Pregnant women not only need adequate nutrition but also foods that generate increased
energy. It is crucial for the health of a growing baby that the mother eat a diet made up predominantly
of organic fruits and vegetables. However, typical pregnancy diets underplay the importance
of raw plant food and overemphasize the need for animal products, particularly dairy. Now
that you know how dairy and high-protein diets can leach calcium from your body (and keep it
from reaching your baby), it’s easy to see why a mother’s need for plant food increases substantially
during pregnancy and nursing.
One critical thing to keep in mind, if you’re embarking on this diet during your pregnancy,
is not to focus on detoxification. If you’re accustomed to the standard American diet, pregnancy
is not the time suddenly to become a raw-food vegan; the toxins that will move through your
blood and lymph fluid will cross the placenta and likely affect your baby. Instead, focus on quick
exit food combinations and aim for a 50 to 60 percent raw diet, which you can consistently—but
slowly—increase if you’re comfortable throughout your pregnancy.
This is one time when you
should definitely continue to eat small amounts of flesh and dairy to avoid triggering too many
detoxifying symptoms all at once. You’ll do very well and avoid excess weight gain just by properly
combining foods and eating your fruits and greens. Once the baby is born and you start nursing, you may increase your raw foods and eliminate the flesh foods, if you’re ready. Then, if
you commit to the Raw Food Detox Diet steps, you will eventually get back to your
leanest and most vibrant self!
Sample Raw Food Detox Diet Pregnancy Regimen
Suggested Prenatal Daily Intake
Upon rising: 12 to 16 ounces of freshly extracted green juice with an apple added for
sweetness. (You may add garlic and ginger, but they can be very off-putting early
on in pregnancy.) The leafy greens will provide the organic calcium and folic acid
you need for the baby and to protect your own calcium stores (which can be
drained and hard to replace in later years) during pregnancy. Spinach is the most
valuable of the leafy vegetables, as it is more than 88-percent water and has the
finest quality of obtainable organic iron.
Breakfast: Any fruit of your choice (just remember to eat melons before other fruit, as
they digest more quickly)
Whenever you feel the need for a heartier breakfast (or starchy food in the morning during the
early months of pregnancy), you may have any hot or cold whole grain, naturally sweetened
cereal of your choice with almond milk. You may use raw honey to sweeten your cereal, if desired.
Raw sprouted grains and soaked nuts with raw honey and almond milk offer a powerful fat-protein,
antioxidant, zinc-rich punch!
Alternatively, you may have toasted sprouted grain bread, sprouted grain bagels, or whole
wheat pita with real organic butter. But digestion and energy will be best when you only consume
fresh fruit or the “Smooth Mamma” shake (see below) in the morning after your green
juice.
Mid-morning snack: Smooth Mama shake: 2 to 3 teaspoons of Sun Chlorella blended
into a smoothie of 1 banana, a splash of freshly squeezed juice or water, and 2 to
3 tablespoons of raw walnuts. While the shake will look very green, it will actually
taste very sweet.
Lunch: You may enjoy any of the dishes from the recipe section depending on your level
of the program, accompanied by raw vegetables or a raw vegetable salad.
Mid-afternoon snack: This is an ideal time to have another fresh veggie juice or a
“Smooth Mama.” Drink it on an empty stomach. If you’re still hungry, you may follow this drink thirty minutes later with 2 stalks of celery with raw almond butter
and honey, dried fruit, fresh fruit, fresh fruit juice, or a handful of raw nuts of your
choice. Almonds and walnuts are ideal. Pecans back a terrific zinc punch, as do
Brazil nuts and pistachios; your zinc needs to increase during pregnancy.
Dinner: You may have any of the dishes in this book’s recipe section or restaurant
section. Just be sure to include a raw salad.
Dessert: Several squares of carob, pure chocolate, or a whole grain cookie. Pregnant
women run the risk of hypertension and high blood pressure, for which raw garlic
can be highly beneficial. This is another great reason for discontinuing the
consumption of coffee, sodas, and other caffeinated substances.
Most new mothers have heard that protein and calcium are very important during pregnancy.
However, it is not necessary to consume large amounts of animal products to achieve these nutritional
requirements. In fact, animal protein can leach calcium from the body and is very dif-
ficult for the body to break down, making it more difficult to utilize than plant protein—not to
mention all the antibiotics, hormones, parasites, and other pollutants that you find in animal
protein.
This is not to say that you cannot enjoy an omnivorous diet during your pregnancy;
just know that eating animal protein is not necessary to nurture your body and your growing
baby.
The most digestible, effective protein and calcium for the body comes from raw plant
foods and nature’s “superfoods”—chlorella (65 percent assimilable protein/5 grams of protein
per teaspoon/15 grams of protein per tablespoon) and bee pollen.
