...to cooked (vegan) food, that is.

I have been high raw for maybe three years, cooked vegan for 10 prior to that.

Can anyone give me some valid reasons for being a raw fooder? I would like to hear them. I read conflicting data in books & on the web.

Maybe back up the raw food lifestyle with proven scientific data?

Specifically, about the enzymes being destroyed in cook foods; Data that I have read states that this is not an issue since digestive enzymes are readily produced by the body,

and, the live enzymes that are present in raw foods do not even aid that much if at all in digestion, plus are destroyed by digestion...


Please help me sort these things out - I figured a raw food forum would be the best place to ask questions, since you all have real life experiences.

To add to this - It has been a bit of a struggle for me to remain raw, especially when family & friends are all eating cooked foods that I seem to still crave.

Thanks for any & all information that you can provide!

it is proven that many vitamins are destroyed by heat, but in the end Id go with whatever you feel best on... you seem to have been on both long enough to know for yourself what has felt best for you.

The enzyme issue im in agreement with you.

As curator says many nutrients are lowered due to heating/cooking food, although in some cases there actually increased.

Im only high raw myself, i did the whole 100% thing and never noticed a difference in health after i was well. I thrive high raw vegan and get to eat lots of yummy healthy food. Many of the greens are goitrogenic so i tend to steam most of them also, after having past thyroid issues i can never be too careful.

tomato is one where some are both increased AND decreased, some nutrients in the tomatoes are decreased by cooking, but the strong cancer fighting ones are supposedly increased by short GENTLE cooking...

Rozalind Gruben has 3 video's on YouTube about cooking - Fats - proteins - Carbs - that might help you sort out the cooking dilemma:

[www.youtube.com]

I especially liked the one on cooking fats.

do you think that nature made a mistake by not cooking food?

that might be one reason to consider.

>>> Many of the greens are goitrogenic so i tend to steam most of them also, after having past thyroid issues i can never be too careful.

I eat all of my greens raw or in juices & smoothies - are you suggesting that this can lead to interfering with iodine uptake in an otherwise healthy individual?


>>>do you think that nature made a mistake by not cooking food?

that might be one reason to consider.

Yes, I do consider that. That is one main reason that I use when talking to folks about the raw lifestyle. I'm just looking for some concrete data that I can point to.

If you're high raw, why do you have to make a choice to go back to cooked vegan? I mean, if you're only high raw, aren't you already eating raw food + whatever cooked food you like?

Corathegreen Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> If you're high raw, why do you have to make a
> choice to go back to cooked vegan? I mean, if
> you're only high raw, aren't you already eating
> raw food + whatever cooked food you like?

Not really...

About the only "cooked" (baked actually) thing I am eating is bread when I make raw sandwiches. We usually buy a sprouted bread, but it is baked, nonetheless.

My problem is I am tempted by the vegan pizza, burgers, cooked beans and other vegan foods that the rest of the family prepares. I guess it is the aroma/sight that really get to me.

If I couldn't see it or smell it, I could probably do high raw without much difficulty. Still waiting on some scientific data to back up the raw lifestyle if anyone has any links.

I see a lot of "testimonials" online/youtube, etc., but again I am trying to locate published data/studies.

pizza, burgers, .. can be duplicated as well as most deserts in some raw form or another

are you craving the cooked or the flavors .. flavors can easily be transfered to non cooked things

i can make tasty raw zuchini strips taste very similar to my moms old fried chicen recipie ... its not the cooked flesh i crave its the lemon,garlic, pepper, sage, salt combination i crave

i doubt you willfind too many scientifc studies published ... theres no money in *rawness* for big science to put the money into it

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

I suppose I am craving the flavors...I guess I don't crave "heated" foods...now that I think about it. I suppose I may be looking for a diet of transitional foods.

Recommend me a good book or two of recipes? Or websites perhaps? I have several of the Boutenko family recipe books but...I don't really seem to care for many of the recipes in there, plus a quite a few of the ingredients I have never heard of or seen in any market that I've been to.

veganjuice Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> >>> Many of the greens are goitrogenic so i tend
> to steam most of them also, after having past
> thyroid issues i can never be too careful.
>
> I eat all of my greens raw or in juices &
> smoothies - are you suggesting that this can lead
> to interfering with iodine uptake in an otherwise
> healthy individual?

