hi i just started 100% raw, and ive been on and off for about 3 months, im trying so hard to stop going off track but i gotta try harder, so neways i find that i have MAJOR cravings for red onion, i could eat half an onion a day! and cravings for garlic, i eat about 4-5 cloves a day!! i assume thats alot but maybe not.. does neone kno if this means nething? like do cravings for garlic mean i hav cancer [maybe not that extreme lol] and my body is trying 2 heal itself?? also ive found that i am extremely attracted 2 blue foods, any kind of blue food, like that could be all i eat all day, blue berries and blu corn,, its weird ok so waitin 4 feedbax

Fuzzysox,

I dont know about the onion and garlic but George Carlin says there is no blue food. I'm here to help, ha.

Kit

cravings can be caused by detoxification. people might say these are not the most optimal foods, but I think they are perfectly fine (and may be a benefit) in a transitional diet. I don't know what blue corn is unless you mean chips, which I think are probably one of the healthier cooked vegan foods (other then the fairly med-high fat fromt the oils) you can even get them without salt. if you mean that david wolfe purple corn stuff, thats just bogus - put something in a bag as a 10$ antioxidant - type thing. although I do remeber blending some with garlic and olives and it did indeed tasted good.

haha ya i mean the blu corn chips, theyre addictive

one thing to try is treating them like a meal at the end of the day after a big salad. eating them during the day in the conventional snacking way will totaly f- you up if you are doing raw, especially fruits. also they are totaly dehydrating as is, so look into getting them without salt. drink lots of water before this meal and not until far after.

btw I meant packaged stuff, clearly rice or millet would be better, but I know for me they didn't work like crunchy things.

i'm addicted to garlic and onion also. apparently they are high on ORAC table. they might be a stomach irritant, but they are also nutritious.

interesting, hey kit who is george carlin? and how do u explain blu berries? hehe

hi anaken, i really want 2 eat the dang chips but i dont, i luv brown rice 2, but i dont eat that either bc i just go waay overboard, but im just talkin blu or purple colors im really attracted 2 them like purple cauliflower, purple onion, blu berries, ascai blah blah, anaken y do u think that raw purple corn is a scam, its gotta b better than cooked purple corn, plus if u hav sum weirdo crave for it its probably better if u get it in its raw state, u kno, but watever,,btw did u choose yor name bc of starwars?

ello rosemary, i like the name :] yah i kno that they are sortof high orac, i mean there r deffinately higher orac foods, but they dont seem 2 bother me, like onions make most ppl cry but it does nothing 2 me at all, and i can just eat tons of it and its not really spicy, pretty much the same w/ garlic,,,i think im so attracted 2 it bc my body is trying 2 heal sumthin, and these things hav some sort of compound in them that adress the problem, im just trying 2 figure out wat problem that might be, besides the obvious ones like acne, but ya, just wonderin

Hey fuzzy fox,

OMG. I feel ya. I eat about 3-5 garlics a day. And the more garlic the better. But Im controlling it. and need to have an 1/4 or 1/2 onion almoost everyday. I sometimes cant wait to go home and eat, due to the fact I work in an office environment and am afraid I will reik of onions or garlic. I ve always loved them, but now that i am trying to raw, its tripled. Its crazy..and I dont know why. I try to eat my onions with avocado, I read that they complement one another. I even got addicted to this olive oil from whole foods that has herbs and garlic in it. It's awesome!!!!!!!!!!! And the red onins are my favorite. If someone else can answer this that would be great, PLEEEASE!!!!!!!!

Im obsessing over cravings lately, too. I wonder how much of these things are genetic, though.

I am part Filipino and garlic is in EVERY filipino dish, in dips, everything. I have always, always eatern BULBS of it per week since birth. My job as a kid was to pound many heads w/ a mortar and pestle and pack it into jars. I love everything about it...we also soaked it with dried chilis and vinegar and kept it in bottles as a dipping condiment.

I crave it even now, though my tastebuds cannot handle as many as they used to since going raw.

