So i was just told that doing a raw food diet can be a very bad trigger for binge eaters... because of the low carb content of the food... can anyone elaborate...

love laugh and dream

for me it was the opposite
i was a bit of a binge queen
before raw

my raw macronutrient ratios are 80 carb, 10 fat, 10 protein


what is your experience so far?

Any diet change that is extreme or restrictive in the mind of the changer CAN be a trigger for any emotional / eating disorders. This is NOT an inherent problem in eating fresh fruits & vegetables.

-I think any person with an emotional or eating disorder should avoid ALL extreme thinking and changes....and avoid yo-yo'ing and worrying.....and seek treatment for the primary root causes of emotional disorders.....before trying any major manipulation/change in diet...as changing one's diet in NOT a cure for such things. Just my opinion. Power & Success to you!

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

for change, someone has to start somewhere. The carbs are aquired from eating fruits. Eating disorders are hard to change but for me eating raw foods has changed everything for me. I have been working on emotional eating for a long time but I never thought by eating raw foods I would be able to feel so free and satisfied with food. Last year when I stoped eating raw after eating raw for five months I went back to my emotional eating ways but I realized that eating the standard diet was not fulfilling and I lacked the nutrients so I craved more food and felt hungry all the time. My body loves me to feed it raw foods and I feel so happy eating thisway.

Yes... I agree with both of you... i have had a binge eating problem in the past and it tends to be if i get a bit of cooked food in the diet that makes me keep wanting more and more... but i do find myself binging a bit on nuts... of all things... it is harder to binge on a raw diet...simply because it can be more painful due to the gas production... at least in my body... but i do find myself doing it... and one woman said oh don't do raw it's worse...but i know it to be emotional as well... i was just curious... also wondering if maybe i'm not getting enough balance in my nutrition....which is making my body crave more... is there a website that will calculate my nutritional intake... so i can generally know what i am getting and what i am not...

love laugh and dream

hi,

i appreciate your post. and dave is right about drastic
diet change

actually my binging didnt stop right off. i still
had a wicked granola or bagel party from hell about
every 7-10 days.

when i stopped hating myself for it, upgraded the
quality of the granola and bagels, increased my mono fruit
meals and did more yoga, meditation and service, then
the binge intensity faded little by little til it
disappeared.

the gas may be food combinations. can you try mono
fruit meals? esp melons which are easy to digest.

I think increasing the raw in your diet at a pace that is comfortable for you can definitely help the healing process!

I used to binge a lot, and it took many weeks on raw before I realized what "true fullness" felt like. Raw food helped me discover the natural signals inside my body, and after following them for nine months now, I really CAN'T binge anymore. I just feel satisfied... or uncomfortably full... or definitely sick if I try to keep going. And earlier this year I was an Expert Nut Binger. =)

Totally agree with all posters who say raw food helped the problem. THe first step is to ADD things, not to subtract. And yes, when I eat a bit of unplanned cooked or high fat or strong tasting combinations (many spices), the urges return. To me the strong spices is worse than cooked, I can do okay with steamed veggies or some lentils. WHenever I slipped (too many nuts, a salad with a strong dressing etc., those are triggers for me) I am naturally beginning to react with a lot of fruit and green juices, and it ALWAYS clears me up and kills the urges for binges in the bud. It still derails me, though. From the last salted almond attack (it was just a few handfuls, it used to be whole bags!) it took me 4 days to get back to even keel. I just do a lot of fruit and do what I can.


Biggest crave buster on earth: green juice.

I also immediately begin to feel how AWEFUL binges made me feel and how big of a physiological component there is - thats what nutrient free food does to you...

Best wishes to you! Whoever told you it makes it worse - have they spoken from own experience that was protruly tested and tried?

It's interesting, as I read the posts above,
to see the emphasis on food, and so-called
food "triggers."

Now I don't doubt people have certain comfort
foods that they're attracted to (I can relate
to that), but at the same time, food really
isn't the cause of bingeing. It just takes
the blame.

The cause is a mental one. A psychological
one. It's the same cause whenever a person
tries to do something healthy, esp. over an
extended period of time. (I understand even
Elvis was a Raw Fooder for one day, once.)

