In view of all the negativity lately on this site, in which I played my part I must say, this is an attempt to add some positive vibes to the forum. I plan to ask a few people about their experiences on the raw diet and hope they'll answer.

Lois, would you be a dear and give us your experiences on the raw diet by answering these questions? All questions are optional. It's ok if you don't feel like participating(but I hope you do). Just type decline on the next post and we'll let the thread go to the Great Beyond. Thank you very much!


What made you go raw?

When did you go raw?

Have you been continuously raw since you first started?

Your age (optional) and gender?

What climate were you in when you first went raw and what climate are you in now?

Can you say briefly how the climate you’re in affects, whether positively, negatively or neutrally, your raw lifestyle?

Do you recommend any place or places that are more conducive to staying raw?

What did you eat when you first went raw and what is your diet like today?

Approximately what percentage of your diet is raw?

If you know then what you know now what changes would you have made when you first started raw?

What’s your view on supplements and do you take any?

Do you do regular health tests, e.g. blood and others?

We know there are many kinds of raw diet so this question is specific. Do you have any advice for raw fooders who are leaning towards eating or eating the raw diet you eat?

Do you have any advice for raw fooders who may have find themselves in a rut?
Any other thing you’d like to add?


Thank you.

Wow, this is freaky! Rethinking my opinion on singling someone out in a post

I hope you're sincere and not just doing this for a goof because you know I like to talk about myself.

I could write a book, but I'll try not to go off on tangents when I respond.

Gotta go to Whole Foods - which I love and I'm thankful to have one near me - this morning, but will work on it later.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/14/2015 02:14PM by Lois.

I am very sincere. No ulterior motive here, I assure you. I think I read that you said you've been doing this for more than 10 years so I figured you'd be perfect to ask to share your experience.Thanks!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/14/2015 02:41PM by Anon 102.

anon, you should answer your own questions too imo

fresh Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> anon, you should answer your own questions too imo



I will, later.

I have questions on the questions

When you say:

"Do you recommend any place or places that are more conducive to staying raw?"

Do you mean a specific location - like New York City, Florida, Virginia Beach, Virgin Islands. Or do you mean in general - like home, outdoors, the beach, the mountains, the suburbs, the city, in the garden. Or a situation - like on vacation, while traveling, holidays, at a party, at a restaurant, family get-together.

***************

When you say:

"Do you have any advice for raw fooders who are leaning towards eating or eating the raw diet you eat?"

'leaning towards eating.....' what? A word is missing.

Do you mean 'who are leaning towards eating RAW or eating the raw diet you eat'?

Thanks.

Place means location like the examples you wrote, New York City, Florida, Virginia Beach, Virgin Islands etc.


With the eating question, I mean advice for a noobie who is gravitating towards eating a similar diet to yours or anyone who is already eating a similar diet to yours but may gain further insights to potential issues they could face. I don't know if I explained it clearly but if not don't worry. Just give us some advice on issues you encountered and how you solve them. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks much.

Oops, sorry for the delay!

Just woke up with a hangover from last night's bingeing on McDonald's

I have another question

When you say:

"Have you been continuously raw since you first started?"

Do you mean continuously 100% Raw?

Not really. Just on the raw lifestlye. Did you stay on it once you started or did you start and then give it up for a while and then come back? And maybe you could tell how your raw percentages have evolved over time.

Lois Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Oops, sorry for the delay!
>
> Just woke up with a hangover from last night's
> bingeing on McDonald's


What happened to Whole Foods?

Who ARE you????????????????!!!!!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/16/2015 03:06PM by Lois.

Lois did you think this was not sincere, can I ask you why you said that?

Do you think it is? I think it was really nice someone acknowledged us.

Sure I think Anon was/is sincere and I'm flattered, also, coconutcream.

I think the devil made me write that, for whatever reason.

My situation is complicated because I had issues on the raw vegan diet, but I'll respond tomorrow probably.

(This is my favorite smiley that I'm in love with right now.)

Here goes nothing...I'm the black sheep of the profiled so far

What made you go raw?

