Please don't flog the messenger. This is Matt Monarch's work: [www.youtube.com]

Having watched the whole thing, the title is slightly misleading. He is not trashing a raw food diet, but simply suggesting that a whole foods cooked diet can be preferable in certain instances.

I think he should have put a different title, as well as phrased it in a different
way but I suspect he was looking to be a bit controversial

Perhaps he's beginning to eat cooked food and trying to justify it by such erroneous reasoning as this.

Just do what feels right for you, whether cooked or raw. I 'sometimes' add some cooked sweet spud to my raw salad which adds a delish flavour.

But there will always be those who wish to throw a few rusty spanners in the works just to stir things up abit. And of course, based on either no, or spirious research.

I've never felt better on a mainly raw food diet than any other variation, even an all fruit diet. But that's just me, and would be different for anyone else I'd imagine.

It's best not to get so stired up be obvious false reasonings, as we can all do without all the negativity which in the end always tends to cause us illness.

jalan

jalanutan Wrote:
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.....Perhaps he's beginning to eat cooked food and trying to justify it by such erroneous reasoning

He's not eating cooked food. He says so right in the video.

.....But there will always be those who wish to throw a few rusty spanners in the works

We call them Wrenches here in the States. Also, your Windscreen is our Windshield. Your Bonnet- our Hood. Your Boot- our Trunk. Any others?......WY

jalanutan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Perhaps he's beginning to eat cooked food and
> trying to justify it by such erroneous reasoning
> as this.
>
> Just do what feels right for you, whether cooked
> or raw. I 'sometimes' add some cooked sweet spud
> to my raw salad which adds a delish flavour.
>
> But there will always be those who wish to throw a
> few rusty spanners in the works just to stir
> things up abit. And of course, based on either
> no, or spirious research.
>
> I've never felt better on a mainly raw food diet
> than any other variation, even an all fruit diet.
> But that's just me, and would be different for
> anyone else I'd imagine.
>
> It's best not to get so stired up be obvious false
> reasonings, as we can all do without all the
> negativity which in the end always tends to cause
> us illness.
>
> jalan


jalan,

How long were you on an "all raw" or mainly raw diet? I can definitely state that after a somewhat lengthly detox process, I felt much better on raw than cooked foods. And when I juice fast, even better.

At present, I'm maybe 60% raw & I can feel a difference. I don't have as much energy when eating cooked foods, and I notice that I don't sleep as well either.

As you mentioned, YMMMV - although I do wonder...if a person would give their body enough time to detox/adapt, would everyone not feel better on a mainly raw diet?

Watching this video initially I thought, "Trouble in paradise, Matthew?" But upon further consideration I just think that Monarch, in his inimitable Monarchian way, is reminding the viewer that all raw can be very hard work and one must expect it to cause upheaval in one's life. I mean, look at the upheaval it caused his own life: He had to go into the web-order raw food biz(which is sporadically profitable) for a livelihood, he had to wait to find a 100%er with whom he was also otherwise compatible to settle down, and they had to leave behind all their friends and family and up and move to Equador to live what they see as the purest version of this life. Now, I am not suggesting that he experienced these changes under duress, rather, how many raw fooders are willing to take such drastic steps to commit wholly to this lifestyle? Those of us in northern climes who cannot manage all raw in the winter are often told, "Well, move to California[or Hawaii]!" and we think, "Duh, it's not that simple." Monarch is saying that though the benefits of raw are tremendous and in his opinion worth the trouble, a diet of cooked whole foods is at least adequate.


Personally, I would love to be 100% raw all the time. But I can't, at present, so I succeed by degrees.

going raw could be bad. It depends on where in time you look. You could discover all your previous goals were misguided. And all those efforts pre-raw could be seen as mistakes (maybe very expensive ones). The longer you stay raw the longer they could be seen as mistakes.

WheatgrassYogi Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
>
> .....But there will always be those who wish to
> throw a few rusty spanners in the works
>
> We call them Wrenches here in the States. Also,
> your Windscreen is our Windshield. Your Bonnet-
> our Hood. Your Boot- our Trunk. Any
> others?......WY


LOL!!! Thanks for the translation.

Haha WY, there's heaps of such differences btw Oz and the States. And sometimes I think it was done on purpose just to be different from the English versions, for instance, in Oz you flick the light switch up for off and down for on. Also, the toilet works differently, and driving on the right side of the road. Man, that was hell to get used to when I was in the states.

Anyway, I'm all for postmodernism, and that's why I like a little variety in my food too. Hmmm, I tend to use hood rather than bonnet, maybe that an English term rather than Ozy. We have our own variations to the English, even with food, after all, we were originally all convicts, so it's no wonder we were a bit rebelious.

If I had a choice, I'd choose the US rather than the English, and I'd probably be burnt at the stake for that....lol

Quote

Those of us in northern climes who cannot manage all raw in the winter

It's easy to be raw in winter...there's this amazing thing called "sprouting".

And it's cheaper then just about any other diet too. How else can you get a pound of the freshest organic greens for mere cents? All throughout winter and in massive quantities with very little work?

Living Food Wrote:
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> Those of us in northern climes who cannot manage
> all raw in the winter
>
> It's easy to be raw in winter...there's this
> amazing thing called "sprouting".
>
> And it's cheaper then just about any other diet
> too. How else can you get a pound of the freshest
> organic greens for mere cents? All throughout
> winter and in massive quantities with very little
> work?