Rather than worrying about food and food
choices, I suggest focusing on emotions and
emotional triggers. Such as understanding
what, exactly, you are trying to avoid each
time you do something that isn't particularly
healthy.

The cause of these problems is an emotional
one, not a food one. So I suggest looking
into the mirror, not the refrigerator, the
next time you want to know why you binge.

Steve
[www.meetup.com]
[www.rawgosia.com]

Cocoa_nibs:

-I love your quote that a person should focus on ADDING healthy foods....long before focusing on 'subtracting' or a restrictive mentality.

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

Yes Steve you hit it right on target... i will try this looking in the mirror thing... cause as you have said it i find myself saying no way could i look in the mirror then... and that is probably exactly what i should do... look in the mirror and love myself until i feel so good i don't need to eat...because it's not because i am hungry i eat... i mean how many nuts does a person really need...
thank you

love laugh and dream

Yeah, some people have extreme difficulty doing without cooked starches. I think it would be better to incorporate a little bit of cooked sweet potato than to try to do all raw and then binge.

It is both, Steve. I certainly agree with you about emotional triggers etc. However, a most important learning for me was to understand that I could not will myself away from these intense cravings, I could not will myself away from a body that was draining in acidity from meat overconsumption, as my body was dying to get some fresh, healthy nutrition in (alas, Atkins said NO). Maybe this is an intensity of cravings that you can't relate to (it is far beyond comfort foods, it is like an addict ready to kill for their FIX!).

Since going vegan I have been amazed as to how different my emotional and mental state is. It has healed my depression as well. The level of well being healthy food can bring is helpful to be able to heal on all levels. It offers the strength and space to deal with the emotions. Healthy food choices create room to deal with emotions that are otherwise buried under a burdened digestion, or under burnt out adrenals etc. By realizing how different foods affect me, I have been able to gently stir myself into the direction of more emotional and mental clarity, and to be aware of what is happening and why.

If I feel out of sorts, unbalanced, depressed or stressed (which are all things that I would formerly suppress with heavy foods) I know a green smoothie will fix me up, take away the cravings, give me clear energy etc. so that I ultimatively CAN deal with what unbalances me.

And sometimes, the unsettled feeling IS just a physiological one (constipation, for example, will weigh down your emotions as well).


Raw Emotions, by the way, an ebook by Angela Stokes is a wonderful book that addresses the issue of emotional eating adn how it relates to raw foods beautifully.

Mind and body are deeply interlinked. Who is it that says: It's not that we HAVE a body, we ARE body.

Boy, this thread really relates for me.

I've been eating irresponsibly for years. Long before I ever even thought about vegetarianism or veganism, or raw or .... Didn't even realize until about 15 years ago, or less, when I went vegetarian. Then, when I "went" raw, about 13 years ago, boy, it came to the surface.

I've been struggling ever since. I've been practicing Buddhism for about 8 years, been meditating on and off for years and years, and for nearly two years now have been really steady with meditation. I've done this and done that but I've never cleared myself of emotional eating. I once heard a Buddhist monk talk about personal problems. He said that the source is our perceived disconnect from the rest of existence. That if we were to realize the interpenetration of all things, then these little things like what to eat and when would disintegrate. Well, he said something like this. I've been liberal with paraphrasing this but this is the gist of what he said. This kind of thing sways me, but apparently not strongly enough to sway the eating behavior.

The intensity, frequency, and duration of binges has waned but I still have some really amazing ones. I've eaten mostly raw for about 13 years. I've been raw for several days at a time but before long I always give in. Just a little of this or that and the snowball starts rolling.

Though I'm hardly a good example, I am convinced that raw is a better way to live. So I talk with people about it sometimes. I've printed out this thread and will show it to a friend. I feel she might really benefit from increased raw and we've talked about it. Several times she's said she'd try it but has always backed off.

Finally, just to add some perspective. It's easy to say, "I am a binge eater" or whatever. But if we don't always binge, then are we really binge eaters? Maybe it's a bit easier on the conscience to say that we sometimes binge. Maybe often, maybe not. But to take on the emotional burden of identifying ourselves as "binge eaters" is not necessary.

Troy.



This way is not compatible with Zen practice. This way IS Zen practice. - Dr. Doug Graham

Nothing whatsoever should be attached to. - Buddha