What I like about the raw food

1. It does seem natural, and fruit is like my favorite food.
2. I do feel good when I eat fresh fruits and vegetables.
3. Fresh vegies and fruits are loaded with minerals and healing powers.

What scares me about going on that diet

1. I would lose weight. (believe it or not I don't want to lose any)
2. Fruit is expensive and you have to eat like a laundry basket full a day.
3. That much fiber seems like it would give you diarrea
4. If raw food is the right way to go then where are the people that lived to be one hundred and fifty. If it's really the natural diet people should live longer.
5. If it's the natural diet what were you supposed to eat in the winter? When fruit isn't available off the land.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/20/2006 11:43PM by MysieBlondie.

All right, nice to have met you... glad you've got things all squared up.

Each of us are God in our own universe, and as such, each of us gets to be right. MysieBlondie is right in that there are 5 reasons why raw doesn't work for her, and those of us thriving here in this forum are right in that we are experiencing the best health we've ever had with this lifestyle.

MysieBlondie Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> 4. If raw food is the right way to go then where
> are the people that lived to be one hundred and
> fifty. If it's really the natural diet people
> should live longer.

There are people who have lived very long lives eating raw food - see Viktorias Kulvinskus book "Survival into the 21st century". Remeber that it's taken off again in a fairly recent way. I'd hope to see many of the raw foodists around today living to well over 120...

> 5. If it's the natural diet what were you supposed
> to eat in the winter? When fruit isn't available
> off the land.

It's only our natural diet in the sense that our natural habitat is the tropics, which used to all be forsest with year round fruit. You are right that you can't really live in winter on a good raw food diet without importing fruit!

Rob

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

I love how undogmatic folks have been about this post! Rock on rawbies (((-:

please check back with me in a hundred years.
im 1/3 of the way there.....and so far SOOOOO good!!!

MysieBlondie:

"2. Fruit is expensive and you have to eat like a laundry basket full a day."
"3. That much fiber seems like it would give you diarrea"

Not all of us follow the 80/10/10 fruit diet/way. In fact I'd say I'm 80/10/10 in the greens diet/way...
I really struggled on the fruit 80/10/10 way, but am prospering on the 80/10/10 greens/chlorophyll way.

So to answer your question, no you don't have to eat a laundry basket full of fruit a day and even when I was eating mostly fruit I didn't get diarrhea, so go back to eating your SAD food.

and
remember


Why Vegan?
Because I have the most love and admiration for all animals of the earth!!!
a rawvegan hopeful, rawdev4life!!!

Actually don't go back to SAD food; you really should give the living-foods lifestyle a try. Try it before you criticize.

rawdev Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Actually don't go back to SAD food; you really
> should give the living-foods lifestyle a try. Try
> it before you criticize.

I don't think she was criticizing the raw-vegan life style, she was just expressing what she like about it and what concerned her about it.

I don't see her make any mention of going back to or ever eating a SAD diet
or that SAD is better then raw-vegan. Neither did a I see any thing to indicate this she eats meat, maybe she doesn't eat meet, maybe she does...

Ian.

Come on people I wasn't critisizing or saying it's bad I was simply stating why I was scared to try it. I wouldn't even be here if I wasn't interested in the diet. What is SAD food. I mean I try to eat pretty healthy so I wouldn't say my food is sad.

hehe, it took me a while to figure out SAD. It means Standard American Diet. I think it's a poor term personally. I certain wasn't eating a standard american diet before I turned raw.

Anyway, just ignore people who don't read you post properly (or decide they should read in stuff that isn't there) before running their fingers over the keyboard.

I don't think you wher criticizing anything.

Cheers,
Ian.

Ya I was simply looking for a good discussion with people that have already gone raw. Ya and I definately don't eat a SAD diet.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/22/2006 01:03AM by MysieBlondie.

Hey MysieBlondie,

I'll take a stab at some of you're concerns.

"1. I would lose weight. (believe it or not I don't want to lose any)"

Most likely, at least at first. I lost weight, but it was probably health for me to do so. But resently my weight stabilized, then increased slightly, although my waist size continues to decrease. I think getting plently of exercise is the main reason for increase (as in putting on mussle mass rather than fat). Generally plenty of exercise is important regardless of diet.

