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If the raw food community is
rife with confusion and misinformation on health in general, this is
only magnified when it concerns reproductive and child-rearing issues
because of the huge emotional component and all of the mythology which
has been invented in an attempt to explain what seems (and is)
mysterious to us. One of those myths is the fear-based idea that
women and nursing mothers who make quick dietary improvements are
putting their babies at risk. If transitioning slowly is what
must be done to ensure life-long changes and enable a woman to stay
functional in her normal life, then this is what must be done, of
course. But a slow transition should not be pursued because of
the erroneous assumption that fast dietary changes will cause
physiological problems for a fetus or a baby. Babies are burdened
by having to deal with the undigested substances in the breastmilk of
their mothers. This will NOT increase if the mother stops
ingesting harmful foods, it will decrease.
Virtually all of the information that new mothers are given with regard to what to eat and what to feed their babies comes from people who labor under wildly false notions about nutrition. Babies know better than any of us what they need to eat. Their instincts are perfectly intact and reflective of the wholly reliable system invented by nature which guided human food choices for millions of years. It can and should be trusted without question. Absolutely the hardest part of this, once again, is deflecting the recommendations that are provided by well-meaning friends, family, co-workers, strangers on the street, etc. Everybody has a theory about nutrition, and when it comes to babies, people think that because there's an 'innocent life' involved, this gives them license to butt in where they otherwise might not. Women, trust your babies. If they cry, they are suffering. We KNOW that, intuitively, but we've been sold on the idea that babies just cry for the hell of it. This is nonsense. Similarly, if babies want nothing but breastmilk, it's because they know that's the only food they can digest. If they want fruit, they are following their biological mandates. I know there are many, many questions that arise when it comes to childbirth and rearing children because we've allowed medicine to confuse us so much and pull us away from what can and should come naturally. But there is a body of fundamental information that everyone should learn that is applicable universally, including to babies. That's all I'm using to base my conclusions on. In addition, there is a great deal of truthful information available in Herbert Shelton's book "The Hygienic Care and Feeding of Children". There's no excuse not to read it, since it is available free on-line, in its entirety, here. Among the millions of books that have been written about pregnancy and babies, this one, along with "Primal Mothering" and "The Continuum Concept" are the three I most highly recommend. |
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