't of much help, but I just wanted to mention that I am 15 and also really like almost everything I eat plain. I eat a LOT of fruit...its the base of my diet...its just what I crave. So maybe it is natural for children to like a lot of friut...especially by itself?? Maybe try a green smoothie if you are worried about calcium.
I have a nice big green smoothie for breakfast...one of my favorites is about 5 good sized bananas and 7-9 cups dandelion greens. One that other people tend to like is strawberry-banana-romaine. There are many combinations.
I tend to eat again only like two hours later lol. and lately it tends to be 3-5 oranges. I tend to have "lunch" later which tends to be a couple pieces of fruit, then a snack later which is generally the same. then a huuge salad with avocado for dinner. Do they like salad?
I think it is wonderful that you are providing such a healthy way of life for your children.

p.s. maybe soak some oat groats and quinoa to blend into a porridge for them. You could try blending flax seed with veggies to make a veggie cracker? Maybe try making them a raw vegetable soup? good luck and I hope other people have some better ideas!

[Ariannah]

I agree with Lunar*Fey
Fruit is the mainstay of my diet. Fruit is our birthright, and the first fragrant food hanging off the trees in Genesis 1:29 of the Bible (if you are Biblically inclined).

Unless your children have "sugar issues", I'd say "let' em eat fruit". Fruit is real food unlike cake and donuts.

Avocadoes and Cucumber are fruits too. If they like carrots and celery, too... that's good.

Your children's diet sounds great as is, so while you are gradually planning the expansion of their repertoire, rest easy as they seem to be doing fine! :)

Edit: You said they mostly like their food plain, and I don't think that the plainness of their food will affect them negatively.

[MareeM]

Lunar*Fey you sound like a very sensible 15 yr old. Good on you for being raw, it must be harder at your age. Is your whole family raw?

Thanks for your great ideas. I have already tried the sprouted oat groats blended into a "porridge" but they didn't like it (they always loved cooked rolled oats though). We even made the yummy strawberry crepes, but they weren't interested in that either. Half the time they won't even try it, because they think they won't like it - esp my 4 yo. He's a worry. Yesterday he told my husband that when he grows up he's going to be a teacher and teach him that meat is good for you !! What do you say to that...?? I have been trying to explain to him why meat isn't good and he seems to understand and accept it, but then he asks for it at meal times - he's always loved it.

Thankyou rawandnatural for your encouraging words. I think I just need to accept that they like everything plain and just keep offering them things as we make them. It's probably really the way we should all eat anyway...plain and simple...children often know better than we do I think...!

I might try and sneak in some greens into fruit smoothies. Any suggestions for good biscuit recipes with oats in them? We made some last night, but they came out super sickly sweet. I think it may be because the shredded coconut was store bought and probably not raw. The kids love sultanas, dates etc, but not in biscuits or muffins - they have to be plain too.....

[vgloveforlife]

I have a 6 year old and we went high raw when she was 5. It's hard changing the diet because even at that age they can be so stuck in their ways. I started to incorporate salads into our diets and after 9 months of eating like this my daughter will drink a green smoothie and eat a huge bowl of greens without complaint. She actually says that she craves salads. It took awhile to get to this point but I'm glad she is so open minded now.
To get her interested in smoothies initially, I had her pick out a character cup with a top and straw. This made the smoothies cool and she liked not seeing the "gross green color"
Give it time....things will improve with the green/vegetable intake if you serve them daily. They have to get used to them and see them as food.

[MareeM]

Thanks vgloveforlife. It's great to hear from someone who's been through it. 9 months hey...there's light at the end of the tunnel... I've just been feeling like a bad Mum. I remember not so long ago telling my 4 yo that meat was good for him...feels like I've been telling a lie.. Now I feel like I'm depriving him and he seems to be hungry all the time
I like the character cup idea - will have to get a couple of those.

[NuttyRawMom]

I have suggested on other threads before to hide the green with red beets or raw chocolate powder in smoothies. The kids love fruit or chocolate smoothies, but like most think 'gross!!' when they see green.

We also drink carrot juice almost daily. I started adding red beet juice for red juice at Christmas time, and now I add spinach to it and the color doesn't come through. So, our daily juice is spinach, carrot, beet. The flavor of organic carrot juice is simply wonderful. The others don't ruin the sweetness of it, and they are getting lots more greens that way!

Do your children like cold cereals? We have always eaten rolled oats uncooked with honey and milk as a cold cereal. Going vegan (except honey), we switched to rice milk, and then high raw to almond milk and fruit salad mixed with the rolled oats, and now on 100% raw we use soaked, sprouted oat groats. Also mixed with vanilla powder or cinnamon, it is yummy!

Another idea is trying to make a crunchy cereal in the dehydrator if you have one. Actually, by chance, I started to use Rawkinloc's Peach Delight crumble topping as a cereal after running out of everything else but having that leftover one holiday day when no stores were open. The kids loved it like that!