I was interested in nutrition in my 20's and when my first child was two and started having what they called 'temper tantrums', I was skeptical that it was natural. After observation, I figured out they were reactions to chemicals, colors & preservatives and so became interested in the food/mood connection. After that, I experimented with diet with her, and then my subsequent children - who also had 'reactions' - and husband, until I figured out what we were all 'allergic to' and how it affected each of us, particularly emotionally/behaviorally. So I tried various diets over the years, and when I went dairy-free and then gluten-free, it was the answer to my prayers because of the gastro-intestinal problems and brain fog I had had since I was a teen-ager. Among the various diets, I read the book "Fit For Life" and loved it, but when I tried eating fruit in the morning, I felt weird, shaky and my heart was pounding, so I figured it wasn't for me. I also read about the Raw Food Diet and tried that but lost ten pounds in two weeks, so figured it wasn't for me because I'd always been skinny (one of my problems) and struggled to keep my weight on - probably because I had messed up my digestion and intestines from dairy and gluten for all those years.

Then fifteen years ago, I was reading The Celestine Prophecy and I read about flowers having an aura/vibration/energy field. So I was sitting in my backyard eating flowers, and a lightbulb went off in my head and it hit me - I should eat everything raw! So I went 100% Raw the next day and started feeling fabulous and I thank God/The Universe/The Angels for leading me to the RFD.

When did you go raw?

2000

Have you been continuously raw since you first started?

Chronologically - 100% Raw Vegan for about 5 years, 100% Raw Vegetarian (raw goat milk) for about 2 years, yoyo All Raw/High Raw/Vegan/Vegetarian (including one year pescatarian ) for about 5 years. And now - 98% Raw Vegan or Vegetarian for the last 3 years; 100% raw maybe 98% of the time, something like that.


Blips would include accidentally overheating a jar of nut butter that I was softening up in my oven so it would easier to mix or overheating something I was marinating/dehydrating in the oven because I don't have a dehydrator and then eating them anyway because I didn't want to waste them. That happens sometimes with raw food. Eating something from the Whole Foods Salad bar that I thought was raw - like marinated mushrooms - but later figuring out they weren't. Two years ago at Thanksgiving dinner at my daughter's, she made specially for me gluten-free cranberry muffins out of coconut flour and some raw chocolates that might not have been really raw, but I ate them because I felt like I had to do it for her. Tasting a soup or chili when I'm making meals for guests and have to get them spicy enough, but not too hot to eat. Otherwise, I make holiday and regular meals for my family and guests and just eat my raw food. Out at restaurants with people - eating a salad that has some cooked ingredient in it (nuts, corn, olives, whatever) or eating cooked vegetables instead of the garden salad because the salad dressings and sulfites skive me. My husband says I have to order something instead of sitting there not eating anything, like I used to do. Out of curiousity a couple times when I was making paleo for my husband and tasted a couple things made out of coconut flour/almond flour and coconut crystals. Took a bite, tasted it, spit it out - not in his face, LOL.

Your age (optional) and gender?

Female. Ageless.

What climate were you in when you first went raw and what climate are you in now?

Northeast for first five years of raw. Virginia for last ten years of raw.

Can you say briefly how the climate you’re in affects, whether positively, negatively or neutrally, your raw lifestyle?

Since moving from the suburbs to the mountains with beautiful air, water, etc., I'm much happier and healthier and it makes me more satisfied, thankful and determined to be all raw the rest of my life. When I'm away in the suburbs or cities, it's mentally easy to be all raw, but I'm pretty negative on how the water, air, noise, etc. is affecting my health. I never had a problem with wanting warm food when or where it's cold in the winter.

Do you recommend any place or places that are more conducive to staying raw?

Being home alone - where my processor, blender and juicer are - is the best possible place. Vacationing or visiting where there's a Whole Foods to shop at works well, too, and I take a hand blender with me. Being in the country, access to wild food is very motivating to eating raw. Having some land on which to grow a garden is also helpful.

**********

More later.

What did you eat when you first went raw and what is your diet like today?

I ate nuts/seeds, fruits, vegetables, sea vegetables, wheatgrass, sprouts, raw soups, salads.

Today the same as above, but also juicing every day, green smoothie every day, hemp seeds every day, sprouts every day (thanks TSM for renewing my interest in sprouts) , more water, more coconuts, cashews, bananas and raw milk to keep the weight on and keep up the B-12 level. I also now make raw recipes sometimes and will buy raw prepared food when I travel if it's available.

