Monday, May 14th, 2012

Crazy Sexy Life & One Green Planet Articles I Wrote

by Kristen in raw vegan lifestyle, supplements

I’m a regular contributor to a couple of fabulous health and wellness hubs, Crazy Sexy Life and One Green Planet. Here are my latest contributions to them that I think you’ll find useful.

Crazy Sexy Life – Supplements: Part of the Cure for Modernity

One Green Planet – Flexibility and the Power of the Raw Food Spectrum

Is It Safe To Drink Green Juice While Pregnant? A Reader’s Question.

by Kristen in chlorella, green juice, greener grasses, pregnancy, pregnant, supplements, the vitamin d solution

I was emailed the following questions, and thought I’d share my response for everyone…

Hi Kristen!

I just found your blog after googling and I have a question I was hoping you could answer. I just found out I’m 5 weeks pregnant and my diet is mostly raw, no dairy, no meat, and I always start my day with 2-3 organic raw (kale, spinach, romaine, parsley, celery, cucumber, and apple) green juices I buy from an organic juice press shop that uses the Norwalk press. I would like to know if it is safe to continue to drink my beloved juices daily and my Sunwarrior Ormus Supergreens? Everyone says something differant and I’m confused. I would like to keep my mostly raw healthy lifestyle because it is what works best for me. I also was wondering which were the best supplement suggestions you can offer, … chorella, spirulina etc. Are these safe during pregnancy? Please help! All the best, G

Great question! For starters, you know I’m not a doctor or midwife. I’m a chef who reads a lot – lol – and has a passion for nutrition and health. That being written, here is how I handled the situation when I was pregnant.

There is indeed a risk of contamination when consuming raw foods while pregnant (well, anytime really, but for pregnancy it has its own dangerous implications). However, I wasn’t about to give up my raw foods. Therefore, while I was pregnant, I did not consume any fresh juices unless I made them myself (except on perhaps three or four different occasions while traveling). It wasn’t worth the risk in my opinion. In fact, even making them myself was not risk-free, but I believe it was greatly reduced because I thoroughly washed and scrubbed my ORGANIC produce. To wash them, I often used food grade hydrogen peroxide (this is the not the stuff you buy in the drugstore). The same rules applied for salads and other fresh foods that I didn’t prepare. I had them on occasion at a restaurant, but I knew the possible risk of doing it, so I didn’t do it often. And, for the times I did do it, they were usually vegan or raw places that didn’t serve meat products which is helpful (exception - the veg burritos with fresh salsa and guacamole from Chipotle – lol – I had those a few times).

Overall, my pregnancy was mostly high raw with some times that were all raw and some times that were moderately raw. I stayed away from green powders because they (at the time) had an ingredient or two that just didn’t seem good to me in a pregnant state after researching all the ingredients. That being said, I have read about a number of women drinking green powders while pregnant. If I were to become pregnant again, I would probably consume Greener Grasses because that is a powder that seems both nourishing and gentle (I am drinking this now while breastfeeding and it’s wonderful). Again though, this is just how I would do it. There are many others who might differ in their successful and healthy pregnant experiences.

As for supplements, I wrote about them in a previous blog post here. I can’t claim their safety because as you’ll notice they probably have labels warning against taking while pregnant or lactating. However, I was excited to take chlorella because of its recognized ability to take toxins out of breastmilk according to one study (details here). I also took wheat grass tablets, probiotics, prenatal, and others. My most important supplement suggestion would be to take Vitamin D. I encourage you to get your levels tested. I would read The Vitamin D Solution for recommendations on how much to take while pregnant. The amount in your prenatal are not enough in many professionals’ opinions. (I highly recommend that book to everyone reading this post.)

Thanks for your question!

