Raw Food and Pregnancy
November 17, 2008 at 9:18 pm 25 comments
*Edited to add: I forget that some of you may not read my other blogs, and may not even know that I’m pregnant 🙂 So…surprise! I’m pregnant! Due in late May/early June.*
Hello fellow foodies!
Several of you have commented or emailed asking questions about the raw food diet during pregnancy and if I would continue. I have been VERY nauseous during the first trimester, and unfortunately, most raw foods made me want to run in the opposite direction! 🙂 Including green smoothies. It was very frustrating because I knew my body needed it, but it would reject it every time. Now that I’m in my 13th week…the fog has lifted a bit, and I am able to start adding back my favorite raw foods. It’s amazing to me that just a few weeks ago, a big salad turned my stomach, and today I devoured an entire head of kale. I will slowly be adding back smoothies, as my stomach allows.
I have done research on eating a completely raw diet during pregnancy, with wonderful results. If you aren’t familiar with Jinjee and her raw pregnancies, defintely check out her site/eBook. It’s well worth the read. For me personally, I’m currently eating a mostly vegan diet with as much raw as I can. When I say “mostly vegan”, I don’t mean that I’m eating meat, but that I am eating eggs and occasionally organic cheese. For milk, we use soy or almond milk. I will continue to up my greens daily…I see so much value in greens during pregnancy and know that it will keep my iron levels and energy up. My main goal is to eat a varied diet of many colors, with as much raw as possible and I am comfortable with that. I also take Rainbow Light “Complete Prenatal System” vitamins, along with fish oils, and some grapefruit seed extract for yeast prevention, etc.
This blog will naturally gravitate back towards healthy vegan/vegetarian fare, and I will post new yummy recipes as I find them 🙂 Have a Happy Foody day!
Happy Foody 
1.
ashley. | November 17, 2008 at 10:06 pm
Wait. WHAT!? How did I miss that you’re pregant?! I stalk, er, read your blog all the time.
Well, congrats! Yay!
2.
Denise | November 17, 2008 at 10:15 pm
oooh! I’m excited to get some good food ideas from you 🙂
Glad to see the food blog is back!
3.
tree | November 18, 2008 at 1:32 am
hey congrats on the pregnancy!
i’m pregnant too and am glad to hear i’m not the only one who can’t handle my daily green smoothie. i know it’s hard to blog when you’re exhausted and trying to keep up with your family, but i really appreciate this post. thanks!
🙂
4.
Lisa | November 18, 2008 at 1:49 am
I got pregnant back in March and couldn’t keep up with the green smoothies either. I even started eating meat again-YUCK!! I’ve tried to just pay attention to what my body wants to eat and after the baby is born I am hoping to get back into my smoothies!!
I actually attribute my smoothie drinking/raw eating (inspired by your blog) to how I got pregnant in the first place. I have a little boy who was concieved very easily but after almost 5 years and several months of treatments we were told it would be a “miracle” for us to have another child.
Part miracle and part green smoothies, I ended up pregnant naturally and it was a total surprise to us!!
5.
Lisa | November 18, 2008 at 1:50 am
I wanted to just add that recently the Rainbow Light Prenatal system was on a list of vitamins that contain levels of lead…I stopped taking them but you might want to look into it!!
6.
Permission to Mother | November 18, 2008 at 2:54 am
Congratulations on your pregnancy.
Where is your other blog?
I look forward to reading more food ideas from you.
7.
livelightly | November 18, 2008 at 3:19 am
My other blogs are:
http://www.livelightlytour.com
http://www.walkslowlylivewildly.com
8.
Michelle | November 18, 2008 at 4:15 am
Yay! Congrats! Blessings!
I did Rainbow lite with my first, by the second, I couldn’t swallow them for some reason. Did drink a bit of Floridex though…I was terribly anemic with my son!
9.
Michelle | November 18, 2008 at 4:16 am
Oh yeah!
Smoothies throughout both, did not get enough leafies in with the boy though!
