I've been eating a lot of dates, berries, bananas, nuts, seeds and sometimes I boil up potatoes, carrots, and broccoli. Forever transitioning :/

david

Hi dvdai,

I hope you're not eating too many dried dates as it could lead to serious consequences for your teeth. Also, I hope the ' I eat a lot of ' didn't specifically refer to nuts and seeds. Are you including lots of raw leafy greens in your diet. It seems you're following an old outdated model that most raw health minded people don't recommend any more. On the other hand, if it's working for you and your are happy and satisfied then keep going - but beware of eating too many dates.

There is so much new knowledge out there now that you might consider looking at.

It seems like there is much disagreement on this board with the proper diet. There seems to be a couple different camps with strong views. Of course the debate is inevitable and older than any of us.

I don't take an alarmist approach to my diet because that seems like a path to disease as well, but I do acknowledge I could make some improvements.

I'm sitting in my cubicle eating dates as we speak. Medjool and delicious.

I ate some broccoli last night and bit into a rotten piece. I can't get the taste out of my mouth but I shall persevere!

david

>I'm sitting in my cubicle eating dates as we speak. Medjool and delicious.

I am not sure if we are talking about carvings or cravings.

Delicious does not make necessarily healthy.

There is no need for debate on this.

Dates are just too sweet to be the foundation of a diet.

There are so many other choices out there.

The body thrives on alkalizing foods not sugar. There is no mysteries.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/03/2017 08:48PM by RawPracticalist.

- Rich in dietary fibre, antioxidants and made of simple sugars, these soft, fleshy fruits can revitalise the body and almost instantly give an energy boost. .
.
- Dates are cholesterol-free and have very low fat. This coupled with the fact that they are energy boosters make dates a suitable snack for health-conscious people. .
.
- They are rich in vitamins B1, B2, B3, B5, A1 and C, proteins and dietary fibre. .
.
- These fruits are a good source of iron (11%) and potassium (16%) and are rich in minerals like calcium, manganese, copper, and magnesium. .
.
- Dates have soluble and insoluble fibres and amino acids that can help to improve your digestive system. .
.
- These fruits are rich in potassium and low in sodium, thereby helping to regulate your nervous system. .

Quote
RawPracticalist
>I'm sitting in my cubicle eating dates as we speak. Medjool and delicious.

I am not sure if we are talking about carvings or cravings.

Delicious does not make necessarily healthy.

There is no need for debate on this.

Dates are just too sweet to be the foundation of a diet.

There are so many other choices out there.

The body thrives on alkalizing foods not sugar. There is no mysteries.

Neat, but it looks like someone doesn't agree with you.

david

Because the person is focusing solely on the nutrients in the dates.

We are not saying dates do not have nutrients.

We are saying that they cannot be the fundamental food of a diet.

Cayenne pepper has a lot nutrients but it cannot be the sole food in the diet,
the body would not even allow it.

There are not that many animals in the wild feeding on dates alone because it is fundamentally sugar at the end.

oh okay

david

David listen to your body and read nutrients listed

7 Reasons to Eat More Dates

One of the oldest crops on the planet, humans have been eating dates for over 6,000 years. Modern nutrition and science are just starting to find out why dates are so beneficial for our health.

Over 200 varieties of dates are grown worldwide. These may not all be available in your local supermarket, but read on to find out why you should include more of these tasty fruits in your diet.

Health Benefits of Dates

1. Highly Nutritious

Dates are not simply a sugary treat as their taste may suggest. They are a great source of many different nutrients and they’re high in fiber.

In fact, a 3.5 ounce (100 gram) serving of Medjool dates, about 4 or 5 fruits, provides you with 18 percent of your daily recommended intake of fiber.

The same serving gives you 20 percent of your potassium, 18 percent of your copper, 14 percent of your magnesium and high amounts of calcium and iron, which are excellent for supporting bone and blood health.

Dates contain a good complement of vitamins as well, including vitamins B5 and B6, folate, niacin and vitamin A.

