Hi everybody,

I am currently battling two chronic illnesses, endometriosis and major depression (not to mention obesity and the beginnings of heart disease) Recently, I've been doing a lot of research into a raw food lifestyle in relation to my health issues in lieu of the medications I take for both the endo and the depression. The recovery almost seems too good to be true.

I am a major believer in the benefits of organic foods and even though I've been carnivorous all my life, I'm not opposed to removing it from my diet. Especially after learning that animal foods contribute to the inflammation of tissue, which is terrible for my endo.

I love fruit raw. I love salads. I love coconut, avacados, nuts, and dehydrated foods like berries and apricots. Basically, I love plants. I'm not entirely fond of raw vegetables, though, and frankly, some of them are really hard for me to chew..

So, here are some questions for every one.

How do you ensure that you get enough healthy fats in your diets? What do you use for your salads in terms of dressing and flavor. I've always been a huge fan of dill, cilantro, salt and pepper with olive oil. Is this okay?

How often do you eat in a given day? Do you tend to graze or do you have three "square" meals a day along with snacks?

Big concern for me: How long does it take for the cravings of junk and bad food to go away?

For those of us not exposed to health food stores and farmers markets, how do you ensure a variety of foods?

Dehydrating: Do any of you ever just use your oven? I'm really on a tight, tight budget and plan on picking myself up a new blender and a juicer. Do I really need a dehydrator or will my oven be able to do the job?

I don't like sprouts. Seriously. What can I do in lieu of this?

Is it possible to do a raw food diet on a budget? Keep in mind that I don't have a place to grow my own stuff. I can access tropical fruits dirt-cheap for the most part, but not other stuff. Organic is so much more than inorganic. However, I would think that cutting out meat would easily give me the leverage I need to be able to afford raw food.

Thanks every one,
Ally

The way to get enough healthy fats is to quit eating the unhealthy fats on a raw diet. If you are eating vegetable oils, you are mostly getting omega-6, putting you out of balance with omega-3. If you cut out the oils, and watch the nut and seed intake, you won't get out of balance with omega-3.

That is, if you eat lots of greens, and a moderate amount of the overt fats (ie avocados, nuts, seeds, coconuts, etc), you will be getting plenty of healthy fats.

I eat twice a day. But when I first went raw, I was eating 5-6 meals a day, because my stomach couldn't hold that much raw foods. There is a stretching of the stomach that needs to happen, as cooked foods are so much smaller and more calorie dense than raw foods.

As for costs, unfortunately meat is cheaper than fresh fruits. Sad, but true. And grains and meats are heavily subsidized by the government, while fresh produce is not as subsidized.

I rarely eat sprouts. I don't mind them, but I prefer lettuce and celery as my greens.

You don't need a dehydrator. You can eat fresh fruits and salads. A blender and food processor is nice to have though. A juicer you can do without.

The way to get a lot of healthy calories on raw is to eat fruit. If you are eating an all raw diet, and you are not eating sweet fruit, then most of your calories will be coming from fat. Many raw foodists have a fat intake of over 60% fat, which is higher than the very high fat Standard American Diet, which is 40% fat.

Hi, Ally,

Welcome!

Maybe these suggestions will help:

How do you ensure that you get enough healthy fats in your diets?
It's usually more of a problem keeping the percentage of fats down, rather than getting enough. You can enter everything that you eat for a day on a site like www.fitday.com and see what the percentage of fat is for that day. (It's a hassle to do that everyday, but you only need to do it enough times to get a sense of what the right amounts are. Many people try to keep their percentage of fats between 10 and 20%. You'll be surprised at how quickly it adds up.)

What do you use for your salads in terms of dressing and flavor. I've always been a huge fan of dill, cilantro, salt and pepper with olive oil. Is this okay?
You'll need to watch the amount of olive oil. To stretch dressings I sometimes add pulpy fruit juices (like orange juice). Some people have problems combining fruit with salad vegetables, but I don't. Lemon juice add lots of flavor. I sometimes add a squirt of Braggs for flavor, although it may not be raw (so you may not want to use it).

How often do you eat in a given day? Do you tend to graze or do you have three "square" meals a day along with snacks?
Initially I "gave myself permission" to eat whenever I wanted - as long as it was raw. (I only limited the amount of nuts and avocado to keep fats under control.) Even so, I lost weight easily. After a year of being almost 100% raw, I have added maybe 10% cooked food back in to my diet, so now I find I need to be more watchful about how much I eat and eat three meals and a couple of snacks.

