5 yr old on raw

[vgloveforlife]

My 5 yr old is off of high raw . I am now adding cooked things to her diet such as beans and soup. I am really disapointed that it didn't work out for her. The reason I stopped is for many reasons. She hated everything I made (except for raw desserts) I was plain sick of meal times being fight time.
Yesterday I made cooked lentil soup for her and she gobbled it down, no complaints.
She also started to bruise like never before. Bruises all over her back, sides and legs. I gave her a multi 2X a week but still the bruises.
She is so different when she was on raw too...she is so loud (which doesn't bother me-she seems more confident) but she is pushy and doesn't listen when you ask her things. She is very hyper on raw (all that raw energy-I think which is great though)
My biggest concern was when she spontaneously woke up with a fever of 103. She was sick that whole day. Very very weird. Nothing like that has ever happened before. It was not a flu or cold. There were no other symptoms.
The last straw, her tooth has become transparent in the front.

I am really disapointed that it didn't work out. I only wish I knew for sure if these were all related to eating raw. It just seems as though ever since I started her on high raw her health has gone down hill. I am really confused as to what I did wrong.

[Ariella]

was she getting enough calories?? i find my 4 yearold does not really like raw "gourmet" either. he will eat a FEW deserts but that is about it. he will drink homemade almond mylks and green smoothies.

you could try smoothies for you daughter these are fairly high in calories, nut mylks, nut butters, but also just try plain fruits and veggies or nuts. i find these things go better for my son. you would probably have to give an example of what she was eating in a typical day.

i have a bowl of fruit on table and also a bowl of trail mix on the table. my son can help himself to those items whenever he wants. just some thoughts. making sure they get enough calories is important. at our house we dont really do set meal time except for breakfast, the rest of the day is eat as you are hungry.

hope that helps.

Ariella

my blog: www.ethicalcentral.com/blog

[Rawkinlocs]

vgloveforlife,

I know that all those things must have been very scary and alarming for you as mom. I'm not sure about the bruising as I've never heard of anyone experiencing bruising while raw...but I wanted to ask you...if she were to develop a fever while eating a cooked food diet (and kids/people very often do) then what? Your baby was more than likely going through (dare I say the "d" word? :) )but detox or better...a cleansing crisis. There were no other symptoms...that is VERY common when people change their diet especially depending on what her previous diet was like and if it included sugar, dairy, meat, etc.

There are some things we've learned about colds, flu, fever, etc. that don't coincide with nature...fevers are looked as bad, bad, BAD...but in all instances they are not. I recommend reading this article: http://rawschool.com/commoncold.htm

Also, here is an excerpt from the book "Dying to Get Well" (also available for free download at www.dyingtogetwell.com):

Dr. Fuhrman, MD, author of Fasting and Eating for Health states, "Many people are unaware that symptoms such as a runny nose or fever are the treatment the body has prescribed to remedy the condition. Increased mucus production is the body's means of washing away infected cells and removing virus particles from the body. Fever aids in the body's immune defenses, activating the white blood cells and inducing interferon secretion from the brain. Interferon is a powerful substance that stirs the fighting arm of the immune system into action. Typical cold symptoms that people attempt to suppress with drugs are nothing more than attempts of the body to restore homeostasis and remove the disease itself. By drugging away their symptoms, people keep themselves sick longer and can even turn a minor disease into a major one."

As for her tooth, I'd say that upping her greens intake (either through green smoothies or juice or green wraps, salads, or even supplementing with something that has the minerals, etc.) along with making sure she at least rinses with or drinks water after every fruit meal (especially oranges or citrus, period) would alleviate any teeth issues.

You have to do what you feel as mom is right for your daughter...but I just have this gut feeling that taking her even higher cooked is not the answer and in the long-term, will end up making matters worse. Perhaps contact a raw doctor or consultant that you trust...such as Dr. Graham or the Dr. T from www.ecopolitan.com

Also keep in mind that she doesn't have to eat raw prepared meals. Those are there for our transition and/or entertainment but are by no means a "necessary" thing to have...if she likes fruit or veggies or salads or smoothies or nut milks...then she's really good to go with even "just" that!

I'm not saying you have to make her 100% raw...just not to give up on it. If you feel more comfortable with giving her some added beans and soup...I don't even really see that as her no longer being high raw unless you're saying you are not going to allow her to eat the bulk of her diet raw or something. But I think that even if breakfast, lunch and all or most snacks were raw and dinner was lentil soup or something like that, that's STILL quite wonderful and she will reap many great benefits! My kids are not all raw, but are mostly raw as I give them "some" cooked items like for instance (and you may have seen me post this before) they eat (cooked) tortillas with (raw) nut cheese, raw salsa and raw taco "meat" or I make them pizzas with pita bread and raw nut cheese and raw marinara sauce and any veggies they choose...pop it in the oven for a few minutes to warm it and they (my younger two) love it! It's a big step up from the frozen pizzas or Pizza Hut that's for sure and even (IMO) better than the vegan, soy-based ones!

