Hello everyone. I am a longtime lurker, but first time poster here.
The raw lifestyle appeals to me greatly and my husband and I intend to begin slowly transitioning, but hopefully being 100% raw by July. I intend to transition faster than he. I have done quite a bit of research, but find several ponts conflicting.
My first question is regarding fat. Some raw foodists seem to eat it in unlimited amounts, I'm referring to things such as avacados, nuts etc, while others think the best route is getting no more than 10-15% of your daily caloric intake from fat. What has been your experience? For me the lower end of the fat range holds more appeal, but I feel my husband would need more than that.
Another question, and again I just want to know your experience, but how much do you generally eat on a daily basis. My first exposure to raw foodism was by a man who'd been 100% raw for two year and ate about 8.5 lbs of produce, primarily fruit, everyday. On this forum it seems many people eat significantly less than this. If you eat quite a bit less than this, do you have a hard time keeping your weight up at a healthy level? Does your food intake vary greatly?
Another point of contentention seems to be with sprouts. Some on the diet swear by them whereas other think they're totally unnecessary. Thoughts?
Thanks for any answers to my questions and any additional insight you can give. I still have much to learn and want to make sure I do this healthily.
I hope this finds everyone well.

Hey ArikaDawn. Excellent/intelligent questions! My opinion/experience:

-For a transitioner....eating SOME fat....and a WIDE variety of foods...and staying full of healthy stuff....while avoiding processed items.....these are the good stuff. So: I think a reasonable amount of fat is fine 20-30%...so long as YOU'RE choosing the level consciously. It's the consciousness that's your real fuel anyway. Heh...heh. My experience is that higher amounts of fats (especially processed fats) are not so good.

-I eat about 2000-3000 calories...but a new raw food transitioner might eat more. It's all good...if YOU'VE determined its healthy food. You know? It's hard to get fat on spinach and apples. Truly. I used to eat 20 bananas at a sitting when I was first transitioning. Now it's more like 3 or 4. Your tastes will change. Give it time. Don't expect to undo 20 or 30 years of a certain way of eating in 20 or 30 days. If you go slow - you can always speed up. Harder to recover from a 'crash'. Heh..heh.

-Sprouts are great - and an easy way to practice consciousness in your eating - but there is certainly no rule that YOU have to do it! I think they would be quite healthy for many folks.

-I hope this is helpful / supportive.

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

Thanks so much for your swift response. You confirmed, what I have been concluding. Basically that this lifestyle is based more on the needs of the individual person rather than being a slave to a rigid quideline. This notion makes me so much more confident that it can successfully suit the needs of both me and my husband, people with wildly different eating habits and caloric needs.

This is for anyone, I have a couple more questions.
First, how do you feel about freezing fruit? This allows a bit more versatility as far as changing up the texture, but some think this negates the enzyme value. Thoughts?
Also, does it go against the grain of the the diet to use medication, specifically birth control? I understand birth control, and I suppose pills in general, are not raw =), but would it in any way inhibit the process of the raw diet?

Thanks again1

Arika:

In my opinion: call it enzymes...call it lifeforce...call it freshness. My take is that the real value is in the fresh stuff. So: If freezing and drying helps you to eat more fresh stuff....I say go for it. If a person eschews fresh for dried or frozen primarily....I don't think that's a good thing (if they are trying to eat healthier). Just my take.

-There is no ONE take on eating fresh fruits & vegetables. I personally avoid medications, chemicals, etc. (ever since going all raw many years ago) just my thing. My opinion is that medications or chemicals on/in your body will slow or deactivate cleansing and detox - yes. Each individual should rate the value of the medication vs. a healthier lifestyle - in close supervision of their trusted medical professional.

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

When it comes to unwanted babies on an already burgeoning and unbelievably destructive (to the ecosystem) 6.81 billion, sometimes it's better to make a compromise. I'd rather take the pill than reproduce.

People who use more natural methods tend to become parents. Not saying it will happen to you, but it's something to consider.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/17/2008 03:36AM by arugula.

Two great threads here about birth control:

[www.rawfoodsupport.com]

[www.rawfoodsupport.com]

As for medication in general, if not taking anything is one of your goals and you currently are taking medication, see a doctor who is willing to work with you on your terms. From my own experience--antibiotics, narcotics, birth control--all resulted in such terrible experiences, I've sworn never to take another prescription again. Raw was the only thing that FINALLY let my body start healing itself--and I wish I had known about how integral eating healthy truly was before I got into a doctor-requiring situation to begin with... and then how to properly fast/eat a cleansing diet in times of crisis.

[www.rawfoodexplained.com] This site is HARDCORE (no spices, no oils, no meds, totally fresh 100% raw), but it explains every aspect of the theory behind raw living to a T. Your questions will be answered here in exhaustive detail.

This board is also an amazing resource--it's full of people living all different versions of the raw lifestyle, and everyone is willing to help and share experience.

Freezing, on average, destroys 5% of a food's nutritional content, and figures for the amount of enzymes destroyed are all over the board. If you have the option to go for fresh, go for fresh. But if having a bag of frozen fruit in your freezer is the difference between an AM smoothie or a bowl of Captain Crunch, your body will rejoice for the former. As you stay raw for longer, your body will let you know when it's ready to change or let go of things that don't suit you anymore. Some people have said they get bad reactions from eating non-organic produce. I, personally, have made my magical transformation with conventional produce (but just recently found myself gravitating toward organics when possible). Be ready to experience lots of change, and grab food in its whole, unprocessed form whenever possible.

As for fats, my first month of raw I probably ate 4000 calories/day, god only knowing what % coming from a half pound of nuts (or more) in a day. Still, I shed a TON of weight that month. Since then, I've been gravitating toward much less, but I have to admit, at five months raw, 20% fat from calories still seems like wearing a muzzle on many days. I feel better when I eat less fats... but as an American, I have 22 years worth of feeling full from fats to deprogram. Be patient with yourself, keep your goals in mind, pay attention to whatever you eat--and the body will direct you every step of the way. So many people make 10-20% fat sound very easy, and maybe it has been for them--but this is the biggest challenge of the raw lifestyle, for me. Just start with getting the living foods part down... then look for more fine-tuning and adjustment. I once didn't understand how people could eat ONLY a handful of nuts or seeds--now I just naturally feel full after that much. Raw is a constant PROCESS.

Welcome aboard. =)

Wow. That rawfoodexplained.com is very comprehensive. Again, thanks for the input. I am feeling more and more confident based on the responses as I see this lifestyle is really malleable from person to person.

I've already transitioned to living as a vegetarian and intend to go vegan in the next couple of weeks and hopefully ease into raw by July. I am very excited and eager to get going. Now my only real trepidation is the social aspect. Most socializing here is done over food, and being in the South, people tend to find it quite offensive if you're invited, but bring your own food to help supplement what is or is not available at the gathering. I cannot let this deter me though.

The reason I asked about freezing the fruit is there is a great farmers market around here and you can get the nearly over ripe produce incredibly cheap, but it would have tobe eaten immediately or spoil. I buy a lot of it now, and freeze for smoothies and the like. I thought if this did not go too against the grain of the raw food way it would continue to be a great way to get some of my produce at an extreme discount.

I hope this finds everyone well.

There's also a difference between produce you pick fresh at a farmer's market and freeze vs. the bagged stuff at the grocery store--sometimes the prepackaged stuff is blanched. (Just thought of that now, heheh.)

Try everything and see how it makes you feel!

If you bring something lovely to a social gathering and share it with everyone, it could please more than offend. Just win them over with your happiness, generosity, and natural charm. =D