I know salt dehydrates the cells and causes water retention around them leading to edema (swollen belly, puffy face...).

Now i wonder if fatty foods like nuts and/or avocados can do the same. When i mono-eat avocados (no nuts or salt), i always get swellings around the nose and have a bloated belly on the next day. Could it be a reaction similar like animals get them. Avocados are toxic for many animals, and it´s a question of the ingested amount when symptoms appear... See the article "Avocado toxicity" from Robert Clipsham at [kgkat.tripod.com]

Aside wouldn´t it be better to avoid a food which contains a toxin like persin, which can even cause death in animals. I have read persin is used in breast cancer therapy, so it also has an impact on human cells and I doubt if it´s just a positive one and "selects only cancer cells", causing apoptosis (cell death)... What do You think.

Or are all kind of fatty foods dehydrating, resulting in edema/bloating?

I would like to hear from Your experiences and/or knowledge. Thanks for listening.

Hello!

I've thought a bit about your question... So let's take a look at how much salt is in an avocado.

4mg salt/100mg avocado. What's that say? For every 100mg of avocado that you eat, you also eat 4mg of salt.

Is that alot?

In comparison to an apple of 1mg of salt/100mg of apple, I'd say no.

This question also made me reflect on just how many avocados I eat/week. I bet ya I'll eat three to five.

So, what does this tell us so far, Ani? It tell us that it may not be the salt content that you're reacting to.

I'll look forward to what other's have to write.

Thanks,

Arilraw

I took a look at the article and feel like it should be pointed out that its main concern is the toxicity of avocados for birds. I felt sad to read that nonetheless, some humans experience the allergic reaction too. I don't understand the anaphylactic shock phenomenon and why it's seemingly becoming more common. Wonder whether the vogue for vaccinations and sanitized environments encourages people's immune systems to become reactive to things like dust and peanuts just to have something to fight.

I'm with Arilraw, though, Ani - I don't think it's the salt or the persin (which apparently is only in the leaves, btw). It seems like everyone has certain foods that don't work for them and that they should avoid. I can't deal with bell pepper, for example. In general, I think that avocado is the best fat source that's readily available to us outside of the tropics.

love
Ela

i think this issue is very VERY important, especially to me because im so sensitive to changes in my face, puffiness, etc...

the fact that avocados would be causing your puffiness would be enough to send me back to eating regular SAD again, im serious... this stuff is confusing me so much i cant take it. one of the main reasons i went raw was because everytime i ate (on SAD diet) my face would be unrecognizable and i hated it! now you're saying that even RAW foods might cause edema?!?!?!?

are you fully 100% raw? anything else that might've happened? this is worrying me and my life's choices are like waiting on this topic haha

I have sometimes eaten 8-9 a day and I am fine. I eat them alone, sometimes I even sprinkle himalyan sea salt on them. Nothing, It's funny, I have heard so much stuff like I would get fat and stuff, or avocados make you eat cooked food, but I like avocados, I could not eat this way without them.

You could be dehydrated, drink a gallon of water.

Maybe avocados do not agree with you? Maybe in your genes is an I don't do avocado button..

I love them!!!

Jim do not worry, anybody can say anything about anything and you have to know that. Someone can write "Raw food kills babies ", and they do..but just go with the flow and use your intuition.





Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 11/25/2006 07:05AM by coconutcream.

I´m sorry for having stressed those who love avocados (Jimmyjoe). Maybe it´s really a personal intolerance from my body.

To clarify: I´m 100% raw since over five years and the longer i go this path the more sensitive I´m against fats, patricular avocados.
I always get this reactions: swellings around the nose/lips and a not so flat belly (i´m very thin/underweight). Aside i experience terrible headaches, which last the following day (also from only 1/2avocado in the evening). Headaches are also associated with dehydration and maybe cerebral edema, so i wonder why my body really doesn´t like them.

And it can´t be the sodium-content of avocados - organic sodium won´t contribute to water retention i think. Regarding Persin, it´s not only in the leaves. There are some sources saying its´also in the fruit. Maybe i have a weak liver which can´t process the tiny amounts of Persin or handle fats at all (nuts or oils make me very tired energy-wise).

I once also couldn´t imagine a raw food diet without avocados. Nevertheless i went on an fat-free raw diet (no avocados, nuts, oils or seeds) from januar until late september this year (because ot the terrible side effects i get from fats). I researched the fat-question and now think, it is better to go low-fat or no-fat anyway (regarding health issues like insulin resistance, blood viscosity, oxygen transport to cells, Candida, acidosis... - all things i learned from experienced raw foodist).

After all i think everybody should do what´s good for them, and i don´t want anyone avoid avocados when feeling good eating them. And i also think they are far more healthy then cooked food as long as one doesn´t live from fatty raw foods alone (glucose from sweet fruits being the best fuel for the body).

I just wondered if i´m the only person reacting to them and mainly: why - because of a fat- or a persin-intolerance!? And once again: Sorry for maybe heving stressed some of You.

