What are people's opinions on condiments and spices, ginger and cayenne in particular?
I have slow digestion, and have heard varying things on the helpfulness/harmfulness of these. I only eat whole, fresh fruits and veggies with the exception of dried dates, dehydrated seaweeds, nutritional yeast, golden flax seeds, fresh ginger, and GT's kombucha tea.
Generally, I mono eat fruit, and on some evenings I either have 1 lb. of dates and a couple Nalgenes of distilled water, or I have soup made from a 1.76 oz bag of wakame that I soak, heat to 100 degrees, and season with sliced organic shiitakes, (1/2-1 lb) dulse flakes, nutritional yeast (1/4 cup or so) 2 tbs organic golden flax (which I grind fresh) and some lime juice. I often add ground fresh ginger or dry ginger powder, and was thinking about adding organic cayenne powder too.
I guess that I eat 80-10-10, and I can digest the veggie/fat so much better now, as opposed to when I would put in a 1/2 cup of ground sesame seeds AND a few tbs of flax. Fat slows the digestion, right?
I feel so much lighter when I only eat fresh fruit for a couple days, but I start craving my seaweed soup.

...bump...

No condiments...

-No Spices
-No Herbs
-No supplements
-No Salt
-No Onion or garlic.

Follow these rule of thumbs, if you like.

seaweed? lol... No

Ginger is a digestive aid.

I don't care for nutritional yeast myself (it's not raw either) but it is a very good source of B vitamins. I gave some to my cats to help get rid of their flea probelms. It worked like a charm (took about a month though).

I would say eat what you like. Listen to your body over any belief system.

Seaweed is great, I'm having some sea lettuce with tahini and lemon juice in a salad right now.

Good luck!

i think i'd never eat another salad without my cayenne. and i'll eat it fresh too. i love spicy peppers in all their forms, and though some people don't like them, my body (and my seven month old son's) seem to thrive on it.

ginger is so good, i can't convince myself it's bad to eat. fresh that is.

and sometimes my body wants salty/seaweed type stuff. not recently, but in soups, certainly! i think tomatoes do well dressed with a little of the salty stuff, so i eat it that way.

i'm with Narz, if you feel good with it, eat it. be aware that over time, you might actually totally stop eating the foods you can't live without now. i have a lb of dates that i've had for over a month and have no desire to touch. they're not mejool, and that's why they're safe, but three months ago, they'd be long gone...
and i drank kombucha for a long time, but lost all desire for it (i brewed my own and then suddenly, i had a dozen bottles and didn't want them). i haven't had it in over a year now. wow. like i said, keep yourself open to the changes that your body will make.

so, enjoy!
peace-
Mama Cass

Ginger, cayenne, and sea vegetables are staples in my diet. I eat them every day. Cayenne is one of the best herbs available to us.

I eat completely different that Goldsplinter. I add spices and herbs to every meal. I love high quality supplements. I feel salt is essential (it must be a high quality salt such as Celtic sea salt or Real Salt), and I love onion and garlic.

Ginger and Cayenne really do aid some people who eat rawfoods and get really cold in the fall/winter months.

Supplements are good as well (I think most or at least some who eat rawfoods take a B-12 supplement).
Aren't foods such as cacao or goji berries or E3 or Nature's First Food (I could make a huge list) considered supplements, yes/no???