Hello everyone,

I'm Dianne (Di for short). I'm 30 and I've been a vegetarian for 3 years (off and on)...and I've found that I prefer the vegetarian lifestyle but it tends to upset my stomach with gas, bloating, etc. Does the raw diet help with this? And are there any books anyone can recommend or any kitchen equipment I should get such as (dehydrator, juicer, etc)? I'm quite excited about trying out that veggie burger recipe on here!

Love and Light,
Di

Hey Di! Thank you for your great questions.

Eating 'raw' CAN be as simple as just buying and eating tons of the fresh fruits and vegetables that you love. Developing that habit....and being secure in your boundaries in social situations....will be your biggest challenge - in my opinion.

I think eating raw can certainly help with bloating and gas.....especially when you eat more simply....with intelligent food combinations...or just mono-eating things like fruits.

The book I enjoyed most was Conscious Eating by Gabriel Cousens.....I like the scientific frame of mind.

Note: it is often complicated combinations of foods that cause gas and bloating. Simply try to avoid and replace processed foods for more simple meals with less ingredients.....until you find what works for YOU. Enjoy the process...and don't feel that you HAVE to change the way your friends and loved ones eat. Just tell them you are eating only fresh fruits & vegetables now....and leave it at that.

If you want to buy machines you can. A good juicer is nice. I find the Jack LaLane style centrifugal juicers to do a great job with a variety of items. A more expensive gear-style juicer is often required for some vegetables and other items. A simple little power-grinder works well for oranges...and is cheap. Dehydrators can be fun to mess with....but temperatures are often inconsistent....which is not a big deal if you are not strict about your 'rawness'...heh...heh.

Anyway...congratulations on your great decisions and questions!

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

welcome to the site Di !

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

Hello, Di,

To help with digestion (reducing gas) you can look into food-combining and mono-eating. A couple of sites to look into are www.raw-food-living.com and www.rawfoodexplained.com (Lessons 22&23).

The info on food-combining can look complicated. What I do is eat fruit separately from other foods or wait a half an hour before eating other veggies. (An exception is that I sometimes eat fruit with lettuce). By experimenting you'll find out what works for you.


My favorite raw vegan

Welcome You'll find lots of great support and advice on here.

Thank you all very much for your great advice and support. What a great network!

Namaste,
Di

Welcome to your raw journey. In just a year of focusing on raw food lifestyle so much has changed for me. Just give yourself a break and have fun with it.
Enjoy