Although I don't normally subscribe to people getting lots of protein in their diets, there are two groups that I believe should get a little more - pregnant moms and growing children. How much is "a little more?" Well, that is a good question and I don't really have an answer. But, here is how I'm handling it with my pregnancy (I'll address growing children and protein when I have one). I'm not a midwife or a doctor or a nutritionist, so I'm taking in information from various experts I know and sources (including lots of books and online research with my MacBook), and I'm adding my own mama intuition to weave my own blanket of a plan.I've been advised by some people (as well as what I've read in some natural childbirth books) that a pregnant mom will do well with a daily protein consumption of 75-90 grams a day (the higher range being extra recommended during the third trimester according to some experts - for baby brain development). Some of these books and experts support a vegetarian diet for pregnant moms, so I know that they "get it" at least to some degree. 75-90 grams a day is a bit high for me when I'm consuming mostly raw... unless I want to drink protein shakes with Raw sprouted brown rice powder. I do this on those days that I want to tip the scale higher for protein (it's easy and quick). But, I don't always want to rely on it for protein because whole food sources are healthier. On the days that I have cooked organic vegan protein such as beans, lentils, quinoa, organic tofu, etc... it's easier to get a higher quantity. However, having one meal like that doesn't always get my day's total to 75 grams when the rest of my day is Raw. That being said, I also believe that Raw protein is better assimilated and better digested. Therefore, I probably don't need as many grams as 75-90 most days since that recommended 75-90 grams is likely based on cooked protein recommendations (not much is written about pregnant moms and Raw vegan protein), and it probably takes more cooked protein to assimilate what I might get with a Raw diet. Hhmmm... but I don't have the magic answer.
So... what makes me feel most comfortable is to have a mix. Some days I get higher protein with both Raw and cooked vegan protein sources. Some days I get whatever protein comes naturally with my Raw food intake. Plus! I consume various superfoods (I just love that word... makes me feel like a superhero, Wonder Woman - lol - I'm a kid at heart). Pretty much on a daily basis I have hemp foods. Did you know that a mere 2 tablespoons of Manitoba Harvest hemp seeds contain a whopping 11 grams of complete vegetarian protein? And, I also add Manitoba Harvest Hemp Protein Powder to some of my smoothies (2 heaping tablespoons give about 15 grams of complete vegetarian protein). Then, probably 3-5 days a week, I take spirulina tablets, wheat grass tablets, and chlorella tablets. Those pack a nice punch of protein.
So... what do you think about the protein debate with respect to children and pregnancy?
I love that you do this all in a blender so that all the good bits and fiber are included. Yum.
ReplyDeleteIt seems like most of the high protein in pregnancy theories are advanced by organizations like Blue Ribbon Baby and the Weston A. Price Foundation. I personally don't have a problem with those two foundations, but I know most raw foodists/vegans do.
ReplyDeleteI used to believe in high protein requirements, but then I heard the argument that mothers' milk only has 5% protein, and babies are in the fastest stage of growth of their lives. Perhaps this is junk science, but you could extrapolate that to mean that adults need no more than 5% protein too. If you were eating 2000 calories per day, that works out to 25 grams of protein per day. I have no idea what the body does with that protein -- if you eat 25 grams, how much does the baby/fetus get from that? So I don't really have any answers either, those are just my thoughts.
Good thoughts, Katie! Thx!
ReplyDeleteThanks for this post, especially since I just bugged you about it via email! :) You are so helpful!! XOXO!
ReplyDeleteP.S. I am still waiting for my Sun Warrior to come in the mail!!! Darn Amazon and darn USPS!
Don't forget that 100 calories of raw spinach gives you 843 micrograms of folate :) No need to take folic acid in supplement form when you take care of your 400 daily requirement with food!
ReplyDeleteI love the 'Eat Organic' sticker! Do you remember where you got it?
ReplyDeleteKristen, I got the Raw Sun WArrior Chocolate protein that has stevia in it, and I find it to be sickeningly sweet, even at the ratio of 1 scoop to a quart of green smoothie. Have you found that to be true?
