"Can You Write Down a List of What I Should Eat"?

I get this question frequently from people who want to transition to a raw regime. It happened again today. I never have ever done it for anyone who asked because I don't come with a plan.

Any suggestions?

This is someone I haven't seen for a long time who once was influenced by me to go raw and did it for several months. Today, she commented on how healthy I look.

By the way, Coconutcream, I pulled up your picture on this board to show her how healthy you look because you have that glow going on - and she could see it.

She wants to try it again but says her potassium plummeted the last time she did it. (Really???)

Does anyone know where I can direct her? There is no plan to my diet other than just eating lots of whatever I want. I suppose I put a little emphasis on greens but otherwise, I don't particularly analyze it.

Is there a book I could point her to?

-A variety of fresh fruit (+frozen fruit for smoothies)
-Green juices (+other veggie juices such as carrot/beet/cucumber)
-Salads with greens, sprouts, red bell peppers, cucumbers, etc.
-Sprouted nuts and seeds (including nut milks)
-Coconut water

For snacks... kale chips, flavored nuts & seeds, raw cacao, dried fruit (such as goji berries and golden berries)

When I was first transitioning into a healthier lifestyle, I ate so many goji berries and so much raw cacao. Also lots of fresh fruit, nuts and seeds. This was before I went 100% raw and was still steaming broccoli, cauliflower, and asparagus. After some initial detox phases, I'd start recommending algae's, which would kick start more detox phases but also provide vital nutrients. Wouldn't want to overwhelm someone's system by going 100% raw with algae's all at the same time.

This is by no means gospel (there is lots of room for debate) but might be a good place to start:

Greens for protein, minerals, vitamins, and EFAs:
1-2 heads of lettuce
1-2 handfuls of spinach
1-2 servings of broccoli, cauliflower, kale, etc.

more EFAs:
3-4 walnuts
1 avocado

The rest of your calories can come from sweet and nonsweet fruits of all kinds. Fruit could be the bulk of your calories. Remember the nonsweet fruits tomato, zucchini, bell pepper, etc. are botanically fruit.

You will also need a source of B12 (nutritional yeast, fortified food, or supplement) and D (most people use sunshine).

You can combine these to make salads, juices, smoothies, etc. or just eat them plain.

Some people do a lot more fat and some people limit fat deliberately. I have a more moderate approach. No doubt unprocessed fats are the best kinds of fats but there are ratios that might be prudent to aim for (omega6mega3 4:1 or lower).

Some people use superfoods. I do not.

You should also try to incorporate a wide variety of foods. There are a lot of mono eaters here. I think variety is important but not everyone agrees.

You can check to see that you meet all your nutrient requirements at [cronometer.com] for calculating your macro- and micronutrient intakes to see if you meet all your nutrient requirements. It's free.

I personally do not feel that RDAs are government propaganda but the best guess as to what keeps people free from nutrient deficiencies. Also it must be stated that other countries have somewhat different RDAs, such as Japan. Furthermore because you are coming in from a raw vegan perspective, some modification might be appropriate. But to say that I know exactly what these modifications must entail would imply that I know better than scientists, which is patently false.

One thing that is probably true: if your polyunsaturated fat intake is low, you probably do not need as much vitamin E as what is recommended.

Thanks jtprindl and arugula. That will help.

OH, and you might want to eat one brazil nut per day for selenium.