Based upon research from several different sources, I have come to realize that the aforementioned items are no- no's in the raw food diet. (according to many ray foodists)

A bummer, because I really enjoy tomato/onion green pepper sandwiches. Not to mention herbs, such as Ginger, Peppermint, which I use in juicing, possibly Cilantro...

Some of this info is gleaned from [www.rawfoodexplained.com]

some from other sources. I know there are many raw foodists on here that have been at this longer than I. What are your thoughts/ideas on the subject?

BTW, do you guys like avocados at all? I have tried about a half dozen over the years, & they all seem to taste like a hard boiled egg to me. I don't really care for them.

As a huge lover of all 3 foods, with no negative side-effects, I will definitely have to study up on your research to understand those conclusions. I understand how different people don't easily tolerate the various foods in their system, however, I'd have to do ALOT of research to rule out TOMATOES !! They're a favorite in our home and hubby loves when I make him our home version of "V8" juice. =) I can eat the little darlings by the hand-ful and a wonderful side note for them is that they ALWAYS keep me regular (not that I have issues there - it's just a nice, reliable benefit). I can go easy on the onions and garlic simply for the toleration factor, but I still HUGELY love and believe in those ingredients.

So, I'm off to research to learn more and try to understand, but it will take a HUGE amount of convincing. =)

I LOVE avocados, but I'm very selective. I only use the Haas (Hass?) brand and use them only when they are very ripe (not rotten). When they are perfectly ripe, they taste "buttery" to me - almost nutty. I can devour them plain by the handful. =) Of course sometimes I cut into one that is not as ripe as I would like and has less flavor. I just throw those into salads (or blend into raw soups) for the nutrition. To me personally, they taste best when they are perfectly ripe. I can eat them plain, but others like to mix them with salt, garlic, lemon, or other seasonings. Another interesting way my mother used to fix them was to mash and mix with raw honey (no, don't start the HONEY discussion! *LOL*), and it made for a very yummy creamy flavor on toast (back in my toast days) - almost like whipped honey/butter. I DO NOT use the other brand - large, round, smooth, bright green. I forget the name, but they tend to be watery and stringy, in my experience.

Off to do some reading - with a big question mark on my forehead. *LOL* =)

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"Educate and inform the whole mass of the people... They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty."
—Thomas Jefferson

juicerkatz Wrote:
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>
> Some of this info is gleaned from
> [www.rawfoodexplained.com]

I remember reading from this website alot when I was questioning about fremented foods and I was reminded by members on this forum that it was only one opinion and that a completely opposite opinion, with supportive evidence, could be found in other places as well. I think in some cases it comes down to personal conviction and personal preferences based on personal study and understanding. I'm still reading, but that site reminded me of that earlier discussion some months back. Still reading, though........ =)

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"Educate and inform the whole mass of the people... They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty."
—Thomas Jefferson

Always loved avos but have recently developed an aversion to them, so am not eating them at present. That's my word on that one.

As for the other foods, I don't rely on any argument against a natural, unprocessed plant food, commonly eaten, to urge me to excise these foods from my diet if I thrive on them. I abhor the advocation of rigidity, abhor it, because it usually springs from latent control needs. Self discipline is a positive attribute; asceticism can be. But abject self-deprivation, well, motivations can be murky(not suggesting that's the case with you jk).

If one feels unwell on herbs or nightshades or whatever, and one has found scientific data that explains why one may feel unwell on herbs, or nightshades, or whatever, then it's prudent to give them up. Otherwise, um, the rationale isn't based on one's own health needs . . . so don't know where you go from here, except to refine further and just eat whatever isn't verboten. I guess. Good luck.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/13/2009 03:15PM by Tamukha.

can you please show me where it says about tomatoes?

For me tomatoes are an excellent food. When I first started raw, I was eating lots of raw onions and garlic. But over time, I let them go.

Try this: don't eat onions and garlic for 3 months. Then go back and try them, and see if they still taste good to you.

Do the same with tomatoes. After the fall season, I don't eat tomatoes for 6 months. But when they come back in season, I find them very delicious.

The above advice is certainly correct. There are those who seek to avoid such items. I second Bryan's advice and suggest that you try a period of avoiding them....and then going back to them...and comparing how you feel.

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

I agree with both Bryan and David. That seems to be the most logical process for any ingredient in question. Each individual's system is going to tolerate products differently, whether it is because of our particular chemical make-up or because of previous damage done to our bodies through improper diet or health practices. I would be devastated if I had to give up tomatoes, but I guess I would do it if my body told me it was necessary.

*****************************
"Educate and inform the whole mass of the people... They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty."
—Thomas Jefferson

I agree that ripe hass avocados are fantastic - fuerte, (green, smooth skin) are more bland and watery.

I believe that any fresh, unadulterated fruit or vegetable is fine to eat if you like it and it suits you.

