Raw Food and Pharmaceuticals
Time for a little TMI
I don’t think I have any male readers (besides Mallard).
But if you are a guy and you don’t want to know anymore than you already know about female hormones… you may want to steer clear 
Here we go:
I have had less than 5 periods since I gave birth to Snuffy 2 1/2 years ago. I wasn’t concerned for the first 7 months because I was breast-feeding. The only periods I did have were very short and extremely light. By the time I had finished breast-feeding Snuffy, I was dropping weight rapidly. I had just started school at Xavier and I was extremely stressed out. My weight sank to a dangerous level. I assumed my lack of menstruation was due to my low weight and stress level. Eventually, I re-worked my schedule and found ways to deal with my stress effectively. I began to use exercise as a stress reliever. My weight leveled out and then climb a little higher than necessary. So, I assumed that my periods would regulate. That didn’t happen. I have been at a healthy weight for almost a year now and still nothing.
I finally decided to speak with my OBGYN about the issue. First, he suggested taking out my IUD. Although my IUD was non-hormonal, my doctor still thought there was a chance that the device was the culprit. I had the IUD removed and still no period. The next step was to have some general bloodwork done to check my thyroid. That came back normal. Then there was more bloodwork to check for PCOS and irregular hormone levels.
I recieved the results of that bloodwork recently. I do not have PCOS. I do have irregular hormone levels. My estrogen levels are extremely low. So, now my hormones need to be regulated.
I’m not exactly excited to deal with monthly periods again. But, I do know that regular periods are a sign of a healthy body. There are long-term detrimental effects of amenorrhea. Most of thes effects are related to osteoporosis and bone density. Both my paternal grandmother and my maternal great-grandmother have/had osteoporosis. So, unfortunately, I need to get my hormone levels up to a regular level.
I’m aware of the need for normal hormone levels, yet taking oral hormones is not something that is easy for me to do. I don’t even take over-the-counter meds anymore! So, before embarking on a pharmaceutical rollercoaster, I took things into my own hands and began to look for information on treating my amenorrhea hollistically. I tried some widely recommended herbal remedies. They didn’t bring any change at all 
At least I tried to go the hollistic route. Now, I have to accept the fact that I will be relying on modern pharmaceuticals. I find it odd that I am eating a high-raw diet yet I’m taking prescription medication. Anyway, I now have a med routine. I have two medications to take on specific days of my non-existant cycle to move things along.
I have been on the first meds for 4 days now. I feel emotional and tired. Ugh. Self-inflicted PMS
I am contuing to eat 99% raw!
The only things I have ingested that are not raw since I last posted are:
Decaf Americano with Stevia
Annie’s Light Gingery Salad Dresssing
and
The last of my almond butter
Raw Almond Butter is not cheap. I do love Maranatha Raw AB but due to it’s price I have been mixing it with Whole Foods brand AB to save $
So, I decided to try to make my own AB. I only had about 1/3 cup of almonds.
I put them in my food processor and after a few seconds, the blade stopped spinning and that was it for the food processor
That food processor has been used less than 10 times!
I soooooo need a Vita-Mix!
Moving on…
I hauled out the old blender. The one with no handle (it broke off months ago) and no lid. It has the top but not the small lid. I have to keep my hand over the hole in the top while I blend.
I added some walnuts that I had on hand and began to blend.
I had to stop the ancient blender every 30 seconds so this took quite a while.
I was pretty proud of myself. I only got about half a jar of WAB (walnut almond butter)
I’ve been experimenting with cooking and baking for years. For some reason un-cooking makes me feel so much more accomplished lol
Unfortunately, the second time I tried this I had to alternate between my old blender and my immersion blender because both overheated. There may have been smoke… The whole thing took over 2 hours!
Mallard made me vow to buy my nut butters from now on
After the fact, I found some information regarding raw almonds in the US.
Apparently, all of the almonds that enter the US are processed which includes substancial heating
If I had a Vita-Mix I would be making all of my own nut butters and mylks.
What kind of blender or food processor do you use?
I also made some nacho cheeze kale chips
I massaged one bunch of kale with a little less than a tablespoon of EVOO
I mixed about 1/3 cup of nutritional yeast with 1/3 cup of water and poured the mixture over the kale.
I sprinkled some sea salt
Then I dehydrated at 105 degrees for 12 hours.
Yum!
I stopped by the farm down the road again.
This time I bought 4 ears of corn, a watermelon and a pint of cherry tomatoes.
I’ve now realized that almost all corn, factory or family farmed, is from GMO’s. After watching Food Inc ., I don’t know how I feel about supporting that even indirectly
The watermelon was so ripe! I haven’t eaten watermelon in years. This was just what I had hoped for crisp, sweet and juicy!
Mallard took notice of my change of diet. On Friday, I told him that since I feel so great, I plan to stay high-raw.
I told him I was going grocery shopping on Saturday. He looked at our full pantry and asked me what we were going to do with all of that food.
Mallard will most likely not be going high-raw… ever. But, a lot of the food in our pantry were things that I use in vegan baking and cooking. Those are things that Snuffy and I eat.
But, I realized that there were things that had been in the pantry for quite a while.
Things that weren’t vegan.
Things that had way more chemicals and preservatives than I want in my child’s body.
Things that I had purchased for a recipe that I had since decided I would never make.
In no time at all, I had filled a tote.
