Super Mums, Super Kids:
Live Food Health
Kath Ford BSci., Live food educator
Updated 16th August 2010
Live-food nutrition for nursing and pregnant mothers, toddlers and children. Live food recipies at bottom of page.
Our raw story
My daughter Oceana (3yrs old) and I have been on an amazing raw journey for just over 3 years. I was a healthy vegan for 7yrs, before becoming pregnant. It was then I discovered that I needed something more to support the health of both myself and my baby. Cooked vegan wasn’t giving me enough energy or nourishment. I quickly felt my health deteriorating as all my reserves were being used to create this new person growing inside. Thankfully, it was then a friend’s mum gave me Viktoras Kalvanaskas’s book, Love Your Body. His introduction to raw foods made so much sense and felt so natural and wonderful. I transitioned slowly from 80% to 90% to 95% raw and now having just finished nursing I am 100% Low-fat raw vegan and loving it! The transition was slow, as pregnancy and nursing puts huge demands on your body. By going slowly the detox effects are unlikely to effect the baby. Now, I have abundant energy. And on average ride 15km a day, do at least 2 hrs of yoga, swim, surf, dance and play all day. All thanks to living foods. One thing is for sure, adults and children’s nutritional requirements are different and we’ll look at this in detail. I follow the 8010/10 (Dr Doug Graham), but my daughter needs more fats and protein for her growth.
A friend recently asked me “Why are we so concerned about this raw food diet for our kids when everyone else is feeding their kids junk and they are surviving?” I’ve spent 100s of hours researching raw to ensure my child gets everything she need during this essential growth stage of her life. It is apparent that great care must be taken when turning raw, because our bodies are no longer optimally efficient in manufacturing every nutrient we need to be healthy. Truth is, we don’t live in a pure world, we don’t come from pure parents and our bodies are clogged with generations of toxic waste. We have to detox and deprogram ourselves from everything we’ve been brainwashed to believe about diet and relearn how to know instinctively what we need, like a child does. As Gabriel Cousens puts it “We got kicked out of the Garden of Eden…and now we a re trying to get back”. By being aware of my child’s inner wisdom, she is guiding me back.
- Super nourishing pregnancy and nursing
You can start Raw when pregnant; in fact it will ensure the baby gets the correct nutrients for development and assist in a more gentle birth, as more oxygen is available to the womb. Go slowly and with lots of superfoods to aid the re-mineralisation process. The detox will be mild and release through other channels rather than the breast-milk (Mother Nature is not silly!)
· Green smoothies and spirulina are great for iron and energy, but be sure to take a B12 supplement. B12 is crucial for nerve health and your needs are much higher when breastfeeding. Greens will also provide you and bubs with vitamin K needed for bone and jaw formation. And guess what if you don’t get enough, the baby will suck it out of your bones and teeth.
· Fats and Protein. You’ll need to eat more fats and protein to make quality breast-milk, so go for avocados, chia seed and fresh coconut. I dont recommend any oils as they impair digestion and are often rancid.
· Calories. You don’t know what hunger is until you are a breastfeeding mum. You need at least another 500 calories per day that’s nearly 30% more calories per day than normal. Eat tonnes of fruit & green smoothies, and a minimum of 30min later follow with a big green salad with avocado and sprouts and then finally if you are still ravenous (you probably will be) and you cant stomach another banana, try lightly steamed veggies, such as sweet potato, green beans and broccoli.
In the first few months of motherhood, my friend mama Skye and I estimated we spent over 16hrs a day breastfeeding!! I was still eating some cooked food at that stage and we frequently made huge batched of wholesome whole-meal spelt pasta and brown lentil bolognaise with spinach and olives. During transition enjoy some wholesome cooked foods to nourish your body and baby if you feel like it. You both need the sustenance, its survival!
- Super health for Babies and toddlers
Optimum nutrition during infancy is critical to support rapid growth and brain development. Reinforcing good habits from early on will build a solid foundation for good health later in life. The best food for babies is breast-milk exclusively for the first year. From 6 months onward they may want to try some puree papaya, banana or avocado, but they don’t need to eat any, providing you have a healthy milk supply. From 1yr to 18months they may like to try some green smoothie, fruit chunks, avocado pieces or some fresh coconut milk. 18 months onwards try adding carrot and celery sticks, nut milks.