My body isn't giving me any signals (that I'm aware of) that I should necessarily give up any of these foods, rather I was going on the approach of a "mono" diet, I suppose.

We all know about that, where one particular food is eaten at one time, not combining with others. And to build on that, where if a food cannot support itself to be eaten by itself that that is crossed off the list. Such as with a Tomato/Onion/Garlic and herbs.

Bryan, I don't want to mis-quote you here, but I thought I remember reading on a post on here recently that you felt this same way. If that was your post, I am somewhat surprised to see that you say you would eat tomatoes while in season; Does that mean if you lived in the growing area that you would eat them year round?

Most of us would not sit down to a plate of garlic/onions/tomatoes & consume just that, or a plate of peppermint or other herb & do the same. I guess that is where I am coming from on this line of thinking. Plus, it is assuredly easier on the digestive system to be working with only one type of food at a time.

Pending further research, I suppose...

people wouldn't just eat just tomatoes plain....?

sometimes i eat 20 tomatoes in a sitting...

ILoveJen Wrote:
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> people wouldn't just eat just tomatoes plain....?
>
> sometimes i eat 20 tomatoes in a sitting...


Wow! I like them, but not quite that much!

I've been raw for three years and have no problems with tomatoes and certainly wouldn't want to stop eating them, or even restrict their use. They're an integral part of many of my raw dishes.

I have onions and garlic occasionally, but less and less as I do feel there are good reasons for avoiding them.

I love tomatoes and eat them as often as the desire strikes. Onions I can do without, don't really like them at all; but I do like garlic and I was under the impression that garlic is supposed to be very good for you?

The avos..I like them but I need to mix them with something: salad, perhaps a little salt..I find them creamy but somewhat bland. Perhaps I'm not choosing the right ones.

Blessed Be,
Amarynth

oh gosh a good avocado is just amazing ...

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

if i eat onions or garlic it is all i can smell and taste for the rest of the day. i can never eat them alone...

i think i am going to try to do that and go for a long time without tomatoes just to see what happens. it's a difficult thing for me to think of giving up...

Tomatoes are ok with me.

The only time I eat garlic and onions is when I fall back to eating cooked foods.

Otherwise, when I on my 100% raw stretch I never eat onions and garlic.

Oh yes I can eat 5 or 6 tomatoes for a whole meal. I live on 'em during summertime. I also love onions in my salad, especially green spring onions. Love the flavor. I've just never had a bad experience with any of those ingredients. Love to eat sweet Vidalia onions or green onions just by themselves. Yum.

*****************************
"Educate and inform the whole mass of the people... They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty."
—Thomas Jefferson

Hi juicerkatz
I let go of onions and garlic several years ago. I eat tomatoes almost every day. If they taste good, I eat them.
Sometimes good tomatoes are dificult to source, thats the only time that i ever exclude them from my diet.
ffx

I like eating tomatoes by themselves or mixed with other raw stuff, and they don't seem to hurt me at all.

I love garlic, but currently experimenting without it, and haven't eaten any for about a month. I don't notice much of a difference, but maybe I would if I ate it again.

As for avocados, I consider them a semi-staple food, and feel fortunate to live where we can grow our own. Varieties include Sharwil, Green Gold, Linda, Malama Ki, Murashige, Yamagata, Kahaluu, Ota, San Miguel, and some wonderful unnamed varieties from seed as well. My favorite is probably Murashige.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/14/2009 10:56PM by suncloud.

I tend to not eat much garlic anymore except when I feel like I'm in the first stages of getting a cold or flu. When I use garlic its more for the potent antibiotic. Garlic has been called "Russian Penicillin" because it is know to be a powerful natural medicine.
"Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food"-Hippocrates

One thing I've noticed (or think I've noticed) about garlic:

It seems to smell better on vegan breath than on omnivore breath. Maybe it's because the garlic is flushing out toxins, and some toxins are released when we breathe?

read www.rawfoodexplained.com this will answer all of your questions

stylestacey Wrote:
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> read www.rawfoodexplained.com this will answer all
> of your questions

That's an excellent resource, but important to keep in mind that it's only one person(s) information. You can find some contradictory information in other places that sounds just as logical and fact-based. I still think it comes down the the invidual's needs, preferences, and personal physiological make-up. What works for one won't necessarily work for another. It is vitally important that we DO educate ourselves from all of these wonderful resources, but ultimately the educated decision comes down to those three factors imho.

BTW - I still can't find on that that particular website where tomatoes are taboo? Can someone show me specifically so I can read up about it? Thanks.

*****************************
"Educate and inform the whole mass of the people... They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty."
—Thomas Jefferson

[www.aruraclinic.com]

here is one link i found. take it for what you will.