My partner, on the other hand, is mostly Scandinavian stock and he can go without garlic. He never craves this.

I wonder if there is a basis (genetic) for these cravings?

hey miaculpa,ahahahahah!! wow i thought i was alone on this,, hmm well i am mostly german so maybe it does hav 2 do with genetics, bc my best friend is fillipino, go fillipinos haha:p and she loves garlic 2, well prolly not as much as me, but she does lov it, but i dont think its just genetics im gunna do sum searching and find an answer 2 this

benetgirl i sound exactly like u lol! wat a thing 2 crave garlic and onions lmao, ill brb im gunna figure out myself wat the heck this means

oh fuzzy socks I know MANY GERMANS (esp German/Polish/white russian stock) who eat as much garlic as filipinos. Kielbasa, that famous sausage, is dripping w.garlic.

I have always been a mad gourmand, love to study the peasant cuisines of Europe. One would be surprised at the pockets of different types of food within a small area. One area might be heavy on garlic consumption and go an hour away and they just like onions...does that mean our bodies NEED these things or are we like the Native Americans and our bodies are MORE ADDICTED than other's to these things?

good question!! looking....

Hey,

Wow. maybe it is... cause I was born in SLovakia, I am also part hungarian and german...Oh and getb this, in my country we have varieties of garlic soup... and on my hungarian side they use lots of onion to cook... but this is crazy... Og god.. i am def having a salad today w an onion. sorry not be disgusting, but hopefully i wont burp after the salad. last week i chilled at my dads house for easter, ate onion and garlic. The next day after showering he said i still smelled like it. supposedly it was coming out of my pores. But his senses are much higher than anyone elses....

ok just go here 4 the onion info

[www.whfoods.com]

i kno that i like purple garlic and purple onion, not really white, but if i hav 2 ill take white garlic, i kno the more color the higher the orac, theres prolly somother coumpund in there that the purpleness gives but icouldnt find nething on it,, i do kno both contain natural sulfur which is verry healing so, thats prolly the main thing, do neof u guys hav stuff like acne?

ahahaaa! it helps with homonal issues, i got that problem,, just look at all the things it help with and see if u hav ne of these probs:

Garlic (Allium sativum), also know as the stinking rose, when consumed regularly has amazing health benefits.Garlic will help you improve cardiovascular health, prevent cancer, counter infections including anthrax, and find a safe source of phytoestrogens (great for menopausal women).

Garlic is a great friend to old hearts. Several cloves a day of fresh, raw garlic can lower blood pressure, reduce phospholipids and cholesterol, strengthen heart action, increase immune response, reduce platelet clumping and clotting (thus reducing strokes), and stabelize blood sugar levels.Garlic and its smelly relatives (onions, chives, and leeks) are hormone-rich plants that most women crave. Garlic is an excellent source of phytoestrogens; these hormone-like substances not only reduce cancer incidence, they help ease the menopausal passage.


To add further to garlic’s acclaimed benefits, history records that during the 17th century, when England was caught up in the Great Plague, many people who used garlic were the only ones who could minister to plague victims without contracting the disease themselves. Coming a little closer to modern times, it is said Russia once relied so heavily on the use of garlic for its soldiers that garlic became known as Russian penicillin. (kool)


Health Benefits of Raw Garlic
Chinese people have known of the health benefits of raw garlic for thousands of years. In China, apart from being used to flavor food, garlic is also traditionally used in teas and folk remedies. Why? Garlic is one of nature's strongest immune system boosters, and a powerful antibiotic, digestive aid and libido enhancer. As you'll see below, these are just some of the health benefits of raw garlic.

However, while the health and medicinal benefits of garlic are numerous, it can also overheat your system if you eat too much. According to Tradititional Chinese Dietary Therapy, garlic is warm in nature and a strong stimulant. Therefore, people who have excess heat in their body should first balance their system. Excessive internal heat comes from eating too many heating foods and drinks, e.g. meat, fried foods, coffee and alcohol. This causes symptoms like red eyes, bad breath, constipation, yellow urine, a yellow tongue moss and acne. If you have these kinds of symptoms, eliminate or greatly reduce the above items from your diet for a few weeks before you start eating garlic regularly, or it will just make your body hotter and your symptoms worse.