10.
hihorosie | November 18, 2008 at 5:57 am
Congrats to you!!! I’m 15 weeks along myself and couldn’t do raw at the beginning either. I’m hoping now that my appetite is improving I’ll start venturing back into raw again. I, too, take the Rainbow Light prenatals, they’re great. I also take Floradix, liquid iron since I was so low. It’s vegan, well, mostly. I think it has honey in it.
Best wishes to you and your new little one!
11.
Kristen | November 18, 2008 at 7:42 pm
I have a question. I have been wanting to go raw for a while now. I have had some digestive issues lately that keep getting worse every time I have another baby!! Anyway, is it safe to suddenly go raw when you are nursing? My daughter is almost 9 months and I don’t plan on stopping nursing any time soon. But I’ve read about the detox period after you go completly raw and didn’t know if anything dangerous to my daughter would come out in my breast milk? Do you have any advice?
12.
livelightly | November 18, 2008 at 7:55 pm
Kristen…I would go really slow when adding raw foods and nursing. As long as you “ease” into it, you should be fine. I have heard of some mamas experiencing a decrease in milk supply…so you’ll want to watch that. I would make sure you’re getting enough avocado, hemp seed oil, etc. and maybe even keep one meal a healthy cooked meal if you start to have problems. It’s nothing to be fearful of if you go about it the right way. If your diet is really bad right now, your detox will be heavier. If it’s pretty clean, you might not detox at all. I would suggest adding a green smoothie once a day for 2-3 weeks…then switching one meal to a large salad for another couple of weeks and see how you’re feeling. Just listen to you body.
13.
Kristen's Raw | November 18, 2008 at 9:44 pm
Congratulations on your pregnancy!!! That is such awesome news 🙂
I’ve heard from others that it can be hard to stay Raw while pregnant during the first trimester, you’re not the only one who wanted to run from it – haha.
Cheers to you!
Kristen’s Raw
14.
Cara | November 18, 2008 at 11:13 pm
Hi there Sara!
Congratulations on your pregnancy! I just saw your video with Bella – very sweet, a really wonderful and healthy way to break the news to a child about having a new member of the family. You’re doing so great – I can tell that Bella gets a lot of love – she looks like she’s doing great too!
Awesome that you are in tune enough with your body to know what you can do food-wise with this pregnancy too. Isn’t it amazing how our bodies know what to accept and what to reject, all along the way, pregnant or not, and they tell us in no uncertain terms too? Everyone’s different! Since you have a really good handle on healthy eating, you’ll do just fine with coming back into a comfortably raw level for you as is appropriate. Way to go! Thanks for sharing your process!
Good that you’re taking a break from travelling too right now to rest…best of health and luck!
Cara in San Francisco
15.
Kristen | November 19, 2008 at 8:03 pm
Thanks Sara! My diet is not horrible. I do notice though if I eat to much dairy or meat I tend to regret it. And I’ve been drinking green smoothies for a while now. They are so yummy! My hubby thinks they look gross though. I can even get my kids to drink them most of the time. Anyway, I guess I’ll just go slow and see how I feel. I appreciate the advice. I think my body which be much happier if I didn’t have any dairy or meat, but when you’ve been eating those practically your whole life it’s hard to stop.
16.
Deborah | November 21, 2008 at 3:29 pm
wow! I love your blog! I noticed that I had never left a comment, I guess I am too busy being mom 🙂 I am pregnant and also do and of May early June!! This post was very encouraging to me because I havent been able to drink green smoothies either! I am trying to eat as raw as I can, but its been hard. Its getting eaisier though! I saw that you had other blogs, and that you were a Christian ( am I right?) Thats so cool! I dont know any other Christian raw food people ( except my husband) I hope that you have a great day and a blessed pregnancy!
Deborah
17.
Our Green Nest | November 23, 2008 at 2:39 pm
CONGRATULATIONS – so happy for you!!!
18.
