Hi Mamas, I just introduced myself on the other page, after lurking awhile, I'm ready to jump in and play! I probably fit best in this category, I think I'm pretty earthy.
I just did a master cleanse fast this weekend, only for two and a half days but I'm pretty excited about it, because I always thought you couldn't fast and breastfeed, but my daughter's almost three so I thought I'd try it out and it went pretty well. Anyone else have experience with this?
What's funny is that my husband, impulsive Aries that he is, was always really down on raw foods and more "radical" diets, but now after two days of fasting is all ready to switch over to raw foods for good! So I'm trying to learn more about that, too.

I've done raw a few times -longest was 6 months. It was the healthies, most energetic 6 months of my life! I was healed of many illnesses - I even had a toe that was constantly in pain from being broken repeatedly & it totally healed during that time & has never hurt again! I wish I had the willpower to go raw again, it was amazing! :)

Ok putting on my IBCLC hat a moment,
Raw is fine, but do not do a cleanse or a fast while nursing. You will release too many toxins into your milk. Yes they work but a little too well while BF!
Ok- Back to the mama hat!
Karen

HI Dawn,

I know it is highly unsuggested to not fast while nursing, however, I would balance some of this with some more information.

Is your 3 yrd old that is nursing receiving large quantities of milk? If it is only a quick suck here and there then I truly wouldn't worry about it.

Also, you can help situation by being adequately prepared for flushing with lots of fluids, juices, and perhaps doing some reading on how to move those toxins out quickly. I know that Prescription for Nutritional Healing has a lengthy section on fasting.

I know I was really wanting to fast when I had nursing toddlers and always waited until they were fairly weaned. I am now not nursing or pregnant for the first time in over 13 years! My baby just turned 4 and he has been done for a few months now.

I have done raw in brief stints, but I sadly disdain food prep anymore and don't feel called to spend so much time dealing with my food :mad: but I have a close friend whose whole family of 5 went raw in Feb. and they are looking and feeling fantastic.

My response was to eat more raw, but you of course benefit by the total change. Children can eat raw ~ she has 3, and that includes little ones on up. Also, they found that they did crave meat and are drying their own raw jerky and salmon and have actually introduced a bit of dairy back in.... the protein is an issue for them, and they have just found what works for them.

There is a huge raw community out there. Let me know if you need some resources.

Namaste,
Meag

www.fairycove.com

I have done the raw fast thing several times when bfing. I do agree that toxins can flood your system with fasting, but from what I have read, it is mostly a no food at all type of fast that is dangerous when bfing.

I do agree that my energy was amazing during those few days.

Thanks mamas!
Ya, I was mixed on whether to do it, I'd read some yes and some no, but I followed my intuition and also supplemented with juice more than did dh. Dd didn't nurse as much, but she did play with her play food almost constantly, lol!
After 2 days my body told me it was enough. Dh did 10 days though!
I don't think we can go 100% raw right away, but I am inspired to try for maybe 60 to 70% raw. Does anyone know of any (un)cookbooks or other sources for "raw with kids"?

Love,
Dawn:)

