I have been feeling a bit on the cold side. Sometimes cold when its really not that cold. Unfortunately, I have strayed a bit from the raw path. I had some vegan soup today, it was quite spicy. I was never into a whole lot of spices, even when doing cooked, but now even a little bit of spice, I really taste. Actually, I taste/felt it more after I ate it. It was a thai type of soup, with coconut.

I am still caffeine free, thats a plus. But, how do I get back on raw-vegan and not feel cold? As it is I don't feel like going outdoors, and sometimes even to the point of not wanting to even get out of bed. Not a great thing, especially when I need to get out and look for work. I also don't want an ice cold hand to present to potential employers during the customary handshake in interviews. I know there has to be some information I am missing, or something I can do other than eat cooked or hot foods. Its odd however, My hands feel ice cold to me, but they are actually warmer than a friends hand who isn't raw or vegetarian, even after he has drank a few glasses of wine! Yet, he says he feels fine! I don't understand at all!

Mislu, I found this and excerpted it from Jinjee & Storm's Pear magazine for you, hoping it might help:

The people being interviewed are a couple with a blog called Raw Food in the Real World.

How do you manage to stay away from warm cooked foods in the winter? Is it difficult?

This is probably one of the top questions we are asked, and it is an important question. October is upon us and for those in the Northern Hemisphere, the winter gets cold. Minnesota is known for its cold, and Minnesotans pride themselves on how cold it is here. We both have had some rough winters where it would get –30 F. outside at night and we would feel like we needed something to keep us warm, and we’d eat something cooked. And we nibble on cooked foods during the holidays. But each month and each year we are raw, we find that there is less and less cooked food we’d want to eat or are able to eat.

Here are some quick tips: Eat raw as much as you can. If you are okay with eating fatty foods, eat a bit more than you usually would. Keep yourself hydrated with room temperature or warm water or herbal teas, with a squeeze of lemon for fun! Most importantly, just keep eating raw. You will keep feeling better, and you won’t notice the cold as much. If you eat something warm or cooked, don’t beat yourself up. Just continue to eat more raw food, focus on how delicious it is!

I'm feeling colder lately too. I think I might try some spearmint tea made from fresh spearmint that I'm growing in my own organic compost.

cayene, ginger, curry, pepper, chilis.

I am not all raw, but am generally raw and breakfast and lunch, and dinner will have steamed greens and legumes. And I'm fairly slim but not very (BMI 20) and always COLD compared to when I was 15 pounds more! I do exercise a lot, so all that is covered.

So I took my temperature last night, for the first time in years. It had always been the average before, 98.6. This time, it was 97.6! A full degree below! And I wasn't even feeling cold at the moment (was wrapped in multiple blankets though). No wonder! The 98.6 "average" is probably based on people overeating on SAD!

I think on a healthier diet, when you are slim and not overeating, your metabolism just runs more slowly, which is health-promoting (like most everyone here, my cholesterol, blood pressure, etc are also low). You are not aging as quickly. But everyone else is aging more quickly, so they turn the AC on when it is cold and we are stuck adjusting! I guess I am just going to have to get in the habit of going faster when I am walking/biking/running, and invest in some more sweaters. The extremities are harder to deal with, though. Vigorous rubbing to get the energy flowing seems to be the best that can be done. I am also exploring energy work to see if I can better control and move warmth in my body-. ANyone had any success with this?

Rost0037
Interesting, I heard of others on a raw or close to raw diet being colder. I had been vegetarian years ago, and I think i was colder. I remember in fact feeling like I had a fever, and I was actually below 'normal' tempature. The doctor also took my blood pressure and he said that my blood pressure was so low that I probably shouldn't have been conscious, let alone walking around or running. It would be interesting to know the history of how doctors come to think of certain signs as being normal or average or what not for health.

There is an exercise I have done, mostly to feel more energized. But it also warms. Gee, why didn't I think of this before? Some people can actually heat up so much as to melt snow around them!

You visualize the symbol for chi in flames. Next visualize it in your dantien, the area below your belly button. Breathe in and exhale ten times. When you breath in visualize the flames dancing according to the incoming air and chi. When you breath out, breathe through your nose. Visualize blue or grey smoke coming out in your breath. The next ten breathes will expand the chi gathering zone to cover more of your mid section.

Next breathe into your legs all the way to your toes for ten breathes. Next breathe into your heart chakra for ten. Next breathe into your throat chakra. Next breathe into the the area between your eyebrows. Next breathe into your third eye. Next breathe into the top of your head.

Its been awhile since I have done this, but if done regularly you can feel the chi collecting, and you feel a wonderful warmth and energy. It feels a little like fluid, but not quite, its easier to experience than describe!

Well, that is what I remember of this exercize.

I have a little theory on why some might get cold esp. during winter months while on raw foods diet.

First of all..no matter the temp. of the foods we eat, it all gets regulated to same degree when ingested basically. That is what I read and it makes sense to me. While we are holding something cold or warm though, that helps to make some little difference and drinking or sipping something cold, room temp. or warmish, or hot also can make some small comfort or discomfort but during digestion it doesn't matter the temp.

Also, it's calories that you'll notice will warm up your body temp..about 20 minutes after eating and that's some small change also, but doesn't last long either and it transient.