I dry fast from 7:00 at night until noon the next day. (1:00 during daylight savings time) Around 1:00, I drink
four glasses of water, start eating around 2:00, 2:30 - fruit or a green smoothie - try to be finished eating by 7:00 p.m.

I don't eat any raw sweeteners, salt, (miso, soy sauce, aminos) or oil as part of my regular daily diet.

If you know then what you know now what changes would you have made when you first started raw?

I would have gotten blood tests at the beginning and throughout and adjusted my diet accordingly. I would have eaten more sprouts, juiced, eaten a green smoothie every day, hemp seeds, drank more water. I would not have eaten honey, which I ate for years because I thought it was OK for me. In retrospect, I think it screwed up my blood sugar (although my glucose tests have always been good), maybe my adrenals.

What’s your view on supplements and do you take any?

I never really got into them, except a couple times for a short time, like a week. I stick on a B12 patch every so often, to see if it makes me feel high I'm not a fan of vitamins; would never take synthetic ones or those with fillers - like magnesium stearate, gums, etc. Would probably take Raw Vitamin Code, MegaFood vitamins.

However, I'm going to be taking Vitamin D drops soon, which contain only D and coconut/palm oil. Carlson's. Those I'm serious about.

Do you do regular health tests, e.g. blood and others?

Yes, once or twice a year since 2009. The test results are one reason I stopped being 100% raw for a period of time. Other reasons, my skinniness problem and health issues that popped up.

I'll expound later.

So after eating all raw vegan for five years, I lost weight and was way skinny. My weight on raw vegan was usually around 83, sometimes the 70's, even though I ate plenty of raw food and a perfectly well-rounded raw diet. So I started drinking raw goat milk.

Then after moving from a ranch house to a house with stairs, hilly driveway, mountain trails, I discovered two heath issues I hadn't known about. When I went up a flight of stairs, started walking up the driveway or a trail up the mountain, my legs would hurt at the back. Unfortunately, I had Lyme Disease three times in the Northeast, and it sort of ruined my arms and legs and left them weak, so I'm asking myself - What is it? Is it the Lyme's, is it the Diet? Is it the altitude thing?

Another issue was my heart pounding. When I walked upstairs I had to lay on a bed until I was OK again because my heart was pounding. It went on for a long time and I couldn't figure out what it was because I was eating all raw. In retrospect, it might have been because I was eating honey every day for a year or more.

So then I went for tests. The lab guy said he'd never seen such low scores. My D was 7.8 (reference range was 30-100), B-12 was 8.2 (less than 4 is sufficient - MMA test) and Omega-3's were 2.5 in a 2 to 8 range; less than 4 was deficient.

Wake-up call. I was shocked. I went in the sun that summer every day for 15 minutes and in the fall, the test results were only a little better. So I experimented with my diet - I ate all raw and ate cooked salmon two or three times a week. Six months later lab results were good - D was 37, B-12 was 3.9, Omega-3 was 8.5. The lab guy asked me to write my success story for his newsletter.

But eating fish shived me, so I stopped after a year. The heart pounding had stopped, legs still hurt at the back a bit when I start walking up the hill, but better than previously. For a while, I kept up with the raw goat milk to keep the weight on and when I couldn't get it in the winter, I ate high raw to keep the weight on. But I stopped high raw three years ago to be 100% raw because I hate eating cooked. So two winters ago, I got down to 80 pounds with all raw vegan. Luckily, I found a source to get raw goat milk year round so this last winter I was able to stay around 95 pounds, still thin but not emaciated looking and I'll be able to stay all raw now.

My test scores have drifted down to the the low end of sufficient on B-12 and Omega's. Unfortunately, last month my D was down to 22 in the 30-100 sufficiency range. So now I'm going the Vitamin route for the D. One drop a day of 2000 IU. I'll get the results of this experiment when I do another test in October.

good that you figured it out lois.

do you mind saying what your height is and have you ever tracked calories?

Almost 5'1". No, I never did track calories but I know I've always eaten loads of food every day.

This is about what I eat in a day now -

Fresh fruit - now it could be watermelon, cherries, or strawberries. A bowl full.

Smoothie which is about 2 glasses full - hemp seeds, raw goat yogurt, 1 banana, fresh juice, fig, coconut milk or meat, cup of sprouts, about five vegetables including a leafy vegetable and root vegetable.

Apple slices with a nut butter/raisin spread.