Below are some main health and medicinal benefits of garlic.
Note: To get the full health benefits of raw garlic, you have to do just that - take it raw! Commercial garlic pills, tablets, oils and capsules, especially the odorless ones, are often devoid of the active enzymes that provide the benefits. Crushed, raw garlic may be mixed into virtually any meal, or put in gelatin capsules for easy swallowing, or drunk as a tea by simply crushing 1 or 2 cloves and adding hot water. These methods may not be very appealing, but do you want the benefits or not?

Health & Medicinal Benefits of Garlic:
-Powerful immune system enhancer
-Antibacterial, antiviral
-Antifungal - effective remedy for yeast infections & candida
-Clears boils & infected sores
-Improves appetite
-Digestive aid - especially good if eaten with meat
-Increases libido - take several raw cloves a day
-Expells intestinal parasites & worms
-Reduces high cholesterol

Health Remedies Using Garlic Cloves:
Below are some Chinese health remedies using garlic cloves as the main ingredient. These are common, traditional ways that Chinese people make use of the health benefits of raw garlic.

Garlic Tea:
Put 1 or 2 cloves of crushed garlic and 1 or 2 grams of loose-leaf green tea in a teapot. Add a teaspoon or two of unrefined brown sugar if you wish. Pour in boiling water that has been left to cool slightly. Stir the mixture and let it steep for several minutes before drinking. Afterwards, leave the ingredients in the pot, as you can top it up with more water once or twice throughout the day. This is a common folk remedy for killing germs and resolving toxins in the body.

Garlic Nose Drops:
This is a preventative for the common cold and sinus problems. Crush several cloves of garlic to obtain the juice. Mix with warm water at a ratio of two parts water to one part garlic juice. Lie down and use an eye-dropper to place a couple of drops into each nostril as soon as you feel any symptoms coming on. Continue for as long as necessary. If the drops overly irritate your nostrils, stop, or reduce the number of drops.

Garlic Paste:
Crush 2 garlic cloves and mix with several drops of pure sesame oil to make a paste for external application to boils,carbuncles and infected sores. Cover then reapply when the paste becomes dry and falls off. If the skin becomes overly irritated discontinue use or wait for a day or two and try again.

Maximizing the Health Benefits of Raw Garlic:
To get the full health benefits of raw garlic, whether in salads, as tea, or in capsules, it's important you eat less refined, processed and canned foods, and more foods in as close to their natural state as possible. Afterall, what's the point in taking fresh, raw garlic to improve your health while, for instance, continuing to eat nutritionally-dead, toxin-producing junk foods?

References:
Matthew Scott is a professionally trained Chinese medicine practitioner from Australia, living in China since 2000. His website [chinese-holistic-health-exercises.com] offers classic, time-tested exercises & techniques for stretching, strengthening, toning, energy, relaxation, pain & more.

yeah i have acne, but its not like the ones in high schooo. its more deeper. and somehow they onle appear on the side of my cheeks, sort of heading towards the neck. and this is just recent about less than a year... so weird, i went to the dermatologist and she couldnt figure it out. she gave me medicine, but i was like hell no!!!!

benetgirl

I wonder about all the great properties garlic gives. It has sooo many healing uses. Of course, so does digitalis and too much of that can kill. I love garlic and used to love garlic soups.

hahahaha me 2 i hav horrible acne, cystic, around that area and just on the sides of my face? wtfro does that mean? lol i went 2 the dermatologist back wen i was being stupid, took antibiotics, and im pretty sure it made it worse! i pretty much knew it wuld b4 i started them,, smart move no taking that prescription,, doctors these days just annoy me, its just like cant they expand theyre mind a little gez lol,we should just listen 2 our body, its fun being curious tho :p

