Here's an account of what I went through when I first started, I hope it helps someone.

You can also checkout my other articles too.

[www.realgainz.com]

I love your honest and encouraging articles!
I do find them very helpful.
Thank you!

Hi!

thank you very much for the article!!

i am in the very begining of being raw (just couple of weeks) and frutarians are my heros.. lol... so it make you my hero!

thank you, i got a lot of support and inspiration from your article!

Awesome article!

Just started my rawfood journey and blogging daily about it here: [journeyforhealth.blogspot.com]

Well, thanks. I am going through detox too and it is great to read about someone else's experience. I have the headaches and lack of energy. I've had some of the weirdest vulnerable feelings that I haven't felt in years and then they pass. I am thinking that I don't want to stop my new eating habits because eating fresh juices, fruits, and vegetables are the best things you can eat, but it isn't as if picking up my old bad eating habits will make me feel better. I just am not sure how to navigate through this, but I will definitely have to keep experimenting.

FO,

Thanks for sharing your detox experience. You're right that the "gurus" don't expound enough on how extreme detox can be. My symptoms were not as emotional as yours but rather more physical. I guess it depends on what is inside us that is most reactive to the change. I did have emotional detox and am not sure that I'm through it yet but the pain I'm most accutely aware of is the physical pain. I have released 6 internal growths that I didn't know I had. It was hell each time. I'm not sure that I'm done yet. All that I know is that I wouldn't want to go back and have to do it all over again. Self-surgery is not my idea of a good time.

I agree that eating raw is not easy socially. Comments are made about me plenty. However, like you, I keep the path for the hell that my body has gone through. I appreciate your attitude regarding protecting our rights to do what is right for our bodies rather than conforming to what is "socially" acceptable, i.e. normal.

Regards,
Therese

Thanks. I totally can relate to the social aspects. My "healthy" friends and family, whom I thought would be supportive, were critical right to my face in the beginning. Ironically it was my SADer friends that were the most supportive. Fortunately I am used to going against the grain so I am used to letting comments roll off my back or even letting people know their negativity is not welcome or tolerated. I was shocked by it though. This statement from your article rings true for me "people tried to make me feel small just so they didn't have to feel guilty for not doing what they knew they were supposed to be doing, LOOKING AFTER THEIR HEALTH." I am so glad you stayed on track 'til you got to the other side.

Thank you so much for that, I will read it again when I'm struggling like I am now. The worst part for me is people have no confidence in me anymore and keep trying to feed me cookies and soup stock lol! And doctors keep offering me more and more stronger pills. Feel like a stranger in a strange land.

Thank You!!!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/22/2007 05:49PM by Dulset.

Hope it helped!!!

Thanks for sharing your journey. It really isn't any fun to go through detox (personally, the emotional is tougher than the physical, so far, for me), but reading your article was very helpful.

Thanks, again.

Love,

Gypsy

Awesome article bro! Detox sure does make an individual really sensitive to the resistances/fears in their consciousness but they have the choice to be aware of the resistance, accept it and transmute it. Its a simple process but not an easy process and their is no time frame but being gentle about it certainly helps bigtime.

Also, the transmuted energy and awareness gained from the detox will pay dividends in all areas of their life since there is no seperation. thanks again!

[www.youtube.com]

Your article was awesome and inspiting! I'm very new (couple of weeks) to the way of eating all raw and I'm truly in awe of what you have accomplished. It's so great that you didn't give in to peer pressure. I haven't been around any friends yet except my daughter and son-in-law. They are totally supportive. Congratulations to you for your persistence. You sound like a wonderful person. -J-

Joan



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/23/2007 12:44AM by Miss Joan.

Thanks guys....I'm glad it helped, I think it's so important that people realise that there's more to the raw lifestyle than their detox infact I believe that many people never really experience the raw lifestyle in all it's glory or at all because many never get past their detox period.

I can tell you that once you get past the detox stuff and you start to experience the true raw lifestyle you'll see that it's total freedom and simplicity.