Banana ice cream with nut butter and berries in it.

Pudding made with soaked cashews/banana/dates/strawberries/pine nut flakes with berries and hemp seeds in it.

Raw banana/date/walnut bread - 3 slices.

Raw bread - 2 slices with nut/seed butter or raw pate with lettuce and tomato.

Milk shake with 2 cups of raw goat milk, 1 cup of yogurt, 2 bananas and hemp seeds - makes 3 glasses of banana milkshake.





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/19/2015 03:15AM by Lois.

We know there are many kinds of raw diet so this question is specific. Do you have any advice for raw fooders who are leaning towards eating or eating the raw diet you eat?

I'd say to make sure to eat every component of the RFD - fruits, vegetables, sea vegetables, sprouts, nuts/seeds. Eat plenty to keep your weight up. But still experiment and pay attention to how individual foods affect you - your sleep, your dreams, your mood, your energy, your behavior, your relationships.

Watch out for salt - I just don't think it's healthful; eat sea vegetables. Also if you're struggling to be all raw - I think it's addictive and may lead to cravings. Actually, I'm ambivalent on the salt issue because other times, I think there's a place for salt, and right now I'm doing the 'sole' thing. But then again, I feel like I can't really attain good health/heal/detox until I stop all salt totally (and stop the goat milk).

Speaking of cravings - for myself, when I'm all raw, I don't get cravings; but when I'm high raw, I get cravings. I think cooked food is addictive.

You can use your Green Smoothie as a vehicle to eat loads of vegetables that you don't like to eat raw. Rather than water as the liquid in your Smoothie - use wet fruits, coconut water or fresh juice. Eat nuts/seeds or nut/seed butters with your greens.

Definitely get blood tests so you can be aware of any deficiencies with your diet and adjust it accordingly.

Do you have any advice for raw fooders who may have find themselves in a rut?

Have some yummy raw food or raw concoction to look forward to and enjoy every day. Try raw recipes - there are loads of them on Pinterest. It's fun and easy to make delicious raw desserts - pies, puddings, brownies, cakes, etc.

Don't stop experimenting with the raw diet: high fruit or high fat, juicing, recipes or simple meals, salt/no salt, distilled or spring water, fruit in the morning or in the evening. If I eat fruit as my last meal, I can't get to sleep. Fruit does mess with your energy/blood sugar, something. If I could stabilize my weight, I'd love to try eating little or no fruit to see how I feel and my energy level over a period of time.

Branch out - reinvent yourself. For the ladies - take an interest in your looks - do something different with your hair, get into skin care, experiment with make-up, clothes - but don't spend too much money - haha.

Any other thing you’d like to add?

Yes.

I think all vegans/raw foodists should get regular tests to check their nutrient levels, preferable just before going raw and thereafter. If you've been strict raw vegan for decades, but you're walking around with deficiencies - that's not good. When we start dropping dead, we'll see how well the RFD fared

Also, probably because it pertains to me - it really bugs me, the face of the raw vegan. So many raw vegans whose photos you see are so thin, skin and bones. They look unhealthy or at least unattractive. I don't want to look like that. Why is it never discussed.

(Like at the body of the woman on the right - [www.youtube.com] )

It's a struggle. I go back and forth from 'I'd rather be skinny and raw' to 'I want to look good, even if I have to eat cooked.' Why can't the raw food community come right out and say - you emaciated raw foodists don't look so hot. I know they say 'exercise to build muscle' and gain weight. Well, I don't think those skinny ones with muscles look good, either. I guess it's the Fat that's missing on skinny raw foodists, not muscle.

Like Fresh said - Vanity can motivate. I know if I started eating cooked, I'd age five years in a month. My vanity is a big factor in staying all raw. I enjoy being an example of a life of healthy eating within my family. They tell me I look good and sometimes say 'You were right about......" After eating anything and everything, my girls are now very much into a wholesome diet - some raw, juicing, smoothies, paleo - a lot of it is their weight and looks, but also their health. They helped me get into the exercise thing.

Thanks very much, Lois. Very interesting and comprehensive reply. Quite a journey you are on there. I wish you the best of luck.

Wow Lois, amazing information.