Big concern for me: How long does it take for the cravings of junk and bad food to go away?
It took a few days for me to get over caffeine withdrawal. Whenever you get cravings, eat some fruit or have a salad. If you're still wanting bad stuff, dehydrated foods can help put off cravings for junk, but they have a lot of concentrated sugar without the water, so you may want to go easy on them. If that didn't help, go ahead and eat some nuts or avocado. I think it's better to "cheat" with raw food than to give in to junk food. It's like we've been addicts and just have to go cold turkey or we'll find ourselves back in addictive eating patterns again. I found that the longer I kept away from junk food/bad food, the less I wanted it. A lot of those foods seem really disgusting to me now. It's not that way for everyone, though.

For those of us not exposed to health food stores and farmers markets, how do you ensure a variety of foods?
My local health food store is just too expensive and the farmer's market is not dependable, so I get most of my food from regular grocery stores. There are two smaller ones that I get some deals from, but I look for specials and do fine getting variety.

Dehydrating: Do any of you ever just use your oven? I'm really on a tight, tight budget and plan on picking myself up a new blender and a juicer. Do I really need a dehydrator or will my oven be able to do the job?
I tried my oven, but find that I don't like the hassle of dehydrating. I have become so spoiled by the ease of making simple raw foods that I rarely make anything complicated. The problem with an oven is that the temperature may not go low enough. To correct that, you can prop the door partially open. If you do decide to get a dehydrator, get one with temperature control. I just buy dehydrated fruit from bulk bins at my regular grocery store. I use a blender often. Green smoothies rock! I don't have a juicer. Someday when I have extra money, I will get one. Oh, every now and then I get a craving for flax crackers. I just mix flax seeds with water, add a dash of Braggs, let the seeds absorb the water and then spread the mixture on plastic wrap (because I don't own a non-stick teflex sheet). Since I can't put plastic wrap in an oven, I just set it in the sun until dry. Yum.

I don't like sprouts. Seriously. What can I do in lieu of this?
Eat lots and lots of leafy greens! Sneak small amounts of sprouts in salads. Have you tried mung bean sprouts? They don't have a bitter taste that most other sprouts have.

Is it possible to do a raw food diet on a budget? Keep in mind that I don't have a place to grow my own stuff. I can access tropical fruits dirt-cheap for the most part, but not other stuff. Organic is so much more than inorganic. However, I would think that cutting out meat would easily give me the leverage I need to be able to afford raw food.
Tropical fruits are GREAT! You are lucky to have access to them cheap. I am jealous! Make fruit salads, lettuce wraps with fruit fillings, green smoothies with tropical fruit, and eat them alone. I say take advantage of what you have.
Do you have a store that sells seeds in bulk? Sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, flax seeds, chia seeds, they're all good. They are cheaper in bulk.
You're right that organic is best, but I rarely go organic because of the expense.

As to vegetables, that's where you get lots of minerals that can be harder to get otherwise. Do you have a food processor? They work miracles! You can pulverize the vegetable to smithereens and make a lettuce wrap stuffing. By adding other stuff like seasonings and seeds, you may be able to mask the flavor of the vegetable. Look in the recipe forum for a strand titled "Wraps Galore!" for a LOT of raw wrap recipes. Some use fruit; others have vegetable fillings. Maybe you could put really small amounts of fillings in a lettuce leaf unless you just can't stand it. If that's the case, you'll really need to take supplements because after a while, you'd probably get deficient in something. If you're concerned, have blood tests run to ensure that your getting everything you need.

Others may have additional comments, but that should get you started. Good luck! I hope it goes well for you.


My favorite raw vegan

1. If you eat a diet predominated by sweet fruit, with moderate amounts of greens and non-sweet fruits and limited amounts of overt fats (e.g. avocado, nuts, seeds), you will get enough EFAs. Olive oil is a highly refined product (it's nothing but pure fat), but is okay if used in small quantities (i.e. 1 tablespoon).

2. I eat 3 times a day, sometimes 4 depending upon how many calories I am consuming.

3. Cravings are pretty easy as long as you are eating enough sweet fruit. This can be difficult to accomplish in the beginning which is why I prefer a gradual transition to raw over an overnight one. You may experience some emotional attachments to old food favorites, but these are no big deal if you are satisfied from what you've eaten.