I have a 6 year old, 4 year old, and almost 21 month old, and am newly pregnant with our fourth. I have seen the differences in all of them as my 6 year old is the hardest to deal with in picky eating (raised SAD from pregnancy on), 4 year old loves salads and would eat that all day if I let her (went vegan, high raw during her pregnancy and through early years before going back to SAD -with improvements- for a while), 20 month old eats anything I give her no matter the color as long as it is raw! (went back to high raw vegan and then 100% raw by the time she began eating solids). She still nurses.

This time around, I am even more excited for our new baby having this chance on all raw from the get-go. I have seen through our progression and the ages of the children that it is truly so much easier to start them out than transition. Sadly, this isn't always an option as we just weren't informed (or in my case, disciplined after learning the best) to start out.

We still have many 'yuck, no way' moments, but they are getting fewer and farther between. I know now from experience the tried and true food and drinks to get what they need into their little bodies, so when they refuse something, I *try* not to worry. My rule is the one bite rule. They can't say they don't like it until they actually know! They are slowly learning that looks and tastes don't always match up!

Just remember that everything you are doing is one step in the right direction, and if you persevere, you will succeed. If this is truly the way you want to eat for life, then one day your children will not remember eating the other way. They are still young enough to instill these good habits in for life. Hang in there and enjoy the bumpy ride!

[MareeM]

Thankyou so much NuttyRawMum for sharing... I really appreciate it. I love the carrot juice idea, then adding the others in. I'm sure they'd love carrot juice as they love carrots and that is one thing we can usually get organic. I tried them with sprouted oat groats and almond milk this morning. They didn't like the almond milk much, but I think it tasted a bit funny too. I thought I had to sprout them and so was rinsing them for about 3 days before I made the milk. Will try a fresh batch with just overnight soaking..?

I also tried to make almond butter in my juicer, but it wasn't very nice with bits of the skin all through it. It seemed very dry too, but perhaps the same reason as with the milk. I added heaps of coconut oil too.

I am excited about getting pregnant again too, this time being 100% raw (I have only just discovered this way of eating). I haven't been SAD for a long time, but was still eating meat. I had already been preparing my grains and nuts by soaking, but drying in the oven and making sourdough bread. Also drank raw milk and made raw kefir, yoghurt, cream cheese etc. - I'm still unsure about this. Will have to post a question about it (maybe do a search first..).

Thanks again. I'm sure it will get easier...they will get hungry enough to eat what I give them I suppose...

[chilove]

Hello there,

It is so awesome that you are giving your children the opportunity to eat raw! Let them follow their instincts. Most children love fruit because it is our natural food. Don't be afraid of fruit. There is no such thing as "too much fruit". We are frugivores (meant to eat a fruit based diet). They are following their natural instincts guided by their senses. Fruit tastes so good to us because it is what we are meant to eat. Let them have as much fruit as they want. They will be healthy and happy as a result. :-)

All the best,

Audrey
www.rawhealing.com

[Ariannah]

I am excited about getting pregnant again too, this time being 100% raw (I have only just discovered this way of eating). I haven't been SAD for a long time, but was still eating meat. I had already been preparing my grains and nuts by soaking, but drying in the oven and making sourdough bread. Also drank raw milk and made raw kefir, yoghurt, cream cheese etc. - I'm still unsure about this. Will have to post a question about it (maybe do a search first..).

Thanks again. I'm sure it will get easier...they will get hungry enough to eat what I give them I suppose...

You should hear Revvell's radio interviews with Jinjee. She has given birth 4 times (is pregnant again now, too). 2 of her births were after a completely raw pregnancy and they were practically painless and very very short. She said after the birth of her second child that she didn't even feel like someone was "supposed to feel" after having given birth. She had a home birth with her husband as midwife, and she even right after, helped her husband clean up the birthing area.

I was blown away completely by Jinjee's accounts.

[MareeM]

I've been on Jinjee's website a few times, but haven't had a chance to listen to the interview's yet. I did see her before and 10 days after photos - amazing!

I can't imagine how excellent this next birth is going to be for me (being 100% raw) as my last birth was amazing in itself. We decided on unassisted homebirth only several weeks before our due date (for many reasons, but esp the Dr's not respecting our birth plan) and I had my 3rd beautiful baby boy in 25 mins! With hardly any pain at all ! My husband caught him, then handed him to me and I did the rest. It was awesome.

[BDraw]

Just had to add a tidbit on almond milk -- Soak almonds 24 hours, rinsing several times. Then drain, pour boiling water over, let sit no longer than 20 seconds, rinse in cold water and peel the almonds. Then place almonds in blender with 1 tablespoon or so of sweetener (I use honey), and at least twice as much water. Blend till milk. Strain (Use some old clean t-shirt material to strain. Works wonderfully).

When it is all finished, the ratio is about 1 cup unsoaked almonds to 3-4 cups of water. I usually add the extra water when finished straining.

Enjoy!

Save the almond pulp for other goodies -- do a SEARCH.