That's an interesting source and fascinating reading, although I am not convinced that the list of patients with all the health problems were strictly caused BY eating tomatoes. I can believe that some of the health problems improved while avoiding the offending ingredient, however, I'm sure that if they were at that stage of seeking relief, they were also making OTHER beneficial changes in their diet and lifestyle. You don't just suffer from heart problems, blood pressure, and other chronic lifestyle-caused diseases by simply eating tomatoes and neither is it magically cured by simply STOPPING to eat tomatoes. I can agree that people do suffer medical conditions and/or health problems from certain food products, but would be hard-pressed to believe that an entire lifetime of severe illness or odd medical anomalies could be attributed to eating TOMATOES. It just seems to laughable.

I also notice alot of "talk" with no scientific data to back up the information. I tend to believe more data-based and fact-based information. No particular studies quoted or study groups outlined. It all sounds very opinion-based. Very interesting reading, but far from convincing enough for me to give up tomatoes. =)

*****************************
"Educate and inform the whole mass of the people... They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty."
—Thomas Jefferson

Logically, humans would not have evolved eating large amounts of strong herbs, or strong foods like onions and garlic. The same goes for bitter greens - I feel that if a food taste too strong to have a lot of on its own, than it is not a food that is supposed to be eaten in large amounts?

Although, throughout out evolution, we would have had to be opportunistic eaters, therefore I am sure some raw herbs would have been consumed if we HAD to depend on them when other food was scarce.

Interestingly, about a week ago I ate raw onion and it caused me to feel unwell. This is after avoiding onion for a couple of months. Although, it could have been because the onion was bad?

In regards to tomato’s, I have read about the Paleolithic diet, and websites and sources of information on this diet, which is raw but still has animals and tubers, claim that raw tomato’s have been a very recent addition to our diets, thus making them not ideal?

Proponents of the paleo diet also claim that peanuts and white potato’s, in addition to tomato’s, are too recent in our evolutionary history for us to have gotten used to.

I find I eat tomatoes when fresh grown and in season only. My ancestry claimed the tomato a poisonous food. It is a member of the nightshade, but like all families, certain foods contain more concentrated substances in their parts than other foods in the family.

For instance: in the carrot family, the seed of celery is used for seasoning, but the seed of parsley is very toxic; and the green of carrot is used for food, but the green of poison hemlock will kill you.

Again, these are substances that the plant produces to protect itself usually from insect pests. These substances taken when the plant is young actually stimulates our immune system.

So onto herbs... Most greens (herbs) when young are considered edible, but many when they are mature contain high amounts of certain acids or alkaloids that can become a problem in large quantities. For instance: spinach, beet greens, and chard all contain in their mature leaf large amounts of oxalic acid. If consumed in excess, this acid ties up calcium. Therefore I prefer to eat my greens at younger states and especially like them in their sprouted stage.

Take it for what you will, but I have problems with nightshades. I had *very* bad joint pain for years. Every morning I woke up with burning muscles and joints that felt swollen and tender. I went from eating very large amounts of nightshades, tomatoes in particular, to none and in two weeks much of my chronic joint pain was gone.

I have since added nightshades back into my diet in smaller quantities and do not have the kind of joint paint I had before. I find them very difficult to avoid as they are what grows best in this region and very prevalent. I have been avoiding potatoes and eggplant, however, as they are not for raw consumption.

Because of the potential health benefits, had I not experienced these problems I would not avoid them any more than I would avoid oranges because someone else got a stomachache on them.

Studies do exist on this phenomenon. Here is one:
[www.noarthritis.com]

I am confused on the subject of garlic. I didn't eat it much as a kid and then as I got older I found that I was reacting to having it put in foods in restaurants. Most people experience some degree of bad breath after eating garlic, but I reeked. The stuff would not only be on my breath, but it would seep out my pores in my sweat for two or three days after eating the stuff. It was incredibly strong; you could smell me across the room. I would also wake up in the middle of the night with "garlic sweats". I started to avoid the stuff like a vampire. Since garlic is supposed to have very strong detox effects, I wondered whether my body reacting that way was actually a good thing in that it was cleansing. I forced myself to eat it again and after a period of time I got used to it, so I don't have those reactions (except for the breath, of course). I still don't know if my reaction meant I should avoid it or I really needed it.

As far as only eating what you could make a meal of, I've read that too and find it odd. I find making any food into a mono-meal difficult. But, if forced to, tomatoes would be one of the easier foods to do this with. I also can eat parsley in large quantities like lettuce. On that advice alone, I wouldn't avoid either tomatoes or *all* herbs.

But, those are just my thoughts and experiences.

I eat all of those, too. Tomatoes are sometimes a staple and is considered a superfood. Some people don't like onion or garlic b/c they are smelly. Koreans eat garlic in large quantities and they don't have garlic body odor. Onions are delicious in Onion bread or on raw sandwiches, salads, etc.

There are alot of theories out there, the only way to find the truth for your body is to look at your body's reactions after eating the above. This was one reason I stopped eating Pork while still on SAD prior to raw veganism. I'm so glad I did that since I found about the Trichina worm in all Pork and pork byproducts.