Hello there,

I am 19 and have always wanted to try raw foods for the sake of what raw foodists describe as an 'infinite amount of energy'.

I have had pretty bad asthma my entire life, though what's worse; just recently my heart has started to act in 'funny ways'. (Arrythmia accompanied by horrible symptoms such as Dyspnia (not from asthma, I am sure of it now), Dizziness, Hard hard beats, light-headedness etc...) [I basically have Asthma, Heart Disease, and Intestinal problems at this point]

I am very stubborn in that I am 110% determined to start a raw foods diet, but there are some concerns. I am extREMELY underweight, at 120 lbs. and a height of 5'6.

Luckily, my parents will still pay for half my food order, so I think I have a budget of about $70 for myself for the entire week; though I am willing to fund much more to this a week for the first couple of weeks to bring it up to probably about $100.

I am SERIOUSLY in need of more calories in my diet withOUT raw foods, so I have to ask:

A) How many calories should I take in? Do I have to take loads of nuts and seeds in order to get up to the recommended 2,000? Should I even do 2,000 on raw foods?

Should I go 100% raw foods? Is this a very safe idea considering just how underweight I am?

C) I have heard stories about underweight people at first losing weight then gaining more important weight that they desparately needed. I'm curious as to what people have heard about underweight people taking raw foods?

D) Is there any place I can get a good daily schedule for starting raw foods? The problem here is that I have always wanted to start but really not quite known what EXActly to 'do'...

Thanks for all your help ahead of time.

Great questions! Two things:

1) Analyze what over % of raw foods you are eating and 100% comfortable with BEFORE changing your diet.

2) Make small goals to increase this slowly.....with timetables.

3) Make sure to eat at least 1.5 times the calories of primarily fresh fruits and vegetables that you were previously eating.

-DO NOT change your diet in any radical / overnight way if there are mitigating circumstances such as: being very underweight/overweight, severe disease, eating disorders, life crisis, etc. Wait for any major stress CRISIS to pass before engaging in changing diet. It'll be challenging enough without the baggage!

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

A. 2000 is probably good in your case. 1200'ish is for people on SAD trying to lose weight. I wouldnt obsess about calories though if you dont need to lose..if you're hungry..eat..

B. Do what youre comfortable with. Just like some people can quit ciggerrettes and coffee cold turkey, others can't. You might want to just ease into it ..especially with your other health problems the detox might drive you crazy.

C. When people lose weight at first, just like ANY other "Diet", it's crap, weight and bloat. Regardless of how underweight you are, you'd be surprised how much could be crap in your colon. Here's a question - Regardless of what the scale is..is your stomach flat? or is there a "pouch" or "pudge"...cause even in skinny people, that's a clogged colon and 5 or 10lbs you SHOULD. You said "intestional problems"...so if you lose a few lbs it's actually good thing. Read that www.drnatura.com site for colon info. Not saying buy it but you might find the info on it interesting.

D: Not really because everyone eats "raw" differently. There's different style
"raw" diets just like there are different "normal" diets. Some people are low fruit, some are high fruit... some people eat sprouts.. some people eat an SAD version of RAW with lots of fake foods like dehydrated bread and pasta... etc Some people drink fresh juices and smoothies...others rather eat it whole. etc.

It's easiest way to go raw is on an empty stomach, so starting off raw for breakfast and then seeing how far into the day you can go raw is the easiest way IMHO. I don't think you have to go 100% right away, you'll experience rawfood burn-out.

As far as calories, use a online calculator if you concerned, but unless you are just eating vegetables, it's not really that hard to get calories on raw food:

You'll probably eat all day long including, fruit several times throughout the morning:
3 cups of watermellon - 240 calories
2 bananas - 200 calories
1 cup strawberries - 49 calories

Chopped tomatos and avocado:
1 avocado - 227 calories
1 tomato - 22 calories

Green smoothie:
1 apple - 72 calories
1 cup spinach - 35 calories

Snack of dried fruit:
8 dates - 200 calories

Banana ice cream:
3 bananas, peeled, frozen and put through a juicer or processor - 300 calories

That's 1345 calories so far without eating any "calorie dense" foods like nuts/seeds/coconuts. I think it is actually easier to get calories from fruit, since seeds are more dificult/complicated to digest and they don't really add THAT much calories, they have other nutrients that are great besides calories:
1/2 cups of seeds would be about 400 calories
1 Tbsp of coconut oil, 117 calories

I always read things about asthma being linked to dairy.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/07/2008 01:55AM by Lillianswan.

Thank you so much david, likeitornot and Lillian!

I forgot to mention that I do eat at least about 25% raw foods. I'm mostly thin because I have never gotten enough calories (or at least so I think).

I have eaten at least 10% raw foods all my life, and love and will eat just about any fruit or vegetable. I really think that all likes and dislikes of food are psychological, and the taste buds can be trained to like just about anything if there is a will.

My point is I should be able to switch over fairly swiftly, though it will probably be a good idea to not lose the addictions that I've had in my life TOO fast? (sugar, artificial flavors and cream/oils]; l0 (chocolate) probably being the biggest ones)

P.S; Lillian that schedule is a godsend. :-)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/07/2008 02:47AM by markhansavon.

I always like what David advises. Slow and steady provides the conditions for success.

Mark, at 5'6", your BMI is 19.4, and underweight would be a BMI of under 18.5. So technically, by mainstream standards, you are not underweight at this point. At 114 pounds, you will be considered underweight by mainstream BMI standards.

If you should find yourself losing weight, what you can do to increase your weight to to engaging in muscle building activities. This could be weight lifting, or other anaerobic exercises, or physical activity that force your muscles to exert themselves past their current capacity.

The secret to eating plenty of raw calories is to eat plenty sweet fresh whole fruits. Sweet fruit will provide more healthful calories than eating vegetables will get you. Learn about food combining, or eat all your fruit meals with just one kind of fruit, so that you will have excellent digestion and no gas.

hey mark

welcome

and have a blast!!

u can still do it with 70 per week
that is 10 per day

green veggies are cheap

u have to discipline yourself
with the food and the money

but it can be done

it takes practice though

i'm happy for u that u are learning about this
its a beautiful adventure

oh yeah

if u read about victoria boutenko

her son ( or was it her daughter?)

well both her kids had what were considered " incurable" diseases

one had asthma , the other had juvenile diabetes

both were cured after they got on raw foods

and both of them co authored a book for kids about raw and recipes

i think they are about in their early twenties or something now

i forgot the name of her book where she gives the account of her kids getting rid of asthma and diabetes

but she is very well known

so someone else here on the board help mark out and give him the name of that book where it has that account

okay?

thanks

well, if no one talks about the book

its okay

u can just google them

and i'm sure one of their profiles has the story on them and how the

asthma became PERMANENTLY PAST TENSE


YEEEEHAWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!

Asthma is caused by parasites in the lungs. A raw diet alone will not cure it. Nor do it think that it was cure Heart Disease.

A raw diet will help you become more balanced but it is not a cure-all. Pls beware of this and avoid blaming the raw diet for what is beyond its scope.

Read Hulda Clark's "The Cure for All Diseases". Get a parasite zapper and use it. Know that you will have to do cleanses and fasts and clean up your environment in addition to the raw diet to clear your body of toxins and avoid further intake of toxins.

Other than that, that is wonderful that you wish to make a change to increase your health level and that your parents are so supportive.

Good luck. Therese