Nine months ago I began a high raw food diet. For the first six months or so, my diet was 75% to 100 % raw, organic, with a lot of sprouts and soaked nuts, and mostly organic. In the last three months I have gone down to 2/3rds raw, and 1/3rd cooked.

I am trying to understand what is right for my body. In these last three months or so I find my body desiring more fat, and more soft, warm food, which I understand to be cooked food. Hence, I have reduced my raw intake.

In the first six months, my health and my inner life felt better. I also did some fasting during this time, including a 7-day water fast. I lost 15-20 lbs, even though I was not visibly overweight by conventional standards earlier. The sciatic pain I had had for 6-7 years more or less went away, with only occasional and mild comebacks. I have an eye problem called convergence insufficiency which causes stiffness, pain, and other problems in my eyes, which improved appreciably. My skin became a bit more radiant and people commented that I look younger, partly because of the weight loss. I am 31 years old.

However, for the last three months, I find myself having more health problems. My liver began to feel sore in early December. My eyes have gotten worse since then. I have begun to do liver flushes following Andreas Moritz's protocol but it is perhaps to early to say that they have helped me. My hair, which was quite gray earlier, has become more gray. And my thyroid levels, although still within the normal range, have gone a bit towards hyperthyroidism, although not to the extent that I can get a diagnosis.

I wonder if anyone can help me understand what is going on here?

To my understanding, this is how all this can be explained -

Andreas Moritz writes that if the cellulose in raw foods is not digested, then undigested food remains in the colon and creates toxins, which are absorbed by the blood. Plus, raw food may have some toxins which an unhealthy body - especially a weak liver - may not be able to neutralise.

If this is true, perhaps my body's inability to assimilate raw food has made it more toxic and stressed, and hence, the congested liver, and the eye and hair problems?

Also, I am a pure vata type according to Ayurveda. My body needs foods which are moist and warm, so a 100% raw diet may not be suitable for me. Such a diet may increase my already excessive vata, leading to these problems.

At present, listening to my body, to my intuition, and to whatever knowledge I have gathered, I have decided to limit my raw foods to 50-66% and eat more cooked foods for the time being. I have been vegetarian for 12 years and that is not going to change.

If anyone could shed more light on these problems I would be really grateful. It is difficult when you have been to various doctors of different persuasions but they haven't been able to help you, and then you decide to take your health into your own hands, but run into other difficulties. There is so much contradictory information and views out there that it sometimes tends to take over all my time and overwhelm me psychologically too.

Thanks for reading this.

Try to cover the basics. I make sure to cover the basics and not fall into a narrative trap (story telling) from books. You can learn by yourself and adapt by trying things. If you don't feel good, make a change. Don't justify it. Write your own book so to speak.

Thanks Panchito. What is meant by 'the basics'?

calories
protein, carbs, fats
vitamins, minerals

Of the above, there are many things inside that people ignore but that are important. People usually focus on special foods literature. I would check the most common problems and make sure you cover them in your diet just in case you run low.

Moritz died quite sound despite all of his cleansing protocols. Perhaps you should pick a better role model...

Yes, he died relatively young. But I think there is more than one factor influencing this - how sick were you when you began a healthy lifestyle, what your karma is, and other things. I am not particularly concerned with longevity actually.

What he says makes sense to me, so I do that. He isn't a role model, only a friend who knows a lot.

Alright carry on, I disagree completely. More LIFE is more LIFE and I don't know anyone on their death bead that doesn't wish for one more breath...

It looks like over time, you have increased the raw percentage from initially 75% raw down to nearly 50% raw. The appearance of more symptoms happens because initially you ate a lot of raw foods, and this increased your vitality. Then as you increased the amount of cooked foods, your body rebelled a bit with symptoms, even though before your raw days you were eating 100% cooked, and didn't have these kind of symptoms before.

I advise listening to your body. If it were me, I would eat more raw. You also haven't mentioned what your daily intake of raw and cooked foods looks like.

Also, when you say you are 50 to 66% raw now, is that by volume, weight, or calories?

I don't like cleanses, so I don't do them. For a person eating all raw, there is no need to cleanse, except for perhaps some water fasting.

Thank you Prana

9 months on a high raw diet, difficulties and confusions. Please advise.
Posted by: iandthou ()