Ok..so since I started to supplement with Iodine (around 50 mgs. a day) for a couple months now, I've gotten off my thyroid meds for hypothyroidism, and goiter which after 31 years of Dr. prescribed thyroid meds never did cure it, or make it go away. My thyroid apparently did not receive the raw material it needed to make ALL the necessary hormones to function. Who knew..well I found out from curezone.com there were people who knew, and I've learned from their experiences on Iodine.

My thyroid is functioning, the goiter is lessoned to where I'm going..where did it go? And the multi-nodules can't be felt at all, and I had one large one that would bother me from time to time. My metablolism is humming away, and I'm a much warmer person..internally that is And I have energy that a person should have to work, play and enjoy the WHOLE day without needing a nap and tons of clothing due to being tired, and cold. Iodine does not stop there, it does so much more for a person, that it's worth it to just do a little research yourself. It just may change your life, it's cheap, and easy, and natural since it's a necessary element in our diet.

Hence my theory about people on raw foods for a medium to high or 100 percentage..they don't get the Iodine they need to keep their metabolism humming along as it should be doing. Not all revved up, not going on hyperdrive, but normal, consistant. The statistic is that 95% of people in the US are deficient in Iodine, esp. since they are cautioned to cut back on salt now from MD's and we raw fooders go to more natural salts, like celtic sea salt, pink himalayan, if any salt is used at all. What's the number 1 prescribed drug in the US today? It's thyroid meds and they contain mostly Iodine, but in too little amounts.

This is my opinion of course..others may have theirs. That's ok too.

Love,
Prism

Soy also messes with your thyroid and it is in most processed foods in the form of soybean oil

[www.mercola.com]

I am cold also, I shook hands with someone and she mentioned that my hands were wam. It felt to me as if they were cold. I went outside yesterday and it has become very cold and the rain was pouring down and I had to tend to the horses and also shovel some gravel in the driveway. The movement and work made me feel much warmer. One noat about cold, My horses get cold when they are wet and have no hay to eat. The hay generates warmth in them if that happenes to them then perhaps our food will generate warmth within our bodies. It is very tempting to eat a boul of soup but I think this will pass and I will learn something new in this raw journey. Meanwhile I will wear gloves and a sweater.

roxeli Wrote:
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> I'm feeling colder lately too. I think I might
> try some spearmint tea made from fresh spearmint
> that I'm growing in my own organic compost.

I think spearmint is rather cooling. The mints tend to be cool, but of all the mints, peppermint is the warmest.

Instead, try instead ginger and cinnamon, These are naturally hot.

Prism,
Thank you for your comments! It makes sense that calories could help you feel warmer. I think its largely psychological to eat something warm to help you feel warm. I do remember eating ice cream at -5 F, as a young teenager! I actually liked that, because it didn't melt! This was at 'fur rondy' outdoor fairs in Anchorage. It seems strange, but ice cream was/is a big hit at these outdoor winter events! I never felt cold from doing that, and actually felt warmer from all the calories, but its temporary I guess. It did feel warmer than drinking hot watery broth or tea which was mostly water with few or no calories to speak of.

I was not aware that iodine was low in North America. Its possible, because of heavy farming, even in organic farming. what about raw foodists that eat seaweeds, kelps etc? It seems like those would provide adaquate amounts, provided that one isn't chronically low for years and years, or if you don't have an existing thyroid problem. I also consume spirulina, which is rich in iodine. Some people have actually expressed concern over frequent spirulina production, or consumption in large amounts. Enough so that there is a company which produces low iodine spirulina! Its grow in special iolated vats which has everything else spirulina needs, without the iodine. Actually I don't know if spirulina needs iodine.

I thought that the most frequent medications people took in North America was anti-depression medications, or related anxiety and other mood regulating medications. After that, I thought it was cholestrol related meds...

Prism Wrote:
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The statistic is that 95% of people in
> the US are deficient in Iodine,

sounds high. where did you get that figure?


i saw 20 percent quoted somewhere.

Mislu,

I was always cold during my first year of raw. I think this is because I needed to get used to my lower body temperature since eating cooked foods cause a slight fever in people. I think for me, after being all raw for a year, that feeling went away. What I did was just wear more clothing and warm sweaters during that transition time. Yoga also helps, as the deep breathing allows for more blood circulation in the body.

Nowadays, I am pretty tolerant of the cold. I will jump into the cold pacific ocean or a cold river or lake and do pretty well (even in cold weather).

Here's some info, you might like researching it Fresh..I know you like stats and facts I find it all very interesting myself!

[www.health-science-spirit.com]

Love,
Prism

Bryan,
Thats amazing, but I believe it. I have started a mono diet, and I thought I would be cold, but I am suprisingly warm, or at least I don't feel as cold as I originally did. I still drink some warmed up water, and like holding the mug as my hands still feel cold. I am bundling up however, because I found that its best for me to take precaution rather than try and warm up after getting old.

Thats interesting, could the 'normal' body temp actually be wrong? Or unhealthy? I think thats a possibility. I know the western medical community has been modifying what they think is a normal blood pressure, they have made it slightly lower. Protein requirements have been dropping over the years. Recommended intakes of non-animal foods have increased, so that its taking up a larger portion of the diet.

I know its probably difficult to 'normalize' all body functions, but is there now a revised body temp, at least how living foodists view the norm?

Thank you!