Low Fat Raw Vegan Families

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Comment by Karmyn on Friday

Aloha fruity,

What are the ages of your children?  My son, Andrew, is 6 and he averages 20% of his calories from fat.  Once he was done nursing (I weaned him when he was 3) he was eating 30-35% of his calories from fat.

I'm still nursing my almost 2 year old daughter, Rainbow, so she gets 50% of her calories from fat.  90% of her calories still come from breast milk--she might not be ready to wean when she turns 3, lol!

Keep giving them the fruit they like to eat during the day and then give them a cooked vegan meal for dinner along with a salad.

Winter squash and sweet potatoes are good cooked food options.  My favorite way to enjoy them is to bake them until soft and drizzle some maple syrup and cinnamon on top (YUM)!

If they tire of sweet at dinnertime another option is to bake some Yukon gold potatoes.  They taste amazing on their own.  You could substitute some mashed avocado for the butter or you can make mash potatoes using vegetable broth instead of milk.

You can also make a vegetable soup with veggies they are willing to eat.  You can make a nice soup with tomatoes, celery, sweet onion, mushrooms, sweet corn and some herbs (basil would work really well in this).

<10% of the calories for protein is fine for children.  Human breast milk has only 6% of its calories from protein.

In time I'm sure your children would enjoy more raw greens.  Just gently transition your family ...

Comment by Kimberly Rue on Thursday

Is anyone in the Philadelphia area? I would love to have a meet up fruit party!

Comment by Karmyn on June 12, 2013 at 5:53am

Children needs more fat than 10% of their calories. 20-30% is good for the older ones, a bit more for the younger ones.  Are you nursing any of your little munchkins?

Do your children like steamed veggies?  You can serve some steamed veggies or make a nice vegetable soup to go with the little bit of salad they are willing to eat.

Comment by Bar B Sunshine on April 6, 2013 at 1:41pm

Hi! Thanks so much for your responses! It is sooo hard to find a holistic pediatrician in my area. Specially one that takes my insurance... the last " holistic" ped. I visited kept pushing for vaccines so I stopped seeing her. The one I see now is young and very friendly. She's just goes by the book, so I can see why she's concerned. However is never nice to hear someone tell you that your kids shouldn't sleep with you in the same bed or that I should nurse less and feed him more meat. She doesn't know we don't any meat, let alone that we are raw vegans.. I usually ignore most comments cause I know how wrong they are. Like when she told me I shouldn't nurse at night I wanted to say something but I didn't. Just smiled and told her I wil work on it...
So to answer some of your questions daddy is tall 6'1" but I'm tiny 5'1". My oldest son was a always in the 90%. Hews not even 3 years old and was already 40lbs 40in tall. Noah just sseems to have a smaller frame. But I'm positive hes healthy and after all, I have the tests that guarantee it. :)
Right now I live in Florida, so we get plenty of sunlight. However, my husband misses home and doesn't like our current city so he insists on going back to Chicago suburbs. I'm not very excited to move across the country and kinda scared of not being able to stay raw, I know how cruel those winters can be.!! So that's the only reason I wanted to hear more about VD. I know plenty of ppl that make it through the winter, I even met karyn calabrese and many other long term raw fooders that do just fine..but Ive been raw for only 1 year and I have young children, I don't want to expose them to that weather!!
Anyway, thanks so much for your time, I hope to hear from you again soon I will post pics of my lil onesss!!

Comment by Rachel on April 5, 2013 at 6:33am

Hey Bar B Sunshine.  I can tell you go to a traditional dr/pediatrician.  Ours had said the same thing, that's when we switched to a more homeopathic dr.  You do not need to worry about the Vitamin D at all. Our new dr said it is just a fad all the drs are going through.  If you are truly concerned then get his levels that will tell if he is deficient or not.  I would not supplement with out doing that first for the V.D. B12 is ok to supplement since it is water soluble and will be eliminated if overdosed.  I wouldn't worry about his weight, either.  Just keep doing what you're doing especially the avocado and nuts and seeds.  Kids still need lots of fat for their brain development in my opinion.  Keep breastfeeding as long as you/he will too!  That is great! Are you and your husband smaller people in general?  That might be the clue to why your son is smaller :) My youngest sister was like that too and she is just fine now.  I'd say he is just a busy boy and growing faster than his body can keep up :) Good job keeping him raw!  I am just now getting into this and transitioning my kids is going to be interesting

Comment by Karmyn on April 5, 2013 at 6:32am

First thing I would recommend is that you start taking your son to a different pediatrician.  Any pediatrician that would encourage you to stop breastfeeding is NOT the right one to have!

19lbs is small for his age considering that he was born full term at 8lbs/11oz.  He went from being at the 77th percentile to just barely on the growth chart (http://www.infantchart.com/).  I'm sure he's healthy overall.

