Hi everyone. I am interested in starting a raw food diet for good health and longevity, but I have a few concerns:

The problem is that I am underweight for my height (6'2, 140lbs.) and I have problems digesting the food I eat. I am constantly hungry and even though I am consuming plenty of calories throughout the day, I can't seem to gain any weight. I also suffer from foul smelling flatulence almost every day, which I'm guessing is a sign that the food I eat is fermenting in my intestines rather than being digested. This has me worried about the amount of nutrition I am actually absorbing from the foods I eat, plus it is embarrassing...

I should probably mention that I've been a vegetarian for about 5 years, and even though I am not a raw foodist, I do consume alot of whole, natural foods. Over the past few months I would say my diet has greatly improved. I've been keeping away from almost all packaged and processed foods. All I really eat now is sandwiches (with vegetables and tahini), rice, quinoa, tofu, vegetables, fruit, popcorn, soymilk, many nuts and nut butters...etc.

So yeah, basically I'm worried that if I start eating a raw food diet, I will lose more weight and become even more unhealthy than I am right now. I have other health problems besides my digestion and I don't want to aggravate my health even more.

If anyone has any advice they can offer, I would appreciate it.

Thanks.

Look:

The food you eat now is DERIVED from fresh raw plant foods. Why not cut out the middle-man and reap the profits? LOL. As to being underweight, some practical solutions are:

1) Lift weights and exercise for muscle density and mass.
2) Eat few and LARGE meals.

-All you can do is do all the research you can....eat the highest food you know.....monitor your results.....and accept responsibility and be at peace with your decision. If you FEEL healthy....and are happy...then your standard American is really not in a position to second-guess you health-wise! Ha! ha!

-Thank you for your intelligent question.

-David Z. Mason

I read in Paul Bragg's book on fasting that he would put underweight people on fasts to help them gain weight (that's right!). The idea was that the fast would clean up their digestive system and they would then be able to absorb more nutrients.

Awesome. Thank you both for the responses. I will definitely talk to my doctor about a cleansing...because I think I am in serious need of one.

thanks again!

When I have had problems digesting, what has helped me was to eat simpler meals. This technique really helped me when my body was challenged with some healing work, and I needed to expend as little energy as possible on digestion. Here is an example of a daily simple menu:

morning: 4 oranges
lunch: 8 persimmons
dinner: 6 ribs of celery, 2 large tomatoes

The first two meals are super easy to digest, as there is only one kind of food. The dinner meal was a bit more complicated with 2 kinds of foods. However, the greens are relatively neutral and don't clash with the acidic tomatoes.

This is an extreme example. If you are still eating cooked foods, you might try something like:

morning: 4 oranges
lunch: 2 bowls of rice, salad greens
snack: 4 persimmons
dinner: 2 bowls of rice, steamed veggies, salad greens

Don't add condiments (salt, pepper, spices, vinegar, etc), as they complicate the digestion process (unless your digestion has healed to a point eating more complex foods).

Eating lots of fat hampers the ease of digestion. Again, once your digestion improves, you can play with eating more fats.

Read up about food combining. There is an excellent book called "Food Combining Made Easy" by Herbert M. Shelton.

I just read a some info on food combining, and it is very interesting. I think I could definitely benefit from only eating one food per meal because I am constantly mixing them.

Thanks Bryan

I decided one time to eat mass amounts of raw garlic because as a natural antibiotic, I thought it would help kill off my sinus infection. Well, needless to say, in the process, it destroyed all the "good bacteria" in my intestines as well. Soon thereafter, I had mass amounts of terrible gas (evidently the bad bacteria proliferated much more quickly then the good to fill the void). This went on for almost a week. I decided to take some kambucha tea (loaded with all kinds of probiotic "good bacteria" and noticed immediate relief. After another bottle the next day, the problem was completely gone and hasn't appeared since.

It's quite possible that your colon is overrun with bad bacteria. (especially if you've been on antibiotics). Try some kambucha tea or other supplement that has lactobacillus acidophilus, bifidobacterium etc.

I have also noticed that food combining greatly affects digestion. Do you eat many greens? That might help too if you are having a low stomach acid problem.

Peace,

Ryan
radicalvitality.com



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/17/2006 11:02PM by ryandvan.