But either way, you'll find the balance for her I just wanted to offer some things to think about as find your way with this all....I think you're doing an excellent job!

[vgloveforlife]

Thanks for the comments!

Rawkinlocs-
Thanks for your thoughtful post!
I am very concerned for her health. I want her to be healthy that is obviously my number one priority and she just doesn't seem as healthy as she was when she ate more cooked. Of course all the things mentioned in my intial posts may have nothing to do with eating raw. But it could have everything to do with it. I just don't know.
I don't really think it could be detox. She is 5 yrs old-so young to have severe detox. She has been a vegan her entire life. She has never tasted any animal products. We have always eaten all organic.
Maybe she is not getting enough calories. Although, I do focus a lot of energy on getting good meals made and lots of healthy foods in. She will not touch the green smoothies I make (I wish so bad that she would!) She hates salads but will eat them reluctantly. She won't even eat avocadoes without store salsa. Thanks for the food ideas. Those all sound like things she would like. Maybe I just have to get more creative and find things she will like. I know she does like zuchinni hummus a lot.
Thanks for the links Rawkin! I will read them when I get a chance. The fever concerned me , because doesn't it mean an infection is present? Where would she be getting an infection. A spontaneous fever like that just makes me worry. It probably doesn't have anything to do with being raw but like I said I just don't know.

Some positive points for raw though, when she had the fever I kept her 100% raw only eating fruit all day and she healed amazingly fast. She was her old self the next day!

Anyway I love being raw so much so I will continue that way but as for my dd I am going to add maybe a few cooked things like beans but try to stay maybe 70% raw for her. Most of all I want to see those raw benefits for her but right now the negatives outweigh the positive.

Eta: Yesterday she got a nose bleed and she has never had one in her whole life before. Just another concern to add to the list...

[dreamrawalwz]

I tend to read that children prefer the fruit in their whole natural state unaltered (no gormet) since it's too heavy on the system...their bodies havn't developed a taste or "need" for such complex items. Try letting her eat when she wants and provide simple salads, fruit salads, trail mixes, smoothies, ect. Bruising can be caused by low iron...try increasing her greens. Fevers can be a detox, especially if they don't have any other symptoms. Yes with animal products she would have more to detox, but still, consuming cooked foods will cause detox, no matter what age....it's inappropriate for the body and it wants those toxins out!

[Rawkinlocs]

I agree with Dreamrawalwayz about the detoxing of cooked foods, period.

About getting her to drink green smoothies...will she drink smoothies at all (i.e. NON-green ones)? If so, don't make hers LOOK green...add greens but maybe either add less of them (for now) or add a lot more red fruit (like frozen strawberries) so it isn't so green in appearance. Another trick is to make it super slushy! Most kids like those icey drinks like the slushies (I know MY kids do) and so, add frozen fruit AND lots of ice and blend it to make it really slushy and frosty...I'll bet she'd drink it then! ;)

You might also try making some fruit leather for her with greens snuck into the blended puree! If she likes flax crackers at all, those can be made with greens blended in as well.

The nose bleed...I've NEVER been sure what caused random nosebleeds but there is a possibility that she may have picked her nose before you saw her and caused it (my kids have done that)...also I know my kids noses have bled from too much heat...a number of reasons.

But hey, 70% raw for her is good and definitely much healther than most 5 year olds!

[Ariella]

in addition to the fruit leathers (made from smoothies) you could try popsicles! my son loves these! (i add some virgin coconut oil and also hemp protein powder to the smoothie prior to freezing it) you could also add a small amount of greens but still ahve the smoothie look red and freeze these. especially on the hot days! he will sit down and sometimes eat 8 popsicles! so he gets a treat and they are healthy :)

HTH! i understand being concerned about your daughters health.

Ariella

[vgloveforlife]

Dreamraw-You're so right, my daughter prefers most things in their whole natural state. She hates it when I start blending, mixing, shredding etc. Also when she has a salad she wants everything on the side.
She's never had a problem with iron before and we have always eaten lots of beans. I've added so many greens to her diet but I think I'm going to add pinto, lentil and garbanzo beans in again and see what happens. Actually can't you sprout all of those too (maybe not pintos though)? Does the iron content change in sprouted versus cooked?

Rawkinlocs-She hated all smoothies, even fruit ones, it's funny the only way I got her to start drinking fruit ones was by calling them "fruit pudding" instead and putting them in a bowl instead of a cup. LOL!

Ariella-That's a good idea about popsicles. She loves those and I could sneak in some greens, but not enough to make it green.

I really appreciate everyone's help. Lot's of good ideas!

[spicyfull]

Seems like another problem solved..........