Raw/traditionally prepared foods and pregnancy

[Leilalu]

Truly curious here.... what do you think was the ratio of raw foods "back in the day" when one was pregnant?

I know I am all aboard when it comes to eating raw during pregnancy. Haven't tried meat yet, but cooked it pretty rare last time. A large portion of my diet is raw milk, and cheese, honey, etc. And I love me some sushi and wasabi while expecting

I guess what I would like to see is a thread discussing all the benefits of raw during pregnancy. I know even on this board(all of Mothering), there are a lot of differing opinions and some people still do not know how beneficial raw food can be, or how SAFE they can be. I figure there are lots of mothers,or expectant moms here

So lets discuss. Anyone? :

What foods do you advocate eating while you have a bun in the oven and how has it helped you? Have you seen noted differences?

I know for me, I was a soymilk drinker with my last two babes. This time around, I have no swelling upon waking up, or during the day so far like I had all last time, both times. I also feel getting enough fermented foods helps keep my body balanced and I really don't crave sugars.

[applecore]

I didn't want anything to do with anything fermented during my first trimester, but now into my second, I am absolutely CRAVING kombucha. I hadn't brewed it in so long, and then the thought of waiting a week to have some drove me crazy, so I went to the local food co-op and bought a ton of GT's. It sucked to spend so much money on something I can make so cheaply, but the last few days I have had so much more energy! I haven't even napped in three days, which I've really felt the need to do since becoming pregnant. I don't know how significant that is, but it sure is nice. And I can't wait for my own brew to be done!

I can't wait to see how this baby's teeth look when the come in. My first born was vegan for his first year,: and his teeth are full of cavities. Then I was no longer vegan, but still vegetarian for my second pregnancy, and my little girl's are pretty crooked for baby teeth. Hopefully I'll get it right this time and aleviate some of those guilty feelings.

[newcastlemama]

........I am hoping to get over my food intolerances and start enjoying raw fermented dairy and raw egg yolks in smoothies.

I have been re-examining NandPD and it made think I 1) needed to at some animal products raw (I am limited to meats at this time) 2)eat organ meats, broth, marrow--as much of the animal as I can handle.

It seems all primitive groups ate at least some raw animal foods, but it seems all groups also ate cooked foods. For example, the Swiss probably ate all that dairy raw, cooked their rye and then had cooked stew one day a week. That is about 50%+ raw? Also, in many cultures raw fermented meats/vegetables/dairy/drinks were consumed. I will have to keep looking through my book

Jen

[naturemama1]

For me, I'm comfortable with the safety of the raw milk we get from our local farm, though I haven't drunk very much of it this pregnancy because my weirdo cravings somehow shifted to salads instead, LOL. I don't bother with a prenatal; my supplements are a folic acid pill during the first trimester and Blue Ice BO/CLO throughout. We eat pastured animal products, raw dairy, a lot of veggies, fruit in season, a smaller amount of hand-milled grain products, and I'm having more success adding raw fermented foods to our diets -- basically pretty TF. I love wild salmon and eat it cooked and as sushi, though I'm very careful where I get it as sushi when I'm pregnant.

So I'd say I have a much higher proportion of raw foods in my diet during this pregnancy than I did with my previous two. It just makes sense to me that more of a food's nutritional value is intact the less you mess with it.

[Leilalu]

Originally Posted by applecore

I didn't want anything to do with anything fermented during my first trimester, but now into my second, I am absolutely CRAVING kombucha. I hadn't brewed it in so long, and then the thought of waiting a week to have some drove me crazy, so I went to the local food co-op and bought a ton of GT's. It sucked to spend so much money on something I can make so cheaply, but the last few days I have had so much more energy! I haven't even napped in three days, which I've really felt the need to do since becoming pregnant. I don't know how significant that is, but it sure is nice. And I can't wait for my own brew to be done!

I can't wait to see how this baby's teeth look when the come in. My first born was vegan for his first year,: and his teeth are full of cavities. Then I was no longer vegan, but still vegetarian for my second pregnancy, and my little girl's are pretty crooked for baby teeth. Hopefully I'll get it right this time and aleviate some of those guilty feelings.

