Just a few questions...

[ma2cuties]

I have about a million questions running through my head, LOL, but I'll try to stick to just a few that are most important to me :)

I've been reading alot of the archives and such the past few days and have heard alot of people mention how you detox when you first start raw. It comes out in your skin, etc. I am breastfeeding, granted she's 2 1/2 years not 6 weeks, but this wouldn't affect my milk in an adverse way would it?

I hate cooking and always have. My husband has given up fighting me on it and cooks most nights now. So I'm excited taking that problem away by eating raw. However, I've seen all these crazy recipes for making fake foods, and I don't want to go there. My husband and I both want to eat simply, with no Vita Mix needed. :D I know it's possible, but wonder how do you keep track of what nutrients you're getting? Protein, calcium, etc? Is a multivitamin necessary?

And last but not least.. We are on a strict budget. My husband is the sole provider for our family of 6 and currently I have the grocery budget set at $175 a week. There are not alot of options for organic around here, either. So, although I think I already know the answer, what's better? A SAD diet or a non-organic raw diet?

Thanks all! :)

[Eva]

Non-organic raw is fine if that's what you can do, I think. I don't get everything organic, just what I can, and I've had great benefits.

Green smoothies are great... you can use a regular blender.

And if you don't want to make the fancy recipes, this will be super easy. There are some simple recipes in Alissa's book and some floating around.

I wish you the best of luck.

[MiahTay]

If you have a good farmer's market close by $175 can be do-able. Or if you are really good at shopping sales. Also, you can buy fruit when it is on sale and in season and cut it up and freeze it for smoothies. I buy marked down bananas every week and bring them straight home and peel them and put them in the freezer for smoothies. I get some good deals at Sam's Club. There are also some co-ops that might save some $$$. Especially if you keep nuts and specialty items to a minimum.

And just a word of advice... don't totally dismiss "recipes" completely from your brain because down the road if you start getting board (could be a week or 2 years) it will be better to incorporate a couple recipes than to allow cooked stuff to start creeping in. JMO.

Heather

[MiahTay]

Also you may want to post your breastfeeding question in the "Raising Kids" boards, probably get some good responses there.

Heather

[ma2cuties]

What exactly is a green smoothie? LOL

[MiahTay]

Green smoothies are wonderful. You make your standard (favorite) fruit smoothie and add greens (lettuce, spinach, kale, etc). I would start off with spinach as a first it is mildest tasting. But you will be surprised how it still tastes fruity not green. I've got my mom drinking these every day!

Heather

[ma2cuties]

Heather,
A farmer's market recently (FINALLY!!) opened up downtown. There was a big hoopla about it because the vendors didn't have permits or anything and it was shut down but it's apparently all worked out now. They are open every Friday, so I'll go this week and check out prices. We have a local Sam's club about 35 minutes away... do you get enough deals that make it worth belonging?
Thanks for the advice on the recipes... I'm sure eventually we'll use a few, but I feel like for now I need to keep it simple or I'll get overwhelemed and want to quit, kwim? Any idea on how long it takes to get the book in the mail? LOL

[maui_butterfly]

our bodies are designed to shelter our little ones from toxins, not load them with toxins, so i don't think breastmilk would be a detox/elimination route...

that is not to say that chemicals/other bad stuff does not end up in breastmilk, as we know they do. but these things don't come from stored toxins that are being eliminated, they come from what we eat on a day to day basis while we are breastfeeding. does that make sense?

i did fine for many months with my regular oster blender, made green smoothies and everything (a mixture of any fruits and veggies -- usuallly heavy on greens like spinach, kale, chard, etc., and usually about 40% greens to 60% fruit). you don't need a vitamix or a dehydrator or any other fancy equipment to be raw. its NICE to have, but not NECESSARY.

if you're eating this way, you can be assured you are getting more vitamins and minerals and nutrients than 90% of the American population. Some raw vegans supplement with B12, its a debatable issue with valid arguments on both sides. what i do is eat a raw diet filled with a variety of fruits and vegetables, minimally processed, and if i experience symptoms of any kind (brittle nails, acne, fatigue, whatever) i search out the possible dietary causes of these problems and work to correct them. but overall i am experiencing vibrant health and crazy-mad energy, so i don't worry about my nutrient profile too much. the proof is in the pudding, as they say.

and no question, non organic raw over sad. read The China Study, there are several studies citedthat showed no negative effect from common agricultural chemicals when the subjects were eating a whole food, plant based diet. is organic better for our bodies and better for the planet? Yes. but a raw diet allows our bodies to deal with the toxins present in conventionally grown produce, where a diet of cooked and processed foods is substantially less able to do so.

good luck!

[MiahTay]

I'm assuming you are referring to Alissa's Book? It took me about 10 days to get mine but ???

With Sam's Club .... well, to be honest I'm not too sure if the cost savings are enough to warrant the membership. Actually as I think about it, I probably get almost as good of deals at Wal-Mart once I take into consideration gas, etc. I must confess I have not been the wisest shopper and am just learning how to shop within a budget. I wish we had a good farmer's market close - we do not. Even Sam's Club is 45 minutes away.

