Hi all,

I'm new to this forum, and just starting out with raw food as well.

I'm looking for advice or insight about the headaches I get when I eat strictly raw, vegan, foods. My problem seems to be related to the amount of protein I'm taking in, from what I can tell.

I've had this issue for as long as I can remember, even as a regular food eater. Whenever I've had a meal that didn't include protein, such as what you'd get from an animal source or soy, I've had the headaches. The answer for me has always been to make sure to get a certain amount of protein in my diet--the ratio that has worked really well for me is soemthing like 7 grams of protein to 9 grams of carbs, I think that is 30% protein to 40% carbs, but I'm not sure

But I'm finding that I'm not able to intake that much protein when I eat raw--I know that nuts are considered a protein in the raw world, but they actually contain lots of carbs too, so they don't increase the percentage of protein in my diet, and therefore don't give me the relief I usually expereince with say a protein supplement.

I'm also aware that many raw foodists and vegans believe that the human body does not need as much protein as is commonly believed, and you should be able to get plenty from fruits, vegetables, and nuts--and I hear you, and I want that to be true, but I'm having some physical problems here, that might be telling me otherwise, so please bear with me.

Also, I'm totally open to this not being a protein issue--maybe there is something else going on that looks like low blood sugar/need more protein--but my frame of reference, so far, has been that this is about protein. But I'm willing to learn, as long as the headaches go away!

My headaches start about 1/2 hour after the raw meal, and continue unabated until I get a more significant amount of protein.

Granted I've never gone for more than a couple of days raw--I'm a wimp, don't like the headaches, so I don't know if the headaches would go away on their own if I stuck it out.

Has anybody had a similar expereince? Or any advice?

The strange thing about it for me is that otherwise when I eat raw, I fell WONDERFUL. Clean, energetic, great skin, body flushes out, etc. And I love love love the food. The only problem for me is the headaches.

I do drink plenty of water. Also, I have an easier time with vegetables than with fruits--though I still get a lower grade headache with just vegetables.

I've also really lost my appetite for animal products, I just don't enjoy the texture, flavor, etc., and feel that my body, aside from the headaches, wants raw.

Could this be a detox reaction that I just need to power through? Is it an acid/ alkaline condition? Does anyone out there have any thoughts about how I might start enjoying the food I really want to, without headaches? Could this just be my unique body chemistry, maybe I just need more protein than the average joe?

What you are describing with the headaches is a cycle of toxification/detoxification. As long as you eat your "poison", you feel good. Remove the "poison", and you start going through detoxification/withdrawal symptoms. It may be the cooked protein you are eating is the poison, or it could be with the way you prepare your protein dishes, the spices and condiments that are in the protein dish. And it could be a reaction to soy, which is slightly toxic.

How are you preparing you protein dishes? Are you using salt, pepper, spices, vinegar, garlic, miso, etc?

In any case, once you discover which element of your diet that causes the craving, you can abstain from that element for a few weeks and the headaches will go away.

brandnewturnip

sounds really painful
in addition to doing the raw and detoxifying
maybe you may want to try other modalities to ease your suffering while you explore the rawdom world

like acupressure points in the back of the neck that people have said work really well

or acupuncture

that way, you don't have to suffer as much and still eat the raw foods that you love

hang in there
there is always hope

My comment may be extremely controversial here, but if you intend to stay on raw foods in the future, it may not be such a bad idea in the short term to take something like Tylenol to get you through the discomfort. I have done that but don't really like to.

Again, only attempt this if you REALLY want to move forward with raw food. Tylenol is not terribly different that all the other terrible things we have put in our mouths before discovering this way of life. And...it is only a temporary fix if you can't find other things that work.

If you can get through the headaches with as little discomfort as possible, and then move on to a healthier raw lifestyle, then taking Tylenol would have been worth it. AND you may not EVER have to take it again.

Try it if nothing else works.!

Hi, you mentioned vegetables agree with you better than
fruits. I used to get headaches when mixing fruit and
nuts. Fat and fruit (esp. acid fruit) is a combination
you might want to avoid (maybe you know this already).
The fruit should be easier to digest once you have it
alone, esp. melons, papaya, pineapple. These have
very strong digestive enzymes. The fruit digests so
rapidly (already beginning in the mouth) that if fat
is consumed before it, the fat creates a backlog of
gas.. fat taking a long time to digest and the fruit
already fermenting in the digestive track as it waits.
My headaches also a symptom of detox as mentioned before.
Yet they were less when I switched to eating fruit alone.

Good luck, it will get better before you know it