This is so interesting. See, for me I am waiting to see how my pregnancy recovery is compared to my last 2. I have had 2 c-sections. And as far as breastfeeding is concerned- I never lost much weight with it. My theory is, that with the right kinds of fat stored up, I will this time. Although my kid teeth are fine, I do wonder about dd's palate as she gets older. I had to have a palatal retainer. I can't wait to find out what this babe looks like

[Leilalu]

Originally Posted by newcastlemama

........I am hoping to get over my food intolerances and start enjoying raw fermented dairy and raw egg yolks in smoothies.

I have been re-examining NandPD and it made think I 1) needed to at some animal products raw (I am limited to meats at this time) 2)eat organ meats, broth, marrow--as much of the animal as I can handle.

It seems all primitive groups ate at least some raw animal foods, but it seems all groups also ate cooked foods. For example, the Swiss probably ate all that dairy raw, cooked their rye and then had cooked stew one day a week. That is about 50%+ raw? Also, in many cultures raw fermented meats/vegetables/dairy/drinks were consumed. I will have to keep looking through my book




Jen

I agree. I guess for me, It's a big thing to be able to tell people I do not avoid raw foods while pregnant. I eat brie, I eat raw cheddar. I make homeade batches of fermented tea....etc. It just seems so normal in our society to shun everything raw for the sake of protecting against bacteria, when really, if you are not supplementing yourself with good bacteria on a regular basis, your system can get screwed up anyway. We come in contact with bacteria everywhere we go. So it makes more sense to me to make sure I get enough good bacteria especially while pregnant.

[steph117]

I'm really enjoying this thread & looking forward to reading more posts! I'm almost 15 weeks, and since pre-conception I have been following a NT diet with lots of raw food...egg yolks, dairy, ferments, etc, which I've continued into pregnancy. And I feel great - no morning sickness, and smooth, happy energy. It just seems RIGHT to me to eat this way (though I don't tell most people I'm doing it...because I don't want to have to argue about why it's good for me...a little torn about that, because I do think it's a good thing for people who aren't aware of eating like this, to become aware, but I don't think I want my pregnancy to be the battleground!). It's so weird thinking about going out to eat with a friend of mine when she was pregnant who was so worried about unpasteurized cheese, whereas when I go out to eat with her next week, I'll be the opposite - "That has pasteurized cheese in it! I won't eat that."

My feeling SO GOOD through the first trimester really made me believe I have been following the right diet for me. None of my other friends eat this way, and none of them felt good during their pregnancies. There might be other factors, but on a gut level, it feels like it's due to diet. (And the cod liver oil!) For the first trimester, when I couldn't stand vegetables except for carrots, I could eat fermented veggies like kimchi & pickles with no problem - so that's how I got my veggies! (And vitamin C!) And I think that those probiotics are GREAT for me, and GREAT for the littlun!

I will admit, I went through a few nervous nellie moments initially during the pregnancy, because there's so much 'DON'T EAT RAW!' material out there - finding this message board REALLY helped, as far as reassuring me that I was doing the right thing! (And finding a midwife who knows lots of raw dairy families helped a lot, too!!)

[Vaquitita]

just wanted to say, as someone who just had a baby... i ate raw dairy, egg yolks, kombucha, kefir, ferments, brie (not raw, just regular french brie), etc and had a great pregnancy. in the third trimester i did lose all desire to eat milk kefir or kombucha, instead i craved lots of raw milk. i had no m/s. not that i had much with my first preg, but this time none (i did still have a strong gag reflex while brushing my teeth that i only get while preg. it's no fun). i had more energy this time, though looking after an almost 2yo did still make me tired by the end of the day.

labor went great with very little bleeding. yay! (with my first birth i lost quite a bit of blood) after the first couple days i felt great, which did lead to my doing too much so here i am 16 days postpartum and still bleeding. oh well. being home alone with a 2yo it is impossible to rest. dd is very strong and healthy, a great nurser and sleeper, and so mellow! and of course beautiful.

