I recently started experimenting with a raw diet and am loving it, I got a share in a farmers co op and am feeling healthier than ever after only a few weeks and am quickly cutting back on my diet soda addiction which I have had since a child. My only real problem is that I allready feel like I have protien diffeciencies and am probally anemic I just cant be bothered to be tested. When I was vegetarian I tried to eat as many beans and whatnot as possible but w/o that in my diet I dont know how I am going to find that source because I am allergic to nuts and have been since I can remember. People allways ask if I am allergic to all nuts and I know I have had reactions to peanuts, pine nuts, walnuts and almonds so yeah. Not only am I worried about getting defeciencies since nuts seem to be such a staple for the raw foodist but in the cookbooks I have been using in preperation for raw food alot of the recipies call for nuts which is disheartening, Is there any seed I could use instead? Their are alot of recipies I wish I could make but simply removing the nut component would make the dish seriously lacking I think. I would love any suggestions and helpful tips for this new lifestyle!

Sesame seeds, sunflower seeds and hemp seeds are all great foods which I eat daily.

You could probably replace nuts with sunflower seeds in some recipes, you will just have to experiment.

Rob

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Rob Hull - Funky Raw
My blog: [www.rawrob.com]

Also, you can soak, sprout and then grind up lentils. I sometimes combine them with flax seeds to make a sort of burger with them. I use poultry seasoning, parsley, onions and celery and celtic salt to season them and then dehydrate them.

If you find that you can tolerate sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds, those combined with hemp seeds should pretty much open back up the world of recipes for you. Good luck with that! Let us know how it goes.

Life Is Good!

alive!

Being sensitive to a variety of nuts I would not eat many nuts while transitioning to a raw diet. I think you should also do some reading on protein... you will learn very quickly that protein is not something that does or does not make you sick or healthy by itself. You will also find that an adequate source of proteins are in every raw food and when you eat a variety of raw vegan foods you get more th an enough protein, all without consumption of nuts. Nuts should not be a overwhemling percentage of diet and can be gradually worked back in when your allergies become more stable. Food allergies are not always lifetime, although sometimes they are genetic. Nuts are one of the complex foods that are quicker to become allergenic to people.

The simplest way to put it is: if you had to crack every single shell of every nut you wanted to eat (raw mind you), how many would you be eating every day?

Whenever I've gotten that protein craving I've found that dark green leafy things make it disappear - green leafies, seaweeds, algae, spirulina.

I'm wondering now if maybe that protein craving is in reality a craving for minerals?

A video I saw recently listed the amount of protein in various veggies. Many (especially green leafies) have more protein than beef. Spinach was one of the highest listed.

thanks Alive!!

sunshine79, I think you're right, protein cravings could be mostly mineral cravings.