I personally found learning how to interpret blood tests from a functional perspective to be helpful. The ranges are much tighter than standard lab ranges. From a standard laboratory perspective, I was normal, but from a functional perspective I had b-12 deficiency anemia. I hardly had any symptoms at all. When I quit gluten, the few symptoms that I didn't pay attention to before just vanished. When the standard laboratory ranges show high or low, then the problem is full-blown.

From an asian perspective, the western raw vegan diet is often deficient in kidney tonic foods, like black sesame, black rice and black beans/lentils and other black seeds, but fruits like goji and mulberries are also considered kidney tonics. (you can sprout black lentils and eat them raw, but you can't eat black beans raw, even when they're sprouted, I am sure you know). These black foods and kidney essence herbs help with back pain and many aching type pains from the waist down to the feet. Blood tonics are not hard to get in the raw vegan diet, like wheatgrass juice and other green and vegetable juices, like beet and carrot, but kidney essence tonics are not as easy.

To me, being skinny or a bit pudgy is not so bad, but the main thing is to be healthy and not in pain. When I was at my skinniest (115 lbs, at 5'9", I felt like missing one day of food really depleted me and I could feel it in my back. That was not good. It doesn't look good and it's not healthy, I agree. I really agree with TSM to focus on using seeds versus nuts, because seeds are lower in calories than nuts and they give you more minerals. My two favorite seeds are poppy and sesame for their mineral content (sprouted). So, my point in sharing is that even if the seeds cause a little weight gain, I think it's worth it, especially if they relieve calcium deficiency or relieve symptoms of pain, discomfort, etc. And sometimes, seeds are healthy for weight gain, as Lou corona helped many underweight raw vegans put on weight, including muscles with nut/seed yogurt.

Anon 102 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thanks very much, Lois. Very interesting and
> comprehensive reply.


You're welcome, Anon. Two things I like to do - talk about myself and bloviate

Thanks for the advice, Tai. You were skinny!

I eat hemp seeds, hemp seed butter and pumpkin seed butter right now, but I'll start with the sesame seeds, tahini and sprouting some of the other seeds, now that you told me how healthy they are. Do you think the seed butters or seeds themselves are more nutritious, besides the sprouts? I never liked the lentil sprouts because they were too crunchy, never got into beans much except for sugar snap peas. I pick out the fattest ones and just eat the peas inside. Great travel food.

Lois:
Do you think the seed butters or seeds themselves are more nutritious, besides the sprouts?

Tai:
Technically the seed when it's freshly sprouted is the optimal in nutrition, although Lou advocates to then blend into a yogurt with a probiotic to make everything bioavailable. The probiotic turns the fat into fatty acids and the protein into amino acids. I sometimes don't have time and once the sesame seed is sprouted (cute little buds form on top when just sprouted and when they grow tails is when they are too bitter), I just blend with lemon and orange juice to make a salad dressing (and sometimes add garlic and fresh ginger). THe citrus helps to break the sesame down.

With poppy seed, when the seed is sprouted, it is soft and blends okay in the vitamix. But if not sprouted, then I just make a seed butter in my melanger, which I bought from Raw Food World. NOw i found out there are different models on the market, but I am fine with what I have. I have personally felt benefit to my bones and teeth when i have taken 30-50 grams daily of poppy seed butter for several days, but 15g is plenty otherwise. Poppy seed butter is the bomb with fruit. If you don't sprout it first, which rinses it off, then 50 grams is too much because it has relaxant properties in it. Otherwise it is a dose for insomnia.

With lentil sprouts, if you make a marinade and let them soak, it can cause them to reduce, but if you avoid salt, then I am not sure. The other trick is making raw sprouted falafel balls in the dehydrator, but I guess that is a no-no for a living foodist. The main way I eat sprouted legumes is by making a raw hummous.

Store bought tahini is not the greatest, because it is often roasted or hulled. THe healthiest is the unhulled sesame and the minerals are bioavailable when sprouted. BUT you have to try a few sources, because some sesame seeds have been treated and you will find they won't sprout. When I found a good supplier of sproutable ones, I would buy a 25 pound bag. I eat the black sesame with fruit (because it's more bitter than the brown/beige) and the brown/beige sesame I use for salad dressings.

