Day 49: Family Health 3: Raising Rainbow Children
“The truth is, though I'd love to see it, I have never once seen a 100% raw 100% vegan 100% unsupplemented child past breastfeeding age who has no tooth decay and is the correct weight and height for their age. Not one. Ever.
Since 2000, I've had the opportunity to meet thousands of raw foodists. I've also met hundreds of raw children in that time. By far, the children who are vegetarian seem healthier than the vegan children.”
– Shazzie, author of Evie’s Kitchen
Integrated Nutrition for Babies And Children, Does a Vegan or Raw/Live Vegan Diet Work for Children?, Milk/Dairy: Conventional Pasteurized vs. Raw Local Organic
Welcome to Day 49!
Today is the final day on food, health, and families, and it goes without saying that we are all very blessed to have this information. Just 10 years ago, there were few books on raising children on a plant-based diet, and none on a raw/living diet. We have come a long way, and we are so pleased to present you with these resources today.
Raising Rainbow Babies
What a blessing it is to nourish our babies with organic living foods that will strengthen them physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Not only is it possible; it is optimal. Babies are so full of life force and develop at such a miraculous rate. A well-balanced, 100% raw, organic diet of fruit, vegetables, nuts, and seeds provides them with the uncompromised nourishment that will support them in creating a lifetime of well-being. This excellent Appendix from Rainbow Green Live Food Cuisine by Gabriel Cousens, M.D. will make much more accessible the best diet possible for the children in your life. The well-researched age-appropriate foods table from the book is below, so that you can immediately begin to appreciate what is involved in this approach. For the actual recipes (around 100), make sure to add Rainbow Green to your kitchen library.
Juicy Tips
If you are wondering how to encourage your children to eat fresh foods, get them into the kitchen with a juice machine! Children love taking everything that is juiceable and sending through a machine to see juice come out the other side. Also, most kids will get turned on to Green Vegetable Juice.
If they are reluctant, just continue your Juice Feast and model how great you feel when you drink greens. Once they are interested, start their juices with mild greens like spinach, add apple and carrot, and watch them thrive.
I (David) have taught dozens of food preparation classes to children in homeschooling and public school, and always their favorite class is juicing. Parents told me they had tried to get their children to eat fresh, but after that class, it was no problem. They dusted off the juicer, and increased their produce buying significantly!
Juicy Tip: Rename Fruits and Vegetables with Catchy Names for Kids
Renaming Fruits And Vegetables With Catchy Names Convinces Kids To Eat Them, Study Says
Renaming fruits and vegetables with catchy, attractive monikers could more easily convince children to eat them, according to a new study. Researchers at Cornell University's Food and Brand Lab tested the likelihood that students at five ethnically and economically diverse schools schools would eat items dubbed "X-Ray Vision Carrots," "Power Punch Broccoli," "Tiny Tasty Tree Tops" and "Silly Dilly Green Beans" over the same foods labeled "Food of the Day." The results were overwhelming -- for instance, in one school 66 percent of the carrots labeled "X-Ray Vision Carrots" were eaten up versus the 32 percent when they were labeled "Food of the Day."
See you in The Green Room!
Theme Music: Willie Nelson performing Rainbow Connection.
Alex Grey, “Parenting.” For more, see www.AlexGrey.com
Green Smoothie for Children. Dove demonstrates her favorite recipe for children.
Serious Humor :) Yoga Mom
Alex Grey, “Nursing.” For more, see www.AlexGrey.com
Today’s Downloads
integrated nutrition for babies and children
Research file of David Rainoshek, M.A.
This file used to be “Raising Rainbow Babies,” which was a purely Raw/Vegan perspective on raising babies and children. Well, that was 2007. We in the Raw/Live Vegan community have learned A LOT since then.
This file is an INTEGRATED, POST-VEGAN perspective on non-dogmatically raising healthy babies and children. Many thanks to Shazzie, author of Evie’s Kitchen; Susan Schenck, author of Beyond Broccoli; and Kevin and Anne Marie Gianni among many others for doing the conversations and research to propel the knowledge quest forward on whether a 100% Raw/Live Vegan diet is appropriate for raising children.
white lies (a processed Conventional dairy investigation)
“White Lies” is the first review of its kind. The evidence is overwhelming – cow’s milk and dairy products are neither natural nor healthy, in fact they are harmful to health and have been linked to a wide range of illnesses and diseases. Many of the key findings were discussed at the public talk on May 24 2006. Hot topics that the campaign and report cover include: Heart Disease, Diabetes, Cancer, Obesity, Osteoporosis
dairy - processed conventional realities
by David Rainoshek, M.A.
