As a newbie, your posts have been very helpful and insipiring; you will be missed

hi Katie. my twins first taste of solids were green smoothies, more by default than intention, since my little daughter tried to grab my spoon out of my mouth into hers.  Happy to say they both still love their green smoothies and get excited at the sight of green (very unlike my eldest daughter).

They have since eaten a number of green smoothie combinations, as well as young coconut, apples, pears, kiwis, avocado, pawpaw, pineapple, persimmon and some raw vegies : zucchini, sweet potato, carrot, kolhrabi, cucumber so far (all raw, put through the blank of my food processor and then blended with some water if necessary).  A 7,5 months they now have at least 1 cup of smoothie or other fruit for breakfast plus equivalent volume of food for dinner (on 2 solid meals at the moment).  They still also have at least 4 - 5 breastfeeds / 24 hours. 

By the way I would love to hear when other mums have first introduced nuts or nut milk - they usually say no nuts before 12 months, is that right?

Thanks so much for your reply Virtualmeg.  I was hoping you might also be able to tell me a bit more about your bubs:

* When did you start them on greens/ vegies?
* The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends introducing solids at 6 months to ensure babies have sufficient zinc and iron, which can apparently by then run a little low in babies.  Did you have any issues with iron levels when feeding only fruits till 12 months?
* Are they still all raw?  Do you have any hassles with family questioning the all raw diet and any advice?

I have been reading this forum for a while now but am a relatively new poster.  I'm looking for some advice/ guidance from any mums who have little bubs who are/ have been all raw and the health of their children on this diet.

I have 6 month old twins (boy, girl) who have just started solids and wanted to know what balance of raw foods you feed them (fruit, vegies, greens, fats).  Also, when do you introduce the vegies, fats, etc

I am also bf still 5 feeds/ day.  I have given them a few fruits so far (bananas, kiwi, avocado, papaya, pear, pineapple, coconut) as well as a few green smoothies.  Both will just keep on eating bananas and avocado, I have to stop feeding them mostly as they will just eat and eat and then complain of tummy ache afterwards. I am only doing 2 solid meals a day at the moment and if I let her my daughter eat as much as she can eat in one sitting a whole avocado, followed by a large banana; she just seems to love her food.


 

While this topic is not directly about raw foods – it does relate to having a choice about what goes into our bodies.

It will soon be mandatory for health care workers in NSW to be fully vaccinated.  This includes doctors, nurses, physios etc as well as laundry staff and cooks in hospitals.  That is if they do not comply with this requirement they will lose their jobs.  A nurse for example who has anaphylactic allergy to egg products - the MMR, Flu and TB vaccines all contain egg material, has been told she will have to get the shots or lose her job.  This is serious stuff!!!  Particularly given that vaccination is not without its risks/ side effects (which can include among many others, toxic-shock syndrome, seizure, polio-like paralysis, death, meningitis, encephalitis etc, etc…)

The Australian Vaccination Network (www.avn.org.au) has just launched an appeal to overturn this mandatory requirement.  So if you feel like-minded or know anyone who will be affected by this requirement, please ask them to sign this on-line petition to the Health Minister.

http://www.petitiononline.com/avnivm/petition.html

Note: Modified by Admin to make link clickable.

Hi Sheryl and Piers

I started putting together a recipe yesterday from the recipe section.  Today it doesn't appear on the top right hand corner any more.  Any ideas why this might be the case

Being fully informed about vaccination is really important when making a decision to vaccinate or not.  I personally did a lot of homework/ research on the topic and would encourage any parent to do the same, as opposed to listening to friends/ parents views (which are often not well informed).   This way you don't have any doubts about your decision or why you have made it.
 
For any parent wanting information on this topic I highly recommend visiting the Australian Vaccination Network website www.avn.org.au.  In particular, I also recommend obtaining a DVD sold through the website called - "10 reasons why parents question vaccination" sold for $16.50 and Investigate before you vaccinate (sold for $5.00).  This will probably suffice for most in terms of the level of information provided however there are a number of other books sold through the website which allow ou to dig further for yourself.   Meryl Dorey who founded AVN is very informed about this topic and if you had any specific questions I'm sure you could email AVN directly.

After substantial research on the topic I chose not to vaccinate my children.  My eldest daughter who is 2 has never been sick or had to see a doctor.   




PS  Meryl Dorey of AVN in one of the DVDs sold on the website states that the only cases in Australia of polio in the last decade or so have been those contracted through the vaccination injection

If you have not already come across it, take a look on the Mindd Foundation website for treatments and practitioners that specialise in allergies etc. They also have a forum in Sydney in May this year

http://www.mindd.org/serendipity/archives.php/41-Frontpage.html

Thanks Gay. I will give Flemington a try. Look forward to the next raw potluck. 

Thanks Piers.  I live closer to the city in Sydney so could you tell me whereabouts these markets are in the city or a link to the information? 

I also would love to hear from anyone that has been to the city paddy's organic markets in terms of how cheap it is.   I am really struggling with the high cost of eating such substantial amounts of fruit and greens.

Since starting this raw diet,our monthly food budget has completely (i mean completely) blown out of the water (and my husband is not even raw!)

Many thanks girls for all the advice.  Jacinta, I've also emptied my inbox.  Didn't realise that is was full.  Thanks for your post

Just wanted to know what your standard daily menu is on the raw diet.  I've read that a high fruit, low fat diet is best accompanied with lots of greens.  Is this what most people who do well on this diet eat?  What kind of dishes do you then eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner?

What is the difference between the vitamix blender being sold on the website and the vitamix 4500 model which is substantially cheaper?  Around US$369 on US websites?  What have other's experience been with the one sold on this website?