F1

Scary stuff! but I'm grateful to you for sharing this.

I had not given a great deal of thought to detox in regards to the raw diet. So many people have abused the word for so long that I started to turn a deaf ear to it. I have a friend on SAD that claims to be "detoxing" every time she suffers a bout of diarrhea, so I turned "detox schmox" about it.

Having had a headache all day - a very rare thing for me, in fact, I was 35 before I knew what a headache felt like - I know that detox on raw is the real deal and that I ain't seen nuttin yet! Thanks for the heads-up AND for sharing the light at the end of the tunnel.

khale

Thank for sharing FruitarianOne. You are rewriting the book on Fruitarianism.
On detox in general, I would say there ought to be more studies, for some it might just be the case that the diet is lacking in fundamental nutrients.

Well wouldn't say it's the nutrients because I think that's over rated, I would say that with all the fake raw "gourmet" crap everyones transitioning on, people don't give their bodies the right materials to heal.

F1

if one believes detox is some kind of myth constructed by individuals defficient in nutrients, mainly inspite of individuals regaining health in periods of not-eating and certainly in allowing more overall rest and increased exercise (other non-eating practices)...

then it makes perfect sense why one will probably spend the rest of their life refuting their own intrinsic vitality and even that of others who lead healthy lives devoid of the 'range of nutrients' (through food or food/non-food products) that might not necessarily mimic human nutrition needs at all.

after thorough detox the food that mimics these needs would be quite apparent.

Detox goes away, an obvious clue if it is detox or lack of nutritients. Also if you go from SAD to raw your body is already lacking nutrients and so is aclamated to that state of being. Eating more nutrients, A.K.A. fruts and vegetables, and less hamburgers and french fries should not send your body writhing from lack of nutrients.

I'm going to say some really unpopular things here. And food is so personal, and even political, and even bordering on the religious, that I want to say first that it's not my intent at all to hurt any feelings, but rather to open up the possibilities a little and maybe even to help some people avoid unnecessary tribulations and self-blame.

Well here goes: There really is such a thing as nutrient deficiency, and raw people really are susceptible.

In general, we USians have every ingestible thing available to us under the sun, so for those of us who are aware of the dangers of eating so much crap, we tend to think in terms of avoiding the bad stuff. It's hard for us USians or Europeans or any of us who don't come from backgrounds of starvation to conceive that it's actually possible to become nutrient deficient.

To put it more bluntly, we're all way too spoiled to be truly aware of the existence of starvation.

People who are born weaklings like myself are sometimes the first to suffer (knowingly or unknowingly) any really severe symptoms of nutrient deficiency. For me, after about 4 years of being pure fruitarian (except for an avo-and-greens salad once or twice a week, and a very stressful cooked food binge every 3 weeks or so), I developed an iron deficiency that sent me into such a severe spin of vertigo that I literally could not move any part of my body at all without my brain turning upside down in my head - over and over again, nonstop. Standing up under such conditions was impossible. I had to hang on to something to try to stop the falling, even when I was lying down in bed with nowhere to fall to. My brain just kept turning over and over. I've had occasional vertigo spells since I was 12, but never nonstop vertigo like that. It lasted for several hours.

As some of you may know, I'm a recovered bulimic, but that episode occurred 4 years AFTER overcoming bulimia.

Was it detox? No. Thank God, that's not what we're supposed to have to go through when we improve our diet. And my eating habits at the time were a vast, infinite improvement over what I'd been eating during the seven years I had bulimia.

It wasn't detox, it was deficiency. Deficiency in the midst of a tropical paradise providing year-round multiple varieties of fresh, sunripened organic fruit.

That was 16 years ago. I added sunflower seeds, and then sesame seeds to my diet of fruit and occasional salad, and not only did the vertigo become something I could live with again, but I was able to cut the cooked food down to 0 to 5 times a year; and when I added sprouted grains, I was able give up cooked food for good. And in fact, within just the past year, the vertigo has completely disappeared. (I've had it since I was 12, I'm now 56)

IMO an exclusively fruit diet is good for detoxing up to a point. An exclusively fruit diet will make us DRAMATICALLY more healthy and DRAMATICALLY more beautiful, up to a point. And the idea that nutrients are not important to focus on is true, up to a point.