David Rainoshek’s file on Processed Conventional Dairy Realities. This is the correct perspective on Industrialized Dairy Agribusiness. This is typically the ONLY PERSPECTIVE on Dairy you will hear from the Plant-Based Vegan and Raw/Live Vegan Community. This is the only perspective on Dairy that I used to offer as a Raw/Live Vegan.
What you won’t hear from that community is what is contained in the next file, Dairy – Raw Organic Local.
Dairy : raw organic and local
by David Rainoshek, M.A.
Yes, this is a departure and what I view as an upgrade from the Vegan and Raw/Live Vegan perspective on dairy as cancer-causing, heart-disease causing, and an ecological and animal rights disaster. All those perspectives are absolutely true about Conventional Processed Industrialized Dairy. Leaving conventional industrialized dairy behind and healing from its destructive effects is entirely healthy and appropriate.
But when healing has occurred, and we are looking at long-term health and well-being from an Integrated Nutritional perspective, dairy becomes interesting again.
I know this may be hard to consider if you are still working the Plant-Based aspects of the Spectrum of Diet. But know that I have been there, as have many, many, many other eaters and professionals in the world of Plant-Based Dietetics, and we have eventually incorporated carefully selected raw organic local dairy products – often fermented and probiotic rich – into our Integrated approach.
We have been at pains to create an incredible file for you on this subject – even if this is not where you are at – save it in your file library for future reference, or for those in your life who need a dairy upgrade.
Online Articles
Strict Vegan Diets May Be Dangerous, Especially for Expectant Mothers and Children by Chet Day
Let me say before we jump into the heart of this matter that I believe most people who claim to do well long-term on vegan diets do so because they don’t follow their diets strictly. I believe most of those who claim to thrive long-term on vegan diets occasionally consume animal foods containing essential nutritive factors. I have come to this conclusion based on almost ten years of extensive postal and e-mail correspondence sent to me by individuals who have tried to live on various vegan programs, everything from 100% raw food to fruitarianism to Natural Hygiene to the Hallelujah Diet preached by George Malkmus to Arnold Ehret’s Mucusless Diet.
Without further preliminaries, let me reveal why I now believe vegan diets may be dangerous in the long-term for those who actually follow them strictly and especially so for expectant mothers and children.
5 Reasons We Do Not Have a Raw Food Baby by Anne Marie and Kevin Gianni
Do I think mothers can raise raw babies? I don’t know how to answer this anymore. If you asked me 4 years ago, I’d have said yes. These days, I can’t say the same…
Great Books
by Susan Schenck, LAc
Beyond Broccoli is authored by Susan Schenck, who herself was a raw vegan for six years, followed by a year of raw vegetarianism (raw dairy and eggs included). Her journey has culminated with the reintroduction of just a bit of raw and lightly cooked meat.
Going raw had originally proved to have so many benefits that Ms. Schenck had already penned the 2-time award-winning, and still relevant, book The Live Food Factor. But after a few years of veganism, she began to exhibit health concerns: deficiencies of vitamin B12, memory problems, muscle tissue loss, bloatedness, irritability, and cravings.
Her further research, spurred on by Dr. Stanley Bass, led her to conclude that it was a lack of vital nutrients found only in animal products that were causing the problems. Dr. Bass, with his more than 50 years of clinical experience in raw vegan and nonvegan diet counseling, contributed the foreword to the resulting Beyond Broccoli.
The book begins with the author's story of why she resumed eating a bit of animal products and how she manages to stay mostly raw even so. It also includes a chapter on other vegans and vegetarians (some who eat raw, others who eat cooked) who made this decision for their own health reasons.