ReplyDeleteWe talk about protein a lot in this house, since my 2 year old cannot eat most of the quick sources of protein that are kid-friendly (GFDFSF) and he won't eat nut butters and rarely will drink a smoothie. He eats the occasional sprouted almond (but I'm out of raw ones!) and raw cashews and pumpkin seeds, but besides that, all his protein comes from eggs, non-soy beans and meat. We try to eat mostly vegetarian here, but it's challenging because I notice a direct correlation between his behavior and lack of protein. On the days when he's not interested in protein foods, meltdowns abound!
I love the 'Eat Organic' sticker! Do you remember where you got it?
ReplyDeleteFunny you wrote this as I just saw a bag of hemp protein powder in the store today. Supposedly it's pretty good for body builders or anyone looking to add muscle mass as well. Your protein smoothie recipes looks fantastic! Hope your pregnancy is coming along healthily and happily!
ReplyDeleteA thought about breastmilk only being 5% protein - it's also 80% water because obviously infants aren't drinking any additional fluids. If you analyzed our diets that way, you'd have to include all the water we drink as part of the equation. Just thinking out loud :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Brenna Kater :)
ReplyDeleteI didn't get it here, but a quick Google search showed this option:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.stickergiant.com/eat-organic_rc145.html
I do think we need more during pregnancy. It makes sense, we're not only feeding ourselves anymore, we have to feed a growing baby who needs to get top nutrition for 9 months. We need more of a lot of things, like iron, so why not protein? I also agree that we probably need less than established guidelines on a raw diet. Hemp protein is more easily assimilated that a barbecued steak or whatever (OK, that's gross. lol) ;)
ReplyDeleteHow much protein do you get from that sun warrior powder? I looked at the link and they don't mention the grams per servings.
Hi Joanna,
ReplyDeleteGood points. The Sun Warrior protein is 15g a scoop. When I use it, I do 1-2 scoops.
Brenna -- I wasn't clear in my previous comment, but the 5% figure is based on calories, so you could add a million gallons of water and it wouldn't change.
ReplyDeleteI don't have a reference for the 5%, but I found a breast milk composition table here.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breast_milk
I added up the caloric contribution of each of the components and the protein came out to be about 6% by calories, assuming I did my math right :-)
The article stated that breastmilk is 0.8% to 0.9% protein, which would make sense by volume, since as you stated, breastmilk is 80% water.
One thing to consider is that during pregnancy, your blood volume increases- and blood is made from protein, iron, and salt which is one reason why I think the protein requirements go up.
ReplyDeleteI am currently pregnant with my third and during my first trimester I did something I had never tried before to allieviate morning sickness -advice from Susan Weed. I had many high protein snacks. When I ate higher protein snacks often, I was amazed at how it allieviated any morning sickness, but once I didn't eat enough protein or often enough, I felt completely blah again. So, in my experience with this pregnancy, when I am feeling off, I conciously seek more protein and it always helps.
Just an interesting observation. I agree that you probably need a bit less when your protein sources are easier assimilated by the body.
Good luck with the protein! Since cooked tofu, tempeh, seitan, and beans are my favorite vegan food group, I'd love to have to take in more. But I can imagine it would be more difficult on a mostly raw diet.
ReplyDeleteLow protein in breastmilk does lead me to thinking protein requirements are not so high as they are generally believed to be. Especially when eaten in fresh, raw, easy-to-assimilate forms.
ReplyDeleteWe eat mainly raw, but the cooked we eat focuses around higher protein, high mineral food... More by accident than necessity! The "healthier" cooked vegan foods tend in that direction as far as we're concerned. As far as numbers go, our family protein intake isn't high, but it appears sufficient and not far off standard recommendations. A healthy 95th percentile baby for both height and weight and head since birth would seem to indicate all growth needs are being met!
With that in mind, I focus more on essential fatty acids, vitamin C, iron, calcium, D2/sunshine, B-complex (B12 especially), and K2 (K1 is too abundant to worry about!)...
Chia seeds, mushrooms, and parsley are my favourite things!
