As I transiiton more and more to a 100% raw foods diet (I am probably at about 95% now) I htink about all of the things that I should eat on a daily basis to make sure I am not missing out on any vital nutrients/minerals, etc.

What are some raw food items that you consider very important? Like things that should be eaten each day, or at least each week.

Also, what does everyone think about some of the pre-made raw food items you can get at the stores now? I have noticed Whole Foods carrying a lot more raw food items - crackers, bars, cookies, nuts, etc. I bought some of the Audreys Pleasures veggie bars, and they are so yummy. Does anyone else buy these items?

Thanks for your thoughts,
Kim

Opinion:

-Aim for the highest food that YOU determine. Make a conscious choice after doing all the research. You'll do right.

-I think a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, and nuts should be eaten in the beginning. I think a series of do-able, small goals will get you where you need to be.

-I think a good rule is to eat a good deal of dark leafy greens in the beginning...and many multi-colored vegetables....especially if you are trying to lose weight. Flax seeds and walnuts will help with your essential oils.

-Make a conscious decision on the level of fats that you are going to include in your daily routine. Eat SOME....but only as an adjunct to your daily meals.

-Always eat before you leave the house, and bring a snack bag in your car....or in your desk at work....or just a few apples and almonds in your pockets!

-In the beginning, eat WHATEVER spices, sauces, or prepared items that make it more comfortable for you to increase your percentage of fresh, raw plant food!

-Just my opinions / experiences.

-David Mason

Good recommendations David, thanks.

There are days, and especially evenings and dinner hours, in which I stare blankly into the refrigerator thinking, "Are you REALLY going to eat ANOTHER salad?"

So many weird, almost neurotic, things come up all the time now concerning food. It takes a lot of vigilance every day just to keep from getting wacky about it all. It really does help to read posts by those of you who have been at this awhile.

There are days, many days, that I want to eat nothing but fresh, raw foods. Then there are the days in which I'm like, "Now why am I doing this again??" It's a very weird reality, especially as I know virtually no one in the flesh eating this way and so apart from the support I vicariously receive here, its just me and Norman Walker (which is a helluva better country song than "just me and johnny walker", i'll admit ; ) or some other guy or gal who wrote a book.

Thanks, sincerely, to all of you for being here.

~Kathleen

Things I feel I should eat every day to feel good and not have any cravings:

Hemp seeds (made into hemp milk)
Green leaves
Flax oil
and of course fruit (the main part of my diet)

I tend also to have goji berries and a small amount of maca powdwer on a daily basis.

Rob

--
Rob Hull - Funky Raw
My blog: [www.rawrob.com]

Thanks everyone.

Can someone please tell me about maca powder? What is it and what does it do for you?

Maca is a root vegetable (think sweet potato, that kind of thing) which is dried and powdered. It's considered a "superfood" in that it has particularly hight amounts of vitamins/minerals, especially the B vitamins. It is good for balancing hormones.

Rob

--
Rob Hull - Funky Raw
My blog: [www.rawrob.com]

I make nut and seed milks. i don't get alot of cravings these days but I guess it is a comfort food. which btw is mostly water not fat.

try pouring it over fresh berries or fruit in the morning (or whenever)
try soaking buckwheat or steel cut oats in it for a "cereal"
try adding it to smoothies, or making icecream (blend it with banana's, fruit, and coconut or whatever you come up with yourself, let chill)

My daily staples are fruit, 1/4 cup unhulled sesame seeds, and at least a handful of goji berries. Soaked jungle peanuts are becoming almost an every day thing. Everything else varies from day to day.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/01/2006 07:45PM by Ally.

Green Smoothies! The type of greens and fruit will vary by season, but it should definitely be a staple for health.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/01/2006 08:09PM by wild-aloe.

I don't eat many of the prepared raw goodies (nearest health food store is 45-50 miles away and they are pricey). But I do have a couple of raw bars in my purse in case I need them when out and about.

My husband was traveling recently and bought me a package of choc fudge Raweos. I have never tasted them before and I'm saving them for the weekend when we go to our three day camp out family reunion. There will be mountains of food there (80 people or so) and so I'm gearing up on the foods I will be taking for myself. I don't intend to feel sorry for myself all weekend!
I made my current favorite - I call it CARTMAN'S CHEESY POOF. It's just a cheesy tasting nut spread, but I love it rolled up in lettuce leaves with tomato. I'm taking a walnut pate, flax crackers, a salad (the usual plus pea shoots, sunflower greens, jicama, pod peas, raw corn etc), I have nut burgers made with pecans and a mushroom gravy, etc. I've been busy, but it's gonna be nice to have all those yummies.

It's funny though, after making all that food, the thing that sounds best is just a big old half of a watermelon!

My staples are: 1. a smoothie made with fresh fruit, frozen fruit (usually frozen banannas) and Vitamineral Green and fresh greens (usually parsley, spinach, cucumber, and/or kale. 2. a GIANT salad made with greens and sprouts and other veggies 3. I take a b-12 supplement daily 4. I eat pumpkin seeds daily (I try to soak and sprout all my nuts and seeds - don't always manage to do it, though) 5. In cooler weather, I usually have some sort of soup for my third meal (usually tomato or mushroom or brocolli or lentil). I warm it up, but use a thermometer so that I don't go over 108 degrees. It's not real warm, but at least it's not cold! Even thoug I'm eating the smoothie/salad/soup combination most days, I try to keep the variety going in terms of the fruits and veggies and nuts and seeds. I think it's a mistake to eat the same old same old all the time. We need a large variety of foods. I've never tried a raw spaghetti squash, but that's next on my list!

