Hello,

I am a very new raw foodist and I have some concerns. I recently bought some EDO they are part of the root vegetable family and when eaten coked is delicious and said to be a blood purifier. However Eaten raw I found it to irritate my throat and found an uncomfortable itch that subsided at the end of the day. Also there is a vegetable called drumstick and it tasy cooked but eaten raw has a very strong bitter tase. Now these foods have incredible health benefits and I have been eating them since I was a child. Now I cannot seem to eat them raw. Do you raw foodists have some advise, because I find sticking to the basic american vegetable boring, I eat a lot of asian and african veggies that some americans have never heard of. Only thing is I want to eat them raw.

IMO, any fruit or vegetable that irritates or burns the throat is not suitable for eating raw.

Since cooking is not an option for me, I would simply choose not to eat those foods.

abelle,

Edo, or taro, can be toxic when eaten raw; the leaves always are. Not everything can be eaten raw. Please do some research about a food's typical application if there's something you aren't familiar with. Omega's advice is good. Also, this: if it's usually consumed cooked in a culture in which it's common consumed, assume there's a good reason for that.

I have heard that the "eyes" in potatoes are not good to eat. Also the leaves of the tomato plant are not supposed to be good either.

Ohh, eddo with two d's. Yes, that is the same as taro and quite poisonous raw.

White potatoes shouldn't be eaten raw. They cause stomach ache and are high in solanine, which is partially neutralized in cooking. Sweet potatoes are ok as they aren't actually potatoes.

Beans, unless sprouted.

Soy.Contains toxic phylate and aluminum.

Rhubarb. The leaves are poisonous, but the stalks can be eaten cooked. Eating the stalks raw tends to give a stomach ache.

Cassava. Contains high amounts of cyanide. There have been some reports of poisonings.

If it's not commonly eaten raw, there's probably a reason for it. So, as Tamuhka said, if it's not familiar to you as a raw food, please do look it up before you eat it.

I read on Debbie Took's site that yams (not to be confused with sweet potatoes), are poisonous raw. I wrote to her and she referred me to a Google search of "raw yams poisonous" for sources explaining this. (Thanks Debbie.)


My favorite raw vegan

Trive Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I read on Debbie Took's site that yams (not to be
> confused with sweet potatoes), are poisonous raw.
> I wrote to her and she referred me to a Google
> search of "raw yams poisonous" for sources
> explaining this. (Thanks Debbie.)

Strange. There is a recipe in Nomi Shannon's book, The Raw Gourmet for "Yam Pie". I wonder if Nomi is using sweet potatoes. I will have to check into that.

Interesting info on the yams. Thanks.

One time - before I knew better - I found a wild taro patch and ate several of the leaves. There was no stomach trouble, but my tongue and mouth felt like I'd eaten cactus! Or maybe a porcupine! It was pretty awful, but the feeling left after a couple of hours.

I've had the same thing happen with kiwi... so I don't eat it. You should probably just avoid the foods your body doesn't like. I was tested for food allergies when I was a child. Radishes and Strawberries (two of my favorite foods) came back as issues. However, I've never had a problem with them!

This is what I've researched regarding raw foods that can cause problems.

These are some commonly issued "dangers" of a raw food diet -

* Buckwheat greens can be toxic if juiced or eaten in LARGE quantities by light complexioned people.(the fagopyrin in it can cause severe photo sensitivity and other skin issues)

* Kidney beans (including the sprouts) are said to be toxic when raw (phytohaemagglutinin)

* Some types of raw cassava or cassava flour can be toxic. Cassava (Manihot esculenta), also called yuca or manioc, is a woody shrub of the Euphorbiaceae (spurge family) native to South America that is extensively cultivated as an annual crop in tropical and subtropical regions for its edible starchy tuberous root, a major source of carbohydrates. The flour made of the roots is called tapioca. Cassava is the third largest source of carbohydrates for human food in the world. Chances are that you won't find or be looking for a raw version of Cassava. But if you are in South America, definitely don't eat the leaves raw.

* Raw eggs contain avidin, a vitamin B7/biotin inhibitor. This may be a mute point since as many as 24 egg whites would have to be eaten to inactivate biotin. I don't remember the last time I ate 2 dozen eggs in a day. They say eggs can also carry salmonella. If one looks at studies which have been done to analyze the risks of contracting salmonella from raw eggs, it is surprising to find out how low this risk actually is. A study by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 2002 (Risk Analysis April 2002 22(2):203-18) indicates that only 2.3 million, out of the 69 billion eggs produced annually, are contaminated with salmonella. So this really means that only 0.003 % of eggs are infected. Viewed another way, only 1 in every 30,000 eggs is contaminated with salmonella, which shows how uncommon this problem actually is. Based on those numbers, the average person would come across a contaminated egg only once in 42 years.