This book addresses the following issues: vegetarian myths; why human s brains have shrunk 11% in the last 11,000 years; the importance of animal foods in pregnant and lactating women; man's dietary history of eating meat for 2.6 million years; how the vegan diet affects the brain and emotions; critical nutrients found only in meat, eggs, and dairy, as well as some found only in meat; the difficulty of getting enough healthful protein on a vegan diet, especially raw; the dangers of soy; the different metabolic types, which explain why some succeed on veg diets while others fail; the dangers of overeating animal protein; how to eat meat so that it is not dangerous; the benefits of eating raw or lightly cooked meat and how to do it safely and make it taste good; spiritual, moral, and environmental issues with meat eating; the importance of eating clean meat from compassionately raised animals; eating a high raw Paleo diet, which is what we evolved eating; the importance of eating raw; flaws in the China Study; the benefits of a low-glycemic diet; important foods if you choose to be a vegan or vegetarian; and more.
This book also addresses issues such as the fact that not everyone can efficiently convert plant nutrients to critical nutrients needed by the body: omega-3 fats into DHA and EPA needed by the brain; beta-carotene into true vitamin A; essential amino acids into nonessential ones; vitamin D2 into D3; and vitamin K1 into K2.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED perspective when considering how to feed growing, healthy children in an integrated way.
by Lierre Keith
“I’m asking you to stay the course, read this book, and explore the resources available in the appendix. Please. Especially if you have children or want to.” - Lierre Keith
Part memoir, nutritional primer, and political manifesto, this controversial examination exposes the destructive history of agriculture—causing the devastation of prairies and forests, driving countless species extinct, altering the climate, and destroying the topsoil—and asserts that, in order to save the planet, food must come from within living communities. In order for this to happen, the argument champions eating locally and sustainably and encourages those with the resources to grow their own food.
Further examining the question of what to eat from the perspective of both human and environmental health, the account goes beyond health choices and discusses potential moral issues from eating—or not eating—animals. Through the deeply personal narrative of someone who practiced veganism for 20 years, this unique exploration also discusses alternatives to industrial farming, reveals the risks of a vegan diet, and explains why animals belong on ecologically sound farms.
by Sally Fallon
The Nourishing Traditions Book of Baby & Child Care makes the principles of traditional nutrition available to modern parents.
The book provides holistic advice for pregnancy and newborn interventions, vaccinations, breastfeeding and child development, as well as a compendium of natural treatments for childhood illnesses, from autism to whooping cough. The work of Rudulf Steiner supports the book's emphasis on the child's spiritual requirement for imaginative play.
An Excellent Review from a Parent:
To me, this is the most important resource to have for raising healthy children. I am pregnant with my 2nd child and follow the extremely nutrient dense pregnancy diet from this book. I’ve also followed the food introduction schedule for my first born (3 yo now) to ensure he grows up loving and eating REAL FOOD- not crap food laced with sugar and chemicals like cereal, processed/boxed/bagged “foods”, juice, waffles, artificially colored anything, pizza, etc which gives children zero vitamins and nutrition.
My son eats and loves broccoli, salmon, chicken, eggs, fruits, beans, nuts, cod liver oil, avocados, coconut oil, bone broth soups...all because of what I’ve read in this wonderful book. I truly believe because he has grown up on these nutrient dense foods and healthy fats like CLO, coconut oil and real butter, his memory is astounding (brains REQUIRE fats to function optimally!).
I am constantly referring to it not just for diet, but for alternative cures for childhood sickness, how to make your home as healthy as possible, baby and child care, vaccines, supplementation, child milestones, recipes, to name a few. If you want to have a truly healthy pregnancy and child, this is the book to follow.
by Renee Kohley
Nurturing Nutrition for Your Beautiful Baby
Start your baby on a nutrient-dense journey by preparing his or her first foods from scratch with healthy whole-food ingredients. Steal their taste palates away from processed ingredients by getting back to the basics. Your care in the first years will result in a child who knows where their food comes from and who won’t shy away from fresh vegetables or wholesome ingredients. Plus, the recipes come together in a pinch and will save you time and money along the way.
Renee Kohley’s healthy foods nurture not just baby, but are delicious for the rest of the family, too. With recipes such as Bone Broth for baby transformed into Fresh Spring Vegetable Soup for the rest of the family, Renee provides simple tips to feed more hungry mouths faster, easier, cheaper and more nutritiously. With everything from single-ingredient purees for newborns to fuller meals that incorporate grains, nuts and legumes for toddlers, you have all your bases covered.