2. Antioxidant Properties

A 2005 study found that dates have the highest amounts of polyphenols, an important type of antioxidant, compared to other commonly dried fruits. Polyphenols have been shown to help prevent degenerative diseases like heart disease, cancer, osteoporosis and diabetes.

c


3. Diabetic Control

One study found that consuming dates helped to control blood sugar levels and circulating fats in diabetic patients.

This is interesting because dates are high in carbohydrates and natural sugars. Sugary foods can cause a rapid rise in blood sugar levels, which can be dangerous for people with diabetes. The researchers compared eating dates alone or with a meal and determined either way did not spike blood sugar levels.

Another study found that a date fruit extract helped to prevent deterioration of diabetic neuropathy.

4. Sexual Health

Dates are traditionally recognized for increasing sexual stamina. It’s said an excellent recipe to enhance your potency is to soak a handful of dates in goat’s milk overnight, then grind the mixture with some cardamom powder and honey in the morning.

Science has not delved into this, but it could be worth a try.

Interestingly, the pollen from date palm flowers has been found to enhance male fertility and increase sperm counts. This has not been shown for the fruit, but the research shows promise for helping with infertility.

5. Bowel Function and Cancer

A University of Reading study looked at intestinal health as it relates to the prevention of cancer. A group of volunteers ate about 50 grams of dates (1.8 ounces) per day for 3 weeks. In that time, their bowel movement frequency increased and there was a significant reduction of potentially cancer-causing chemical byproducts created by digestion.

The researchers believe that the high fiber and polyphenols found in dates support the function of healthy intestinal flora, which can lead to a lower risk of colorectal cancer.

Other studies have also found that certain natural compounds in dates have anti-tumor and anticancer effects.

6. Heart Health

Date consumption has been shown to reduce blood lipid levels and oxidative stress in the body. This will help prevent the development of atherosclerosis, which can lead to diseases such as heart attacks, stroke or aneurysms.

7. Pregnancy

A Jordan University of Science and Technology study found that pregnant women who ate 6 dates per day in the last 4 weeks of pregnancy had significantly better outcomes during labor and delivery. Compared to women who did not eat dates, the women who consumed dates had:
•Greater cervical dilation upon admission to hospital.
•A higher proportion of intact membranes.
•Spontaneous labor in 96 percent of the group, compared to 79 percent of the non-date eaters.
•Significantly lower use of prostin and oxytocin drugs.
•A shorter first stage of labor, which was almost half the time of those who didn’t eat dates.
note David I did notsay to eat only dates that is not my sole focus or fad.


Palm Trees, Dates & The South Sinai Bedouin


“Wherever water falls, the Bedouin
will try to grow palm trees.”

My name is Hamid Soleman. I was born and raised in Dahab, South Sinai and I work with tourists. My family owns palm trees that have been passed down through generations in Dahab, Ein Hodra and Wadi Feran. I would like to tell you about their importance to our tribes.

Dates have been a staple food of the Middle East for thousands of years. They are believed to have originated around what is now Iraq, and have been cultivated since ancient times, possibly as early as 4000 BCE. The Ancient Egyptians used the fruits to make date wine, and ate them at harvest.

Hamid Soleman

How do we use palm trees?

Every single palm tree in South Sinai is owned by someone and they can live to be 200 years old. If we own land that is not being used for a house, we’ll usually try to plant trees.

There are 7 main oases in South Sinai – Ein Hodra, Wadi Gnai, Wadi Feran, Ein Omahmed, Al Tor, Wadi Sleh, and Wadi Nusb (this is a very big one with hundreds of trees).