"2. Fruit is expensive and you have to eat like a laundry basket full a day."

Yeah, I eat a fair amount of fruit, although recently I've displaced a lot of the fruit juice I was drinking with carrot juice, a bit cheaper. I've also found a great farmers market which has high quality organic produce and is a lot cheaper than Whole Foods and the more up market organic supermarkets.

"3. That much fiber seems like it would give you diarrea"

Juicing can reduce the amount of fiber in the food, if it's causing a problem for you.

"4. If raw food is the right way to go then where are the people that lived to be one hundred and fifty. If it's really the natural diet people should live longer."

If you're eating raw because you are affraid of death, well sooner or later you are going to be dissappointed. Of course I don't think raw food would mess up your chances of living to 150. But I'm relative certain, no matter how old you live to be, eating raw (100% or whatever you want to eat) will increase health and quality of life.

"5. If it's the natural diet what were you supposed to eat in the winter? When fruit isn't available off the land."

I guess this depends where you live. California rocks for year round raw food. I imagine Alaska would be problematic. There are winter fruits (grapefuit? oranages?... maybe I've lived in CA too long) and winter veggies.

"If you're eating raw because you are affraid of death, well sooner or later you are going to be dissappointed. Of course I don't think raw food would mess up your chances of living to 150. But I'm relative certain, no matter how old you live to be, eating raw (100% or whatever you want to eat) will increase health and quality of life."

If eating the raw food diet really gives you optimal health, you should obviously live longer. Right?

"
"1. I would lose weight. (believe it or not I don't want to lose any)"

Most likely, at least at first. I lost weight, but it was probably health for me to do so. But resently my weight stabilized, then increased slightly, although my waist size continues to decrease. I think getting plently of exercise is the main reason for increase (as in putting on mussle mass rather than fat). Generally plenty of exercise is important regardless of diet. "

Ya I don't want to lose or gain weight I want to maintain the weight I have all my life because I want my face to stay looking round and young and not all wrinkled or skinny.

"If eating the raw food diet really gives you optimal health, you should obviously live longer. Right?"

Hehe, guess the answer is "yes". But I think a better anwser would be "I'm sure you could eat differently and live shorter"! Without knowing how long your are going to live anyway, I can't really say if a change of diet will increase your years. Maybe another way to put it, is that eating more or mostly raw food makes it easy to avoid the things that have shortened peoples lifes (refined sugars, stranges processed fat and free thingimybobs).

As for weight, everybody is different, if you are over weight, you'll most likely loose weight eating 100% raw food. Of course, you don't need to eat 100% to get health benifits from raw food, I think pretty much any raw food included in your diet is going to help, both physical and mental health.

Ian.

Ya for sure I will include some raw food in my diet probably even up to 50%, I already eat something raw for breakfast every morning, but some people think it is neccesary to to 100%. I personally am afraid to do that.

You want to hear what like my perfect diet would be? Like if I could eat exactly what I wanted. .. lol



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/22/2006 05:07AM by MysieBlondie.

Great conversation! My opinion:

-I think since most people agree that fruits and vegetables are generally healthier for you - then why not simply focus on increasing the amount to an amount that you are comfortable with? It's all about steps forward.....and not so much about adopting a 'raw lifestyle'....you know?

-For some one who eats like 99% cooked food most of the time......dropping to 90% cooked food is a HUGE lifestyle improvement!

-David Mason

I understand your concerns...

I also realise that you are interested in this lifestyle and thats why you posted.

If you are happy with your current diet thats great!


Longterm illness brought me to this lifestyle.
I was looking for a way to alleviate my debilitating symptoms.

I would have been happy with that, however nothing could have prepared me for what I was about to experience!

The best health i can ever remember having!


So here are all my reasons for sticking with a raw food lifestyle

Eating a raw vegan diet has totally changed my life. IBS, severe bloating and excess candida related problems led me to eating raw food.

I have struggled with those symptoms for over ten years. I chose not to take medication. I worked with exclusion diets and natural therapy to try and heal my body.

Eating living food felt like the next natural step to take.

