QUESTION:
I am 26 years old and have been between 80%-100% raw vegan for the past 6 years. I have just had my first baby in January of ''09 and I reverted to a mostly cooked vegan diet throughout pregnancy and gained 30 lbs. However, now I am nursing my baby exclusively and have returned to about a 95% raw diet. I thought this would not only increase my energy levels, but also help my lose the extra 10 pounds I still have to lose before I''m back to my pre-pregnancy weight. Unfortunately, I seem to remain stuck at where I''m at and unsure how to proceed. I don''t want to do anything to hurt or hinder my baby and her nutrition either. Is a raw food diet appropriate for nursing moms? And am I doing something wrong if I''m not losing the last of my pregnancy pounds?
I am 26 years old and have been between 80%-100% raw vegan for the past 6 years. I have just had my first baby in January of ''09 and I reverted to a mostly cooked vegan diet throughout pregnancy and gained 30 lbs. However, now I am nursing my baby exclusively and have returned to about a 95% raw diet. I thought this would not only increase my energy levels, but also help my lose the extra 10 pounds I still have to lose before I''m back to my pre-pregnancy weight. Unfortunately, I seem to remain stuck at where I''m at and unsure how to proceed. I don''t want to do anything to hurt or hinder my baby and her nutrition either. Is a raw food diet appropriate for nursing moms? And am I doing something wrong if I''m not losing the last of my pregnancy pounds?
ANSWER:
"95% raw diet" tells me nothing about your food CHOICES! Of course, many raw-foodists are "doing something wrong" - they follow the "nutritional advice" given by amateur "sales-gurus" masquerading as nutrition experts, whose main aim is to forbid you from eating all "poisonous" cooked foods (even wholesome, local produce) in order to starve you of your "comfort foods" so that you would feel coerced to consume all their packaged, extracted, expensive processed "raw foods" or so-called "superfoods" that are hyped with exotic names, amazing health "benefits," and have conveniently long shelf life...
There are many reasons for difficulty with weight loss- toxicity, hormonal imbalance, dietary issues, exercise, stress... For individually-tailored intervention it would be a good idea to have a consultation ( clinic@ecopolitan.com). Also, doing our 90-Day Medical Detoxification program would be a good idea.
Please refer to my related articles here on the Ecopolitan site:
Optimizing Babies' and Mothers' Health During Pregnancy and Healthy Eating During Pregnancy.