Well i do know that the oldest living people on earth are in Serbia and supposedly in Italy, I forgot the island. they say its due to garlic, olive oil and wine. and one time i read that there was a 168 year old russian. wow...

kool i read the oldest living person in sortof mdern times was the goji guy i forget his name

hey fuzzy,

how long have u had them??? i always had acne, not that bad, but sometimes it got bad. i do have a sensitive skin/face. i very easily get red... ive always been a vegetarian, but last year I decided to juice fast for ten days. awesome. my face really cleared up, lost weight...then i wanted to go raw, but kept yo-yoing. and then 4 months later i started noticing that my skin on the bottom of my cheeks was getin bad... then the worst happened. 2 months later my felt this pimple coming on the side of cheek. it hurt really bad. but no pimple in sight. but from my ear down to underneath my jaw i started swelling up. so basically my left side was swollen. and then a month later again. the last one wasreally bad...really bad!!!! i couldnt work for 3 days. so swollen, and the pus was coming out every hour, and then blood.. for 3 days.. i still have a scar from it. went to the dermatolgist, she injected 8 shots in my face and was speechless. if she didnt know what was wrong w me, how the hell can she prescribe something for me. Sorry this is so graphic. but that hasnt happened agai. thank god. but supposedly having acne on the lower cheeks has somethig to do w the liver or stomach...i wonder if thats another reason i need Garlic and onions... BUT IVE NEVER HAD THIS PROBLEM EVER...

Garlic isn't that great for people, I don't think. But hey if its raw it can do no harm right? Feed it to your dogs so they have no fleas. I heard that but not sure if it is true. I read online, If women have infections , down there, they should stick an
unpeeled clove of garlic up there. lol. !!!

lmao coconut cream ahahaa!!

hey bennetgirl, maan im sorry that sounds really painful, it actually sounds exactly wat is going on 2 me right now, except its all over the sides of my face, and its so red it looks like i got burnt, i hate it, theres scars all over and its making me depressed,, but i think its detoxx so it might come back again 4 u but hopefully not!!! acne is soo depressing literally

yayks... ouch.... LOL as well.... actually hopefully no males will read this, i dont have any infections..but maybe someone can answer this. Ive recently noticed that when i make my green juice strong, like extra watercress, radishes, and very little apple and drink it first thing in the mornig, and it has only happened 3-4 times, i feel pain in my uterus until i pee. is that weird??? its as if its clean me out. is that possible???

coconutcream ive heard that before lol .. a freind of mine who is a bit of an old hippy from san fran said she used to do that and swears by it lol .. then again she says SITTING in buckets of plain yogurt helps her yeast infections.

i dont doubt things help her...

theyre just not things id do myself lol

Yeah, yogurt would do the trick for yeast infections because of the probiotics. Wonder if it would work for acne?


Anyway, I was just wondering how anyone eats raw garlic? I love garlic and was actually going to start making Lebanese Garlic Sauce to dip veggies in, because I love it from the local mid-eastern restaurant. However, it just seems that garlic is so strong that raw would make it even worse, and unbearable. I guess I shouldn't knock it until I try it.

Onions too. Some onions aren't bad, but some are so strong that just a small amount getting into my stomach will burn me something fierce (I love saying that). Follow up with something else and I'm fine though.

OH gosh, raw garlic, smashed up in bits in recipes is DIVINE.

little goes a long way if you are not an experienced user...kinda like wasabe and hot sauce.

I used to love to eat green onions straight from garden as a kid, as well as wild garlic in the forest edges...mmmm

ahahahaha me 2! go us! lol,
yah were freaks :p

last night i sat on my lawn eating dandylion leaves wrapped in wool blanket under the stars

'twas heavenly

maybe i was a rabbit in a past life

hehehe iv sleeped on my trampoline under the stars b4, i luvethed it never with dandelion leaves tho :]
haha jgunn the bunny :plol