Hi,
I'm into my 5th week on a 99.9 percent raw diet, and still not feeling the "glow." My complexion, hair, eyes, and energy are all at lows and my clearheadedness is not what I had hoped for.
I'm practicing food combining, eating mostly fruit in the am and juices/smoothies/salads in the afternoon and evening, with the occasional frozen fudge dessert. Not sure if I'm doing something wrong, or if I'm just being impatient.
How long till I feel the effects?

Are you sure you're 99.9%? I believe when people speak in percentages they're discussing calorie count. Frozen fudge treats I would suspect has ALOT of calories.

Some of it could be your history/health and it might take longer.

david

Thanks for your reply. The percentage is not yielded from calories.. I have stopped counting those. With the fudge I mean a 1-square-inch frozen block of almond/date/cacao, and that's like twice a week. The only non-raw stuff is herbal tea and nutritional yeast... other than that everything is raw! Do you think 3-6 months will be the turnaround time?

If you are not feeling clearheaded, my gut response is that you need to eat more calories.

When I first went 100% raw, I went for over two months without noticing much of a difference, so I went back to eating cooked foods. That was the eye opener for me. I had not noticed the changes on 100% raw, but once I started eating cooked foods again, I felt sick and tired, and it was at that time that it occurred to me that I had felt sick and tired all my life, but considered it normal. Have you noticed how you don't yawn much, if at all, anymore? Have you noticed how you get this overwhelming feeling of happiness in your stomach area about once a day? Have you noticed how you don't feel "hung over" every morning after sleeping 8 hours?

If not, you may still be too early in the transition. Depending on where you start and how "intensely" you cleanse (x% raw, 100% raw, juice fast, water fast), you WILL go through pretty much the opposite of the ultimate result for a certain length of time. This length of time can also vary by individual symptom. Acne, for example, tends to get worse at first, then better very slowly over the course of weeks and often months. It is one of the more easily observable symptoms, so I was able to experience it when other people cleansed, not just myself. Flaky skin seemed to go away after only about a week or two everywhere but my scalp, where it took about 6 months. I was much less cranky after a week, but didn't start feeling really content until a month or more into it. Heartburn, in my case, went away within days and never came back. A pain somewhere around my liver took months to disappear, but it did end up disappearing for good. All I can say is, as long as you don't get any worse, there should be no reason to worry. Some of these changes just take time.

My own experience leads me to believe that you can accelerate some of these effects by fasting for several weeks at a time, but that would also be process where you often don't start feeling better until after the fast, and during the fast itself, you can pretty much expect at least some very rough days.

My personality tends toward extremes, so that's why I am naturally drawn to long water fasts or at least going 100% raw right away. David Zane Mason usually recommends the opposite approach, namely to gradually change your diet. That way you are never too uncomfortable. From the very beginning, I have had the utmost respect for David Zane Mason's posts, and I have often found myself hoping he would answer a particular question posted by others on here. Ultimately he and I both find mostly mono meals of mostly fruit and seeds an excellent goal / long term diet (if I understand him correctly). The only thing that's really different is how we approach the transition toward that goal. Lately I have become convinced that his gradual approach is more successful in the overwhelming majority of cases, so I can only hope, as in so many cases, that he will post in this thread and inspire you and other readers to stick with it, even if you don't see overwhelming results after a given amount of time.

My own little (admittedly negative) way of putting it would be, as long as you're not getting worse, why not continue on this path and give it a few more months? Going raw is not like taking a certain medicine and getting a certain result from it. It is almost the opposite: You just take away poison and give your body a chance to transform to a more natural state. "The glow" is really just "normal," natural life in contrast with the haze most of us were brought up in.

Very interesting. That is what I noticed when I went %100 raw for a few weeks. I felt sort of low energy, but then when I started eating cooked food again, I felt sick, and tired immediately after the cooked meal. So I am convinced raw is the way. One of my problems to getting there is giving up cooked rice and beans. This is my only attachment to cooked food. Any suggestions to help me let those go? Rice and beans is the poor man's diet, and it's hard for me to give that up, since I've been poor. I find this raw food movement very very expensive. The spirulina, the nuts, the seaweeds, raw cacao, coconut oil (which I am a huge fan of), and fruit and vegetables. I love all these foods, but I find that I really can't afford it. What's the poor woman's raw food diet? That's the question.

Quote

I find this raw food movement very very expensive. The spirulina, the nuts, the seaweeds, raw cacao, coconut oil

I am all fresh raw and I don't eat any of those. I eat fresh raw fruits and veggies and some of the seeds that come through my kitchen. That said I have also found that eating raw has stretched my food budget.

EZ rider Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I am all fresh raw and I don't eat any of those. I
> eat fresh raw fruits and veggies and some of the
> seeds that come through my kitchen. That said I
> have also found that eating raw has stretched my
> food budget.

The raw food that I eat is all fresh as well. I run most of it thru an inexpensive centrifugal juicer to make juice, slaws, sauces and ground nuts.... out of carrots, watermelon, coconuts, kale.... not cheap but reasonable as can be.

Bobo, for me the carrots and greens helped my eyes, hair and skin.. it took time..



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/21/2008 02:53AM by loeve.

Five weeks is not enough. Please give raw some more time. Also, if you are feeling under the weather, take some time off from works and rest and get more sleep.

Thanks for the info on eating fresh raw. Nuts are very very expensive, I do want to say.

I bought five lbs. of almonds from a farmer's market for $20 and expect it to last all year. I grow much of my food in the warm season and do a little dehydrating for winter raw soups (I soak the dried food for 15 minutes in warm water). I eat a lot of food that is in season (it's cheaper) and I do still eat cooked rice because I am still transitioning. I say transitioning because though I have eaten high raw for several years, I have been trying all year to go 100% but haven't quite made it yet.

I was eating 100% 80/10/10 for a month and didn't get the energy people were talking about either, along with increased acne on my forehead, messed up digestion, threw off my cardio a little, among other things. I started adding cooked vegetables and lentils and felt better - so it's not always the same for everyone. Some people do well and others have a different ride

make sure you're eating what you like eating; you're getting enough calories and enough of the right calories (not a ton of fat, or protein, mostly carbs - try for atleast 60). that's about all the advice i've got, other then getting in exercise (it's as important as diet)

hope you can get on the right track to really feeeeeling healthy

What the heck is 99.9% raw???