It can indeed cause issues but depends on several factors such as how much of these goitrogenic produce your in taking and what your iodine intake is like daily. I have seen several people with messed up thyroid function with the above, due to juicing and eating large amounts of goitrogenic greens or flaxseed. A big factor was that they were likely getting very little to no iodine with not eating seaweeds.

It would be interesting to hear what some of the long term juicer have to say on this subject - Jay Kordich for example. I am pretty sure he is 100% raw & I do know he juices a lot of greens.

He may make up for the iodine intake with seaweeds though. Do you eat your seaweeds raw or do you cook them?

there is alot of great recipies here in the recipie section or check out goneraw [www.goneraw.com] for lots of duplication recipies ... the green bean casserole recipe is awesome there [www.goneraw.com]

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist




Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/07/2011 05:05AM by Jgunn.

veganjuice Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It would be interesting to hear what some of the
> long term juicer have to say on this subject - Jay
> Kordich for example. I am pretty sure he is 100%
> raw & I do know he juices a lot of greens.
>
> He may make up for the iodine intake with seaweeds
> though. Do you eat your seaweeds raw or do you
> cook them?

I eat seaweeds raw veganjuice or sometimes i use a blend of various seaweed granules if i cant be bothered eating them. They are rich in minerals and have many health boosting properties.

powerlifer Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> veganjuice Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > It would be interesting to hear what some of
> the
> > long term juicer have to say on this subject -
> Jay
> > Kordich for example. I am pretty sure he is
> 100%
> > raw & I do know he juices a lot of greens.
> >
> > He may make up for the iodine intake with
> seaweeds
> > though. Do you eat your seaweeds raw or do you
> > cook them?
>
> I eat seaweeds raw veganjuice or sometimes i use a
> blend of various seaweed granules if i cant be
> bothered eating them. They are rich in minerals
> and have many health boosting properties.


Do you feel you may adjust y0our seaweed intake somewhat in regards to the radioactive water that Japan is dumping into the Pacific?

Not really veganjuice, i mostly use a specific seaweed extract known as brown seaweed extract/modifilan which contains very high levels of algins. Also i always get the current COA on most seaweeds and seaweed products to make sure they conform to acceptable standards.

These algins bind and render any metals/radioactive elements useless. I don't see it being of any issue, but will be speaking to various suppliers of sea vegetables to make sure they are all testing there seaweeds. Which all most likely are being how serious the situation is.

Most of the seaweeds i do eat come from Ireland.

[www.amlaberry.co.uk] - brown seaweed extract.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/07/2011 12:23PM by powerlifer.

This is a good topic.
I will say that I have never been able to achieve 100% raw.Just never have.It all goes back to when mom put a nice hot plate of food on the table,sometimes that being the only comfort on certain days.
But I figure if I can manage in the 90% range,well, look how far even THAT is above the typical SAD diet.
I try to limit ANY cooked foods to just fresh lightly steamed veggies.

One thing I wonder is if a person WAS 100%,for a certain period of time,would the craving for ANY cooked food go away?

Vinny

Sure. But it might come back .

The only real reason I ever needed for eating all raw foods is because I like the way it feels. If it doesn't feel good to you, then don't do it. But it may surprise you.

Prana Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The only real reason I ever needed for eating all
> raw foods is because I like the way it feels. If
> it doesn't feel good to you, then don't do it. But
> it may surprise you.


Oh, I agree with you - it does feel great!

But the cravings...that doesn't feel so great.

I think you will find he is not 100%l raw. Most people that live long lives (Jack La Lanne for instance) also ate some cooked vegetarian meals.

I am not an authority on this because it's only been 9 weeks. But I have recovered from chronic fatigue and my skin is beautiful. I eat 2-3 meals a week, of junk. perogies, chocolate, pizza ect. My improvements have been wonderful despite the junk.

My video to keep me inspired on my health quest: [www.youtube.com]