I am usually a cold person to begin with, except the times I was pregnant or going through post-partum. But I have been eating 100% raw for the past month. Yeah, I felt great when it was hot out, never phased me. The past two days it's been in the 50s. I have been so cold, and it is even hard for me to warm up. (Except for when I am exercising.) My hands are ice cold. I've been weighing 97 lbs. for a whole month now. So I am NOT losing any more weight like I was when I first started almost 3 months ago.

My question is...am I supposed to be this cold? Does anyone else struggle to keep warm? Is there a way around this? I am on a high fruit diet and low-fat, which works great for me. Too much fat makes me sluggish. I've tried to warm up by consuming ginger, but it isn't working that long. Or do I need to wear my thick, turtleneck knitted sweaters already? Help!! Any help would be appreciated.

Eating too much sugar, whether it's from fruit or anything else, will make you cold and weak eventually, unless your genetically tuned to it and exercise a lot.

How often do you exercise?

Everyday for 2 hours at the YMCA.

Hmm, it's probably the sugar. I feel weak and gross eating too much fruit. When the body isn't getting enough protein, and too much sugar, the metabolism weakens, and coldness insues. Protein metabolism is one of the main sources of heat for the body.

(Part of the reason that heavy meat eaters can get hot, sweaty and smelly -- the key is to find a balance, obviously. Different protein foods will create different responses)

By the way, what kind of fruit is it you're eating? Apples, pears and berries are low-gycemic and can help with sugar weakness, particularly blueberries and apples.

The reason why cooked food is warming is because the immune system has to clean up the toxins (so it warms you like a slight fever). On raw, the immune system doesn't kick in after a meal.

I read in Shazzie's Detox Delights that after you detox, your body starts to regulate it's temperature much better. I hope that happens for me because I like to run the heat so high that it feels like a sauna for everyone else.

Lillianswan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The reason why cooked food is warming is because
> the immune system has to clean up the toxins (so
> it warms you like a slight fever). On raw, the
> immune system doesn't kick in after a meal.
>
> I read in Shazzie's Detox Delights that after you
> detox, your body starts to regulate it's
> temperature much better. I hope that happens for
> me because I like to run the heat so high that it
> feels like a sauna for everyone else.


Can you cite evidence of that? There's too much hypothesis and pseudo-science in the raw food movement. If it was in Shazzie's book, I'd like to know how she came to that conclusion.

Thanks for the input everyone.

Well, I do eat apples and berries. I eat a cantelope size melon a day and about 2 cups of grapes. I eat bananas, also. BUT...I also eat ALOT of greens and herbs. I also make sure to get Celtic Sea salt in my diet.

Yeah, LillianSwan, My husband is roasting when I turn up the heat in the van. Hahaha.

The hypothalamus regulates body temp.

Raw food has no excitotoxins - a substance that overexcites neurons to the point of cell damage and, eventually, cell death.

[www.newstarget.com]
"Humans also lack a blood-brain barrier in the hypothalamus, even as adults. It is for this reason that Dr. Olney and other neuroscientists are so concerned about the widespread and heavy use of excitotoxins, such as MSG, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, and cysteine, as food additives."

So MSG, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, and cysteine are the toxins which need to be detoxed to improve the hypothalamus.

Arvydas Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Can you cite evidence of that? There's too much
> hypothesis and pseudo-science in the raw food
> movement. If it was in Shazzie's book, I'd like
> to know how she came to that conclusion.

If we had the billions for reasearch and advertising that the drug companies have, the data would be harder. As it is, a lot of data is just from trial and error, so everyone on raw food is a research/test subject.

Welome to the lab!

Lillianswan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Arvydas Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Can you cite evidence of that? There's too
> much
> > hypothesis and pseudo-science in the raw food
> > movement. If it was in Shazzie's book, I'd
> like
> > to know how she came to that conclusion.
>
> If we had the billions for reasearch and
> advertising that the drug companies have, the data
> would be harder. As it is, a lot of data is just
> from trial and error, so everyone on raw food is a
> research/test subject.
>
> Welome to the lab!


It can't work like that. If you say something like the only reason cooked food creates warmth is because it's toxic, there should be something backing that up besides simple a theory. I don't mean any offense to you personally, but I think it's important to only make statements that have a factual basis. Only someone who has done biology testing would be able to know that about heat reactions in the body, so I don't think it counts as a true statement based on anecdotal evidence alone.


To the original poster: Grapes are very high in sugar. That's why it's easy to make wine out of them; natural yeast grows on the skin and the massive quantity of sugar in the fruit itself cause heavy and easy fermentation of those yeasts.

Shep, I feel your pain, sista!