I think the best part of this was your reference to mama intuition. That is the guiding principle in this game called life and motherhood for me. And when I have not listened to it or ignored it or put it off, that's when things have not gone so well :) Anyway, you are so well read, Kristen, and if you're feeling healthy and strong with what you're doing, just keep on with that and forget the numbers.
ReplyDeleteI know for me, there is NO way I get 75-90g's a day and I am nursing a 3 yr old. I wish all my raw balls I make were loaded with protein, I'd be set, but they have raw nuts, so there ya go.
Seriously though, I do the Sun Warrior Brown Rice protein in small amts, but like you, I prefer to get it from whole foods.
Do you like the Hemp protein? I know Gena just did a post on it. I have heard so many people complain of it tasting "dirty" and too earthy and there is a popular brand of "powerbar" that's hemp based and I dont enjoy it at all. So wondering if the hemp you use is an acquired taste or if you enjoyed it right off the bat?
Happy Day, friend :)
xoxo
Thanks for chiming in GlutenFreeVegan! :)
ReplyDeleteHi Averie,
For me it's not a taste issue, since hemp is pretty mild. However, there is a texture element... it's grainy. So, blended in water isn't fun, but blending in a shake with bananas is great if you ask me.
I don`t think it is good if you have to rely on `protein powder`to make sure you get enough protein. To me that means that the raw diet is lacking. I defiantly believe we need good protein all the time but especially when pregnant and nursing. I just think the raw diet in incomplete. I really loved the book Real Food for Mother and Baby by Nina Planck http://realbabyfood.info/
ReplyDeleteHi Brenna Kater,
ReplyDeleteWould you believe that my husband and I prefer the Sun Warrior protein in water by itself?
Hi Brianne,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your input. I'd have to disagree with you on a couple things though. I'm not a fan of that book - I have read it. I like that she bases a lot on whole foods, but doesn't she also say that coffee and wine are ok during pregnancy (I seem to remember something to that effect... is that right)? Anyway, my real "beef" with her is her dependancy on animal products. There have been vegan women for a while now giving birth to healthy vegan babies.
Regarding raw.. it's wonderful to see that there are quite a few women that seem to be doing that in a healthy way, too, and probably without using protein powders (from what I know about them). They might not subscribe to a higher protein theory.
I'm honestly not sure what the answer is, but my heart tells me that a raw vegan diet would be fine, especially since I've seen it happen. I expect those moms to be really diligent in their diets and balancing everything well. Heck, there are many days during this pregnancy that I am all Raw and everything seems to be going swimmingly with me. It's possible that for some, it could be more of a challenge to be all raw with pregnancy if the mom is trying to attain higher grams of protein, but like I said, there are some who don't have that goal. And, if they do want more protein, they can still get it with Raw (protein shakes or not), it would probably mean eating more. I personally don't see anything wrong with protein shakes, I just don't like to rely on them, yet I do appreciate having them "in my backyard" for the days I want it.
Then, there is the whole discussion of whether higher protein is needed when it's Raw protein, if this is better assimilated (as believed). If that is indeed the case, then this is all a moot point(?), because it's easy to get what would amount to that level of protein with Raw food, sans protein powder. It's an interesting topic, for sure.
Thanks again for your comment.
Hemp seeds and hemp protein powder. wowie! I usually do one or the other. I don't know much about pregnancy and protein but I do know that my naturopath loves knowing I take hemp protein powder. Green smoothies are the best.
ReplyDeleteWell I don't have much experience yet with kids on a raw vegan diet so...I'll just get to what I really wanted to ask you. How do you store your nuts and seeds? Especially the hemp and chia seeds, are they fine in a glass jar in my pantry or do they have to be frozen?
ReplyDeleteJust a quick thought on that, Kristen. Human milk is only 3-6% protein, yet the babies grow the most and fastest during their infancy months, which means that they get enough protein. That leads me to believe that that's all we would need... expecting mothers might need a little bit more but I don't think that it's much more.
ReplyDeleteI keep them in the freezer. Hemp is more important for this, not necessary, but helps prolong shelf life... or at least the refrigerator.
