I was wondering what most raw foodist thought about drinking alcohol. I have recently decided to give it up and I guess I can now be called 'strait edge'. Its one of those things that just feels right and I have no desire to drink, at all. Its quite nice. But I have seen somewhere that there are raw adult beverages. Do you drink? Or is it one of those sad addictions that you flush down the toilet?
thanks,
morgen~

nomnomnomnom...!

I've never consumed alcohol. But chocolate -- now that's another topic. I haven't 100% given up my chocolate ... yet. But I just eat a little piece of "raw" chocolate once a day. Today is my 5th day raw. I'm not ready to give up chocolate LOL. Giving up all the meat I used to eat has been easy so far.

I actually only started drinking red wine and trying to make myself like beer when I heard it was actually good for you. I didn't like either of them at all, thank god too!!! Once I made myself drunk, just to feel what it was like. I got sick and vomitted many times... I have no idea how anyone could actually like that.

It's only later I realised that many of these studies about red wine or aspirin or "whole grain" bread etc. are really only in comparison to a SAD. If you're eating an SAD... basically nearly anything remotely like real food will make things better!!!

Remember that the next time you look at one of those studies. For example Bran Flakes may have reduced cardiovascular disease significantly, but only because it was much better than the Frosties that it was replacing!!! A little red wine may have improved circulation in the test group.... but only because it was closer to grapes and real food than soda pop!!! Same with whole grain bread replacing white bread etc. The studies aren't necessarily all flawed, it's just that the raw foodists would be far better off than any of them.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/06/2009 08:39PM by SuperInfinity.

Hi,

A newbie answer again. I know that a lot of people are very proud of their 100% rawness in this forum. But, thinking about it logically, I don't know how eating (or drinking) a little bit of unraw something once in a while could harm you long term. I'd like to think our bodies are not so fragile that you're going to "crash" if you had 1 glass of wine or beer. Excessive drinking is going to make you sick, sure. Excessively drinking everyday will be bad for you no matter what food you're eating.

I've tried many different food and lifestyle changes over the years. What I've found personally is that if I become a fanatic about something, it only leads to disappointment when I slip up or don't have a choice and am forced to do something that I don't want to do. I'm approaching this like most things in my life these days... I'm doing it MOST of the time. If I'm 100% raw today fantastic, if I'm 75% tomorrow, and then 80%, and then 50%, I'm still in the most of the time arena. I hope that makes sense.

Good luck and treat yourself to a small glass of wine this weekend.

- Bill

PS - someone in another post said to make this change in your/our lives fun. That's more good advice. Don't worry, be happy



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/06/2009 09:00PM by thenewguy.

Morgenjune,

I have always been pretty straight edge myself, though I won't eschew a glass of wine at the holidays. The things about alcohol is that it has almost no nutritive value, and is abolutely toxic to the liver. My feeling is, what's the point of clearing your liver if your just going to dirty it again? I think if you keep that in mind, it becomes easier to moderate consumption of alcohol.

I think superinfinity makes a great point about some of the conclusions based on previous studies!

And it's my understanding that previous conclusions linking moderate wine consumption to a lesser incidence of stroke are lacking confirmation. CNN reported about a recent study that linked even moderate drinking to brain damage. This is from memory, so I can't cite CNN's specific study, but CNN may have been referring to this study that linked just 1 to 6 drinks a week to indications of early brain atrophy: [alcoholism.about.com] (Scroll down to "Moderate Alchol Consumption Linked to Brain Shrinkage"

Alcohol, no thanks. Call me the canary in the coal mine, but just a little bit of some things is way too much for me.

It seems that what one person may consider fanatical or extreme, another person may find to be absolutely normal and comfortable - especially after some life-change practice.

We all make our own choices, and I think that's fine I as long as we're tolerant of others' fanatical or not-so-fanatical choices as well.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/06/2009 11:27PM by suncloud.

Gave it up.
It was causing too much spiritual pain and doesnt go well at all with pure raw foods.

Vinny

Tamukha Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Morgenjune,
>
> I have always been pretty straight edge myself,
> though I won't eschew a glass of wine at the
> holidays. The things about alcohol is that it has
> almost no nutritive value, and is abolutely toxic
> to the liver. My feeling is, what's the point of
> clearing your liver if your just going to dirty it
> again? I think if you keep that in mind, it
> becomes easier to moderate consumption of alcohol.


Thats what I've been thinking. Alcohol is poison, hence alcohol poisoning! It doesn't make sense to put the best foods in your body and then to follow it up with a beer or mixed drink.

I guess if you want a drink every now and then its better than most who drink daily or get wasted every weekend (I know a few) but ill pass. Ive been out to the bars and havnt been drinking and its impowerng.

nomnomnomnom...!

no, no, no, I don't drink it no more.
I'm tired of waking up on the floor.

Etc.
lyrics by Ringo Starr

I enjoy a glass of Pinot Noir from Oregon about twice a week as a way to increase my resveratrol intake. I use muscadine grapes and resveratrol supplements from japanese knotweed and the grapes to compliment caloric restriction to activate the SIRT2 gene that's been shown to extend lifespan and delay aging. That said, I could drop the Pinot Noir without a thought as it contributes very small resveratrol and related polyphenols relative to the grapes and supplements. Still, enjoy it as an occasional treat.

Technically, most red wine is not vegan because of the use of animal bone in filtering and processing the wine. While you can get red wines that are vegan and don't use the animal bone, I guess I don't view the use of the bone the same way I think about consuming animal products. YMMV.

Paul



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/07/2009 02:45PM by pborst.

eww! BONE filtering? GAG! That's the last glass of red wine I ever enjoy. gross.

the thing is, unless you make it yourself how do you know how ANY processed food was handled? you just don't and I don't like to think about the possibilities actually. oogy.

my mom made mulberry wine when i was a kid and i've always wanted to do it myself. maybe i will someday. i had a really old recipe book with instructions on how to make wine out of everything from carrots to tree leaves, it was the coolest thing. it asked for a slice of bread instead of yeast, ha! a really old book. i think i'll ferment some wine at some point in my life, i like the chemistry of it. pretty sure i'll drink some of it too.

coco Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> eww! BONE filtering? GAG! That's the last glass of
> red wine I ever enjoy. gross.
>
> the thing is, unless you make it yourself how do
> you know how ANY processed food was handled? you
> just don't and I don't like to think about the
> possibilities actually. oogy.
>
> my mom made mulberry wine when i was a kid and
> i've always wanted to do it myself. maybe i will
> someday. i had a really old recipe book with
> instructions on how to make wine out of everything
> from carrots to tree leaves, it was the coolest
> thing. it asked for a slice of bread instead of
> yeast, ha! a really old book. i think i'll ferment
> some wine at some point in my life, i like the
> chemistry of it. pretty sure i'll drink some of it
> too.

Making your own red wine would be optimal. And as I said above, there are some choices for vegan red wines. Here's more info [ []]

[vegans.frommars.org]

I do it very rarely with friends in a communal situation, but mostly I abstain.

abstain ... in the last vcouple of years any alcohol seems to just irritate and flare up my colon with 24 hours

not worth the pain or grief

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

I drink wine. Non-organic wine gives me hangovers, or at least leaves me foggy, even if I don't drink very much. Last night my hubby and I had some organic wine with a belated birthday dinner, and I felt great when I woke up this morning. Definitely, if you feel unwell with it, don't drink it.

dinner party last night, glass of wine, headache this morning. ugh. but it might have been watching them all eat that chicken and ribs, double ugh! i made an enormous dinner salad with so many veggies, cauliflower, fresh basil from the garden, oh num num. that was lovely. no more vino.