I'm one of those "always cold" girls too - or used to be. Flax seed oil has become my best friend, it really helps alleviate the coldness. I know what you mean about feeling sluggish from eating too much fat because I got that too & have had to reduce my fat consumption, but the flax seed oil doesn't seem to give me that sluggish effect.

I think what flax seed oil does is it must go directly to the skin, filling the cells with a protective barrier, because it also seems to fill out wrinkles and definitely moisturizes the skin.

Good luck!

Arvydas Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> there should be something
> backing that up besides simple a theory. I don't
> mean any offense to you personally, but I think
> it's important to only make statements that have a
> factual basis.

What nonsense. Science is full of studies that have warped results because they are paid for by industries wanting a particular result. There's no such thing as a fact anyway, science is constatly changing. Personal experience is extremely useful.

My experience, as is a lots of peoples, is that eating raw helps the body to regulate temperatures better. Before I was raw, I found it difficult to cope in very hot climates. After being raw for a couple of years, I found my body could cope a lot better in hot climates.

Rob

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



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/11/2006 04:50PM by Funky Rob.

Funky Rob Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Arvydas Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > there should be something
> > backing that up besides simple a theory. I
> don't
> > mean any offense to you personally, but I
> think
> > it's important to only make statements that have
> a
> > factual basis.
>
> What nonsense. Science is full of studies that
> have warped results because they are paid for by
> industries wanting a particular result. There's
> no such thing as a fact anyway, science is
> constatly changing. Personal experience is
> extremely useful.
>
> My experience, as is a lots of peoples, is that
> eating raw helps the body to regulate temperatures
> better. Before I was raw, I found it difficult to
> cope in very hot climates. After being raw for a
> couple of years, I found my body could cope a lot
> better in hot climates.
>
> Rob

It's not nonsense bro. For every study that's false there's one that's authentic, you can't throw the baby out with the bath water. If anything, to say there's no such thing as a fact is the nonsense. If you actually spent time around research scientists you would see they aren't all greedy people bent on money and power, and most studies are legitimate.

Saying that cooked food only warms because it causes a fever like reaction is something that should have more than just personal experience to back it up, or one ought to at least acknowledge that there hasn't been research done on it.

Well, now I am roasting. (There is no heat on either.) But I started to take kelp again, and I am very warm! WOW. But my hands are still shriveled.(You know, like after you're hands have been in water for a while.) Why are they so shriveled? lol

Thanks for the input everyone.

Arvydas, I consider sugar from fruit my main energy source as it has high calories that I need.

I got cold too when I first started raw. But lucky me, I was living in a really hot climate at the time, so it was a bonus! As time has gone on I have found that my body copes better at a wide range of temperatures - cold or warm. I now live in the UK so we get all kinds of weather... I find I don't feel the cold (or the heat) as much as other people seem to.

Yeah! I've noticed that, too, since going raw. I don't ever seem to feel uncomfortable when others are complaining about the heat or cold. Funny.

shep252:
"Well, now I am roasting. (There is no heat on either.) But I started to take kelp again"

Coldness in hands and feet can be related to an underfunctioning thyroid (Hypothyroid).
I don't question you having this but when you said that by eating/taking kelp you seemed to be hot/normal again. This is an indication of low Iodine levels which causes the thyroid gland not to function correctly.
So when you ate/took kelp (kelp is the best source of natural iodine) you helped your thyroid gland.

You or anyone who has cold hands/feets or:

Less stamina than others
Less energy than others
Inability to hold children for very long
Arms feeling like dead weights after activity
Chronic Low Grade Depression
Often feeling cold
Cold hands and feet
High cholesterol
Bizarre and Debilitating reaction to exercise
Hard stools
Constipation
No eyebrows or thinning outer eyebrows
Dry Hair
Hair Loss
Dry cracking skin
Nodding off easily
Requires naps in the afternoon
Inability to concentrate or read long periods of time
Forgetfulness
Foggy thinking
Inability to lose weight
Always gaining weight
Inability to function in a relationship with anyone
NO sex drive
Moody periods
PMS
Excruciating pain during period
Nausea

should have there TSH (thyroid-stimulating hormone) checked, T3 (Triiodothyronine) and T4 (Thyroxine) checked.........

The TSH should range from .3 to .3.0 mg/l. If it's above 3.0 then this is Hypothyroidism (underfunctioning thyroid).

rawdev, Thanks. Yeah, I have had hypothyroidism for years. That is one of the reasons I am taking kelp and trying to wean of of my thyroid meds. I think they may be why I wsa so cold, too. I also thought about it today, and the sun wasn't out for a while. Today I got some sunshine, and I have warmed up, also. Thanks again!