Vitamin D supplementation is a good idea if you don't live in a sunny place and if his Vitamin D level is low.  I recently had Rainbow and Andrew's levels tested.  Although Rainbow tested at 40, Andrew only tested at 25!  Keep in mind we live in Hawaii!  I've been more diligent about making sure we all get plenty of sunshine and Andrew and I take a supplement on cloudy days.  I'm going to have his level checked again later this month and if he's still suboptimal then I'm going to go ahead and supplement him daily regardless of the sun.

Breastfeeding isn't bad for the teeth because the sugar in breastmilk, lactose, is not cariogenic.  Breast milk is a protective food for the teeth.  Do make sure he brushes his teeth at least twice a day to protect them from the acids and sugars in the food he's eating (these can cause cavities).  Also floss daily.  I didn't floss when Andrew was a baby and he had cavities BETWEEN his teeth.

Low Vitamin D levels also put you at risk for dental problems so make sure your children get enough.  Definitely get regular bloodwork to make sure they are getting enough.

What's your diet like?  Do you eat 955 or 811?  If you eat 955 you may want to consider eating 811 because some women need a bit of fat in their milk to make it more rich.  I remember at one point feeling the need to eat between 10-20% of my calories from fat in order to keep up with the demand of nursing Andrew when he was a toddler (he's almost 6 now).

Andrew was raw from birth until about 9 months ago and he never had issues with his weight.  He consistently stayed in the normal range of the growth charts.

Rainbow is almost 20 months old and was raw from birth until about 9 months ago.  Last time I weighed her she was 23lbs and she weighed 5lbs 13oz at birth (she was full term, just tiny, lol).  Besides nursing a lot she also enjoys eating lots of fruit (mango, watermelon, banana, cantaloupe, honeydew, mamey sapote, chico sapote, etc), she eats avocado, coconut, mac nuts.  She doesn't like raw greens very much but LOVES steamed veggies!  She can eat 1/2lb of steamed broccoli in one sitting!

Are you feeding your son a huge variety of fruits and greens?  What about nuts and seeds?  Besides the breast milk do you know the amount of calories he eats in a day?

I supplement my children with B12 and I recently added in K2 (I hear it's good for bone health).  Andrew only supplements with D on cloudy days.

Comment by Bar B Sunshine on April 5, 2013 at 3:31am

Hi everyone! I would like some tips/opinions on my current situation. .I have a 15 month old boy that has been raw since he started doing solids. We just came from a doctor visit fire a well check up and doc told us she s concerned about his weight. He's 19 lbs. They checked his blood levels and everything is normal. He's so so active, smart and active. He's started walking when he was 9 months and a month later he was running change his older brother! He was a full term baby 42 weeks and was born with 8lbs 11oz. He was the biggest baby until about 4months then he kinda "stopped" growing. Hes long so that makes him look skinnier but hs very healthy and says all day. I always have snacks around the house and he's always munching on something. He's been breastfed and started solid slowly at 7 months. Hes still breastfeeds all day and once or twice at night. And sleeps with more as well. Doc says i shouldn't needrat night cause its bad for his teeth and that i should stop nursing soon during the day. Also that he shouldn't sleep with me. Anyway. I'm al for attachment parenting and i usually ignore comments like that. However i would like some tips on how to prepare raw dense foods to make him gain weight. We eat pretty basic at home. Lots of fruit and salads. I use my vitamix to prepare sauces and smoothies but that's about it. We don't dehydrate or cook much unless i have visit then i would steam some veggies. I make them puddings with bananas and dates and they also eat avocadoes for lunch almost everyday or other day. Anymore in a similar situation? ? Tips? Opinions welcome. Also.. vitamins for baby? I give my oldest a sublingual b12. But doc is pushing vitamin d. Thanks a lot!!

Comment by Mera/Feather Story on April 3, 2013 at 9:09am

Daniel, have you looked into milksharing?  You might really look into that...nothing can possibly come close enough to human milk as a milk replacement, especially for a baby with major health issues.  Please check out www.eatsonfeets.org there are chapters all over the world.

Comment by Alyssa on April 3, 2013 at 5:21am

Formula for who daniel? Babies? I'm really confused.

Comment by daniel on March 23, 2013 at 2:27pm

lets come up with a whole foods raw vegan formula

 

at the moment im using for a daily total

 

700 ml coconut water 3 medjool dates 3 bananas 1/2 cup hemp hearts 3 brazil undried nuts a few slices of coconut meat and some chia seeds 3 tsp coconut oil anyone and everyone please add any info on what they have done and used if they would minus anything i have a 21 year old daughter riding on this who has had 4 major heart surgeries

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