Supplements While I’m Pregnant

by Kristen in New Chapter Organics, pregnancy, prenatals, supplements, vitamin b12, vitamin code, whole food vitamins

I’m asked all the time about which supplements I’m taking while pregnant. There are a few things that I take for sure… meaning that I will take them throughout the pregnancy, and there are some things that I’ll take for a certain period of time and then, perhaps, stop. There are some women who don’t feel the need to take supplements while pregnant. Personally, because I’m vegan, I want to make sure my diet is complete, so I feel better by supplementing. Moreover, with the “all-day ‘morning’ sickness” I’m experiencing, I feel even more compelled to take some things because it’s hard for me to get a balanced diet right now.

The following are things I’m taking, but they may not be what you took while pregnant, or want to take if you’re pregnant now. Everyone is different. I researched these items thoroughly before deciding what would work best for me and my baby. If you have questions about your own situation, I’d suggest researching information yourself, and then asking your midwife or doctor.

Here are the items I will take throughout the pregnancy for sure (the prenatal and DHA I pretty much take daily, the others in this list I take every other day or a couple times a week).

Vitamin B12
DHA (vegan) (there are many vegan options other than NuTru)
prenatal*
wheat grass (in pill and/or powder depending on how I feel)
probiotic**
Vitamin D

*Vitamin Code sent me their Raw prenatal to try, which is what I’m taking now. I’m happy with it although it’s hard to say whether I notice anything (as is the case with many multi-vitamins when your diet is already good). I’ve been told that the Vitamin Code prenatal would help with morning sickness. It has not changed that for me – I’m still nauseated all day (remember though, I love it, hard as it is. It’s the daily sign of my pregnancy, so I’m not complaining. In fact, if it went away before the second trimester started, I might be a little bummed). Vitamin Code also sent me other products to try.

UPDATE: Vitamin Code’s prenatal might not be very vegan after all. The D3 is derived from lanolin – ugh! However, they state that they are following the definition of “vegan” as prescribed by the Vegan Society. You can read more about it on Garden of Life’s website. **Also, you’ll see Dr. Ohhira’s probiotic in the picture. That has beeswax in it so I no longer take that for my probiotic. Instead, I’m taking Ejuva’s Moflora for my probiotic.

I have also spent part of the past year taking New Chapter Organic Prenatal. That is a highly reputable company and many women have successfully used their prenatal. I love that it’s made from food and is organic, but my biggest complaint is that it’s in a tablet form instead of a capsule. From what I understand, when a company makes a tablet, it usually requires heat. Vitamin Code’s Raw Prenatal is in a capsule form, making it easier for them to keep it Raw, which I love. Update {2/9/11}: I have since learned that New Chapter’s Prenatal is not vegan.

The most important thing for me when getting a prenatal was making sure there were not any synthetics in it. Here is a blog post about when I found synthetics in my prenatals last year. If a prenatal is truly a whole food vitamin, then it shouldn’t upset my stomach when I take it without food. And, in my experience, whole food multi-vitamins don’t turn my urine yellow.

There are some other things I take, although I don’t take them daily, and I’m not sure I’ll take them through the whole pregnancy. It depends on how I feel as time goes by, as well as what foods I’ve had in any particular day. They are:

Spirulina
Chlorella*
Kelp granules
Iron
B-complex
Vitamin E**
Protein powder(s) to help me keep my protein higher on all-raw days
Chia / Flax seeds

*Chlorella can be tricky because it can cause detox to occur. I’ve been taking this all year pretty much, so my body is used to it. I’m not sure I’d be taking it while pregnant if I hadn’t already had experience taking it prior to getting pregnant. And, it’s not something I take daily anymore either.

**Vitamin E is known as a fertility vitamin because it’s reputed for helping to reduce the rate of miscarriage. I try to get most of my vitamin E from foods, such as organic sprouted sunflower seeds, but I don’t always get enough of those, so on occasion I supplement with it.

