I haven't seen her on the board for a while(Did I chase her away with my aggressiveness? Probably, ) but she's another raw fooder who has been in this lifestyle a long time and has mega experience. I hope she will come and answer a few questions and allow us to benefit a little from her know-how and wisdom.
Thanks! All Qs are optional, of course, and you can choose to partially answer any of them.


What made you go raw?

When did you go raw?

have you been continuously raw since you first started or did you leave the lifestyle for a while and then came back?

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?

Anon 102 Wrote:
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> I haven't seen her on the board for a while(Did I
> chase her away with my aggressiveness? Probably,
> )

Hi Anon, I can't remember you being aggressive, so no worries!

> What made you go raw?

Probably mostly vanity. I love food; and when I quit smoking, I began to overeat. Raw food worked for me. My boyfriend at the time was into natural foods and introduced me to Jethro Kloss (Back to Eden) and Arnold Ehret (Thus Speaketh the Stomach, Rational Fasting, and Mucusless Diet)

> When did you go raw?

First time, in 1973. I was 23 and never even a vegetarian. I tried my first juice fast - juice and herb tea. The energy was amazing, and I was sold.

> have you been continuously raw since you first
> started or did you leave the lifestyle for a while
> and then came back?

I don't even begin counting until 1986, because those first 13 years (1973 - 1986) were all over the map. In 1986, I met my husband - a vegetarian - and we both committed to being vegan (He includes cooked. I am raw). For the first 4 years after that, I attempted to follow a very low fat raw vegan diet, but went off the wagon with some kind of cooked vegan food about every 3 weeks or so. After a major episode of vertigo, I began to include nuts and seeds. Since then, my diet has been steadily raw; but every few years or so, I've experimented with some kind of cooked food just to see if I can eat it without feeling awful. My latest experiment was with edamame. Tastes great but feels pretty wretched at least for me. Everyone is different. I'm a natural-born weakling.

As for being vegan though, my husband and I have both been 100% vegan since we first made that commitment in 1986, and I consider this the more important achievement.

> Your age (optional) and gender?

I'm 64, a female.

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

First went raw in Russian River, California. Went consistently raw on the Big Island of Hawaii.

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

Definitely, the Hawaii climate is a positive because of all the delicious fruit year round. My raw lifestyle included an organic tropical fruit farm that my husband and I planted ourselves (certified organic 8 years). A big plus is still having as many apple bananas as we like every day for free.

I've visited the Mainland several times since becoming raw, but always in the summer. It's fun having the summer Mainland fruits and checking out the new supermarkets (like Wegmans!). I don't know what it would be like going there again in the winter.

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

Anyplace where a person can be comfortable with the variety of food available. It's also nice to be active outside without having to bundle up for the cold weather.

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

Started out very low fat raw. Now I include whatever raw thing I like, but just whole foods, not processed foods like nama shoyu (which isn't really raw). I don't juice or have frozen fruits, and I don't have a dehydrator (although I'd probably use it if I did). Recently, I've started using my blender a lot. Mostly I eat fruits, nuts, seeds, coconut, and seaweeds (some dried), and also some salads with avocado/lemon juice. I do a 36-hour water fast once/week.

> Approximately what percentage of your diet is
> raw?

Almost always 100% every day. When I do try a cooked vegan food (seems like every few years or so), I'll still be a very high percent raw. I guess if you put it all together since October 1986, it would come out to about 99.999999999999999% or so.

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

I definitely would have included nuts and seeds at the start. I would also have included seaweeds.

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

B12 and a probiotic.

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

I try to have blood tests at least once/year. I'm probably due for another one.

> 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?

Be easy on yourself. Try to learn the basics of nutrition, so you won't end up deficient and hungry all the time. Maybe include steamed vegetables (great added to salads) unless/until you're more comfortable without them. You need B12, especially if pregnant or nursing; so don't wait for deficiency symptoms to show up (you may not recognize them). Reject raw food dogma that's holding you back and leaving you hungry. Raw food is not a religion. If you're thinking about food all the time, you're missing something. Eat what you need, and have a normal life.

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

I'm not sure what this means - like bored with the diet? If that's the case, include more of something new. There's lots of good food out there.

> Any other thing you’d like to add

EXERCISE!

I enjoyed reading this. Thanks.

What B12 supplement do you use?

Hi HH. I'm glad you enjoyed my story.

To answer your question, my B12 is methylcobalamin - a generic brand that the local health food store puts their label on.

I recently learned something new about methylcobalamin: The reason the dose is so huge is that it degrades easily. A larger dose is required to make up for that.

Thanks. What dose do you take? I was looking at some methylcobalamin on Amazon and it looks like the tablets or capsules run from 1000 mcg to 5000 mcg.

suncloud Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hi HH. I'm glad you enjoyed my story.
>
> To answer your question, my B12 is methylcobalamin
> - a generic brand that the local health food store
> puts their label on.
>
> I recently learned something new about
> methylcobalamin: The reason the dose is so huge is
> that it degrades easily. A larger dose is
> required to make up for that.

Mine is 1000 mcg.

suncloud,

can you talk about your blood tests? any issues with them over the years?

and can you be a little more accurate with the percent raw?
15 decimal places? surely you don't think that is accurate enough.

Thanks, Suncloud!

You're very welcome Anon!

fresh Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> suncloud,
>
> can you talk about your blood tests? any issues
> with them over the years?

Not according to my doctor. BUT: About 5 years ago, my total cholesterol and LDL started rising. Surprise surprise! Fact is that apart from dietary cholesterol (vegans have none), we also make our own; so we have it whether we eat it or not. Since then, my numbers have pretty much consistently hovered just above or below the optimal ranges for both.

The ratio of my total cholesterol to HDL is very low though (HDL is 70+ or -), so the doctors at Kaiser (and my doctor before Kaiser) have said it's very good.

Still though, I'd like to lower the total and LDL cholesterol to where it was before. One theory I have is that when I went back to school, I wasn't getting enough sunshine. Conversion of sunshine to D3 requires the use of our own cholesterol, and I probably wasn't using much of it up like before. That's basically the only lifestyle change I had during that time. Now I'm trying to get more sunshine again.

Here's a study on the relationship between sunshine deficiency and cholesterol: [www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov].

I'm open to the possibility though that I need to reduce dietary fats. I'm experimenting. More sunshine first, then a test, then try something else - possibly reduce fats.

Another sort-of possibility: too much B12, since it's involved in the pathway for making our own cholesterol. That's just my own theory though. No one has ever tested it.

> and can you be a little more accurate with the
> percent raw?
> 15 decimal places? surely you don't think that is
> accurate enough.

Oh. 15? Oops. It's really just 14. I think...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/28/2015 07:55AM by suncloud.

I always thought Suncloud was a man. Then again, l never got a good reading on Suncloud. Some people are easy to tune into, others aren't.

www.thesproutarian.com

We have preconceived notion.
We assume sun is male and moon is female.
Suncloud
Mooncloud

good point

thanks suncloud, very interesting.

reduce fats? noooooooo!

fresh Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> thanks suncloud, very interesting.
>
> reduce fats? noooooooo!

Fresh, you're funny.