Ani Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> To clarify: I´m 100% raw since over five years and
> the longer i go this path the more sensitive I´m
> against fats, patricular avocados.
> I always get this reactions: swellings around the
> nose/lips and a not so flat belly (i´m very
> thin/underweight). Aside i experience terrible
> headaches, which last the following day (also from
> only 1/2avocado in the evening). Headaches are
> also associated with dehydration and maybe
> cerebral edema, so i wonder why my body really
> doesn´t like them.
>
Five years on 100 percent raw and thin and underweight?
If it were me I would conclude that the diet is not working and maybe it is not the avocado.

wow this is really interesting, i'm having a similiar problem, lots of gas with fats and bloating and eczema and an itchy rash on my legs wihich seems to calm dow when i eat low fat... i'm alittle freaked though because i'm nervous to eat so much fruit..which is what i guess i;d have to do in order to make up the calories .. i've not eatten much fruit for a few years and been eating mainly salad and fats but now i'm getting these rashes and my digestion has always been poor.. i get alot of pains in my right side around my liver and have a yellow colour to my skin .. i've been raw for 8 years now xxpipxx

rawpipstar,

A painful liver and getting yellow skin is a sign of liver troubles. Eating lots of fat really taxes the liver. If you cut back on the fats, this will give your body more time to heal the liver and your health will become stronger.

It is possible to eat lots of fruits without troubles. What works for me is to not eat fruit after eating a fat meal. The larger the fat meal, the longer I wait to eat fruit. Also, even though a fatty salad may have left my stomach, it takes a lot longer for the fat to move through the body, in fact it remains in the blood long after the food has left the stomach. During the time the fats are in the blood stream is the time where eating a lot of sweet fruit is going to cause blood sugar problems.

i thought eczema was only caused by the evil WHEAT!! can exczema be caused by fruits and veggies as well? *gasp*

More than anything, eczema is 'caused' by stress. I had really bad eczema as a little kid and yes, I am allergic to gluten - but I would generally only break out in fairly specific situations - usually when my parents went away for periods of time and left me staying with people where maybe I wasn't comfortable.

Ani, I have read your posts for a long time and I really condole for the difficulties that you have. It seems like you have struggled for a long time with trouble digesting, being weak, wanting to eat avocadoes and not having good reactions from them. Maybe you remember my posts too - I used to post as 'luskinia'. When I first came on these boards I was so weak and almost dead - have become pretty strong by now and am so grateful for it. I really wish the same for you - I feel like if it could happen to me, it could happen to anyone!

I know that the raw diet has helped me tremendously but I also know that it hasn't been the only factor - I have had to work on my healing a lot. If you would like to talk more about it, please let me know and I'd be happy to share more.

love
Ela

I react adversely to avocados as well. I have noticed slight rashes on my hands (esp. fingers) after eating them, as well as experienced headaches and other signs that my body is off balance. I definitely am reacting to something in the avocado as opposed to just 'fat' itself. I've known rawfoodists who use them as their only fat source; I can't do that (or eat them at all if I want to feel good,) but it is an effort to find a fat source that doesn't cause other issues and then to eat it in small amounts only.

Hi Bryan,
Thanks for that, I think I'm getting this now although I have to say that 5 years back I worked for Loren Lockman at Tanglewood fasting centre where I ate a high fruit diet and low fat and I got terrible gas, Although I was working in an office for many hours and didn't really exercise so possibly that might have had something to do with it, Also we didn't really eat many greens there and i'm beginning to learn the importance of minerals in the diet more now ..Hence the reason i'm abit nervous about going back to a high fruit diet.. I do tend to get terrible sugar cravings after dinner so maybe i'll just do a few weeks on green smoothies and see how I fair and if things pick up i'll take fats out of my diet for a month and then start including some back in , keeping the percetage low and maybe having a day a week off them ..
any more suggestions are welcome
pip

Ela, I would be very glad to hear from your raw food journey and Your way of becoming healthy and strong again. I have saved several posts from the old board regarding some raw food concerns i once had (2 are also from You).

You are right I have struggled for a very long time with health problems (digestive upset, fat intolerance and headaches) and i have also researched them quite a lot. Doing this i even came to the theoretical conclusion, that fat is no fuel for humans aside the small amounts in sweet fruits. Overt fats like avocados or nuts/seeds are probably not really meant to be eaten by humans. Fats somehow are a substitute for cooked foods, they give the same full feeling...

I really need to find a way a no-fat raw food diet is practible, because my body simply rejects fat (the more the longer i´m raw). And i would like to hear from Your insights. All shared opinions are appreciated.

Ani - I'd love to help you in any way I can. One thing that I would like to raise, though, is that the food is only part of the picture. I agree that it is one of the most crucially important parts but would like to offer the suggestion that when one is digesting one's emotions well, one can digest food well also.

From my own experience, when I was full of pain and unhappiness and unconnectedness, I couldn't digest anything - even the kindest, ripest fruit would cause pain. Nowadays I know that I can even digest some raw gourmet stuff when things are well in balance, and I'm playing with my boundaries and whether/when it is worthwhile to eat the gourmet stuff.

My experience is that high fruit and low fat is better in my body, and in that of many of my friends, but it doesn't seem right or necessary to me to make fat a demon or an enemy.

I seem to remember you live in Austria - is that right? Do you have access to durian there? On the 'food' side of things, durian helped with my healing more than anything else - and that was even the poorer frozen durian, which is what was available. Do you get much sunlight and fresh air? I'm wondering whether you have nurturing friends and a supportive environment there.

I'd love to talk more with you - feel free to email me,
luskinia (at) yahoo (dot) com

love
Ela