Not speaking for anyone else here, but an inability to manage all-raw in the winter isn't an issue of availability of raw foods. This is the 21st century, urbanized industrialized world where all kinds of raw foods are available 12 months of the year.

It's an issue of we don't feel well eating 100% raw when it is 15-20 deg. below 0 C. outside for 4 months and we have to be outdoors a fair amount and then come into an underheated house. There is nothing like a pot of hot vegetable soup, porridge, etc. to ease us through this. It's a necessity. Raw food alone won't give us that internal heat. Then when the warm weather comes, it's back to raw. Easy as pie.

I live in cold climate (sometimes in the F degree teens) and have no probs. I actually open windows while other people cannot stand the cold. So the problem is either a lack of calories or a problem with temperature metabolism (thyroid - low zinc).

Quote

It's an issue of we don't feel well eating 100% raw when it is 15-20 deg. below 0 C. outside for 4 months and we have to be outdoors a fair amount and then come into an underheated house. There is nothing like a pot of hot vegetable soup, porridge, etc. to ease us through this. It's a necessity. Raw food alone won't give us that internal heat. Then when the warm weather comes, it's back to raw. Easy as pie.

Again, sprouting is the answer. Anyone who needs warm food to keep their body temperature up isn't truly healthy. It means either pure nutritionally deficient in some way, and/or you have gland problems, etc. See, that's the real problem with most raw vegans - they think that as long as they eat raw food, there's no way they can possibly be deficient in nutrients, which is absurd. The vast majority of the people on this planet are nutrient deficient, and that includes most raw vegans. You can't be healthy on just raw fruits and vegetables, unsolicited nuts and seeds. The nutrients just aren't there in modern times. Like you said, this is the 21st century - where we have great quantity of "food"n(and I use the term loosely) year-round but virtually zero quality.

I used to be cold on a cooked food diet, + got colder on a raw vegan diet just like most of the people out there doing it wrong. Then since I became a sproutarian I'm practically immune to the cold. I have friends who eat plenty of warm cooked food and they don't even dare go outside without multiple heavy layers, but to me it's a walk in the park. It is not natural to be dependent on external warm food in order to keep your body heat up.

Basically, what I'm saying is this - It is not a "necessity" to eat cooked food in hate winter. If you're cold on the raw diet, that's because your diet is severely lacking. That category comprises over 99% of raw vegans (and ordinary eaters). Probably 99.99%.



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Chia green juice, for whatever reason, has the almost magical property of making you practically impervious to the cold. Have a big glass everyday.

One doctor estimated that around 40% of the population in industrialized worlds had some degree of undetected hypothyroidism. This was in the 1900s, so it's undoubtedly worse now. Frankly, people who haved lived most of their lives in industrialized countries, and eating the standard fare of nutritionally empty toxic junk, have problems with ALL their organs and body parts. We've done too much damage to ourselves to be able to achieve perfect health from a subpar fruit and veggie diet. No way.

Panchito Wrote:
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> I live in cold climate (sometimes in the F degree
> teens) and have no probs. I actually open windows
> while other people cannot stand the cold. So the
> problem is either a lack of calories or a problem
> with temperature metabolism (thyroid - low zinc).


Lows in the teens? Child's play Have you ever thought that it could be an OVERACTIVE thyroid? It seems that some people walk around in tee shirts and shorts on freezing days but it could be due to hyperthyroidism...

Living Food, could you explain why sprouts help balance the body temp? Very interesting. I think I will break out my clover seeds from the cupboard



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/24/2013 06:54PM by banana who.

I don't know exactly why chia green juice makes you immune to the cold. I suspect it may have something to do with the very high bioavailability of the omega-3 fatty acids, because omega-3s speed up the metabolism by making cell walls more permeable. But I also think it has to do with more then just that, maybe the extraordinary nutritional profile or more likely there is some hidden compound (or multiple such compounds) in chia greens that protect you from the cold/tone up the parts of the body responsible for regulating body temperature. Regardless, it's an absolutely brilliant and completely unique food that, with regular consumption, eradicates stress and makes everyday feel like paradise. I always suggest for people to have at least 8 oz a day.

As for sprouts in general, the reason is because (as stated above) vulnerability to the cold is not natural, but rather a sign of suboptimal health. Consumption of large quantities of sprouts [especially green sprouts] balances this out by virtue of the extreme nutritional profile and powerful detoxifying + regenerating effects of sprouts. Sprouts are THE food for the 21st century, no other diet can supply you with even a fraction of the nutrients we require in this time of high stress and massive pollution. See this thread for more information on why sprouts are so important: [www.rawfoodsupport.com]

Would it be helpful if I started a thread showing how virtually all food today s nearly devoid of nutrients, compared to 50-100 years ago? I've painstakingly researched the topic and found many studies that prove it.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/24/2013 11:58PM by Living Food.

Yes, it's true that if we are very well nourished we will be able to handle cold temperatures with greater ease than if we are malnourished. However, there certainly is some point at which you can be expected to have to dress up warmer - what point do you think that would be?


By the way, regarding low thyroid: if this is indeed the problem, you will feel cold virtually all the time, not just when exposed to cold temperatures. I know people who have been diagnosed with hypothyroidism and they feel cold all the time, even in rooms of average warmth and outdoors in the summer. They just seem unable to get warm no matter what. Their hands are like ice.

When I was a child I was (almost) constantly uncomfortably cold, but my parents and brothers and sisters were okay. In my 20s I stopped eating meat and my hands are always warm now, and feet usually, too. I do not have hypothyroidism. It is not that simple for all of us!

This is an interesting topic and I welcome all points of view.