With Nourished Beginnings Baby Food you will help your child develop healthy eating habits for life.
By Gabriel Cousens M.D.
What a blessing it is to nourish our babies with organic living foods that will strengthen them physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Not only is it possible; it is optimal. Babies are so full of life force and develop at such a miraculous rate. A well-balanced, 100% raw, organic diet of fruit, vegetables, nuts, and seeds provides them with the uncompromised nourishment that will support them in creating a lifetime of well-being. This excellent Appendix from Rainbow Green Live Food Cuisine by Gabriel Cousens, M.D. will make much more accessible the best diet possible for the children in your life. For the actual recipes, make sure to add the book to your kitchen library.
By Victoria, Igor, Sergei, and Valya Boutenko
Raw Family by Victoria Boutenko is another book you will want to check out. It is an inspiring story of a family that became desperately ill with serious diseases, like juvenile diabetes, arrhythmia, asthma and arthritis. By changing their diet radically to a Raw Food diet, all four of them went from desperation and sickness to complete healing and happiness. The Boutenko children went from failing grades in school to graduating from college at high-school age. Raw Family is written in a very unique format of a family chronological biography. It contains 30 colored pictures and 33 delicious raw food recipes. To read the first chapter, click here.
By Valya and Sergei Boutenko
Valya and Sergei Boutenko wrote this book for children and teenagers to get into the kitchen and make outrageous live food recipes. Sergei begins the book:
Dear children, adolescents, and adults,
I wish there were some way that I could get this message out to every single one of you. A message that would touch your lives and have you see that happiness is not sold in little baggies or a 40 oz. glass bottle. I wish that there were some way to show you, my own generation, that we can all be happy and free without drugs. I wish I could stop you from hurting your body and make you see how much you will regret it later in life.
Most of all I wish that I could unite all of you and show you that every single one of you is beautiful and miraculous and that life would not be the same without you. Unfortunately, that is impossible, because the only way of teaching is actually not teaching at all! The only way I can get others to follow is by being a good example and sharing my story when asked.
To read the Table of Contents and Chapter 1 of the heartfelt and useful Eating Without Heating, click here.
By Michaela Lynn
The typical American diet is a major factor in the epidemic of obesity and poor health in the country’s children. Baby Greens helps parents establish healthy eating habits in their children — and themselves — through a diet rich in raw foods. A lively mix of education, philosophy, recipes, and activities, the book adapts the living foods approach for all ages and lifestyles.
The first part of the book explains the principles of bioenergetic nutrition and shows how cutting-edge nutritional practices — including nutritional individuality, pH balance, terrain testing, and homeopathy — can dramatically improve a child’s health. In addition to recipes and resources, the second part offers insights into the holistic approach to pregnancy, breastfeeding, extended breastfeeding, weaning, food experimentation, play, and other daily activities. Written in reassuring, easy to understand language, Baby Greens empowers parents to step outside the fast food box and take a proactive approach to maintaining their family’s health and well-being.
By Nancy Irven
Do we really need another book about food and how to eat? Yes! Dr. Nancy Irven has designed a straightforward and easily understood class on nutrition at the local high school. Her volunteer efforts have had astonishing results among her students. Please Don’t Eat the Wallpaper! is written in a simple style with her high school students in mind. Through the humor, you’ll find thought-provoking observations on how we nourish our bodies. She takes an integral look into the diets of average fourteen year olds and their perceptions of the food they eat. She teaches them to want better food and how to make better choices.
Dr. Irven’s passion is fueled by researching nutritional literature over the past twenty years. “The experts are now stating that the upcoming generation will not outlive its parents because of current trends of child obesity, diabetes, heart disease and cancer.” “I feel we must get their attention and do something productive once we get it.” “Do they know what is and is not healthy?” “They do not. They need to be taught.” “European countries have lower infant mortality rates than the United States. We are one of the richest countries with the most advanced medical system and yet our babies are dying.” Please Don’t Eat the Wallpaper! is written for Dr. Irven’s patients, students, friends, family, and for those of you who are still confused about healthy foods. Please Don’t Eat the Wallpaper! will change the way you think about food.
