Hello kind folk,

What a pleasure it is to connect with all of you. I have a few questions regarding the necessity of grains, oils, and seeds in a raw food lifestyle. Are grains raw? And if so which kinds? Do I need to soak them, or prep them in any way? Also, I was reading that olive oil is not raw since it is processed or heated? Is there a raw oil, that I can use for my salads? And last but not least, I have been reading that consumption of too many seeds/nuts is not good, any thoughts...

Thanks EVERYONE

Ok that was a lot to ask I know... so I read up on the sprouting...lots of info on this lovely site, and learned about the grains...though still want to know some thoughts about oils...

Maxi,

Howdy! I use olive oil sparingly, and I buy one that is cold stone pressed and unfiltered. There are European and Californian brands that specify this, and aren't too dear. If you don't use a lot, say occasionally on a salad, it's cost-effective. Various raw foods suppliers online tend to have a small selection of cold processed unfiltered oils. Here are a few:

[www.naturalzing.com]
[www.sunfood.com]
[www.rawguru.com]


I don't eat grains because, well, I am leaving cooked vegetarianism behind, so I should leave its trappings behind as well, I guess. Adieu, bread! What lovely times we had, but the past is the past, mon ami[kiss!]

I do eat sprouted seeds in moderation, chiefly the midget ones[broccoli, radish, alfalfa, onion]in salads, but if I prepare anything with larger seeds, like sunflower or pumpkin, I do sprout them to increase bioavailability of nutrients. Four exceptions for me, the first being hemp seeds, which in this country are unsproutable : ( They're still healthy even when hulled, as long as raw and fresh. Number two is sesame; difficult to find whole unhulled brown ones, but those apparently sprout well. I just muddle through with store-bought raw tahini. Third is flaxseed; I may pulverize raw whole ones for adding to soup or salad dressing, but I've never successfully sprouted 'em. Odd. Last are chia seeds; same qualifier as for flax seeds. Odd x 2.

Happy hunting!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/22/2009 02:36PM by Tamukha.

Those foods are not necessary, but many raw foodists use them. Myself, I don't eat grains or oil, but I will eat seeds.

Consumption of too many nuts/seeds, or for that matter, too much of anything is not going to be healthy for you. The secret is to find out what is not too much, what feels good, both after you finish the meal and during the digestion of the meal.

For myself, if I eat them, I will eat 1/4 cup or less of nuts/seeds a day.

I too do not eat oils or grains at all. I do not eat sprouts either. I eat a few sunflower and pumpkin seeds and nuts.(But very few)

Hi Maxi,

I don't eat grains either and I VERY rarely do some sprouting.
I do use organic olive oil sparingly on my salads. Good organic first cold pressed oil is not heated so should be Ok from a raw point of view although it is "processed".

good luck on your raw journey,

Cynthia

thank you all for your very helpful suggestions and opinions.

So I wanted to know, is it better to soak seeds, or sprout them? Take sunflower, sesame, flax and pumpkin seeds for example...oh and the lentils too, it is it better to soak or sprout. Some people have told me to soak nuts and seeds, and others say sprout them...

maxi

like some people say, moderation is key since too many fats aren't good cuz of a myriad of reasons

that being said, i think the contention for me is the fact that its not easy to tell if certain seeds, nuts are actually good or rancid

a lot of nuts are rancid and a lot more are heated

with oils, even if they are "raw", a lot of them can become rancid inside the jar even if they are made with integrity

how do i know this?

i go with how my stomach feels after consuming some of these so called "raw" oils

and it tells me everything ...

an oil that is rancid will hurt your stomach

oil that is fresh, raw, organic and not rancid will not hurt your stomach

the fat product that i like because it is EASY to tell whether or not it is rancid or fresh is the avocado

reason being, when i cut the avocado open and it is GREEN and creamy, i know its good

but if it has brown spots, i know that part is not to be consumed

not so easy to tell ( and sometimes impossible) with things like oils/fats especially if they are in a jar or bottle

how are you supposed to know ?

sometimes the oil is not COMPLETELY rancid ( its usually in between) so you may feel just "fine" after consuming it

the avocado is more "transparent"... its state of freshness is openly displayed,
like a meter ... just look at the coloration and it tells the entire story

nuts have always been a toss up

they are labeled raw when they usually are not ( maybe the manufacturers don't know what RAW means...which hurts the consumers who think they are getting a raw product when they are not... then the oil is rancid and carcinogenic)

as for grains

not my specialty

so i'm glad others are answering

I would definitely eat sprouts if nothing else.

I think some raw fooders eat sprouted/soaked buckwheat, which is a fruit, but a lot of people mistake it for a grain.

I can't think of any grains I have eaten raw.

I do get cold-filtered, first pressing, organic, unfiltered oils but use them rarely.

Maxi,

It's better to sprout seeds for digestability, but if you don't sprout them, merely soaking them is OK. Likewise, if you can neither sprout nor even soak them, chewing them really, really well is better than nothing.

As for lentils and other pulses: these must be sprouted in order to make them at all digestible--eating an unsprouted pulse or bean can cause serious digestive upset.

Good luck!

Hi Maxi

I have raw sprouted grain at least once every week, in the form of Essene bread. Here's a link to some info on why many raw fooders do have raw sprouted grains, followed by the instructions for Essene bread:

[debbietookrawforlife.blogspot.com]

I also eat plenty of nuts and seeds, and, if you are new to raw, I really wouldn't worry about 'not eating too much'. I certainly didn't in my first year, and neither did the many raw fooders who have transformed their healthy on raw. After a while, you may come to prefer a simpler, lighter raw food diet, but let that come naturally, rather than limiting yourself too much in the early stages.