Hi everyone,
I'm pretty new to Amity's and so far have mainly ventured into the Sewing Mama's group. Today, however, I noticed the Super Crunchy :) And immediately saw this topic. Here is my story and a few questions....
I had been struggling with hypothyroidism for several years, although I didn't know what it was until a good year after my second son was born. Doctors just told me I was just fine, there was nothing wrong with me (yeah right) and when I would press, they would just default to, well you must be depressed!!! ha! Well, eventually both a psychologist and a psychiatrist said that was NOT depressed (doctor at the time would not accept the psychologist diagnosis because she wasn't an MD and as far as he was concerned, if you are not an MD then you don't know anything (I suppose he figures that even if the rest of us can read, we are complete morons and can in no way understand what we are reading? And/or that there is no real information that the public can get hold of? Is there some secret society that I don't know about that sends only the 'real' info to doctors?? Anyway!) Through my own research I figured it out myself. It wasn't too hard. Of my three main symptoms, two of them are only ever attributed (that I could find) to low thyroid (1- I no longer perspired and 2- the more I exercised the worse I felt, the more run down and exhausted I was and the less I could do, etc) My Natural Family Planning charts gave me the first clue because my tempratures were so low (often off the charts). I never did get a doctor to give me the thyroid hormone. They were happy to try to give me some drug for depression which would totally screw up my system, I wouldn't even know if they worked until I had been taking them for at least two weeks, and then I would have to wean off of them if they weren't working, AND they have tons of horrible side effects. However, they absolutely refused to try to give me the thyroid hormone which, if I didn't need it, woudl become apparent within a few days, I could stop taking it right away, and any side effects would fade in just a couple of days. AAARRGGH! I finally tried some stuff I got off the internet called Thyodine and it's beautiful!! Of all the things I tried it actually worked and I feel almost normal! My temps are not falling off the charts, though they are kind of low still, my cycles normalized, my tongue isn't swollen, I have energy, I started to sweat again, etc etc.
So the point of this whole story is really just to lead into that in the mean time I tried all kinds of other things to get better, from a yeast detoc diet to some homeopathic remedies to various vitamins and minerals to a juice detox diet. AT the time I did the juice detox I was still breastfeeding both my 1/12 year old and my almost three year old. I did not know that the toxins might go into the breast milk. I am getting the impression, however, from some of the other posts here that doing a juice fast is not so bad as a total fast. So, I have several questions.
First: I tried this fast on the recommendation of my chiropractor at the time, who was absolutely awesome, if any of you are in the PHilly area I would highly recommend him. He would usually fast entirely for about two days and then just drink fresh juice from that point on until the 7? day and then he would eat only raw foods for the next ten days or something like that. He wrote it down for me. In any case, he recommended that I not fast completely but do the just juice for 7 days and then the raw after that. He said that the first day or two was hard but by the secong or third day he woud get this burst of energy and then just feel great from that point on. Well, with my thyroid, I NEVER felt any energy, but I did feel like I was digesting things a little better and I lost a lot of water weight that I had gained with the previous pregnancy. I was wondering, do you who have done these fasts have that experience, too? That you suddenly just feel great and have a lot of energy? Do you think that if I tried it again, I might feel those benefits now that the main problem is rectified? I feel so much better now I was even able to maintaina yoga routine during my last pregnancy.
The other question is, when can I try it again? I have a two-month old now (beautiful little girl!).
Sorry this post had been so long, and thanks in advance for anything you can offer!
Maire

Ok so sorry for the original "skim" reading. I did not knotice that your baby was almost 3. A little different than a Babe.
Do what feels good for your body.

HI Maire,

All info really recommends not fasting while breastfeeding.

I feel the most important factor, however, would really be, how much of your babys' diet comes from breastmilk?

A 2mo old relies 100% (hopefully) ~ so fasting (i.e, clear liquids, etc no food) is a total no-no. We aren't talking just toxins, but caloric intake being sufficient enough to take care of a baby. It only takes 2-3 days to affect milk production AND your body will feed your baby first. You have sort of a parasitic (!) relationship going on, so considering how the body will respond is important!

The only 'diet' like this I would recommend is an actual long-term dietary change such as a raw diet that is sufficient in calories to feed baby, and meet nutritional needs. There are a lot of raw people, who eat raw pregnant and feed their kids raw. This can be done. Transition would be important, as I feel baby would need some consistency so you don't keep both your systems in chaos. Perhaps a transition say, percentage-wise, increasing over a 2-4 week period would be best for all systems concerned.

Also, I know when people do go raw, they have a big transitional time where their bodies change (weight loss, detoxify) and they do process food differently. If you are thinking of doing this, I would ease into it and consider it more a long term thing... if you have a small baby involved.

I think a safe rule of thumb would be that when baby is getting like 70% of their food from table... for me, not until they were over a year, would be a time when you could do a bit of fasting without worrying excessively.


Good for you for figuring out what was ailing you! You know your body best. Trust it.

Meag

www.fairycove.com