Should you take a suplement pill while on a raw food diet. I have been.

I know some will have different opinions on this, as I know there are a few really good vit/mineral supplements out there, but...

I used to, but don't any longer. When I did take them, I would chew them up & then swallow with food, not swallow the pill whole. With the amount of raw I consume, combined with the juicing/smoothies, I feel it is no longer necessary for me. Now, I don't have bloodwork to back that up;

However, a friend works for a MLM company that sells liquid vitamins & they will do a free urine analysis for you that will give you a breakdown of deficiencies.

Even though I know they just want to push their products on me, I thought I might take him up on it, (the free test) just for giggles.

The ONLY thing that I take that would be considered a supplement would be the "superfood" Barleygreen, which is in a powder form. I will take several TBSP/per day by mouth. I love the "green" taste of it.


Many Raw foodists advise against a supplement pill. Jay Kordich (juicedaddy) is one that advises against. I suppose if you were shown to be deficient in something it would be a consideration, but I would still try to correct it with living foods first.


What supplement pill do you take?

my thoughts would be , first i would find out by scientic means d(blood test ect.) if i am truly low or deficient in something ... then i would seek out the foods or lifestyle that provide me with those nutrients .. if i continued to be deficient because of deficient food or for example not getting enough sun etc. .. then i would supplement ...

micro managing your health on the micro-biological level is a very difficult thing to do unless you are really savvy in understanding how all the vitamins, minerals and nutrients work together symbiotically.. not doing something or overdoing something can throw another half dozen things out of whack

its a very fine dance, in my opinion, get to know the symptoms of deficiencies , test yourself , do what feels rights and go from there

and try not to get overwhelmed and anxious over it all, we can make things very simple or very complicated anxiety and stress can really eat away at us and upset chemical imbalances .. addressing your anxieties and stress and using calming things like yoga, tai chi, qi gong (many youtube instruction videos on them all are available) etc. could probably help you bring things more into balance for you

just my 2 cents

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist




Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/20/2009 07:56PM by Jgunn.

I think that in the beginning - it probably couldn't hurt....and might put your mind at ease. Later on? My personal practice is that a wide variety of fresh fruits & vegetables will limit the need for supplementation.....which I think is over-indulged in American practice.

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

If u eat everything u should supplements are just a waste of cash

I took some dried powders at the beginning of my raw process 8 years ago, but after a few weeks I quit. I haven't supplemented since that time.

I feel great and healthy on my diet of raw fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds.

No. I work at a health food store and get free training by all of these supplement companies. Honestly most of what they put into these pills isn't stuff people should be putting in their bodies because they are coming from synthetically derived vitamins. Meaning instead of getting vitamins from food they are getting creating them in a lab. Our bodies don't recognize these vitamins, our bodies cannot use them and there is some evidence they even create harm. There are some exceptions to this, there are a few wholefood vitamin companies but it is really hard to keep the vitamins in food stable in pill form. However, I think almost everyone should be taking an ionic mineral supplement. Ionic minerals are the most easily absorbed into the body, so you only need to take them in very small amounts. Due to soil depletion most of us do not get enough minerals, Eidon who makes ionic minerals also sells a test kit. A healthy raw diet should provide every thing else.

I took some at the start and still had b12 shots..now I dont bother

Just look how long man survived without all those magical little pills.
Me? Yes I do take them "just to be sure",but has been stated,its probably just for psychological reasons.

Vinny

Most supplements are not useful in my opinion. As has been stated, what could be a better supplement than the fresh, raw foods that we should be eating anyways?

I think eating SAD has two parts:
1) eating dead foods
2) eating pills

Hi Hk,

You may find this article of interest:

[debbietookrawforlife.blogspot.com]

I take a B12 supplement but that's all. I believe that apart from B12, a raw food vegan diet has the potential to be a more balanced and complete source of nutrients than any other diet. In my view, supplements are unnecessary and possibly harmful. If a person has a deficiency, it can best be corrected by adding raw foods that contain the necessary nutrients. We can get Vitamin D from sunshine, keeping in mind that some of us need to be careful not to get too much.