Going raw while pregnant

[FloridaBahai]

First, I'd like to congratulate all of you who are pregnant. My question is about starting raw while already pregnant. Is it safe to go through detox while pregnant? I mean, couldn't all those toxins re-entering the bloodstream, and that of the baby's, be harmful? God knows what's being detoxed. Would your body hold off until after the birth? What about going raw while breastfeeding? Do the toxins show up in breast milk?

Second, Many women experience morning sickness and can't eat much period early in pregnancy...sometimes throught their pregnancy. Would this be the body's way of detoxing so that the baby would have a more pure environment in which to develop?

Craig

[VeggieGirl]

Craig,

Thanks for the congrats and thanks for the opportunity to comment.

To answer your questions, NO WAY would I START raw in the middle of a pregnancy or while breastfeeding or do anything to put your baby at risk for absorbing toxins from you. Same reason why pregnant and lactating women should not do cleanses, fasts, etc. until they are way out of the breastfeeding stages. I went raw over a year ago and made sure I gave myself several months so that my body could adjust before I got pregnant.

Regarding morning sickness, from everything I've read and experienced, it is because of the rapidly changing sea of hormones that kick in to support pregnancy. I felt constantly sea sick until I started taking progesterone cream at my ND's prescription, and now I feel great as long as I keep a little food in my belly at all times.

My understanding of detox (of this scale) is that it is not a naturally occuring process but rather, a process that you induce by taking calculated measures such as supervised long-term juice fasting, going all raw, etc. Otherwise your body just does its regular elimination activities. So I don't think morning sickness has to do with detox but it's an interesting thought!

Take care,

VeggieGirl

[Rawkinlocs]

I'm not sure about this. I mean, if a person is toxic and not eating raw, won't the toxins still be absorbed by the baby anyway? I mean, look at mothers who are drug addicts...they end up passing that right along to their baby and the baby is born an addict in most cases with or without the mom going through any form of self-induced detox.

I ate a typical SAD diet while pregnant with (and during the course of nursing) my third child and she ended up having severe eczema as a result of my POOR eating habits.

So, I'm kinda wondering if a mother deciding to eat raw after having gotten pregnant would really have a terrible effect on the baby especially if the mother is properly eliminating. I would think that the mother should eat as healthfully as possible for herself and for baby. I guess it would depend on how poorly she was eating and treating her body prior as well as how severly she detoxed. Some don't experience any harsh detox and perhaps an expecting mom could just slowly and gradually introduce more and more raw foods into her body rather than going all raw cold turkey in an instant. Then as the months of her pregnancy go by, by the time the baby is due, she could BE all raw.

Also, about breastfeeding, I asked this to a long-term raw fooder once and her response was that the breast are not natural channels of elimination and that toxins don't enter into breastmilk BUT, poor eating choices will affect the milk because what we eat does go into the breast milk (via the blood of course). So, I'm not sure. But I do know that one time I kinda "fell off raw" and started eating some cooked foods and my nursing child developed a rash. Once I stopped eating those cooked foods and ate raw, the rash cleared up.

I'm not trying to contradict you VeggieGirl, just throwing another perspective out there! :)

[faith4u]

I went all raw at the beginning of my third trimester. I didn't go cold turkey though. I gradually increased the raw food that I was eating. Then I went all raw except for one cooked meal per week.

After the baby was born I had about 3 days straight where I was eating cooked food. I didn't enjoy it nor did I feel very good so from then on I went back to eating one cooked meal per week. The last 4 weeks I have been 100% raw.

The funny thing is that during my pregnancy I never detoxed. I felt great the whole time. In fact, here it was the end of my pregnancy when most people are very fatigued. I was bouncing around with so much energy. Many people commented on how great I looked after giving birth as far as my face and energy, etc...

Since going 100% raw all the time I started detoxing and have been the last 3 weeks.

My thoughts on all of it are similar to what Rawkinlocs said. I can't see that it would be better to continue eating SAD instead of transitioning to raw. I ate a very clean vegan diet for 9 years with a lot of raw food. I generally ate 50-75% raw while being a vegan for years. So for me not much changed. I would make it a gradual change though if I had been a SAD eater.

[cpinokc]

I actually asked Dr. Graham about this recently before I became pregnant. I've only been raw for two months (started my last period and 100% raw on the same day!). Anyway, Dr. G. said basically the same thing faith4u and Rawkinlocs said. He pretty much said it's better to switch to a raw diet than to continue a SAD diet.

Keeping that in mind, I think as long as you have plenty of fiber in your diet, you will eliminate most of those toxins through your colon. It's better for the baby to have an abundance of nutrition, detox or no detox.