That's what works for me.

Life Is Good!

alive!

smoothies and salads are definitely staples.

I totally agree alive! variety is key. and sun-soups and sun-teas are fun (warm or cold)!

Life is ridiculously good indeed!

ow long do you need to soak the steel cut oats before you eat them?

not long... 30 minutes, or longer for softer oats... several hours

Raw smoothies and soups I usually have daily. Real raw rolled oats (soaked) with walnuts. Pure Synergy Superfood powder-either on it's on or added to a smoothie. I feel that helps ensure I get enough nutrients. I love avocados with a dash of salt. I also add them to soups. I'll sometimes add either flax oil or coconut oil into a smoothie or protein drink.

I've used a lot of prepared raw foods to help me stay raw and they have been very helpful. Now I'm trying to cut back, but probably will never eliminate 100%. I think it's important to keep enough foods around that will help you during days that are stressful, busy, are having cravings or just find it hard to be raw. So find whatever SAD replacement foods you need. Experimenting with recipes is good too. I never was into cooking, so preparing foods wasn't something I wanted to do. But I have found several very simple recipes that work really well and occasionally I'll incorporate something new.

I have these every day:

A huge vegetable salad based on mixed lettuces.
tomatoes
onions
citrus
apples
walnuts
flax
beans
olive oil

Kim,

Most commercial raw treats have lots of processed sweetners in them and fat, these two do not combine well for good digestion. That said, indulge sparingly in these things so they are not part of daily nutrition. If you eat a lot of dehydrated crackers or other foods be sure to eat slowly and chew well and drink some extra water after consuming or rehydrate the food before eating, otherwise you may experience digestive distress as the food tries to rehydrate and swell in your stomach.

There are lots of schools of thought on the ideal diet. The one that resonated for me is the Natural Hygiene Method as updated and scientifically researched by Dr. Doug Graham and his partner Dr. Roz Graham. Dr. Doug Graham has been 100% raw for 27 years. Check out his website www.foodnsport.com. I recently spent several days with him and I find his approach very common sense based. He has a new book/recipe book coming out arount the end of the month which explains his diet guidelines based on scientific reasearch by many people. He is not trying to sell you anything but tools for you to create your own optimum health. Dr. Doug's diet is called the 80/10/10 diet.

What that means is you eat 80% carbohydrates (fruits and greens) 10% Fat from Avocados, seeds and nuts (no refined oils) and 10% protien from seeds and nuts and other foods.

As far as possible within the limits of your food suppliers, the food you eat is Fresh - Whole (not processed), Peak Ripeness, In Season, and Organic (no toxic chemicals used in the growing of the food)

From my experience my biggest pitfall was balancing fat, but I learned that problem comes mostly from emotional eating, It's real easy to sit down with a jar of almond butter, celery ribs and pack in some fast calories to sooth yourself after a tough day or negative interaction. Second, was the misconception that I was going to be eating a lot of boring salads without oil based dressings. After a little recipe research I was finding all sorts of yummy dressings to try. And I discovered green wraps with limitless variety of foods that can be wrapped in greens. How about a bananna/date burrito? Sweet or savory seed pates with shredded, chopped, or diced veggies wrapped in greens.

Greens are essential to daily good digestion. Romaine lettuce combines with most foods and keeps the colon moving along.

I was dropping weight at a greater rate than I wanted so I had to up the amounts of high calorie fruits instead, of nuts and avocados (technically the avo is a fatty fruit) I was eating with guilt. More banannas and fresh dates helped balance my weight and in season I put away lots of melons. If I go to a raw potluck I make sure I have some romaine hearts with me, because the dishes are generally spicy, garlicy, or salty and I finish the meal off with letuce.

I haven't used superfoods or concentrated proteins because they are so expensive and not necessary. I went through a 2 year transition from clean vegan to Raw during which time I weaned myself off of Soy products, gluten products, onions and garlic, fungi, processed foods, refined sugars, oils, salt, spices, and condiments. The spices dull the palate. I'll still use a little vanilla bean or a dash of nutmeg in a seed nog, but those are ocassional treats. I currently use only organic raw Agave syrup (a processed sweetner) to balance a recipe, or in a recipe where I don't want the flavor of pureed dtes or other sweet fruits.
Best wishes with your Raw experience.

Uti

I too use maca powder, hemp seed, e3live, raw agave and that's about it for me. I sometimes have acai which is unpasteurized and I can buy at a local coop. This gets added into smoothies.

Peace,

Marcos

Go Vegan for your life, your health, the planet and, most importantly, the animals that we share this wonderful world with!

Whole fresh ripe raw organic fruits and vegetables are the best foods to eat. Increasing the amount of whole foods, fresh foods, ripe foods, raw foods, organic foods, and fruit and vegetable foods in your diet will give you superior nutrition.

Green leafy things and flax seed oil are my daily staples - they eradicate cravings and provide beautiful skin.

Everything else is on a "whatever I feel like or is available" basis.

I also love certain superfoods like the microalgaes, but not on a daily basis. Just if I've stressed my body in some way. My experience thus far has been that nothing fixes problems faster than microalgae and/or sunlight (preferably both).

uti - thanks for the information about Dr. Graham. I actually just ordered his recipe book last Friday, so I am anxiusly awaiting its arrival!

Thanks for all the information, everyone.

Kim