The After
Organic or Unsweetened Cereals, Foils and Wraps, Oils, Bananas, Mallard’s Roasted Almonds, Snuffy’s Yogurt Raisins
Canned Beans, Canned Fruits, Oils, Sauces
Oats, Couscous, Buckwheat, Quinoa, Teas, Mix-Ins, Flavorings, Nut Butters, container of Clif Bars, All Natural Pro-Bars, Luna Bars, Whole Wheat Mac, Rye Flat Crisps, Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Breeze
The bottom is Protein Powders , Amazing Grass, Shakers and room for my dehydrator.
Based on the after you can imagine how bad the before must have been
I’m off to devour an entire cantaloupe! Yum!
I don’t like taking unnecessary pills either, but sometimes we gotta! Since we’re both in the nursing field we know how important they are sometimes
I’m on the pill as well and it made me sick the first week or so.. but now it is amazing I tell you! I can tell you what hour I will get my period. Ha!
Unfortunately this isn’t birth control pills. It’s a hefty dose of pregesterone and then clomid.
But, predictable periods would be nice! … not that I miss them 
I am totally anti pills too… yet due to some “issues” I’m having, which I have also tried everything for… I am now on 4 different pills per day.. EEK… I told the doctor 6 months tops.
It’s so frustrating… but I’ve tried a bunch of other stuff with no help. So girl, I totally feel your pain..
I have a vitamix (totally worth the $) and a million year old food processor that still works like a charm!!
So I read this last night and was going to reply this morning. I have amenhorrea also. I had my period last month for the first time by myself in forever. I took a Provera ONCE. I just knew that wasn’t natural so I quit them. Why does that word have amen in it? Sure it’s not fun having a TOM but I don’t want a humpback either.
So you will appreciate my delight this morning when I found TOM is here!! I have started taking some supplements (natural) that may be helping. Since they are recommended by my trainer i’m not suppose to spill but if you email me I may reconsider
I am sure it’s hard to find out that you will be needing some type of “medication” after thinking you would never have to go on any. However, as you said, it’s really not something you can do anything about, so you’ll just have to pretend like it’s normal and think of it as taking something your own body produces anyway, so it’s more “natural”
I actually don’t have a period either (only the cramps, zits, and mood!) and my MD said it’s my BC I take, which I know is true. Are you on Yazz by any chance??
Good job on eating raw and doing so well with it. I would love to try it for a week or so, just to see how I do! I think it would be difficult, but also fun and a neat experience.
Need to try to make my own almond butter, I can’t get enough of it. Have you tried Barney Butter yet, its amazing!!
I was actually trying to make it as raw as possible. Barney Butter is roasted, no? I have tried it but it was so long ago I don’t remember exactly what it was about it that turned me off. I used to love Justin’s Maple AB but the sugar content was not something I wanted in my AB.
Hey Gina, nope I had not been on any BC pills for 4 years. I hated the way they made me feel. I had an IUD but there were complications so I had to get it removed.
Hey J,
Sorry to hear that you’re having trouble with your hormones, it’s hard when you go from doctor to doctor to find answers and the end result is meds ) : I hope it helps your periods come back! I struggled with chronic yeast infections for several years (since we’re talking TMI already!) and got tested for all sorts of things, and finally they’ve faded away, thanks to some homeopathic supplements and me realizing what I was feeling was “normal” at that time in my cycle. So I can kind of relate to what you’re going through. Good to hear your raw food diet is going well!
Oh homeade nut butters, they are hard to make! I’ve got a vitamix and when I tried making one before, I started smelling smoke…yikes! No more of that! Why do they make it look so easy with the churning machines at Whole Foods? I just want one of those in my house! LOL- by the way I love watermelon too!
Thanks for being open. I hope for my blog to be someplace that readers feel comfortable enough to share anything. We should def check out the nut butter churns lol. I’m sure our significant others would not find that crazy at all
So sorry about your food processor… mine half-busted last week while I was making nut butter too!! The high button still works, but the low button is broken forever lol. I knew it was bad news when it started smoking PROFUSELY and sparks started coming out.
And sadly my Vitamix isn’t perfect either…. it only works if you add a LOT of liquid, but it would never blend just pure nuts!
Which vita do you have? I thought the Super was designed to blend nuts…??
Hope the medication works for you. Maybe once you get your body going again, you can wean off a bit? Or maybe you’ll just take advantage of some of the modern medical miracles. I’m leery of drugs at times too, but I think there are times when they are absolutely appropriate and needed.
I want a Vita Mix so bad too! I have an Oster blender that leaks (the one that I stuck my fingers in) and a Magic Bullet that isn’t big enough for the huge green smoothies I like to make.
Almond butter is on my list of things to make. You can buy truly raw almonds from RAw Food World, but they are $$$.
Oh honey so sorry you are dealing with all this stuff. Hormones, cycles, pituitary, thyroid, estrogen, all those things take YEARS of doctoring and researching and hair pulling to get to the bottom of what/why/the solution. Here’s to you finding the solution..quickly. And good for you for trying holistic first but realizing that you need to move on to other avenues. Western and holistic meds both have their place; and you are wise to know when to do what
Self-inflicted PMS = ugh. So sorry.
But your kale chips look awesome!!!
And yes, it’s impossible to trying get Raw Almonds in the USA unless you personally know an almond grower in CA more than likely OR you buy them on the black market OR you buy them from Spain/valencia almonds. They are all heated/pasteurized here. You know, the FDA “protecting us” and all
Okay so I feel like a felon but I am definitly looking into this Almond Black Market. Hmmm….