Hello all.


I have been eavesdropping all week on your discussions. I decided to drastically change my eating habits this past Tuesday as a last ditch effort to control the debilitating symptoms of Meniere's Disease of which I was diagnosed several years ago. So far, I have not had one "attack" since I started...I usually have 2 to 3 a week. I am very hopeful to say the least.

Here are my questions:

1. I go back to work Monday after being off for 6 weeks. My job is very high stress and fast paced. If I make a juice or green drink the night before, how long will it keep?

2. Since there are no preservatives (and I cannot have any salt) in any of the recipes, how long will the prepared food items last?

3. I know fresh is always best, but what about frozen?

4. Does anyone have snappy comebacks for people who make negative comments about your decision to eat raw? (I've already had to deal with this.)

5. I find it difficult (and very expensive) to get organic foods...so I'm at about half organic and half conventional. Is this going to impede my abilty to gain the health benefits?

6. I was taught in my college nutrition class that vegans must practice food combining to get adequate amounts of essential protien. Now I am being told different. What is the current understanding on this?

I look forward to each response and the opportunity to make new friends.

Julie

I don't know about how long green juices will last, as I don't use them. However, if you store them vacuum-packed, say like in a mason jar that has been vacuum sealed with a pump-n-seal, it ought to last longer.

Prepared foods get oxidized and lose nutrients. How long they last sort of depends on how good they taste to you. When the flavor goes flat, the nutrients are probably gone. Fresh fruit is the best food to bring to work, as it doesn't go bad and is still living when you eat it.

Frozen foods are suboptimal, but they are not as bad as cooked. They will have sustained some cellular damage from the freezing, and perhaps lost some water, but they don't have the toxins that cooking creates.

If what people say to you doesn't feel good, just tell them that what they are saying doesn't feel good to you. You don't have to defend your decision nor say things that will make them feel attacked (like cooking ruins the nutrients in food). Or you can just say that you are trying something different to see if it will make a difference in your health. If you are criticized, you can ask if their criticism is coming from their personal experience, or it is just their opinion or something they read about.

As for organics, do the best you can. Organics taste better to me, but I will eat conventional when there are no other options. There may be a slight impedement, but nothing compared to eating cooked foods.

Raw foodists don't need to worry about protein. Even if you just eat only fresh fruit, there is enough protein in fruit alone. If you are worried, just eat more greens.

Julie, I just want to say how inspiring it is to read about your exploration. I have a relative who has Meniere's Disease and have seen how much he suffers, and I think it is so awesome that you are taking your health into your own hands!!

About negative comments towards your being raw: it seems to me that if it is helping you with your condition, and you share that with someone, what the $%&* can they say about it?

Love,
Uma

Hiu Julie,

I took a shot at answering some of questions:

> 3. I know fresh is always best, but what about
> frozen?

Commerical frozen foods will have been blanched before freezing and packaging and won't be raw.

> 4. Does anyone have snappy comebacks for people
> who make negative comments about your decision to
> eat raw? (I've already had to deal with this.)

If I'm getting @#$%& for my life style chioces, I just say "I'm only doing this to piss you off." Or "I'm only doing this to be anti-social."

Cheers,
Ian.

Thanks you all.

Hi Julie,

Green for Life author Victoria Boutenko says green smoothies will last up to 3 days. I keep mine for no more than 36 hours. Not sure about juices, but probably the same.

Some foods last longer than others. Lemon juice is a preservative and when you see, for example, nut pates with lemon juice in them, they will last a few days usually. Also, sunflower seeds keep longer than the nuts (walnuts, almonds, etc.). There is one pate recipe floating around made with sunnies and 1/2 c. lemon juice. It will keep for 10 days. I don't like it, however, because it's too lemony.

I do frozen sometimes for fruit that is not in season. Best to eat fresh, as others have pointed out. Vegetables are blanched before they are frozen so they aren't raw. If I'm going to eat frozen, I'd rather freeze it myself because then at least I know how it was treated.

When I encounter people who are negative about the diet (and not simply curious), I just laugh and say the hardest thing about the diet is defending it when I'd rather be eating. "Can't we just talk about something safe like religion or politics?"

There is very little research on organic. But what I've seen suggests that organic is much richer nutritionally. However, most of us are challenged to eat even 50% organic. It's just not available or it's too cost prohibitive. You can research the Internet to see what is most contaminated. Also some things, like apples, carrots and bananas, are cheap and readily available. Or... just do what you can.

You need so little protein, as Bryan says, that you would need to be literally starving to experience a protein deficiency.

Good luck!

Pam