For about three weeks, I increased the amount of raw food in my diet. Then I began eating a totally raw vegan diet.

These are some of the benefits that I have experienced since my transition.

I sleep better. I have lost weight. My skin is clearer and my teeth look whiter.

My eyesight is sharper. Injuries heal quickly. I can exercise without tiring easily.

I have lots more energy.

I am more open and easy going.
I feel more connected and grounded, more at one with the world.
I am able to switch off, let go and relax!

The same old stressors still hit, but I deal with them differently.

I am so much calmer and positive.
The debilitating 10 year illness that led me to raw has GONE.

I feel so alive!

All this happened in just a few short weeks. Its was fantastic!

I am now well into my fourth month.

Raw Magik Blessings
Lorretta

Lorretta, I've heard that the raw food diet is a great healing tool, but that it's very difficult to maintain as a long term way of life. (read that on the interenet somewhere) So do you think you'll keep this diet 100% forever, or where do you think you'll go with it.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/22/2006 07:33PM by MysieBlondie.

Hi MysieBlondie

I believe anything is only as difficult as you choose to make it!

I have spent over ten years looking for a way to heal the difficulties i was experiencing.

I also vomited after almost every meal for about 20 years!(This no longer happens eating raw vegan)

As you may imagine this was very hard to live with!

I remained positive that i would one day find something that would help me.
I have found it, Raw and living foods!!

I feel that as long as i continue to thrive eating raw and living foods there would be no reason for me to discontinue.

Raw really has set me free!

I dont make it difficult, I just make it RAW!

Blessings

Lorretta

Ya I know, some things raw are expensive but fruit is one of the least expensive ways to eat raw. 12-15 Banana bundles is $3.45, It costs about the same to buy a large bag of tostito's. Apples and oranges cost less then buying coffee from the cafe each day. Sometimes you have to take from other things if your passionate about something. You will save in some area's to put money towards other area's. Eating junk can be equally as expensive as any diet. Going to Mc donalds for a combo can cost up to $10.00 per person if not more depending what your ordering! Were a family of 3, so just buy choosing not to go to a fast food resturant my family just saved $30 some odd dollars. I can buy lots of fruit with $30!!

And as for people not living to be 120... um.. why would you want to. I rather increase my life span to 94 when it could have been 78 on cooked food, and see my grand children grow old instead of living to be 120 and seeing them all die.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 12/24/2006 02:36AM by trinity082482.

Since this thread is ancient, OP is probably long gone. But I will add my 2 cents.

>1. I would lose weight. (believe it or not I don't want to lose any)

Probably. But some people who indulge in lots of nuts/seeds/oils/avocado don't.

>2. Fruit is expensive and you have to eat like a laundry basket full a day.

Yes and yes. But there are cheaper alternatives. Like growing your own, making friends with growers, shopping at Asian stores.

>3. That much fiber seems like it would give you diarrea

We are *supposed* to eat that much fiber, or more. It's the modern diet that is the aberration.

>4. If raw food is the right way to go then where are the people that lived to be one hundred and fifty. If it's really the natural diet people should live longer.

We don't have accurate records for anyone living beyond 122. But it's probably safe to say that the people who get the most kcals from raw fruits/vegetables/nuts/seeds and don't incur any deficiencies would probably do the best, statistically. One would expect much lower rates of cancers, CHD, diabetes, etc. etc--all the age-related and Western pattern diseases of overindulgence in the worst foods. But it isn't ethical to lock people up in a metabolic ward for 60+ years to prove it.

>5. If it's the natural diet what were you supposed to eat in the winter? When fruit isn't available off the land?

Diet-wise, we are probably best off near the equator, where it is available year round.

Rob,
Why do you think a single person left the tropics? What explains the millions of people who do not live in the tropics? People are very skilled at making tools which make our range much larger. People however make plenty of tools, wear clothing, cook, live in houses in the tropics as well. I seem to hear the statement about the tropics being the natural place for humans a lot on raw food webpages. I don't quite understand that, especially when I hear someone from New Jersey, Canada or New York say that. Its kind of strange. Why would someone adopt an idealized tropical diet for other locations? Especially given that it may not be what people in the tropics typically eat?