* Raw seeds of the genus lathyrus (the flowering sweet pea), can cause lathyrism. Not sure why anyone would be eating from their flowerbed, but hey, you never know.

* Raw brassica species like: mustard, radish, horseradish, maca, cress, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, kohlrabi, kale, cauliflower, broccoli, turnip, swede (rutabaga), and rapeseed can contain glucosinolate. Glucosinate is like a natural pesticide that plants produce. Again, from what I could gather, you would have to ingest a VERY large amount of this to have any ill effect on your health. Seriously, many of the listed items are very common food items. Bitter tasting seems to be the guideline. Bitter=bad. The Glucosinate has a bitter taste so don't eat bitter stuff.

* Apricot kernels contain amygdalin, which contains the toxin cyanide. Apricots are delicious... don't eat the pit. duh.

* WILD Raw parsnips contain furanocoumarin. It can give you blisters, so eat the ones from the market instead.

* Raw meat, may contain harmful bacteria and their associated bacterial toxins. Other parasites and viruses may also be present, such as toxoplasma, trichinella, or rotavirus, which may cause serious foodborne illnesses.

* Raw bovine milk may contain Mycobacteria bovis (which can cause non-pulmonary tuberculosis). Why would you drink mild from another animal anyway? Humans should drink human milk (as babies) and cows should drink cow milk... simple logic.

* The following foods contain small amounts of Goitrogens which can interfere with iodine utilization and cause Hypothyroidism:

Raw sweet potato
cabbage
cauliflower
turnips
rutabaga
canola oil
cassava
pinenuts
mustard
millet
soybeans
peanuts

Unless you have thyroid problems, there isn't any research to suggest that goitrogenic foods will impact your health negatively. In fact, the opposite is true: soy foods and cruciferous vegetables have very good nutritional value, and eating these foods has been associated with decreased risk of disease in many studies.

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Find out what the dangers of a raw food diet are AND the missing "ingredient" of most raw food diets: [www.rawfoodsdetox.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/16/2010 06:20AM by thenewguy.

Re earlier posts on yams - 'yams' are toxic raw. BUT that's yam as we understand it in the UK - brown/grey root veg from West Indies. In some parts of the US I believe that what we refer to as sweet potatoes, (and what other parts of the US refer to as sweet potatoes) are called yams. Hence the confusion. Sweet potatoes are of course fine to eat raw.

Yes, Debbie, in the states we sometimes call sweet potatoes "yams". In my market we can also buy true yams.

true yams--


[search.aol.com]

sweet potatoes

I found problems with the following foods eaten raw, some were suggested in recipes, or from people lacking knowledge.

Potatoes: makes me feel sick. I tried it once, as I knew someone who ate them like apples. She says they were fine for her.
Asparagus: gave me a rash
eggplant: yes, some raw recipe suggested eggplant, made me feel sick like potatoes, makes sense, its a closely related plant to potatoes.
Broccoli sprouts: I once ate a pack of them, it made me feel sick. I called the company to ask about toxicity, and they said it wasn't a problem in that amount, that people routinely eat that amount or more in one sitting. They said it was very, very unusual that I felt sick from it.

Maybe some foods are toxic to everyone raw and others cause allergic reactions in some people, but not others? I don't prefer the taste of raw potato or asparagus, but haven't eaten enough of them to experience any problems. However, I like broccoli sprouts and eggplant (in raw baba ganouj) and haven't had any negative effects - and I've had a lot of both.


My favorite raw vegan

Thanks for those photo's, Loeve. Yes, the yams in the pics above are DREADFUL (and toxic) raw. I once made a BAD mistake concocting something from a David Wolfe recipe that said 'yams'...

really Trive ? i regularly snap off fresh raw asparagus in the spring and it never makes it to the kitchen lol its got this sweet bubblegum tastes i just love . mind you mine is open polinated strain from heritage seeds so mabey it tastes different from hybrid asparagus (which wouldnt suprise me)

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

So, you're saying that not only does cilantro appear to be the new parsley, but now asparagus is the new bubblegum!

(...although even I probably couldn't resist it coming right from the garden)


My favorite raw vegan

hehe yea !

well it took me some time to wrap my head around asparagus i grew up on that awful khaki green mushy canned asparagus that was heated up to a mush even further on the stove

blech

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

some one called jack fruit trees 'bubble gum trees' because it smells like the juicy fruit gum!

i had this asparagus kick a few months ago. I devoured it.

I found the biggest asparagus (asparagi?) ever growing out of the middle of another plant that I didn't know the name of on the side of a remote hill at my grandpas. It was the best asparagus I ever had. Long live smelly pee.

david