After 18months or beginning when weaning, you may want to give your vegan toddler a B12 supplement. B12 deficeincy is very dangerous, however some experts suggest if we have healthy gut flora will obtain enough. Take note that even things like ice, icecream and hot foods can interfere with the absorbtion of B12. I chose to give my child a couple of free range eggs a week which contain B12, DHA and K2 a a safety net. She likes them Raw!
Even Chimpanzees who we share 99.4% of our genes with and who eat predominately fruit and greens still eat some ants and insects which contain B12. It is possible that if you grew all your own greens and veg organically and ate them fresh and unwashed, the micro-bacteria on the surface of your foods may provide sufficient B12. However, B12 deficiency is dangerous and not worth the risk to your child. Another theory is that B12 is manufactured in a healthy large intestine, but research shows that it is excreted and not absorbed into the body to be a source for us (unless you ate your feces like the apes, don’t think so).
All the science aside, just follow your child’s lead, they know what their bodies need instinctively, if all she/he wants to eat one day is avocado, then let him. Don’t feed grains dressed with salt and sugar or at all to disguise the unpleasant taste. Why do you think babies spit out disgusting baby cereal? Because they know its not good for them? If you must use grains, try sprouted grains (essene bread) or well cooked wholegrain options such as millet and brown rice and only after 2 years of age. Grains can be attributed to all sorts of physiological and psychological disorders. Examples are: calcium deficiency, schizophrenia and poor iron absorption to name just a few. Other foods to avoid are meat, dairy, sugar, salt, vegetable/palm oils, fried foods, white anything, bakery foods, yeast, additives, msg and soy.
- Children’s nutrition
Children intuitively know what’s best for their bodies. Raw children are sensitive to taste more than adults, because they haven’t yet burnt their taste buds away with refined sugar, salt and burning hot food. However here’s the tricky part: children are very social creatures and as your child becomes more independent they are going to want to make their own decisions about food. We have provided them with the best start, live foods and the truth about food and their bodies. The best we can hope for is that they will make their own healthy food choices when not at home. At only 2 and a half, my daughter refused a sweet offered to her by grandma by inquiring “does it have sugar in it?”
Essential nutrients:
Growth: Protein from; soaked nuts, seeds, sprouts, seaweed and greens. Try green smoothies, finely chopped herbs on everything. Lettuce or kale “sandwiches” (with sprouted hommas, avocado or nut butter as filling), Greens and almond satay sauce. YUM!
Bone building: Calcium, magnesium, silica, Vitamin
K and D from; greens, seaweed, soaked nuts seeds, avocado, sprouts and sunshine.
Brain development: Fats ALA, GLA, DHA from; Avocado, fresh walnuts, soaked chia seeds, pumpkin seeds, ground flaxseeds, succulent leafy greens.
Energy Fruit: nature's perfect fuel.
Iron rich sources include greens, seaweeds, nuts, seeds, strawberries and beetroot.
A raw vegan diet is abundant in nutrients, as they remain in a natural bio-absorbable from.
Raw Food Veggan Winter menu by Oceana Ford 3yrs
B’fast Green smoothie (banana, papaya, kale and spirulina)
Plus 1 apple, 8 soaked almonds, 3 dried figs
M/tea 2 passion fruit and 1 banana
Plus raw cake or bliss ball (carob, chia, sultanas, raw tahini or coconut butter, organic desiccated coconut)
Lunch 2 thin rolls of Raw veggie sushi (nori, avo, macadamia nut butter, grated carrot, broccoli, sprouts, cucumber). Plus handful goji berries
A/tea Milk and flesh of 1 young coconut
Dinner Bowl of strawberries, 1 apple, 10 olives, capsicum & carrot sticks. Plus Sprout Pasta Pesto (pic above, recipie below) or 1 poached egg with parsley if requested
Dessert Warm calming almond milk chai (rooibos tea, cinnamon and vanilla)
Living foods taste so delicious, because they are naturally what we are designed to eat. By not cooking you can enjoy more time with your family, with more energy, vigor and joy for living. It will bring delight to your heart as you watch your children thrive and grow with awsome strength, wit and intellect and a deeply peaceful connection with you, mother earth and all its creaures.
Peace and freedom for all Gods creatures in our time!
