1. I have a friend who wants to go raw, but keeps saying she can't afford it (she's had some money problems recently so I understand where she's coming from). She wants to know if it's still worth eating raw if you can't buy everything organic. I told her I think that with things that typically are less saturated with pesticides (bananas for instance) it's fine, but that with other things I think organic would almost be mandatory - but I told her I wasn't sure about that. So, is it worth going raw if you can't eat 100% organic with it? And if you can eat non-organics, should you just be sure to get organics in fruits/veggies that are shown to have higher pesticide levels?


2. Completely random and not about the other question at all, haha. I'm new to this and was wondering what I could mix in with fruit juice to make it thicker like a sauce/dressing?

____________________________________

~Christi~
Natural Living Info
AP/NL mama to Jacob 10/25/2006

As for the first question, well, what are the alternatives? Eating organic cooked food? Organic is generally more expensive, period. I don't see the dilemma here. Suggest that your friend try it. Buy as much organic as possible. It's a good idea to emphasize foods that conventional growers use little or no agricultural chemicals on. But it's also a good idea not to eat too narrow a range of foods.

As for the second one, bananas are good for thickening sauces. Bananas are just good tasting in all ways, for me. Alternatives to bananas are flax seeds, but apparently they've got some serious down sides that Bryan can tell you about. Avocadoes, right? Seems to me I've blended the meatier kinds of seaweeds and they've had a mucousy quality. I may be wrong about this. I forget.



This way is not compatible with Zen practice. This way IS Zen practice. - Dr. Doug Graham

Nothing whatsoever should be attached to. - Buddha

If your friend isn't eating raw she is most likely eating non-organic as well as non-raw. Doesn't it make more since to eat, at the very least, the healthiest you can? Cooking doesn't remove the pesticides.

Bananas and avocados thicken up fruit.

Sorry to be redundant. Troy and I were posting at the same time. I am just slower.

Heavy Pesticide Food:

apples
nectarines
peaches
pears
cherries
grapes
raspberries
strawberries
bellpeppers (really bad)
celery (really bad)
spinach (really bad)
potatos

It is recommended that the above foods be purchased organic as they contain concentrated amounts of pesticides

Light Pesticide Foods

asparagus
avocado
banana
broccoli
cauliflower
kiwi
mango
onions
papaya
pineapple
peas

These foods are generally considered safe to consume as non-organic


khale

What about thckening with soaked dates or soaked raisins?

I'd say that eating raw is a lot more important than eating organic. Obviously eat as much organic as you can afford, but don't strees about it.

Rob

--
Rob Hull - Funky Raw
My blog: [www.rawrob.com]

I asked her what the alternative to eating raw and mostly non-organic was and she said that she only eats organic now in things that she absolutely feels she NEEDS to (those with heavy pesticides), and that a lot of times she avoids buying fruits/veggies she loves because she can't afford the organic versions. So basically she wouldn't be able to afford much organic either way - she just thinks that it would still be healthier to eat raw and some non-organic than cooked some some non-organic.

And thanks Rob, that was generally what I told her - that get organic on the foods that matter but if she can't afford it she just can't afford it.

____________________________________

~Christi~
Natural Living Info
AP/NL mama to Jacob 10/25/2006

Is your friend vegan?

Animal feed is not organic unless you buy super-expensive organic animal products. Your friend would be better off pesticide-wise to become vegan (better yet, raw vegan) andeat only conventional produce, in my opinion. Dropping animal products will greatly reduce her pesticide intake.

As for other relatively clean non-organic fruits: figs and persimmons.

Thanks everyone!
I'm going to remake my cucumber fettuccine with orange sauce later (I found the recipe somewhere on line a bit ago - I just wished the orange sauce was thicker) and add a banana because I have a ton of those right now

____________________________________

~Christi~
Natural Living Info
AP/NL mama to Jacob 10/25/2006

Be careful of food combining: mixing sweet fruits (bananas for example) and sour fruits (sour oranges for example). I know people who can drink a banana-orange smoothie and not having any trouble. But I've tried it and didn't feel so good afterwards.



This way is not compatible with Zen practice. This way IS Zen practice. - Dr. Doug Graham

Nothing whatsoever should be attached to. - Buddha

avocado is a good thickener too.. makes it like pudding.

Here is a list of foods by pesticide load. (Scroll to the bottom.)

[209.85.165.104]
(That's Google cache. The website is not loading for some reason.)

I drink banana orange all the time, its bad food ombining? I didn't know, lol..

coconutcream Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I drink banana orange all the time, its bad food
> ombining? I didn't know, lol..

Not if it works for you! I'm sure I break many food combining rules but I'm happy.

Rob

--
Rob Hull - Funky Raw
My blog: [www.rawrob.com]

Yeah, sweet fruits with sour fruits. In small quantities, I think we can get away with pretty much anything. I tried it once but not just a little bit. I couldn't believe it when I saw a friend drink a banana orange smoothie and get away with it! So I decided to try it but ....



This way is not compatible with Zen practice. This way IS Zen practice. - Dr. Doug Graham

Nothing whatsoever should be attached to. - Buddha

Yea I love banana/orange smoothies so I'll be fine
Plus I'm not big on avocados - just one of those things I can't seem to get a taste for.

____________________________________

~Christi~
Natural Living Info
AP/NL mama to Jacob 10/25/2006