They are vital to the Bedouin for many reasons:
•They give us food – dates are a very nutritious fruit
•They give us shade which comes from the tree itself or by using its leaves and trunk to make an ‘arisha’ or shelter
•We can make small boats from them for fishing
•We use the branches (once the dates have fallen from them) as a broom to clean the home
•The leaves can be used to make rope or we weave them into bags
•The trunks can make seating
•The trunks can also be a water dam





Some facts about dates


•Here in South Sinai we don’t tend to sell dates, we give them as gifts to family and friends. But in the North there are so many palm trees that dates are bought and sold for business

•In the past the only way to have something sweet in South Sinai was to eat dates. We only used to grow palm trees, and there was no sugar until the English people came here and introduced us to it

•The Bedouin still like to drink Arabic coffee with or without sugar and eat dates with it

•When the Bedouin go fishing by the sea, dates are a good refreshment for when we are hungry. In places like Gabr Al Bint, rainwater comes down from mountain and goes to the seaside. This helps palm trees to grow there, and the dates from these are used by fishermen

•Tradition is that the Bedouin spend winter in the desert, and summer near the sea. In our time near the sea we’ll collect dates to take to the desert for the winter months

•The Bedouin make a hole in the mountain to save dates as they last one year, and to keep them in good condition. We press them into the washed skin of a goat and seal it, then store it. No insects or pests eat dates so they keep very well

•There are lots of different types of palm trees and climate systems across South Sinai, so the dates from Dahab, Sharm El Sheikh and Nuweiba are different to those in Wadi Feran and Ein Hodra

•The best dates are from Wadi Feran, because there are lots of oasis there and water. This place is near St Catherine and it is a big centre for trade as it is in the middle of Sinai; each tribe has family there with palm trees. People doing Hadj used to bring seeds from North of Africa to Wadi Feran as they made their pilgrimage to Mecca, and so the variety of dates became mixed

•If someone has 10 palm trees, two are usually dedicated to the poor. If someone has 100 palms sometimes 10 are given to the people who work with them, and 10 are given to the poor. We mark the trees so that we know who they are for – the owner, the workers or the poor

•One of our laws is that people should always ask for permission before taking dates from a tree. Each tree is owned by someone and many have been passed down through generations. This means that the fruit cannot just be taken by anyone

•Dates are very healthy – it is very important in Ramadan to eat them for this reason. They contain dietary fibre, iron, potassium, B-vitamins, vitamins A and K, tannins, copper, magnesium, manganese, vitamin B6, niacin, pantothenic acid, and riboflavin

•Across the Middle East though, many people think that Iraq has the best dates – Basra has millions of palms and is very famous for dates. There are many songs about them. Next comes Saudi Arabia where there are many different types of seeds - every year they have a festival near Mecca to celebrate who has the best dates




How we eat dates

Fresh ripe fruit – taken from the tree or when they fall to the ground

Aguwa – these are soft, mashed dates without stones, sometimes mixed with sesame seeds. They have the skin removed and are delicious

Shegig – these dates are dried without the stones, and they still have their skin on them
Palm trees are like us – male and female

Date palms are dioecious, which means that there are both male date palms and female date palms. We don’t know which is which until they are big.

Once a male date palm has reached maturity (usually at about 12 years old) it will form flowers in early spring. These male date palm flowers are the source of date palm pollen. The female date palm yields flowers which will become dates, if they are pollinated.

The wind sometimes takes the pollen from the male to the female or the Bedouin cut it and and take it to the female.

How to plant a palm tree

To plant a palm tree, the Bedouin make a hole in the ground half a metre deep, plant the seeds (the stones from the dates), and the palm tree will grow automatically as water flows down from the valley.

Another way to plant a palm tree is to take the ‘child’ or offshoots from strong male date palms, put them in a hole in the ground, cover the base with clay (as it is alkaline and not too salty) and then water it for 10 days. After that the roots will get water and the tree will grow easily.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/04/2017 07:00AM by riverhousebill.

If I have dates, I will eat about 3 a day may be max at 5.
Because
I want to leave room to eat my greens
The micro greens, the kale, the lettuce and others
The greens are the highest form of nutrients on earth.

I do order some of these dried foods from online store
to keep as a treat when preparing food may take time.

But I normally order figs sometimes some dates.
I prefer figs to dates.
[www.livestrong.com]



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 08/04/2017 09:14AM by RawPracticalist.

