Raw Parenting Creates Healthy Children

In May 1990, our second child was born. The birth was very difficult and there were complications. The main complication was shoulder distosia. My son’s head had already made its entrance into the world, but the midwives became exasperated at their attempts to release his large shoulders, and frantically gave me an episiotomy to help give birth to my child.

Just prior to this pregnancy, I changed from a vegetarian (lacto-ovo) to a vegan diet. I ate mainly whole grains, beans, oils, tofu and other soy products, seaweeds, and cooked vegetables with some processed foods, such as whole grain pastas, breads and rice cakes. I ate a minimum of raw fruits and vegetables, feeling at the time that raw foods were not that important and not as healthy as the protein from cooked grains and beans.

My son’s difficult birth was only the beginning of our problems. At five weeks old, he became very ill with a barking croupy cough and was filled with mucus. We ended up at the hospital for 4 scary days, in which time my son almost died. The doctors turned him over onto his stomach and hit his back while mucus poured out of his nose and mouth. I have never been more frightened in my life. For the next few years our son Marco exhibited asthmatic symptoms and had constant ear and throat infections and fevers. We tried many allopathic and alternative doctors for help: pediatricians, allergists, homeopaths, osteopaths, chiropractors, naturopaths, but to no avail. Many nights I ran to the bathroom with my son so that he could breathe in the steaming shower water for relief as he coughed and cried. I slept with him on top of me for fear that I would lose him at night.

The doctors diagnosed Marco’s condition as “Chronic Allergic Rhinitis” with asthmatic symptoms. I was eating cooked grains and beans as well as a lot of processed whole grain foods while nursing. When Marco began to eat solids between ages 1 and 2, I fed him the same, not realizing that this could be a large part of the problem. I wrote letters and called specialists all over the country for advice regarding Marco’s condition. At this point, I felt stuck and I began to reflect upon my own life. Vegetarianism was not strange to me because I lived in a house with a lifelong vegetarian father. His mother had been very ill with asthma and emphysema in her early 30′s when the doctors gave her only six months to live. She transitioned to a vegetarian and then a predominantly raw food diet, which cured her illnesses. She lived another 45 to 50 years. When I was a ten-year-old child, I recall her explaining why it is crucial to eat a diet primarily of raw, uncooked foods. Suddenly, the experiences of my grandmother made an incredible amount of sense to me and I began to search out people who were living healthfully on a raw food diet. I eventually found a group in New York City called “Coalition on Health Reeducation” (COHR), where I found a support group and access to a wealth of information.

Very soon I became a 100% raw foodist and I transitioned my children to raw foods. That was over 13 years ago. My son was between three and four years old at the time. In under a year, my son’s symptoms of chronic allergic rhinitis and asthma had completely vanished and the ear and throat infections disappeared forever. As my two children grew up on raw foods, they became very aware of their bodies. When either of them felt any sign of illness or detoxification, from fever to coughing or pain or mucus, they knew instinctively what to do. My daughter would drink water and go to bed, sometimes for a couple of days. My son would drink diluted orange juice and do the same. Gabriela and Marco recovered more quickly whenever they didn’t feel well, which was rare.

It is very important to involve children in creating fun raw food recipes and in playing raw food restaurant. Our children sometimes prepared elaborate raw food meals as the chefs, and my husband and I would be the customers, paying them for their special dishes. In February 2000, Gabriela and Marco were interviewed for Nicolodeon News on the topic of “Highlighting Vegetarian Children.” The producers were surprised that the children ate raw foods. They showed great interest in our lifestyle, and filmed Marco and Gabriela creating raw food meals, which were broadcast nationally.

As parents, it is our responsibility to teach our children about the superior foods and give them tender loving care throughout their growing years. We will be teaching them it’s all right to be different, and what is best for them is to listen to their bodies and to understand the laws of nature.

Karen Ranzi