For some, it takes longer to reach that point than for others. But once that point is reached, we can easily begin to confuse detox with deficiency, and if we've become set in our fruitarian (or overly restrictive raw) ways, we can get in trouble.

By "overly restrictive raw", I mean raw food vegan diets that are consistently way short of essential nutrients. I do believe a 100% raw vegan diet is sustainable, but not an overly restrictive raw vegan diet.

I so admire and am grateful to you Fruitarianone for your openness about what you've been through. But my conclusions are different than yours. I'm sorry, I really am, but I don't think your problems with exclusively fruit are over now that you've stopped putting dressing on all your avocados. I hope that doesn't sound insulting. I don't mean it like that. I believe you're completely sincere in your desire to be pure fruitarian.

But here's the thing. If a person tries to become 100% fruitarian or 100% raw and is not able to be 100% successful, what may be perceived as detox or lack of willpower or secumbing to bad habit could actually be symptoms of true hunger resulting from deficiency.

It may be time to stop doing the same thing, while expecting a different result. It may be time to expand the kinds of raw foods that a person allows themselves to eat. And, for a while, it might be OK just to eat whatever it takes to JUST STAY RAW. Then gradually fine-tune from there.

It doesn't have to be so "all or nothing".

I'm saying, don't be afraid of a MODERATE amount of nuts, don't be afraid of a MODERATE amount of seeds (especially sprouted), and don't be afraid of a MODERATE amount of sprouted grains.

I agree that detox, lack of willpower, and just plain bad habits are real factors that have to be dealt with and eventually overcome before a person can maintain a steady 100% raw food diet. But deficiency can also be a factor, and a very, very, STRONG factor. IMO, we who are serious about our raw food should not just shun the possibility of deficiency by attaching it to SAD.

Deficiency is real, and even we raw food USians, Europeans, et al, are susceptible, like it or not.

Although I've "failed" in sustaining a 100% fruitarian diet, I've succeeded in being able to sustain a 100% raw vegan diet. That's good ENOUGH for me. I'm comfortable with the very high level of vitality I've achieved as a direct result of my 100% raw vegan diet. I believe I'll live to 120 and perhaps beyond. I'm (VERY GRADUALLY, but SURELY) remaking my whole body. I'm not a weakling anymore. I'm happy and SATISFIED with food and with LIFE. And I'm also comfortable with the truth of my own mortality.

Fruitarianone, don't be hurt please. Hurting you is not my intent, and probably not the intent of the others you mention who have warned you previously about deficiency. I'm saying this partly out of concern for you, but also out of concern for all the others who may be trying to follow in your footsteps.

I'm all for people experimenting. If a person is attracted by the thought of being a fruitarian - and obviously the short-term results of being fruitarian are amazing - then go for it. Experiment, do what you have to do, but just never close your mind to all the possibilities.

Allow yourself to be aware, even as an infinitely tiny possibility, that there may come a point where you are crossing the line from detox to self-abuse.

Well, it's time for me to "Shud up 'n' train". Thanks Fruitarianone.

great story suncloud thanks for posting it

thing is too to remember without sounding like a broken record .. 100% fruit works for some people for long sustained periods of time .. for others like you or me or (points to that person over there) that may not work ..

personally i cant do sprouted grains or wheat grass or supergreen algae stuff .. but that stuff might work for others just not me .. im sure im doing things that wont work for you or others too lol

its important to know the signs of deficiency .. true enough and correct them absolutely

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

Fair enough, Jgunn.

