Children on a raw food diet?

[aelle]

Originally Posted by moonrambler

I was just reading information on a study recently that indicates that something like 60 percent of children are much more sensitive to bitter flavors than adults, which could explain why so many kids don't like a variety of vegetables.

Studies show that children get accustomed to new tastes in utero, through the amniotic fluid, and then later through breastmilk. Isn't that interesting? There was a study where they followed adopted children who had been gestated by Mediterranean mothers (eating a typically garlic-rich cuisine) and adopted out to North European families, and the babies were very receptive to garlic, sometimes more so than their adoptive parents, although they lost their taste after a while if it wasn't maintained.

If the mother eats a variety of vegetables and spices throughout the pregnancy and continues after birth, the child has a better shot at accepting new tastes when he/she starts on solids. Maybe a lot of kids are picky about vegetables because their parents are picky about vegetables.

I'm no pro on child nutrition, but my understanding is that toddlers have very different nutritional needs from adults - they need much more calorie-dense and fat-dense foods, since they can't eat as large volumes as us. I am a member on a large vegan forum and the consensus is that when children wean off breastmilk and start on plant milk, you should supplement their drinks with high quality oil to allow them to meet their calorie needs.

[featherstory]

Actually, the WHO and various other organizations recommend that breastmilk is given for the 1st year of life and that a child has no need for anything else besides breastmilk at that point. You can start introducing them to other foods around 6mos. or any other point after that... usually following their own interest in putting things in their mouth and sprouting teeth. At that point it is recommended to give them raw fruits, one thing at a time, slowly introducing new foods, to include pureed raw or cooked veggies.

Most fruitarian diets are not purely fruit, they are fruit and vegetables. Most people who eat that way eat more veggies than eaters of other diets, but get more of their calories from fruit since fruit is denser in calories and easier to eat and digest. There are many densely caloric fruits that are similar in calories to most cooked grains and beans, by the volume...so a raw diet rich in fruits and veggies is not much different than a vegan diet or a vegetarian diet, provided the child is still consuming human milk, which is not comparable to milk from other animals or plants.

On that topic, the general weaning age in the world is between 3-7 worldwide and throughout time. There have been studies looking at weaning age throughout time and throughout different lands and cultures and in general the natural weaning age for humans is between those years. Coincidentally(or not) between the years of 3 and 7 the body slowly decreases its production of lactase, which enables us to digest lactose.

Shazzie is writing a bunch of b.s. you can't very well say that a raw diet doesn't work for children when there are so many different ways of doing it. Saying that you could also say that it is child abuse to feed meat or dairy to children because children to who eat meat and dairy end up obese and with various health issues. There are a million different ways to eat and people who are considering a raw diet are usually in two camps: the camp of desperate, gullible, orthorexics and the camp of people who are educated, careful, and watchful of their health and that of their children, these people are empowered to living a healthy lifestyle, while the others are negligent.

In the cases where children have ended up dying and having severe health problems, they have been practically starved to death and not eating enough food...their parents were not educated enough about health and went into a raw diet blindly, worst of all they were paranoid and untrusting of interventions and that is what happens when people go around with their misinformation and scare tactics, it isolates people from getting a full spectrum approach on alternative and natural health practices.

If it wasn't so taboo, if there were more support and information out there, maybe these parents could have gone to a health care professional who would've been able to tell them that their kids simply needed to eat more and eat more fat in their diets. Yes for the first 8 or so years of a child's life they need about 30-50% fat in their diets, whereas adults need about 10%.

There are some midwives and of course there are actually a lot of doctors, breastfeeding counselors(like myself), lactation consultants, nutritionists and others who are supportive of and experienced with raw diets, but it is not enough...what I really wish is that doctors who know nothing about it, know nothing about nutrition would stop sharing their scare tactics with parents as if they actually have had any education about it. I fired my pediatrician when I realized she knew nothing about breastfeeding or breastmilk except that it was recommended, and all her recommendations where based on things she learned in the 80's.

btw, toddlers can eat as much as many adults. They are very active and are basically athletic and so they need a lot of calories, more than most people realize. While your average sedentary adult might need 2000 calories/day, your average 3-4 year old needs about 1500.

Children don't need grains, meat, or milk from other animals. They need nutrients. Those nutrients can come from a variety of other foods. There are millions of different types of fruits and veggies, nuts and seeds so how is it that is a limited diet. Most people eat an average of 14 different meals a year and the same food items over and over again.

I just know that all these people criticizing a raw vegan diet don't know enough examples to really have an opinion and aren't using real, tangible information to make such a decision. I don't know a lot of children who are adult and are raw vegan, but I know a few, and I know of a few others. I do know a good many children who are and a lot who are mostly raw vegan, meaning they eat a vegan diet with a few cooked food items here and there, maybe 90% raw. More importantly though, I know that nutrients are killed when cooked and any nutrients that supposedly are better cooked can be accessed in other ways.

I know that raw foods are nutrient dense, easy to digest, easy to eat and it makes logical sense that it would not be a problem to raise a child this way. I have not seen that any children who are raised on a balanced raw vegan diet who eat enough calories and live a balanced lifestyle are too small or suffering from any health problems.

I do feel bad that there are some kids out there who are being raised on raw diets that are not healthy or balanced and that are not getting enough food.

[firenexx]

Originally Posted by cheesedip1

Do kids need grain? I think most grain is just white, nutritionless crap. Also, I know it may not always be easy, bit I'd say try to keep sugar (white processed sugar) out of your kid's diet. If your kids get a taste of sugar from pop or junk food or something, they will probably always want it. Sugar is very addictive.

Also, I'd say no coffee or soda. Juice is okay, but many juices have too much sugar added. Want a hint? Make apple juice with a real apple and then try the fake apple juice that stores always sell. There's a big difference.

A very wise post, cheesedip. I agree that grains are wholly unnecessary, they only exist because of the massive world population and the centralized food system. And the fact that they are starchy carbs, which are more or less just as addictive as heroin and porn.

Caffeine intake really screws kids up. Not only parents letting 8 year old Tommy drink red bull all day and letting 5 year old Christina drink Diet Coke because Mommy does and she wants to be cool, but also Mommy drinking coffee every day when she is pregnant. What part of "caffeine is a drug" and "no drugs during pregnancy" do women not understand? There is a reason there is an ADHD problem, and not just because of doctors handing out Ritalin like candy.

Originally Posted by featherstory

[...] worst of all they were paranoid and untrusting of interventions and that is what happens when people go around with their misinformation and scare tactics, it isolates people from getting a full spectrum approach on alternative and natural health practices.

Yes Ma'am!!!

Children don't need grains, meat, or milk from other animals. They need nutrients.

Quoted for lol'z

I do feel bad that there are some kids out there who are being raised on raw diets that are not healthy or balanced and that are not getting enough food.

You touched on a significant problem previously in your post - parents go to the pediatrician, who tells them they are crazy and orders a bunch of supplements and abandonment of this crazy "raw" scheme. Nutrients? Pfffft. Those come in pills, synthesized from coal-tar. So the parent (regrettably but understandably) is traumatized and avoids all medical professionals because of the negative attitude they expect to receive from them.

On a side note, ButterflyWoman, I am certainly aware that I was very slippery-slidey-slimey-sensationalist in that post. I have to grease my Fox News gears every once in a while for my own amusement.
(Also, I consider the nuts and seeds thing a minor issue - after all, we are not just talking about babies and toddlers)