4. You can get a good variety of foods in almost any supermarket. I don't think I visited one market or farm my first year raw and yet I got a tremendous amount of variety just from my grocery store and costco.

5. You don't need a dehydrator or an oven. Eating your food in it's whole, fresh state is the best way to go.

6. I don't eat sprouts. Only fruit, greens, nuts and seeds.

7. You have access to dirt-cheap tropical fruits?! Oh my gosh, I'm so jealous. Seriously, you are very lucky.



Swayze
[www.fitonraw.com]

I am jealous of your dirt cheap tropical fruits as well,lol... eat a couple extra pounds of them for me please,lol.

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Oh, mirror in the sky
What is love?
Can the child within my heart rise above?
Can I sail through the changing ocean tides?
Can I handle the seasons of my life?

1*****How do you ensure that you get enough healthy fats in your diets? What do you use for your salads in terms of dressing and flavor. I've always been a huge fan of dill, cilantro, salt and pepper with olive oil. Is this okay?

I like to eat my salads with mixed/spring greens or spinach and tomatoes, sometimes with avocado. I think salt/pepper/oils make something that was previously healthy.....not AS healthy (not necessarily destructive). I also drink green smoothies. I think herbs are fine.


2*****How often do you eat in a given day? Do you tend to graze or do you have three "square" meals a day along with snacks?

I eat from 5-10 times per day. Depends on the day and if I'm eating whole fruits and/or smoothies. : )


3****Big concern for me: How long does it take for the cravings of junk and bad food to go away?

I think about 1-3 weeks, depending on the person, usually grains last (like you might smell bread and want it bad! but don't give in).


4*****For those of us not exposed to health food stores and farmers markets, how do you ensure a variety of foods? Go to produce sections of the supermarket, order in bulk or from distributors.


5*****Dehydrating: Do any of you ever just use your oven? I'm really on a tight, tight budget and plan on picking myself up a new blender and a juicer. Do I really need a dehydrator or will my oven be able to do the job?

You don't need a dehydrator OR an oven. You will need the water content intact from the foods you eat. Dried foods should be eaten sparingly, if at all.


6*****I don't like sprouts. Seriously. What can I do in lieu of this?

Nothing in lieu of, just don't eat them. Seriously!


7*****Is it possible to do a raw food diet on a budget?

Yes, I think all of us have budgets.

I agree with a lot of the responses already posted. I think the biggest thing is- trust your instincts! You say you love fresh fruit and salad- well, eat lots of fresh fruit and salad. It doesn't need to be complicated; in fact, I've found the simpler the better. The thing with fruit is to eat as few different fruits at a time as possible. I think one or two at a time is ultimately ideal. And I agree that it's good to reduce the amount of "overt fats," especially oils, which aren't whole foods. Avacado is better than oils, but fresh sweet fruit is even better, in my opinion. And I agree that you don't need a dehydrator. Simplicity is divinity! And you certainly won't need meat as you get into this; you'll feel lighter, happier and healthier.

Good for you.

Thanks all,

The internet can be a little daunting about the things that you absolutely "must do". Whereas it appears that the sprouting of grains and making crackers and breads from them seem to be very healthy, it sure is complicated. 2-3 days for your meal? Wow.

I think I'll get into the more complex stuff and supplements after I'm more comfortable with the simple things. It's all very overwhelming. Really gotta get that blender though! (Mine died) I love green smoothies!

ardentluma,

I think what everyone here is saying is that it isn't necessary to complicate your regimen--just eat raw fruits and vegetables(whatever is easiest to process with your teeth and gut) and some seeds and nuts. The gourmet raw stuff, with sprouted grain bread and crackers and facsimile meals that imitate cooked meals, that's a transitional diet; one generally dosn't keep at that for years but becomes more of a lo-fi eater: raw fruits and vegetables, and some seeds and nuts. You may start off on dehydrated foods and complex combinations of items in complicated recipes, and superfoods and supplements, but these aren't necessary and you move away from them, biochemically and gustatorially, in time. It would probably going backwards to do simple raw foods initially and then start adding in high-fat, high-sodium prepared raw gourmet foods. Remember, almost none of the rules about nutrition apply to raw foodism. This is a different planet.

need for B12 still applies... and supplements are fairly cheap... if you used to eat a relatively high meat diet it will probably be a long time before you really NEED supplements...

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Oh, mirror in the sky
What is love?
Can the child within my heart rise above?
Can I sail through the changing ocean tides?
Can I handle the seasons of my life?