>> For some, it takes longer to reach that point than for others. But once that point is reached, we can easily begin to confuse detox with deficiency, and if we've become set in our fruitarian (or overly restrictive raw) ways, we can get in trouble.

yes...maybe. it would depend on whther one's health is spiraling upwards or downwards out the other end of the 'detox' I would think. certainly be 'set' on some kind of cureall or ideal to 'fix' you is not good


>> But here's the thing. If a person tries to become 100% fruitarian or 100% raw and is not able to be 100% successful, what may be perceived as detox or lack of willpower or secumbing to bad habit could actually be symptoms of true hunger resulting from deficiency.

I also believe this does happen. and often 'failure to follow the program correctly' is given which is sad. Often, yes there could be slipups in food choices/rest/exercise/mental emotional stuff..but I agree this only goes so far. of course if someone is depending on a *program* to restore their health. they arn't exactly putting in the right ammount of focus and work

IMO if this was the case..its still wouldn't be an issue of getting enough 'nutrients' that would result in the defficieny. it would still be a cleansing issue. Theres also of course the biggie: all the pre-existing conditions that people are aware of or not. You did mention you had similar symptoms when you were 12.

But yes I certainly have seen fruitarians that seem to be in this kind of denial. I don't think adding differeent types of foods in would correct the situation. just like I don't buy how the green smoothy thing is some kind of missing link of sucessful frugivorious diets...

>>it might be OK just to eat whatever it takes to JUST STAY RAW. Then gradually fine-tune from there.

>>It doesn't have to be so "all or nothing".

doing something just to stay raw seems like more all or nothing to me...I think it is often mentioned that a low fat partially cooked vegan diet would be better then throwing back any raw food in any combination.

personally I think a properly combined, conscious, moderate fat diet, not based around sweet fruit can certainly work (and might function better for some at different levels of transition) ..it still depends on how focused the person is on their cleansing and mental work.

kudos for being unpopular

Just like anything else there is the good approach and the wrong approach to being raw. It is not enough to just be raw, you have to do it the proper way. When it is not done properly what comes out is a long period of suffering or detox. The body is too complex of a machine, too intelligent to respond poorly to living food or go thru long period of detox, it just does not happen, maybe only to those who think they can feed a body with a diet of fruit, melon, grapes alone. These foods have a lot of nutrients it is true but they are missing some key nutrients and when the body does not have those nutrients it will go thru long period of detox.

Suncloud, I'm sorry, but I'm not going to claim anything you say, you kept apologizing but what you say doesn't refer to me and I'm not going to claim it.....I'm now in the best shape of my life, I'm doing activities that I never thought I could ever do, yes my detox was tough but that's done and I've moved on to experiencing the best that the Fruitarian lifestyle can offer and that's where my focus is.

Realize that I'm not you, I don't have the same mindset as you, you kept saying you "failed" but that's your business and nothing to do with my choice of diet.

People can debate the whole detox thing all they want but at the end of the day people interpret things differently according to their mindset, I could of given up an then run around telling people that the Fruitarian diet was not good but I have a strong mindset and I kept on going and weathered the storm, now I can tell people my "personal" story and not a one size fits all story, you guys are gonna be here forever and a day debating and defending your experiences because everyone is different.

I think it's more constructive to just accept peoples experiences, have a great workout and move on!!!

Peace y'all.

F1

I am a "weakling" too. I prefer to call it sensitive. I have had deficiencies all my life. Mostly iron. And I know they don't consistently improve like detox does. Of course if your diet is terrible or you are overweight, detox will be worse but it won't get worse as you continue to eat healthy food, right? Mine didn't, but it was light as appposed to transition from the SAD. If your diet lacks in nutrients the symptoms should go from bad to worse. Detox symptoms should steadily decrease. I wonder if I am missing something because it seems so simple to me to know the difference. If a fruitarian is feeling great and eating healthy foods for years and starts to feel crappy in some way they know it's not sudden detox unless they just moved to LA from rural Virginia. It is obviously something other than detox. And if you go from SAD to Raw and you feel crappy it is likely detox. I can't believe your body would become so much more deficient and suddenly be flung into a state similar to detox. I don't see how the two can be compared or confused. I don't think anyone here would say deficiencies can't happen on raw.