Oils - again, this is something I had quite a lot of in the early months of raw, enjoying it on my salads (eg cold-pressed olive oil, flax oil etc) then after a while found a salad with avocado, or nuts/seeds in it, WITH oil just too much fat, ie didn't like the taste and didn't make me feel good! But in the early stages, go with whatever you fancy.

I also enjoy raw, sprouted pulses. You will find some raw people will tell you these are the devil incarnate. All I can say is that I have no digestive problems with them and see them as a good part of my diet.

Just two 'do's and 'don'ts:

Do eat lots of fruit and leaves, but don't mix the fruit with or eat it shortly after 'heavier' food (eg nuts/grains/starches), unless you want...blow-up!

Very best wishes!

I enjoy nuts and seeds, and consider them an absolutely essential part of my raw food diet. I also enjoy sprouted grains, but very little. Maybe 3/4 cup (sprouted) a week at most. I usually eat them in their fresh sprouted stage, although I like them smashed and dried into bread when we have the sun here to do that.

On combining, I've found I can easily combine any kind of fruit with nuts or seeds. But I can't combine greens with nuts or seeds. Go figger, but greens have always been difficult for me, and maybe that's why. I can combine fruit with greens. And I can eat avocado with both fruit and greens.

I NEVER eat nut butters, or nuts that are not truly raw. I never eat nuts or seeds that aren't organic, because the nonorganic ones have made me extremely ill.

Two or three times a week, I have a little organic cold-pressed olive oil on a salad, but I know it's not necessary.

I consider myself to be successfully and happily all raw!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/23/2009 07:41PM by suncloud.

what a lovely outlook, suncloud....i can almost feel your happiness!

happiness all over, thanks everyone.I am transitioning and I appreciate the do's and dont's since I have a very tolerable system, but unfortunately a few blockages, that will prevent me from feeling the full effect of what I'm eating.

Is an almond rancid if it builds up brown goo around the edges?
I can only assume so. If that is the case, I totally understand the whole rancid nut theory, pretty sad and unappetizing.

Hi Maxi

You'll be able to taste whether an almond is rancid. It has the most horrible taste - quite unmistakeable - you'll want to spit it out.

Almonds are no longer sold raw anyways. Since 2007 they must be sold steam pasteurized which kills the living enzymes. I found a local food co-op that can still get really raw almonds, but they are not sold on the grocery store shelves.

I can get raw almonds. To say they aren't sold raw is incorrect, which you kind of corrected yourself and then contradicted yourself, anyway.

Its to bad about the law against raw almonds - I really liked them.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/27/2009 01:14PM by EZ rider.

Utopian Life,

Perhaps where you are located you can. In general in American health food stores and groceries, all almonds labeled raw are actually either flash pasteurized or irradiated, but aren't legally required to be labeled as such. A few places online have true raw almonds, and maybe some health food stores or farmers markets in Cali do. I'm in the upper Midwest, and unless I get them online, it's a no on raw almonds here.

UK readers.. ours are still raw - for now. But where the US leads we usually follow.

I live in Philadelphia and can go in HFS for raw almonds, and go to NYC for raw almonds, or the suburbs of Philadelphia for raw almonds. They can be found.

I wouldn't trust a conventional store for anything labeled "raw," not limited to almonds! I hope no one else does w/o further research.

Utopian Life,

Have you asked the person responsible for purchasing at the health food stores you patronize exactly how the almonds are processed? Have you asked to see the shipping box the almonds came in? At my hfs; a long-standing private one with sharp personnel, they admitted that they weren't sure how their "raw" almonds were processed, but the supplier was not one of those that are known to sell true, non-irradiated, unpasteurized almonds, so--suspect! It is possible to get imported almonds which aren't subject to the pasteurization law, but much more difficult to find out how they were processed at all. For example, my local Arabic merchant imports some nuts, including almonds, from the Middle East. He will have to contact the vendors there to find out for me how the nuts are processed. Big hassle!

I would be curious to know what the brand name is for the raw almonds you get in Philly, NYC, etc., and if it's the same source for each location.

Uhm, I don't need to ask, considering I go to raw-food-friendly sections of health-food stores or entirely raw stores. One brand is Better Than Roasted; another is Good Stuff By Mom & Me; another one is Awesome Foods. You can Google these but I guess if you have trouble, I'll try to help.

These are sprouted/germanated, and then dehydrated at low temperatures.

All due respect, I know how to be raw. And I rarely eat nuts, so if you want me to send some to you, I can.

I just bought a bag of raw certified organic almonds - they are from Spain. Too bad that we can't buy them anymore from US.

Cynthia

Can buy them in US but not from US, I suppose.

I just don't know why it seems like I was being second-guessed.....I'm clearly a raw foodist, in fact 100% right now, whereas before, I was 99; been raw over a year.....maybe I just interpreted a tone that wasn't there.

When I say "raw," I mean raw!! RAWR!

Utopian Life,

Thanks for listing the names of the brands. None of those is a brand that my hfs deals with; I will ask to see if they could, but there is a great probability that distribution is limited. No one is impugning your dedication to rawness, UL : ) What I am trying to get at is that the availability of raw almonds that you enjoy may not be our experience in the rest of the country. You are lucky enough to be shopping at large metropolises on the East Coast and maybe the importer/distributor doesn't move west beyond that range. One last thing I just noticed: these brands that you buy are sprouted and then dehydrated again. None of them is just a plain old air or sun dried raw almond, right? I'll look into where they are grown, because this is odd to me. Maybe they're foreign-grown. Or maybe this is some loophole around the pasteurization requirement.

It's my understanding the almonds are imported raw from somewhere, like Spain, then sprouted HERE (not elsewhere) by the individual companies, and then dehydrated in their dehydrators at low temps.