Hi everyone. I'm brand new to this site, and brand new to raw foods. I am currently a vegan looking to incorporate as much raw food into my diet as I can reasonably handle. I have been trying to find answers to a bunch of questions, but have not found any clear answers--so I thought I'd go straight to the source.

1) How do I go about eating grains? (I am an elite athlete, so getting a ton of carbs with minimal effort is what I'm aiming for) Can I just soak any grain I like until it is palatable? Or do i have to rinse or blanch/steam them in order to make it more digestible (like beans)? Do I have to sprout them? Which grains that I can buy in bulk will work? In my kitchen, I have some winter wheat berries, some whole grain quinoa, long grain brown rice...just soak and eat? What kinds of grain labels should I avoid?

2) What about potatoes? I have a yam in my fridge which I peeled and sliced and steamed very lightly, just to make it a little droopy, but still crispy.

3) I know that some raw foods get digested easier than others. Which foods should I consider lightly steaming (which is not a crime in generalized raw foodism, so I've been led to believe), and which foods can just go down raw? For example, I have beets in the fridge, and I REALLY don't know what I should do with them.

4) How on earth do you rawers go about consuming squashes?

5) What's the story behind enzyme-inhibitors in nuts? Which nuts, and how do I avoid this?

---i guess that's enough for now. Please, anyone and everyone throw in all the input they can---i am SUPER excited to get started on this. *already sprouted my first batch of mung beans and invested in a dehydrator to accompany my blender and food processor. No juicer yet .

Demogirl06 Wrote:
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> 2) What about potatoes? I have a yam in my fridge
> which I peeled and sliced and steamed very
> lightly, just to make it a little droopy, but
> still crispy.

Potatoes, no, but Yams and sweet potatoes, yes. I find dehydrating some veggies for an hour or two (or more) can make them a soft/droopy (but still carry some crunch and bit of the melt in the mouth) without killing them off.

> 3) I know that some raw foods get digested easier
> than others. Which foods should I consider
> lightly steaming (which is not a crime in
> generalized raw foodism, so I've been led to
> believe), and which foods can just go down raw?
> For example, I have beets in the fridge, and I
> REALLY don't know what I should do with them.

If you steam it (even lightly), it isn't raw, at least in my books. No reason you shouldn't still eat cooked foods, but this forum is for raw foods.

> 4) How on earth do you rawers go about consuming
> squashes?

What type of squashes? I like to make 'pasta' out of mine and eat them with some pasta sauce, with tomato based, or creamy nut based.

> 5) What's the story behind enzyme-inhibitors in
> nuts? Which nuts, and how do I avoid this?

The enzyme-inhibitors don't really bother me, if it's raw I'll eat it. Some people won't eat nuts without turning off the enzyme-inhibitors, you can do this by soaking them for a few hours (or sprout them so they've got little tails). I only soak nuts when I want to soften them a little (for making creamy sauces).

> ---i guess that's enough for now. Please, anyone
> and everyone throw in all the input they can---i
> am SUPER excited to get started on this. *already
> sprouted my first batch of mung beans and invested
> in a dehydrator to accompany my blender and food
> processor. No juicer yet .

Congratulations on the sprouts! And welcome to the forum!

Cheers,
Ian.

You are where I was in raw eating in early summer, eating root vegetables, grains, potatoes, nuts. I kind of naturally evolved into eating mostly fruit over the past months - not that I'm saying you should - but it would give you the carbs with minimal effort you want.

1) How do I go about eating grains?

Sprout them. Rye, wheat, oat groats, etc. will sprout. Brown rice will not. But I have no taste for them, they are not a part of my diet. You could make grain milks from your sprouted grains. Tom Billings has a writing somewhere with details.

2) What about potatoes? I have a yam in my fridge which I peeled and sliced and steamed very lightly, just to make it a little droopy, but still crispy.

I don't see any harm in the occasional lightly cooked colored root but purists would avoid them.

3) Which foods should I consider lightly steaming (which is not a crime in generalized raw foodism, so I've been led to believe), and which foods can just go down raw? For example, I have beets in the fridge, and I REALLY don't know what I should do with them.

Crucifers (broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, etc.) can be very lightly steamed, also sprouted legumes (and some unsprouted ones, such as edible podded peas, snow peas, sugar snap peas).

4) How on earth do you rawers go about consuming squashes?

It's easier to stick with the other members of the squash family: summer squash, melons and cucumbers.

5) What's the story behind enzyme-inhibitors in nuts? Which nuts, and how do I avoid this?

I don't soak, it doesn't bother me a bit. I eat them unsoaked, but I don't eat a lot of them. Just a small handful (small hands!).

The easiest foods to eat raw are those that taste great in their raw whole unprepared state. For me, this is fruit and the non bitter greens. I get most of my calories from fresh fruit, and greens like celery and lettuce.

Many of the foods you asked about don't taste good to me raw, unless I add salt or other flavoring. In general, if a food requires salt, spices, or condiments to taste good enough to eat, that is a sign that it is not the optimal food for me.

As a transitional raw foodist, it is fine to cook your foods as you increase you amounts of raw foods. So for now, just prepare the foods that are not fruits and greens as you always have, and let them leave your diet as you progress and they become less necessary.

As for nuts, I just find raw nuts at the store and eat them. I don't worry about enzyme inhibitors in them.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/24/2006 06:50PM by Bryan.

Demogirl - most of your questions have already been answered, but as for your beets, you can make beet soup out of them. Do you have a food processor? One of my favorite recipes is a sweet beet soup (from Shazzie.com):

1 beetroot
3 strawberries
1 tomato
2 cups of water
2 spring onions

Throw all of these ingredients into a food processor fitted with the S blade and chop up in there, then eat! Yummy!

sweet. thanks for the recipe. i think i'll try it tonight.

Hey gerl....it's Bigbwii.....good to see you made it here!

These guys will set you straight!........see yas!