Nursing and RF (IN RESPONSE TO: Baltimore Family + Intro/Questions)

[Guest guest]

Hi everyone,

 

We have a couple of overlapping inquiries, so I thought I'd respond a bit by topic rather than by person. Excerpts from both inquiries, from mama_amaadi and usa_cog, appear below.

 

Among mammals of all types, from the moment of conception until the end of weaning, what the mother eats and how the mother lives substantially determine, albeit decreasingly as the newborn grows and gains independence, the vitality of the fetus/baby. I know of no other circumstance throughout the whole of Nature's design wherein one being so dominates the welfare of another.

 

The moment a woman becomes pregnant, her body goes into overdrive cleaning house. Her body continues in this mode, varying with her own vitality, throughout pregnancy and nursing. One might say that the innate intelligence seems aware not only that there are now two lives for which to provide, but also that the new life is delicate, requiring the very best the mother's body can provide.

 

Therefore, and without hesitation or reservation of any kind whatsoever, I would encourage you to eat and live as healthfully as you possibly can ... and then some. Dare to reach beyond what you "know you can do", for what you now will forever influence the new life you have brought into this world.

 

Fear not that your body will cleanse itself, for it is already and always cleansing itself. In terms of your diet, the ONLY choices available to you lie in the quality of the resources you provide and in the amount of energy and resources required to digest, assimilate, and eliminate.

 

Your goal is simple: to provide, for yourself and your baby, maximum nutrition with minimum expenditure of energy and other resources to obtain, digest, assimilate, and eliminate. And when your baby is fully weaned, this remains your goal, both for yourself and your baby. In this regard, foods high in water content, simple sugars, soft (digestible, soluble) fiber, and low in proteins, fats, starches, and hard (indigestible, insoluble) fiber serve you best. This means that fruits and tender greens serve you best ... now and always. Everything else offers some relative disadvantage, usually in terms of the energy and other resources required to process it.

 

You require zero nuts and seeds, though eating small quantities from time to time does no harm. However, eating these on a daily or other frequent basis DOES slow your digestive process and dehydrate your system, with a cumulative effect. The human organism requires VERY few proteins and fats, as long as those ingested are of the highest quality. ALL plant-based foods contain some small measure of these ... they could not otherwise live. Yes, I am saying that bananas, lettuces, raspberries ... you name the fruit ... ALL contain some small portion of fats and proteins. And further, the portion they contain is ideal for optimal human nutrition. More is excess, creating an eliminative burden upon our system.

 

Finally, we are healthiest when we eat and live in accordance with our design. We are designed to consume fresh, whole, ripe, raw, organic or better plant foods, primarily fruits and tender greens. From the time of weaning, there is no better diet for our species, at any age or under any circumstances. Some, as a result of an injury or other debilitating condition, may require their foods as liquids. Some may have sensitivities to certain specific foods, usually the result of having been fed those foods at too early an age, before their bodies were ready to receive those foods. We work around these issues, of course. But overall, we are one species, one design, one diet upon which we all thrive best. In this, we are like every other species known to exist on Earth.

 

Best to all,

Elchanan

 

 

 

mama_amaadi [mama_amaadi]Tuesday, September 11, 2007 9:15 AM

 

Baltimore Family New to Raw Foodism

 

2. Is it accurate to say that because I'm a nursing mother, I should consume at least one cooked/warm meal a day?

____________

usa_cog [lisa]

Monday, September 10, 2007 1:37 PM

SproutRawFood

[sprout] Intro/Questions

 

First off, I am nursing a three month old and I'm not sure it's probably the best time to take such a cut in my calories or protein intake (if that would even happen- just starting out I'm not sure I could avoid it.)

....

Another question I was wondering is does anyone have experience with raising a child on a raw food diet from the start? Is this an absurd idea or something that is realistic and healthy? Can a raw food diet provide enough nutrition for a growing child?