I am 53 and have been struggling to regain my health for 3 years. I was very, very ill but have come a long way since going 80% raw. I continue to cleanse and have some good days and some not so good but am happy to at least be on the road to health. I have had many, many improvements since 80% raw, like: better skin tone, arthritis gone, low back pain gone, better hair although the gray is still there. I am working on getting rid of the "floaters" in my vision, I developed a flood of them during my illness. I still get vertigo/dizzy at night which I believe may be related to allergies but not sure. It does still wake me up. Need to juice fast I know but it never seems to be the "right time" with work and family too stressful. Any tips on juice fasting?
I still think this is the best way to live in today's crazy world. I Have literally read tons of stuff and feel very knowledgeable but seem to always learn more new and wonderful things.
I love this board and am glad I finally discovered it..
Enjoy reading all the wonderful stories.
Carlson.

Hey there,
Sorry to hear that you were so ill, but at least it got you on the Raw Road. I think what you have said is amazing! Lower back pain gone? That's wonderful, well done you ! What a great achievement. Leslie and Susannah Kenton's books Raw Energy and the revised version, The New Raw Energy describes early doctor's foray's into raw and how much they discovered, it really is interesting. A detox book will probably help you out in the juice fast department; and the internet too of course.

These floaters you describe, are they small specks of black/white that blur up your vision? Perhaps some watered solution to rinse and clean your eyes maybe?

Finding the time is always tricky, but there's always going to be a family and work to look after, so any time will have to be the right time. I think as you have eaten 80% raw you won't really detox so much or too much, so i think you can cope with other matters whilst juicing. Whilst juicing you can of course eat some things too, but maybe you will find that the juice satisfies you enough allready.

I think you sound as if you are thriving will all this knowledge, not struggling!

Hope you feel well and continue on your way to the best health you can. Take care of yourself and share what you've learnt

If so leave out salt and salty things - ie shoyu and miso etc.

I think I just read recently that people get those floaters from lack of a certain mineral but not totally certain!

Are you taking some good colloidal minerals, anything like that? (By the way, I'm 52 years old -- I like you know how it gets a bit harder as we get older, but is worth it anyhow!)

I would like to add that at the age of 21 or so I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid arthritis, and I beat it with eating more and more properly.

You are not struggling. You are winning.... keep focusing on what you want

I've had the same concerns: where will I find the time to do what I need to do for myself?

I use the weekends and three day weekends for juice fasting.

I don't interfere with anyone's lifestyle, I get to relax and juice what I want, when I want. I feel wonderful, and look forward to the next weekend to do it again.

Stress free juice fasting! Maybe this can work for you too!

Or, as an alternative, juice every dinner instead of eating. Then you stop eating and go to sleep, letting the juice do it's thing at night. That also worked for me.

Good luck!

I'm in my 50s too, and have had vertigo episodes since I was 12. One night several years ago, I had an episode lasting about an hour when I could not move my head without having a very extreme vertigo attack. Later that evening I had trouble standing up without falling over. It was very scary. I went to see a nurse the next day who told me that I could possibly be deficient in iron. At the time, I had been eating only fruit and avocado with intermittent lapses into a cooked vegan diet. I checked my fruit diet for iron content and found it was seriously lacking, so I added raw sunflower seeds (high in iron) and sesame seeds to my diet. I still have some very minor vertigo, but it's better than it's ever been in my life, including when I was growing up a meat-eater. And the seeds and salads I eat now help me stay satisfied and raw.

You're all an inspiration to me. I'm 48 and, due to a lot of intense psychological drama in my workplace, have gotten way off track. Once you know what it feels like to be truly healthy you become very aware of when you're on the wrong track.

Oh thank you all for your input...
Yes, to answer one post I was diagnosed with Meniere's disease. I have found that staying at least 80-90% raw really helps me the most with Meniere's...
I am doing better and better. I have more good days now and it feels so wonderful when I have those good days. I really try to accept all days now, no matter how I feel. I still do go through those detox days though.
Another person I know wiht Meniere's said that what helped her the most was fasting. So my goal for this year is to do a 10 day juice fast... I think a juice fast would be better for me than a water fast, a little more gentle. MY system is so sensitive. I can't even take an aspirin or ibuprofen any more. If I do I almost get like a "hang over" effect the next day from the chemicals. That is one thing that us raw folk have to be careful about. I heard an interview with Fred Bisci, a raw foodist for over 35 years, also a doctor of nutrition. He said that if we ever end up in the hospital, like an ER then we could be in trouble if they start putting IVs with chemicals and drugs in to us. We could be more at risk for reactions and possibly death.
I think that someone should start up a business of making bracellets for raw foodist to wear in case they get in an accident. At least the hospital personelle would be a bit more cautious about what they inject in to us, like maybe smaller doses, etc...
I work for a hospital and know what goes on ... it is scary..
Blessings,
Carlson