Heather

[ma2cuties]

Yes, I meant Alissa's book.. J asked if I was going to try the library first but even if they did have it I would still want to purchase it, so tomorrow I will :)

[ma2cuties]

Thanks Jennifer... It's funny how I will give my DD things that I know are bad for her (like pizza) but then worry about the effects of eating a healthy, raw diet.
Almost as funny as the fact that noone ever says anything to me about what I eat at all (I'm over 100lbs overweight) but the second I became vegetarian everyone and there mother became concerned with my health. But that's a whole 'nother story :D

[maui_butterfly]

Almost as funny as the fact that noone ever says anything to me about what I eat at all (I'm over 100lbs overweight) but the second I became vegetarian everyone and there mother became concerned with my health. But that's a whole 'nother story :D

its the herd mentality. as long as you are eating like everyone else, you aren't making waves! but the minute you step out of line and start eating in a radically different way than the herd, it makes everyone feel defensive about the things in their diet they are feeling guilty about. they can react by bashing you, or being "worried" about you... as you've correctly noticed, no one "worries" about you when you are gaining weight on the SAD.

i find that people are either apologizing to me about how they eat or staunchly defending it, and i haven't said or even thought anything to prompt that. you are holding up a mirror to others just by being present, and they tend to sort of project everything that they feel about their own diet/lifestyle onto you. its rather hilarious.

i went back to colorado to visit my family a few months ago and my brother, who is a very fit and healthy guy, talked to me for 10 minutes about how it is okay if he has a cheeseburger a few times a month if he goes out to a restaurant, since he eats really healthy at home. i didn't say anything to him, just kept nodding. and he just kept going ON with his monologue. when he finished i said, "i think that's great, and i'm happy for you if you're happy with it. you look like you're thriving to me." who am i to say what the perfect diet for everyone is? i only know my experience, and it only applies to me. anyway, he burst out laughing and said "geez, I guess I'm not too happy with it since I feel the need to justify it to you!" we had a good laugh over it. not everyone is as self aware.

good luck to you on this path! there's lots of exciting stuff in your future... you'll see! :)

[Nimisha]

If you do have time, you can try growing some of the produce yourself, its fun and easy if you pick the ones that need little maintenance.
Eat lots of salads, make dips/spreads/pate's, As you keep experimenting you can find lot of recipes, which need just chopping or blending.

[eachpeachpearplum]

I breastfed in whilst detoxing and it did not affect my little one. Great to hear you have been reading the archives they are so great!

Cheers,

EPPP

[Carlsbad]

I occasionally buy my produce at Costco, and I would think with such a large family it would be worth it. But be careful to keep aware of prices for various things. Not all the produce is cheaper there. They had a box of cherries once for $14, and the same amount would have been about $5 at my grocery store. Most of those places (Sams, Costco) will give you a free day pass so you can go and check it out. Be warned that both of those places have little tasting stations all over, and the whole place smells like whatever they're offering for samples, so it may be more temptation than it's worth.

[RawHeaven]

i find that people are either apologizing to me about how they eat or staunchly defending it, and i haven't said or even thought anything to prompt that. you are holding up a mirror to others just by being present, and they tend to sort of project everything that they feel about their own diet/lifestyle onto you. its rather hilarious.

I've experienced this too and it is hilarious. You don't really have to say a word, even though sometimes I want too. lol. Last night a friend was raving about how wonderful it is to put a lemon in a microwave to make it "juicer". You know what I wanted to say! LOL. My brain was really struggling to get my mouth to shout,"but you're destroying the enzymes and changing the molecular structure of the lemon which = poison. And if you put it out in the sun it will be just as juicy." But I didn't say anything about that because she wouldn't have heard me anyway. I instead told her that I don't use microwave ovens. She replied, "yeah, they probably cause cancer." Oh my God, I almost bit my tongue in half with wanting to say something about oh, they most definately do. It's a trip and I'm learning new communication skills daily. You choose your battles.

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ma2cuties, I eat well under $65-75 per week with purchasing organic raw produce. I'm a member of 2 food co-ops which saves me about 5% on my grocery bill and I purchase food in bulk also, or on sale. I like to go to the farmer's market in the warmer months also. I eat pretty simply although I did just get a vitamix and dehydrator, so I'm experimenting with some gourmet recipes that I couldn't make before. These ingredients will stretch your budget just a bit more depending on what you're buying. Eating gourmet will not be my regular routine, just as a treat every once in awhile. As far as my health, I trust that I'm getting enough nutrients and minerals. I add bee pollen and spirulina to my green smoothies for breakfast and eat mostly greens and some fruits and nuts for the remainder of the day. I've learned to listen to my body and it tells me clearly what it needs. It took about 2-4months time for me to establish great communication with my body and now we're in sync. Good luck on your raw journey. Being raw has been an incredibly positive experience for me and there's no turning back to the SAD way of living.

[cayenne]

:D I know it's possible, but wonder how do you keep track of what nutrients you're getting? Protein, calcium, etc? Is a multivitamin necessary?


ma2cuties, there are programs to track your nutrients if you want. There is www.fitday.com for example which is free, it can give you an idea how you are doing. A few things to consider though:
1 Nutrient intake is generally higher on a raw food diet than on a cooked food diet, you will be surprised to see how much you get.
2 RDA's are set for average people on average SAD diets, so they may be way too high. Take calcium for example. The RDA for calcium is pretty high, because only one third of the calcium in a SAD diet is absorbed and used by the body. Vegetable calcium is much better absorbed and assimilated, so we need only one third of the RDA! Also less calcium is excreted when one does not consume concentrated proteins or a lot of salt for example. I find with calcium it is not easy to not get enough when you get your calories!
3 A plant food diet provides all the proteins we need. Generally people suffer from tooo much protein, not from too little. Natural foods provide us with what we need.
4 It is not only important how much nutrients are in our foods, but even more important it is how many nutrients are actually used and assimilated by the body. On the SAD diet only a small percentage of the nutrients are actually absorbed and used.

Don't worry, if you get a variety of foods and you get sufficient calories, then it is pretty difficult to not get what you need. No need for multivitamins.