HTH! :)

[Amberly]

I would DEFINITELY increase the level or raw, but would never go 100% in the middle of a pregnacy. I'm not sure if that is scientifically sound, but it seems very risky and is mentioned in the Raw Food Detox Diet. It's good to get ALOT of greens in.

[greeninlosangeles]

I would go raw, but slowly. My pregnancy - not raw- was so awful because of 7 months constant morning sickness. And guess what I ate - the only thing what did not disgust me was fruit and potatoes(cooked potatoes)! Even though before that I ate meat, I could not even look at it without running to throw up.
So I think my body was telling me to cut the toxic stuff and cared less about detox then about more toxins on the top.

[FloridaBahai]

Hi and thanks for your responses!

I can see the reasoning behind improving ones diet while pregnant. My concern is that if say, you'd worked with chemicals, experimented with drugs, or just ate really crappy most of your life, wouldn't the detox of those toxins be infact worse than being pregnant AND doing all the aformentioned? Your body slowly tucks them away over a period of years. When you detox, all that junk comes out in a matter of weeks on and off. Wouldn't the concentration of toxins be much higher than when they were taken in?

I know my detox was pretty severe. I wouldn't want my fetus, If I were miraculously able to bear children, to go through that too, which they must.

Maybe going 90% raw with the 10% being "healthy" cooked food? Do people still detox at 90%. My guess is "no." because when mine would get really bad, I'd have a diet coke and it'd stop the detox. I'd rather expose the baby to a diet coke (most likely something healthier) once in a while than to fill him or her with years of built up who-knows-what. And what about the infants immature system. Isn't the passage of nutrients and so on to the baby from the mother or does it work both ways? We lost a baby when my ex-wife was 8n months pregnant due to polycystic kidneys. They need them in the womb too so I don't think the mother is able to take the toxins back from the fetus. He must take care of them himself. Correct me if I'm wrong. Does anyone know.

Craig

[FloridaBahai]

Also, about breastfeeding, I asked this to a long-term raw fooder once and her response was that the breast are not natural channels of elimination and that toxins don't enter into breastmilk BUT, poor eating choices will affect the milk because what we eat does go into the breast milk (via the blood of course). So, I'm not sure.)

Do you mean that you were told toxins don't enter into breastmilk only while going through detox on a raw diet? It reminds me of a movie I once saw starring Maredeth Baxtier Bernie. It was based on a true story. She was a heroin addict and when she gave birth, her husband would sneek her heroin and she breast fed so the baby wouldn't show signs of withdrawal and get taken away from them. Also, what about all the hormones, antibiotics and pesticides in cows milk?

Peace,

Craig

[FloridaBahai]

I went all raw at the beginning of my third trimester. I didn't go cold turkey though. I gradually increased the raw food that I was eating. Then I went all raw except for one cooked meal per week.

The funny thing is that during my pregnancy I never detoxed. I felt great the whole time. In fact, here it was the end of my pregnancy when most people are very fatigued. I was bouncing around with so much energy. Many people commented on how great I looked after giving birth as far as my face and energy, etc...

Since going 100% raw all the time I started detoxing and have been the last 3 weeks.

Did you eat one cooked meal a week to keep from detoxing until after you had your baby? That sounds excellent. It's what I was thinking myself. You had a good diet before so someone who ate SAD all their lives might need to eat 1 cooked meal every two or three days. That is still FAR from SAD. I lost this thread I would have responded as they came in. Thank you all for your input!

Craig

[faith4u]

Craig,

I ate more and more raw gradually. Then I went to where I was eating maybe 3 cooked meals per week and then one. Then I had times where I would go all raw for 2 weeks or so and then have a cooked meal.

When the baby was born I had beed raw for over 2 weeks 100%. I ate cooked food that night and a couple of cooked meals the next day. I felt so yucky that I went back to 100% when he was 2 weeks old.

I never noticed a detox while I was pregnant but I did while nursing. One week after going 100% I got pretty sick and it lasted for 3 weeks.

I hope this helps.

[firefaery]

I went raw during pregnancy and breastfeeding. I agree that what you are putting into your bosy is essential for baby's development. My poor eating habits caused my first two to have significant food allergies. There are ways to mediate the die off and eliminate the toxins in your body and lessen exposure to the baby. My favorite is Pascalite Clay. It is a living calcium based bentonite clay that is negatively charged and attracts toxins, binding them and flushing them from the body. It would decrease the amount of "crap" that you have floating around in your bloodstream. It is very safe (and nutrient dense!) during pregnancy and nursing. I would highly recommend it as a daily supplement during transition.