[Leilalu]

See, I love hearing all of this Keep it coming guys!

I will say that my morning sickness was less than usual this time around, which is saying a lot actually. I will say that now, after entering my second trimester, I almost do not feel pregnant sometimes. I get that afternoon tiredness, but other than that...... I have to remind myself to rest!

I also do actually crave fermented things. Such as kombucha.

I will say it is peaceful this time around, knowing I CAN eat these things and it is GOOD for me! Dang ,I was brainwashed before!

[applecore]

Unfortunately, my morning sickness was worse with this pregnancy than my other two. It pretty much lasted all day for the first 10 weeks. I had an aversion to almost all foods, and I'm hypoglycemic, so it was a pretty bad rollercoaster ride. I feel sick so I don't eat, then I feel sick because I didn't eat.

So I guess traditional foods didn't help me out in that dept., but hopefully I'll make a super baby and it'll really pay off!

[MCsMom]

I eat lots of raw dairy. Not so much of the fermented foods, and try to only eat pastured meats.

I have noticed that I am much less swollen in general this time then with my DD. I also have been overall in better health and got to stay with a MW instead of being forced into a high risk OB due to blood pressure issues the last time.

[covertlycrunchy]

I was semi-vegetarian (very low fat diet too) for my first pregnancy and overall the experience was very positive for me. I did CRAVE fish the first trimester (which I happily ate) and was super tired for the first 4 months but the rest of the pregnancy was a breeze. I worked out at least 2x/week, often more right up until the birth. It was the nursing afterwards that killed me and made me really want to try this TF thing. After about 3-4 months PP I started to have heart arrhythmias where it literally felt like my heart skipped a beat or stopped completely which could indicate a calcium deficiency since it is calcium that is involved with muscular contractions. I think it was a combo of fatigue and depression and poor diet, because when I started eating more meat(and fat) it went away, along with the lions share of the depression. I was also having hand tremors during the day-time, which have also stopped.
As far as how my DD's teeth are, she seems to be doing ok. There are some spots on her teeth (city water fluoride?) at 18 months but no visible crookedness or crowding and she got her teeth *very* early.
TTC at the moment so it will be interesting to see how the next one plays out.

[Taedareth]

I was just reflecting that digestion often slows down during pregnancy, and fermented foods with all those live enzymes might be really helpful for enabling healthy digestion. It's amazing how "dead" the foods are in the SAD; I'm hoping all these "live" foods will help me feel good this pregnancy.

Tested positive last night, btw

[newcastlemama]

Originally Posted by Taedareth

Tested positive last night, btw

: : Congrats!!! Maybe we should start a pregnant TF mom's support thread!

Jen

[HerbanGirl]

Originally Posted by Taedareth

Tested positive last night, btw

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

[425lisamarie]

I've always ate the same foods. In fact I was well in to my 1st pregnancy when I ever heard anything about things you shouldn't do while pregnant. Probably a good thing!

[Taedareth]

Thanks ladies!!! Good idea about the thread - do you want to have it in this forum or in the "finding your tribe" area?

(Sorry for hijack! : )

[steph117]

CONGRATS Taedareth! That's wonderful! I hope your pregnancy is smooooth sailing!!

I've had NO digestive issues (well, except for farting ) - and I do attribute that to the "live" foods in my diet.

And YES, I totally agree, we should have a TF Pregnancy thread!! I would this this board is the place for it.

[Leilalu]

Originally Posted by Taedareth

I was just reflecting that digestion often slows down during pregnancy, and fermented foods with all those live enzymes might be really helpful for enabling healthy digestion. It's amazing how "dead" the foods are in the SAD; I'm hoping all these "live" foods will help me feel good this pregnancy.

Tested positive last night, btw

congrats!!!

[Leilalu]

Originally Posted by Taedareth

Thanks ladies!!! Good idea about the thread - do you want to have it in this forum or in the "finding your tribe" area?

(Sorry for hijack! : )

I think either way it would be a great idea