I love dates too, I find them satiating- more so than many other foods. My body definitely loves them

I once visited a date farm and ate a fresh date from the tree before it had dried. It was somewhat juicy and astringent and seemed even medicinal. It felt healthy on the teeth.

Dried fruit is a plentiful source of calories but care must be taken with the teeth. Datorade is a compromise because one can benefit from the nutrition and calorie aspect without them sticking to the teeth.

[www.youtube.com]

Watch from 2 to 8 minutes of that mike arnstein video when he talks about dates and cavities.

Also note how juicy fruits and veggies kept cavities away.

good information, thanks all!

david

I wouldn't compare cayenne and dates.

david

Smith mentions the case of "Paul the hermit" who lived to be
115. He spent nearly a century in the desert, and lived largely on
dates and water.

On his mission in Arabia, Dr. Weber noticed an old woman who
ate but once a day and then consumed only a few dates. She was
a strong woman and Weber thought she was about 40. He was extremely
surprised to learn that she was 198, "despite her miserable
diet." She told hilv that when she was 156 her teeth were renewed
for the third time, and that all her symptoms of regeneration always
appeared after a prolonged fast.

Herodotus wrote:
"The oldest inhabitants of Greece, the Pelasgians, who came before the
Dorian, Ionian and Eolian migrations, inhabited Arcadia and Thessaly,
possessing the islands of Lesbos and Lokemanos, which were Eull of
orange groves. The people, with their diet of dates and oranges, lived
on an average of more than 200 years."



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/10/2017 06:38PM by NuNativs.

Nunativs, nice stories but what else were they doing?
Maybe chewing chaparral powder?
Look how the vegan athlete is growing moringa in the desert. Chewing fresh moringa after dates seems reasonable to balance out.
Were they eating fresh dates? Fresh dates are astringent and not sticky.
Dates are so high in calories, they can't be denied as a food source.
You just have to be intelligent when consuming them.
Datorade or adding to smoothies or liquefying them is the smarter way.
Middle easterners sometimes eat them with yogurt because probiotics start to break down sugars.
You have to get the whole story.

Tai,
Sorry that's all the info that Hotema gave.These stories have been batted around by Hotema, Lovewisdon, Kulvinskas and Rose of course. I don't know if I actually believe them anymore, sure in my 20's.

The only people I know of that actually reached ages like that are the guy that lived on WILD skunk & fox meat as well as cananhua (Wild Quinoa):
Worlds Oldest Man

and my favorite old Wrinkle Meat:
Chief Wrinkle Meat

That being said, if the US and N Korea don't cool their jets, we'll all be back to hunting and gathering as that's all the land will naturally provide at that point. All the surplus will be gone...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/10/2017 07:10PM by NuNativs.

>You have to get the whole story.
Many of these people who lived long in the past had the habit of chewing wild herbs.

For example Saint Hilarion is believed to have lived past 86 years on 15 dried figs a day.
The story has been outlined as surviving on figs alone but when you read the details of his life there were many other points missing.

He was not just eating figs, he ate wild herbs and his body was always sleeping on the ground, always in contact with the earth.

"His food was only fifteen dried figs after sunset..."
"he supported himself on wild herbs and the raw roots of certain shrubs..."
"he sustained his sinking spirit with the juice of herbs and a few dried figs, praying frequently and singing.."
"he constructed a tiny low-ceilinged cell, "a tomb rather than a house",[2] where he slept on a bed of rushes, and recited the Bible or sang hymns. "

[www.newadvent.org]
[en.wikipedia.org]



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/10/2017 07:39PM by RawPracticalist.

Nunativs:
[www.happycow.net]

Nunativs, many were cured of fatal diseases going vegan. You can't be so black and white.

P.s. nunativs you get a healthy spanking for talking about skunk meat, as if it's a key to health just because it's wild. That man is so poor, he lives on a dirt floor and is illiterate. Maybe being poor and being forced to work and walk and live in nature is the key.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/10/2017 08:07PM by Tai.

True that Tai but hey these examples I bring up are far out-Living all the so-called health gurus by far and NOT on Life support or other modern means to sustain Life...