i keep hearing people say that grains, cheese, and nuts are not good. i like to eat them everyday. is that ok? i do notice i get more of an energy boost from fruit, but i feel less full and for less time with fruit than these other things. my idea is that you can eat anything and be healthy if is raw. i like to make rye bread and eat it with cheese and almond or cashew butter.

What does the rest of your diet look like andrew? I ask because these foods are problematic for people who have been eating raw for a long time. However, a person coming from the standard western diet may not notice any ill effects from eating these foods you mentioned.

However, should you choose to eliminate one or more of these foods from your diet for a while (say a month), you might notice that we you try these foods again, that you can feel how they affect your body. But if you are eating them everyday, you'll not be able to feel this.

As transitional foods, these foods are fine. Here are some problems though with these foods:

Grains - acifiying to the body. Hard to digest raw. Contain opioids
Cheese - lots of fat and salt. Dairy creates mucus
Nuts - typically 70% fat. Hard to digest for people who have been raw for some time.

i didnt know grains contain opiods. myabe thats why i cant stop eating them! but i am very skinny, 140lb, 5'11, so i m not woried about fat. i hear that goat cheese doesnt create mucus, is that better to eat? i also have really low blood pressure so im not worried about eating salt either. i know grains are acidifing, so i figured if i keep drinking my lemonade it will be ok. but i will try and not eat these things for awhile. i will tell you when i will start and how its going later. thank you.

No grains or cheese??? what will you do with yourself???? haha...I say stick with your grains and cheese and stop drinking all that coffee.

andrew milk of any animal origin is not good no matter how you slice it or dice it .. its not meant for human consumption and it certainly isnt vegan hehe ... i transitioned from cowmilk to goatmilk to soymilk to ricemilk to nutmilks/seedmilks overtime and overtime you will possibly try nut milks and nut cheeses and find something along those lines to replace the dairy in your diet

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist




Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/05/2007 04:40PM by Jgunn.

I'm also new and have been noticing that I sometimes get the same effect from raw nuts that I do when I eat a lot of processed food. I'm not 100% raw yet, but have been testing out raw recipes and days of only green smoothies. I agree with Bryan that when you go days of not eating all the grains, cheeses etc and you reintroduce it you do feel the difference.

What does your lemonade have in it? If it is full of sugar or high fructose corn syrup - that is one food to consider eliminating.

Out of all the cheeses, I hear raw goat cheese is the best - or, er, least worst for you. I used to eat it, but I feel so much better now that I finally eliminated dairy altogether. It might be a good transition food for you though.

I think it's cool that you make your own rye bread. Out of all the breads, I hear the sourdough and sprouted breads are the least worst for you. The fermentation or sprouting neutralizes the phytic acid and enzyme inhibitors. See some of the articles on www.westanoprice.org. Maybe those types of breads would be good while you are adding more raw foods to your diet.

Are you eating raw or roasted almond and cashew butter. Are they free of additives like sugar? Raw almond butter might also be a good transitional food for you.

Follow your own path. Listen to your body's signals and your instincts. Concentrate more on what you add to your diet, instead of what you take away.

Just my 2 cents.

is quinoa concidered a grain. is it harmful at all.

quinoa is a grain..I think some people will get technical and call it a seed, but really it acts like a grain.

its definitely one of the better, heartier, non-gluten choices. pretty excellent in my transition.

ALL cooked matter will be harmful to some degree, its all about making the right choices for YOU...and many times - in transition - picking the lesser of evils.

as long as it allows for current and consistent healthier eating path...without backsliding due to feelings of deprivation. I would say it is GOOD to eat, but not better then any fresh fruits, veggies. or fresh nuts/seeds in their raw state used sparingly. A good transitional eating plan regulates any dense cooked grains or starches (or meats or whatever) to the end of the day..as eating raw food (mainly fruits) on top of digesting dense matter..can actually create MORE illness.

as for the original post...I can't disagree more that health can come from eating any foods in any combinations raw. Health is about leaving out the cause of disease (which CAN even be caused by some raw foods in access, or in poor combinations/fermentation)..and focusing energy on clearing out internal deposits. Many foods might make someone feel great, by suppressing this entire process..or by adding more excitotoxins to the mix.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/06/2007 12:06AM by anaken.