ReplyDeleteYum... I'm not pregnant nor planning to be, but that shake sounds fantastic! :)
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed a daily smoothie with hemp protein powder and sometimes spirulina. I also didn't shy away from hemp seeds. I'm not really sure how much protein I got per day but definitely followed that intuition or what seemed natural each day. My big thing was getting enough iron!!! Now my little YS2 is a spirulina boy - he loves the stuff!!!
ReplyDeleteDefinitely trust the Mama intuition! This is your time to get to know it and begin to trust it intimately. For me, as you know, kicking up my protein count (80-100 grams/day religiously) not only was the ONLY cure for morning sickness that worked for me, but it also kept the notorious wacky pregnancy hormones at bay. In my raw pregnancy research, I found that a lot of raw mommies who didn't take protein into account suffered from the hormonal highs and lows in ways that I only felt on days when my count was low. (We spent one day at my sister's ASU grad and I just couldn't get the food I needed--poor planning on my part!--and by 7 that night I was in a mess of tears. I won't even tell you the story of waking my husband up because I wanted to physically punch Pottery Barn's CEO...lol!)
ReplyDeleteThe one high point for me as a former 100% rawer was that meat-eating actually made the protein watching harder. I found that all vegan (with the exception of eggs) not only tasted better but made it easier to get to the 80-100g range. While I felt guilty for not being 100% raw as before, eating that way DURING PREGNANCY sure made me feel great. I can honestly say that I enjoyed every bit of my pregnancy (which I don't think is reserved for high-protein eaters, btw! I am just saying. :) I also enjoy a relatively high protein count while breastfeeding.
I really hope someone will do the science needed to help us better understand raw protein, amino acids as relating to protein, etc. Such an interesting topic!!
Hi Stephanie,
ReplyDeleteThanks for writing about your experience. I remember briefly chatting with you about this via email during my all-day-morning-sickness. I tried upping the protein at that time and it didn't help for me, but I love that it's an option out there to help some women.
I think what is boils down to for me, is that I'm not looking at some extra protein to solve anything in particular since I'm not having any discomfort in the pregnancy. However, my intuition, for my body, says that on some days I want to increase the amount. I don't feel compelled to do it daily, but there are some days that I do feel drawn to it.
Thanks again for chiming in. :)
Cheers XOXO,
Kristen
I was thinking about the statement that 5% of mother's milk is protein. Is that 5% of the total calories? Because if it is, and we eat 2,000 calories a day, 5% of 2000 is 100. 100 g of protein is quite a bit, I wonder what the 5% really represents? If babies grow so fast that they need that much, and we could halve our protein intake, it's still 50 g.
ReplyDeleteJoanna - it is 5% of calories, but 1 gram of protein is not 1 calorie. 1 gram of protein is 4 calories. So it is 100 CALORIES of protein, which equals 25 GRAMS of protein.
ReplyDeleteThe past couple of days I haven't paid much attention to my protein... no protein powder shakes, lots of fresh food, had a vegan burrito in there. So, today, I'll probably up the grams a bit. I kind of take it a week at a time and just chill about it. :)
ReplyDeleteBesides... my baby has been kicking for the first time these past two days. Baby feels strong. ;)
Can you taste the hemp powder? I have never had any hemp products, but like the idea of getting more protein. Does it have nutty taste?
ReplyDeleteThanks...
Hi AMJ,
ReplyDeleteSome people say it has a light nutty flavor, but it doesn't really have a taste to me. Instead, it has a texture. Kind of like sand. Gritty. In plain water, it's not that fun. BUT, in a smoothie with a creamy banana to carry it, it's awesome!
Cheers,
Kristen
I love the stickers on your computer!!! SO cool!
ReplyDeleteI was wondering where you get your spirulina tablets, wheat grass tablets, and chlorella tablets?? Thanks!
ReplyDeleteSpirulina and chlorella I usually buy from some local health food stores. (Whole Foods has them as well). The wheat grass tablets I order from Amazon.com. I get the giant jar of Pine's (1400 tablets) and it lasts a long time. :)
ReplyDelete