By Kim Payne
Today’s busier, faster society is waging an undeclared war on childhood. With too much stuff, too many choices, and too little time, children can become anxious, have trouble with friends and school, or even be diagnosed with behavioral problems. Now internationally renowned family consultant Kim John Payne helps parents reclaim for their children the space and freedom that all kids need for their attention to deepen and their individuality to flourish. Simplicity Parenting offers inspiration, ideas, and a blueprint for change:
• Streamline your home environment. Reduce the amount of toys, books, and clutter—as well as the lights, sounds, and general sensory overload.
• Establish rhythms and rituals. Discover ways to ease daily tensions, create battle-free mealtimes and bedtimes, and tell if your child is overwhelmed.
• Schedule a break in the schedule. Establish intervals of calm and connection in your child’s daily torrent of constant doing.
• Scale back on media and parental involvement. Manage your children’s “screen time” to limit the endless deluge of information and stimulation.
A manifesto for protecting the grace of childhood, Simplicity Parenting is an eloquent guide to bringing new rhythms to bear on the lifelong art of raising children.
By Wendy Anne McCarty
Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology has been studying our earliest development from the baby’s point of view for over 30 years. Findings reveal we are conscious, aware beings who already have a sense of self as we begin human life. This book explores the mysteries of our multidimensional nature and the extraordinary stories babies, children, and adults tell us of their life in the womb and during birth. The Integrated Model of Early Development introduced in this book is built upon clinicial findings and extensive review of research in infant development, prenatal and perinatal psychology, integral psychology, and consciousness studies. The Integrated Model embraces both our transcendent and human perspectives and supports babies’ wholeness and human potential from the beginning of life. Over 30 page bibliography included.
By Blake Boles
Do you need college in order to be taken seriously and earn a real living?
Conventional wisdom says yes. But true success relies upon self-knowledge and entrepreneurship: two qualities that you can obtain effectively and inexpensively without traditional college.
Better Than College provides the step-by-step guidance and inspiration necessary to design your own higher education. This book teaches you how to find community, stay on track, and get hired or start your own venture, all without a four-year degree. Curious college students will learn to think clearly about their motivations, plan a gap year, or navigate life after school. And Better Than College will show parents how self-directed learning can lead to a lifetime of achievement–no expensive institution required.
By Dale J. Stephens
It’s no secret that college doesn’t prepare students for the real world. Student loan debt recently eclipsed credit card debt for the first time in history and now tops one trillion dollars. And the throngs of unemployed graduates chasing the same jobs makes us wonder whether there’s a better way to “make it” in today’s marketplace.
There is—and Dale Stephens is proof of that. In Hacking Your Education, Stephens speaks to a new culture of “hackademics” who think college diplomas are antiquated. Stephens shows how he and dozens of others have hacked their education, and how you can, too. You don’t need to be a genius or especially motivated to succeed outside school. The real requirements are much simpler: curiosity, confidence, and grit.
Hacking Your Education offers valuable advice to current students as well as those who decided to skip college. Stephens teaches you to create opportunities for yourself and design your curriculum—inside or outside the classroom. Whether your dream is to travel the world, build a startup, or climb the corporate ladder, Stephens proves you can do it now, rather than waiting for life to start after “graduation” day.
Media, Films, & Documentaries
Tera Warner Interviews Valya Boutenko on How to Feed Your Children Healthily
Raw food has been Valya Boutenko’s lifestyle since she was eight years old in 1994. Before she changed her diet, she had a serious case of asthma. “Since the day I changed my diet, I have never had an asthmatic attack again. I’m so grateful that I don’t have to suffer with this illness anymore! I will always cherish the freedom of being healthy.”
From a young person’s perspective on having her diet changed in her childhood, Vayla opens up insights into the world of our children- what works and what doesn’t when transitioning them to a healthier way of life. At 23, Valya’s clarity and wisdom come across in this exceptional interview that will have a profound impact on everyone who listens. Valya is an author and filmmaker with a new documentary called, Overcoming the Food Imprint.
Here are a few things discussed in this call:
How to get your kids to like healthier foods.
Valya’s experience as a child being introduced to raw foods (what worked, what didn’t)
Results of interviewing 100% of children on what they think about healthy eating (the results will surprise you!)
Why children are resistant eating healthy food.
What not to do and what does work work and why!
Food iprint–how to understand your relationship with food, your cravings, etc.
How to inspire your children and understand why they should be eating health