If the seed butters are sprouted and fermented they will be wayyy more nutritious than just the seeds.....many times the B vitamins, many times the vitamin E, many times the phytochemicals, many times the enzymes (brings about vitamin increases) and many times the bioavilability of various nutrients, and probiotics (alsomake nutrients more bioavailable). Many factors need to be taken into account when making seed butters. Actually, the fermented sprouted seed butters are so nutritious and amazing that l could talk about the magic for hours. They are the super duper nutrition food, especially when it involves sesame, poppy or especially sunflower.

You can get up to 2,000% increase in various B vitamins when various seeds are sprouted, and when you ferment these foods you can increase B vitamins by up to another 50%. Sprouting sesame for 4 days can increase vitamin E by up to 25,000%.

You think sprouted seed butters are worth the time? You bet your boots they are Lois!

You think the grasses are worth having? You bet your boots they are Lois! You know why?...because some B vitamins can increase up to 2,000% when the grain is grow to grass stage. So if you use a cup of grain and then drink as grass you get a truckload of vitamins and often highly enhanced levels of minerals etc.

Lois - l could go on and on for months on end writing about the amazing changes that ocur during sprouting and making seed pastes, but that is for my book. I'll tell you something Lois...if you read this book you will hardly be able to believe you eyes because it will by far the most comprehensive and scientifically backed book ever done on sprouts and possibly in the raw vegan world. Your eyes will be opened BIG and w-i-d-e Lois, you bet they will. I don't write things for jsut the sake of it Lois, l write to create a masterpiece, and the raw food world is going to get one which will knock people's socks off.

Lois, l enjoyed your story very much. I also enjoyed Anon's and coconutcream's.

O.k...time fo me to go, l have things to do.

Regards Lois, the Sproutarian Man.

www.thesproutarian.com

Lois Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Anon 102 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Thanks very much, Lois. Very interesting and
> > comprehensive reply.
>
>
> You're welcome, Anon. Two things I like to do -
> talk about myself and bloviate


Bloviate as much as you want to. I'm willing to listenate and readiate

Tai, that info -

"The probiotic turns the fat into fatty acids and the protein into amino acids"

- just sold me on making seed yogurt.

This is also very helpful -

"I sometimes don't have time and once the sesame seed is sprouted (cute little buds form on top when just sprouted and when they grow tails is when they are too bitter), I just blend with lemon and orange juice to make a salad dressing (and sometimes add garlic and fresh ginger). THe citrus helps to break the sesame down."

The poppy seed butter sounds good.

I've been buying sprouted seed and nut butters from this place - I see they have the black sesame seed butter -

[www.bluemountainorganics.com]

I asked them the process they used - sprouted, dried, then made into the seed butter. The drying step turns me off and makes me visualize the sprouts as losing some of their life energy, so I should be making them myself. I'll see how it works in my blendtec.

Thanks!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/20/2015 04:03PM by Lois.

"Your eyes will be opened BIG and w-i-d-e Lois"

Good, I want big, wide eyes - they look better than little beady eyes

I like your B Vitamin talk because sometimes I thought maybe the weakness in my legs could be because I need more B. Times like that, I start to think maybe I 'need' something like cooked rice (sprouted is too hard and crunchy and doesn't seem like an edible food) that has a lot of B vitamins in it.

[www.livestrong.com]

Do you happen to know off the top of your head which sprouted seeds would have the most B in them?

But something about the fermentation thing just turns me off. Like way back with the whole Rejuvelac thing, that skived me. My first period of all raw vegan, I was big into fermenting vegetables. I bought two of those Harsch crocks and made loads of sauerkraut and kimchi, using sea vegetables instead of salt. It was yummy. But I slacked off and sometimes I just am skeptical that any fermented foods are good for us.

After my gluten/grain brain-fog issue, I would never eat the seed part of sprouted grains - only the grass part.
I definitely want to get back to the wheatgrass and other grass juices now that I have a good juicer, so thanks for that reminder, TSM.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/20/2015 04:38PM by Lois.

"The probiotic turns the fat into fatty acids and the protein into amino acids"


"Turns" is not magic. In essence what taking probiotics can do is take the job of digesting the fats and proteins you eat away from you and your healthy gut flora and predigest them for you. That's all.

If you have some terrible health problem such as having had your good gut bacteria killed off with antibiotics, etc., probiotics can assist with transitioning back to having healthy gut flora. Otherwise taking probiotics is a pretty pointless and probably counterproductive expensive habit to get into, IMO.