I’ve listed some of the things I’m currently taking, but there is so much more than just writing a list. My diet changes all the time – sometimes I get in bananas and avocados (these have B-vitamins) and sometimes I get lentils and other higher protein, iron rich foods. Some days I have oranges and kiwi and greens so I’m getting minerals and phytonutrients. Some days I have herbal teas of nettle and alfalfa (and in the future trimesters, I’ll add raspberry leaf tea). The bottom line is that my diet changes, and as a result, I’m prepared for any possible inadequacies I might experience. I pay attention to my diet every day, with every meal. Some people might say that I over-think this stuff. Quite the contrary. One way I don’t stress about getting the perfect diet is knowing that I have supplements and super foods available to help balance everything. Plus, most importantly, I’m doing everything I can to provide the best environment for my baby. There can be no over-thinking, if you ask me, so long as you don’t stress about it (stress is one of the worst things for a pregnancy).

I’ll say again, not everyone is the same. Not all pregnant, mostly Raw, women will think they need to supplement. I’m not here to prescribe a list for you. It’s simply what I’m taking. Based on my information here, you can further research it, and evaluate your own lifestyle – Do you live in a toxic city or in the woods? Do you have a balanced diet? Is it organic? Are you stressed? Did you have fertility issues? Do you get enough rest? Do you meditate? Do you exercise or burn extra calories? Are you older or younger? Do you have allergies which restrict certain foods from your diet? – As you can see, we are all different and we should all take care and pay special attention to our own, unique situations. A great example is that when I told people about my nausea, I had many people tell me to have ginger. Ginger didn’t help me one bit. I had others tell me to have lemon. Lemon didn’t help me one bit. The list went on and on (peppermint, carbonation, acupressure bracelets, etc). What I think is great is to have all of these wonderful options available and experiences from people. But keep in mind that we’re all different (my mom is amazed that I still love the smell of coffee because she hated it when she was pregnant. She also finds it weird that she only had sickness in the morning and I have it all day. So, as you can see, it’s even different for people in the same family). You never know what might work so don’t be afraid to try different things. Do what is best for you and your baby.

My Interview with Revvell of Rawkin Radio

by Kristen in bodybuilding, exercise, interview, kids, Kristen Suzanne, Kristen's Raw, nutrition, personal growth, plant-based, poop, raw food, Rawkin Radio, supplements, training, yoga

I had a fun interview with Revvell of Rawkin Radio, which is now available here.

Just a few of the things we chatted about…

~my bodybuilding experience and how I found vegan and then Raw
~tips for eating Raw in the winter
~getting kids and family into Raw
~supplements… are they important? who should take them?
~exercise and my latest endeavor
~changing one’s mindset
~digestion (poop is important!)
and more!

Enjoy!

Oh! And if you haven’t entered for your chance to win the Lexen Healthy Juicer, you can do so here.

I Feel The Need, The Need For Greens!

by Kristen in greens, supplements

I feel the need, the need for greens! Kind of like that line in Top Gun…something like, “I feel the need, the need for speed!” – haha

I’m feeling extra wonderful today. I think it’s all of the extra greens I’m adding to my smoothies. Lately, I’ve been adding much more (and less fruit). Don’t get me wrong, I’m a big fan of fruit…but I’m listening to my body, which I always recommend, and I’m craving greens lately, so there you have it.

I’ve also been trying out a green powder that I add sometimes from Health Force Nutritionals (Vitamineral Green) and it’s been great. I’m not usually a big fan of supplements, but again, I listen to my body. If I feel out of balance with my diet or if I’m traveling and I won’t have access to many greens, then I’m all for supplementing (it does have it’s place in my world). Plus, it’s just fun sometimes. I love experimenting when it comes to things like that, so I can’t really help myself – haha. I’ve always had a passion for health, nutrition, diets, physical fitness, and…yes, even supplements. I don’t rely on them though; they’re just something I add once in a while.

Anyway, back to my intense adoration of greens lately. I’ve been enjoying them in mass quantities, and I’m reaping the benefits. My favorites this week have been cilantro, parsley, celery and spinach. Right now, I’m off to make a gigantic smoothie of parsley, cilantro, celery, apple, lime, kiwi, cinnamon, and maybe some cayenne or garlic for extra kick.

Have a GREAT day!