Pre-Pregnancy Raw Conversion

[whitelotus]

Hi Everyone!!
Planning on getting pregnant this September and I want to make sure that I'm all raw. I was raw for about a year but fell off the wagon and am trying to get back on it. I have a bunch of questions .... I know the SAD diet requires an obscene amount of things but how much (protein, carbs, etc.) are you supposed to consume eating raw? Any help will be greatly appreciated!!!
Thanks,
Kelly

[trinity082482]

Even when I didn't know what raw was I never followed all that equal portion of whatever on the plate. I was a terrible eater. Now that I am raw I just eat what I want to eat that day. I don't check to see if I have enough protein or carbs on my plate I just eat what I like. And I am pregnant. I eat very well compared to my former self I am just amazed at how healthy I am. I don't want to know how I would look or feel if I had never went raw and continued to eat the poop that I did :D

[whitelotus]

I love your website, you've got some really good recipes and I'm starting to get hungry now! I hear you, when I was all raw I was never concerned about protein or carbs ... seemed kind of pointless because the raw way is entirely different from eating SAD. I guess I'm just nervous that I won't be giving the baby what it needs. I'm going to do the challenge next month to jump start everything and I'm lucky that my fiance is so supportive that he's going to do it with me.

[Radiantly Raw]

I plan on trying for a pregnancy in the spring. I've been 100% raw for 5 months so far. I know a Bradley instructor who says that the protein requirements suggested are crazy. This country is obsessed with protein!:confused: Have you read the China Study yet? I want to, that way I will have plenty of data to give well meaning folks who inquire during my next pregnancy. I have 2 daughters already, and I ate like crap while pregnant with the second one because we were on such a tight budget. I cannot imagine, even ignoring the protein issue, that raw would be worse than that. Quite the contrary!! I add hemp seeds to our green smoothies to get some protein since we exercise a bit more now, and also for the efa's and stuff. You could check www.thegardendiet.com, Jinjee has gone through a couple raw pregnancies and births!

Best wishes!!

[whitelotus]

Thanks for the info, I have read the China Study and it's amazing. Our country is entirely obssessed with protein! The Garden Diet is a wonderful site and offers a ton of information but I guess I'm just looking for something that tells me types of food I need to eat, in order for me and my baby to get all of the nutrients we require. I wish there was just a list of everything we need to eat but unfortunately I haven't been able to find anything.

[mousebandit]

Whitelotus - I hear you. I am currently pregnant, and switching over to a mostly raw lifestyle and I constantly wonder about my protein levels. As a student midwife, I have studied and promoted high-protein diets during pg to prevent all kinds of complications and to provide the baby with the optimum nutrition for growth and development. And, I had thought that I understood the science behind it and it all made total sense. But, I've read and seen SO MANY accounts of raw pg mamas who are having beautifully healthy babies after beautifully perfect pregnancies, and there is NO WAY they are eating even 80g protein daily, much less the 100-120g that many midwives recommend. I'm actually going to be researching this because it's driving me nuts, and I believe that raw foods are massively more healthy than any cooked foods, but as a midwife, I will need more than anecdotes and personal stories to explain things and back up my recommendations. My current theory is that it's an assimilation difference - the raw amino acids we're taking in from live foods are much more quickly and efficiently converted into the proteins that mama and baby need vs. the breaking down of dead proteins into amino acids, then combining them with mamas enzymes to bring them back to life, then starting the re-arranging into the needed proteins. I think the answer to why raw mamas need so much less protein and calories per day than SAD mamas lies somewhere in that process.

Keep searching for your concrete answers, but also read up lots on the ladies who have had raw pregnancies and healthy babies. Jinjee's website and ebooks are great, as are Shazzie's blog, and Sherah's blog, and there's a book out by one of the Above Rubies ladies that talks a lot about her raw pregnancies. I'm sure there's more out there, I've only started looking myself. But, there's no denying their results, and it is a definate reassurance for me to read and re-read their stories when I'm sucking down my green smoothie or the 4th orange of the day, and feeling guilty like I *should* be chomping on a dead hunk of flesh, LOL!

Hang in there, and keep studying!!! Raw foods are GREAT for baby-making!!

Tracey Mouse

[mousebandit]

PS - if I were going to recommend some foods specifically for pregnancy, I would push green smoothies big time. The greens have lots of protein and calcium. I would also recommend Victoria's book, "Green for Life". She has lots of good, researched information in there about nutrients and assimilation, etc. I would also push coconuts (oil, butter, water, meats) and avocados - the healthy fats. Flax seed and it's oil is awesome for the omegas and DHA that developing and breastfeeding babies need. Spirulina powder (and many other superfoods) have lots of protein in them - throw them in your green smoothies if you're worried about protein intake. I'm using two different raw protein powders right now (alternating to decide which one I like best) in my green smoothies - and they're pumping up my protein grams per smoothie by 10-30g per smoothie (over what the smoothie was alone). And of course, lots of fruits to provide your Vitamin C. Sunshine every single day for Vitamin D, since you're not getting "supplemented" through the SAD commercial foods. Those would be my first recommendations off the top of my head. HTH!!

Tracey Mouse

[whitelotus]

Your reply helped SO MUCH! I completely believe in the raw way of eating but at least for me, I need some scientific data so I can be assured that I'm getting what me and my baby needs. Along with that, my fiance is a pharmacist who is extremely supportive of this way of eating, in fact, he eats al the raw meals with me and refuses to eat non-raw around me, needs some scientific data that shows the requirements for daily nutrition. Have you read anything that tells about how much is required on this diet or are they mostly personal stories? I have almost all of Jinjee's ebooks, which have been a tremendous help, although they don't really talk about what you need to eat. It's hard because the SAD diet requires crazy amounts of protein but you made a GREAT point about how raw protein and sad protein, how much should you actually intakes? Ahh, frustrated because unfortunately I'm not the type of person who can just listen to their body, I need factual information so hopefully I'll find some. I'm going to order Green for Life in a couple days so maybe that book will give me some more green smoothie ideas. Anyway thanks for some great information and have a wonderful pregnancy!

[thunderdancer]

Hi there
I'm a bit late in finding this thread - how are you all doing as this was back in January :)
I am preparing my body for pregnancy too, I hope to become pregnant later this year.
I just kick started with a 7 day juice 'feast' and am concentrating on breaking it as well as i can and staying raw. I used to be raw but for the last few years have been cooked wheat free vegan.
I have been reading LOADS on pre-pregnanacy and during pregnancy diet and other factors.
A few points:
* folic acid at the beginning is important for neural development for the baby - veggies like broccoli, sprouts, spinnach, cabbage, asparagus and parsnips & beets (juice gets a lot in) or fruits like - kiwi and papaya
* B12 is also important, so however you get it, by eating good dirt or taking a supplement
* Iron for forming a healthy blood supply for the new placenta - so spinnach, figs, apricots, avos, asparagus, brocolli
Thats what I can remember for now.
I just read a great book which really stressed how important our pre pregnancy eating is and just as much so - the first few weeks after conception - it really can make a difference, as big a difference as preventing many diseases in later life. So I found it really helped my motivation. Its amazing how thinking of your unborn baby is more motivating than thinking of yourself! I need to work on that too :o)
Love and peace to all you budding mummies xx

[Sternenhimmel]

Hi,
I hope to become pregnant this summer.
I worry about vitamine B12 and omegas. It's so important for the developpment of the baby!

[Raene]

Omegas are easily found in flax seeds and hemp seeds. Oils are really important, in my opinion. B-12...add some nutritional yeast to your diet.