M Blondie,
I think expressing your concerns are a good thing. I tried the raw vegan diet, and I have some mixed feelings about it. I absolutely loved how it makes breathing incredibly easier. I never thought that I had a problem breathing until I tried raw veganism. Also my sense of smell was drastically heightened, and usually my sense of smell isn't so good. At the time I was living in a big city, in a rather dirty neighborhood, some times I wish I didn't smell the new smells!

Bowel movements are incredibly easy on raw vegan. Again, I never thought this was a problem until trying it. I don't like sitting on the toilet, I never understood people that sit for up to an hour or more. I never did that, but there is a definate difference between a cooked diet and an all raw diet.

I would agree with you about the concerns about obtaining produce. I generally eat a lot no matter what I eat, but I consumed much more on raw vegan, eating almost constantly. I am not sure if this would have always been like that, or if things would eventually change. I also didn't care for constantly thinking of food. I do tend to think about it alot, so that is something to be aware of. Hopefully, you can find a balance between realistic concerns about diet and health and other aspects of living.

Social aspects also were a bit problematic. It caused a lot of misunderstandings, and I am still not sure why. Apparently it made other people uncomfortable with their eating patterns. I'm not in charge of how other people feel,and I tried to explain to people why I excluded certain things or included certain things, but people generally never quite got it. Most people had the ability to say, "whatever" and I was fine with that, but a few people really have a difficult time for some reason. As long as you know why you are interested I think things will be fine. Also be kind and tell them you don't have to eat this way, your still my friend!

Mislu Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Rob,
> Why do you think a single person left the tropics?
> What explains the millions of people who do not
> live in the tropics? ...

I'm talking about a very long time ago! I think it's fairly well accepted that humans originated in the tropics. But obviously things have changed and now most of us don't! But I don't think we have 'evolved' that much as to what our diet should be. So just because we happen to be able to build boats, etc and move a long way from our original home, doesn't necessarily mean that our bodies adapted to a new diet.

Rob

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

All right, who's the necro?
I scared the original poster away already j/k
Hope she's (?) doing well.

> Why do you think a single person left the tropics?
> What explains the millions of people who do not
> live in the tropics? ...

They probably left for a variety of reasons: better opportunity, wanderlust, restlessness, fighting with other tribes, etc.

But the good epidemiology studies--the ones where people had limited or no opportunity to cheat--show that a diet higher in unrefined plant foods is associated with lower rates of diseases and yes, longevity.

Also, none of the current hotbeds of centenarianism use much animal food in the diet and all of them use a lot of plant foods. And we know that people who lived in colder climates tended to get more of their kcals from cooked animal foods. And we know that a variety of carcinogens and other toxins (glycotoxins) are produced on cooking high protein high fat foods. And we know that the fat-soluble toxins tend to bioaccumulate with increasing trophic levels in the food chain.

Anyone can do the math, but not everyone reads the studies.

>And as for people not living to be 120... um.. why would you want to.

I don't want that, either. But I do want to be in as good shape as possible, or pretty close to it, at any given age.

All my friends my age are osteoporotic, wrinkled, saggy, have lost their waistlines, most of them are overweight, etc. I don't want that for myself.

rawdev Wrote:
> In fact I'd say I'm 80/10/10 in the greens
> diet/way...
> I really struggled on the fruit 80/10/10 way, but
> am prospering on the 80/10/10 greens/chlorophyll
> way.
>

Do you mind sharing with us a day's worth of typical foods?

1000 kcal of greens is like 2 kg of romaine and endive each, 1 kg of cucumber, and 1 kg of celery. That's 13.2 lbs of greens, and probably only 50% of your daily kcal needs. So am I correct in understanding that you consume approximately 18 lbs or more of greens every day (to achieve an 80% kcal budget from them)?

I believe that one should not force oneself to eat raw for the sake of intelectual arguments. However, if one can't resist pursuing raw and loves eating raw, than one should not deny oneself that experience.

I can't resist eating fruit. I have battled the money issue, considered going back to cooked and just could not stand the idea. I do what I am comfortable with.

Fruitfully,
Gosia


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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/25/2006 02:58AM by rawgosia.