thanks for the reply Anaken.We are in transition,going on our fifth month.Funny you mention deprivation.Our typical day goes like this. morning fruit or juice or smoothie.Lunch is dry fruit,nuts,smoothie, or salad. Dinner salad by it self or,white basmati rice lightly steamed veggies 5 min or quinoa and ls veggies.
We do fine during the day but at night the q and veggies hit the spot.We also have baked potatoes and sqaush occasionally.
I know I got off the topic a bit But I mention the latter because you had mentioned the food combining.I believe we do ok with the food combining although I am not sure we alway's wait a long enough period before changing food groups,as we have read conflicting opinions on this subject. Any suggestions would be welcome. Peace

well, firstly..i have a typo..it should say excess not access. don't access excess!

I don't get the deprevation thing..as you didn't expand...do you FEEL deprived?

I dunno...there are things I could say, but it seems like a pretty good plan overall indeed.

things to try - stretch:


keeping nuts and fatty foods towards the end of the day (unless it just like a handful or whatever) and alternating days with the cooked starches.

if you get hungry throughout the day, eat more fruits before your lunch salad (shouldn't have any conflicts or wait times after a fruit or juice breakfast)

the main thing you want to avoid is mixing fruits with starches or protein, which basically means, once you've had some cooked stuff that day or any dense matter (nuts), keep it to the cooked starches/grains or raw greens and veggies. you don't want fruits to hang around in your stomach...they arn't designed for that.

all the other wait time kinda stuff...is relatively minor..just feel it out over time.

the deprived comment . I do feel hungry alot. When we have the quinoa and steamed veggies, it relieves that feeling.

. ha!, just think how laughable that would be to a SWdieter, those seem like the most healthy options to me...probably better then hitting up the dense raw fats IMO

. you could try slowly adding more fresh fruits (prior to lunch and/or dinner salads). This should throw in some more calories..or whatever. So one night could be a meal of fruits + salad..another something light..like melon or a vegetable juice before a salad + quinoa/steamed veggies..and then another night would be maybe oranges then salad + avocado or nuts/seeds

Yes, logan, stick with your quinoa and steamed veggies at night for now. Those are pretty healthy compared to what most people eat. Just incorporate more raw foods and wait until you are ready to make any changes. Sounds like you are kind of eating the Hallelujah Diet, which is definitely not bad.

the lemonade, is just lemons and raw honey. i have just quit drinking coffee which has given me a headache. i have been eating less grains and more fruit, like six kiwis for breakfast, or five bananas. also i have just developed a sinus infection with the thick yellow mucus and pain and pressure in my face. should i take the antibiotic, or just let it go and interpret it as a detox, and the infection as just toxins coming out?

Wow, sounds like a pretty healthy lemonade. You are definitely improving your diet, sounds great! I bet it is detox. That is awesome that you are detoxing so quickly.

I don't know whether you should take an antibiotic or not. Sometimes Kwai garlic (2 tablets 3 times a day) would work for me to clear up a sinus infection, but I don't know if it works for everyone. If you do take an antibiotic, consider taking a probiotic also at a different time of day.

I hope you will keep posting and let us follow your journey. Maybe you can start a thread in the Raw Diary forum.

karennd Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> If you do take an antibiotic, consider
> taking a probiotic also at a different time of
> day.
>
>

Agreed.

A few years ago a couple of Duke University researchers conclusively showed how allergies & asthma can be linked to antibiotic use - they showed how a disturbance in the intestinal flora (which antibiotics directly cause), if given the right circumstances, can produce a sensitivity to inhaled particles.

They used mice - healthy mice, no allergies - gave them antibiotics, exposed them to inhaled particles afterwards, and voila, suddenly the mice had allergies to whatever particle (pollen, etc.) they had been exposed to.

They recommended eating especially healthy while taking antibiotics, and taking probiotics.

They also showed how a spike in antibiotic use in Western countries correlated directly with a spike in asthma & allergies in that country. When the Berlin Wall came down, for instance - East Germany, a previously low-allergy & asthma country suddenly became a high-allergy & asthma country (matching the rates of West Germany).



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/09/2007 04:28AM by sunshine79.