Hi there is a lot of information out there and it can be confusing.
From my perspective i feel that any changes you make to your diet or supplementation of quitting medication should be done in a gradual manner. Otherwise the system can get a shock .. and I apply that even to good and beneficial additions to your intake. example : going cold turkey by quitting some medications can cause serious side effects just as overdosing.A cancer patient detoxing too much to quickly can die of toxic shock. Drinking too much water can kill you. So gently does it i think is a good motto.
Its difficult to say exactly but it SOUNDS like a combination of too much toxins and possibly a deficiency in certain trace elements and maybe Vit b12 Cobalamine.
Although you are on a raw food diet that does not necessarily mean you are getting enough of the right nutrition. You may find going on Spirulina and or Ganoderma will help greatly as these do not put a burden on your system to process any bulk and at the same time give a wide range of cellular nutrition and help with organ detox and regeneration.. I have tried many varieties of both and ended up with the DXN brand in the end because of how they performed for me. Both are pure and clean and certified. There are many brands out there but the issue i had was very few were actually Producers and certification was scarce... USDA certs don't mean much. The proof of purity is national organic cert , iso 9001 / 14001 and CMP.
i DIGRESS , sPIRULINA IS ALKALINE and contains many constituents, b vitamins, magnesium,B12,and many more it is absorbed quickly.and is bio available.
Ganoderma is an adaptagen and as such seeks out imbalances and tries to adjust the levels whether they be high or low.. some of the benefits are :
adds oxygen to the blood
relaxes the nerves
adjusts blood pressure
adjust blood sugar
adjusts cholesterol both HDL and LDL
Unblocks the micro circulation , blood vessels etc and clears arteries
detoxifies and regenerates the liver , helps kidney function
it is the best immmune booster and immune modulator ( this sorts any allergies and auto immune responses )
Adds energy and aids sleep pattern
HELPS with gut issues , Gi track and related issues.
aids brain and cognative issues
anti tumor effect
The Chinese have been using it for centuries and call it the ''king of herbs ''
it is non toxic, and has no contraindicators I have seen it work very effectively with undiagnosable problems...
Well worth doing the protocol..... The amazing thing i found was that where doctors and therapists may differ on what they think is wrong Ganoderma doesn't make any mistakes due to the way it scans the body and has over 400 different chemical reactions and over 160 antioxidants,it will work on most issues and it doesn't even know the name of the problem !!
If you need other info i can send it to you.

regards
Beneficial4u

Thank you beneficial4u.

How does one find a good source of spirulina? I am in India and all foreign brands are not available or affordable here. The ones that are available - I don't know if they are clean enough. I had considered taking spirulina but then read that water pollution causes toxins to be lodged in it, and also other forms of algae which grow in the vicinity may make spirulina toxic.

[en.wikipedia.org]




beneficial4u Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> 9 months on a high raw diet, difficulties and
> confusions. Please advise.
> Posted by: iandthou ()
>
> Hi there is a lot of information out there and it
> can be confusing.
> From my perspective i feel that any changes you
> make to your diet or supplementation of quitting
> medication should be done in a gradual manner.
> Otherwise the system can get a shock .. and I
> apply that even to good and beneficial additions
> to your intake. example : going cold turkey by
> quitting some medications can cause serious side
> effects just as overdosing.A cancer patient
> detoxing too much to quickly can die of toxic
> shock. Drinking too much water can kill you. So
> gently does it i think is a good motto.
> Its difficult to say exactly but it SOUNDS like a
> combination of too much toxins and possibly a
> deficiency in certain trace elements and maybe Vit
> b12 Cobalamine.
> Although you are on a raw food diet that does not
> necessarily mean you are getting enough of the
> right nutrition. You may find going on Spirulina
> and or Ganoderma will help greatly as these do not
> put a burden on your system to process any bulk
> and at the same time give a wide range of cellular
> nutrition and help with organ detox and
> regeneration.. I have tried many varieties of both
> and ended up with the DXN brand in the end because
> of how they performed for me. Both are pure and
> clean and certified. There are many brands out
> there but the issue i had was very few were
> actually Producers and certification was scarce...
> USDA certs don't mean much. The proof of purity is
> national organic cert , iso 9001 / 14001 and CMP.
> i DIGRESS , sPIRULINA IS ALKALINE and contains
> many constituents, b vitamins, magnesium,B12,and
> many more it is absorbed quickly.and is bio
> available.
> Ganoderma is an adaptagen and as such seeks out
> imbalances and tries to adjust the levels whether
> they be high or low.. some of the benefits are :
> adds oxygen to the blood
> relaxes the nerves
> adjusts blood pressure
> adjust blood sugar
> adjusts cholesterol both HDL and LDL
> Unblocks the micro circulation , blood vessels etc
> and clears arteries
> detoxifies and regenerates the liver , helps
> kidney function
> it is the best immmune booster and immune
> modulator ( this sorts any allergies and auto
> immune responses )
> Adds energy and aids sleep pattern
> HELPS with gut issues , Gi track and related
> issues.
> aids brain and cognative issues
> anti tumor effect
> The Chinese have been using it for centuries and
> call it the ''king of herbs ''
> it is non toxic, and has no contraindicators I
> have seen it work very effectively with
> undiagnosable problems...
> Well worth doing the protocol..... The amazing
> thing i found was that where doctors and
> therapists may differ on what they think is wrong
> Ganoderma doesn't make any mistakes due to the way
> it scans the body and has over 400 different
> chemical reactions and over 160 antioxidants,it
> will work on most issues and it doesn't even know
> the name of the problem !!
> If you need other info i can send it to you.
>
> regards
> Beneficial4u