Claire | November 28, 2008 at 6:16 am
Thanks for the info about what you are doing while pregnant. I don’t eat raw – but am vegetarian and am pregnant too. I also was drinking green smoothies regularly and also was completely turned off raw veggies of any kind the first 3 months. Could barely open my fridge…and I thought of you and your green smoothies every time I felt like I should have one but absolutely couldn’t do it…so I’m glad to know you felt the same way. I’m 19 weeks now and also have been adding back in all kinds of healthy goodness. I enjoy reading your blogs and want to say a big congratulations too!
19.
Kristi | December 3, 2008 at 12:50 am
Sara – I was wondering this about you and pregnancy, just out of nosy curiosity and nothing else really. You know I’ve been pregnant and nursing the last 6 years straight of my life now, and I could not imagine going even mostly raw during most of it. I was delighted (pun intended!) to get to know you a little on the tour when you came to visit and realized that you weren’t a raw nazi and didn’t treat me like “what’s wrong with her?” for having such a scared, wimpy attitude about it all. Actually when you came in March, I was over the sickness I usually get and added green smoothies daily and haven’t looked back since. I was so happy to think that Shepherd, although he was the fourth in my womb, was getting heavier doses of those good greens every single day, sometimes 2-3 times!
Anyway, here I am 5 months postpartum now and looking ahead wondering if I will ever get to go more in the direction I want to go with my diet (less dairy, more raw)…sigh… I just can’t do it until he is weaned because my body would not do well, and at home with 3 other preschoolers I get so desperate sometimes to just grab protein and carbs in a hurry! I view exercise and my physical fitness routine the same way; I am very slowly easing back in to it. I thank God for the grace He gives in challenging seasons like this, and although you seem to have a good balance, I will pray that you continue to have it throughout your pregnancy and postpartum.
Thanks, friend! (Split pea looks yummy, too… I haven’t tried that spice combo for that yet -will have to do soon!) 🙂
20.
livelightly | December 3, 2008 at 1:36 am
Kristi…hello friend! You MUST try this split pea…it’s so much tastier than any other version I’ve had. It’s so good over brown rice too…I just tested it, and it’s so hard to mess up! Love that.
21.
Misty | December 16, 2008 at 10:12 pm
I stumbled across your blog a few days ago. I had to chuckle when I read about you being pregnant and not being able to drink green smoothies because I am also due in May and have only just been able to get back to my green smoothies! I wanted to tell you that I tried your raw fudge ball recipe, and it was a hit. My kids loved it, my carob hating husband loved it (I didn’t tell him it was carob!), and I loved them – so thanks for the recipe!
22.
Bridey | January 9, 2009 at 7:40 am
Now this is a blog that I can relate with. New to your blogs! Happy to see this one. (can’t relate to the pregnacy part though, ha ha) It is incouraging to see that someone here in my home town is interested in raw foods. This makes me very excited. It is my big interest right now. I have been following a raw food lifestyle since August. Very happy I found your blog. Thanks for sharing. Blessings!
Bridey
23.
Drug | March 20, 2009 at 10:22 pm
I also very wanted to just add that recently the Rainbow Light Prenatal system was on a list of vitamins that contain levels of lead. I stopped taking them but you might want to look into it!
24.
amygirl | March 27, 2009 at 6:59 pm
So glad to see this blog! I did a cleanse last year and went raw after that. I felt great and 6 months later I was pregnant with our miracle (I had been told I had to have a hysterectomy at 33 years old just months before going raw)!
Anyway, I was so ill for those first couple months and my body was craving meat so intensely I had to eat it! It just seemed to “stick” longer and especially at night was comforting. I am now replacing them with veggie sandwiches which I crave daily…can’t give up that bread.
BUT I am craving Kale again like crazy…I was so happy about that. It’s great to know that I am not alone in changing things up a bit while pregnant. I just feel like my body knows better than me sometimes! 🙂
Hope you enjoy the rest of your pregnancy!
25.
val | June 20, 2009 at 5:55 am
this is all new to me. im 9 weeks along and am sooo turned off by meat. to make things worse, im a chef trained in classical french cuisine. i started researching eating raw to see if it was safe during preg, but i really need help with menu ideas to make sure that im giving the baby all that it needs. any insight is much appreciated!