I'm on day 2 today. So far so good.

Joanna looks like you figured out how to post. Welcome!

Sarah that sounds like an awesome experience. You seem to be into fun stuff.

Cherimoya, I hope to visit Thailand someday soon while durian is in season.

m, are you surprised that we're both named "fig lady"? I'm not!

sunshine, thanks!

Love,
Uma

I am living in South Korea and persimmon season is particularly long because they come early and last until spring because many are grown in greenhouses! Anyway, I have been having my own sensual love affair with those little honeys. There are several varieties here. Sometimes I love the fuyus after they've softened considerably. Sometimes I like the hachiyas, sometimes it's varieties that are really soft but small like the fuyus. I also get them really cheap from a store that sells me they're old fruit for dirt cheap. Spring isn't much fun after persimmons are not available anymore.



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

Nothing whatsoever should be attached to. - Buddha

Persimmons are 1.28 for small fuyus at Wal*Mart here. I bought three today but I'm going to look for Hachiyas later at local grocery stores. I think they're less expensive in the smaller markets, actually.

I still wish there was somewhere I could order them online in bulk! Sigh.

uma,

Ah, your second runner up photo has merit too but I think you made the right choice.

Uti,

Good shots of you as well. You're looking nice and healthy. You guys are fun - thanks for making me smile after a long day. Good persimmon info too on this thread.

Kit

Day 4. Feeling some cleansing going on. Gentler than a fast but feeling it.

I noticed that my appetite gets stimulated by the variety between hachiya and fuyu. It's not the same as a true mono fast where you only are eating one thing and there is no thought of what's next on the menu. So: I'm going to see if I can have enough ripe ones to only eat one variety in a day. Today it was fuyus, tomorrow hachiyas. Maybe that will take the variety excitement out of the equation!

I got a hold of some reallly ripe fuyus, like, ripe hachiya consistency. What I notice is that when I eat a bunch of those when they're that soft, they digest a lot faster than when I eat crunchy fuyus. I figure it's cuz all of the starch is converted to sugar whereas when they still have some crunch, it seems like there's still some starch.

Yesterday I was craving some cooked foods in a similar way to the cravings I get on a water fast. Today what I'm craving are romaine hearts! ...I never thought I'd have fantasies about lettuce. Oh well, you never know where life will take you!

rawdanceruk: clementines have been awesome huh, that's what i was feasting on right before i began this feast.

Troy, are there persimmon orchards in South Korea kind of like there are apple orchards where I live? (meaning, lots)

Love,
Uma

i crave romaine hearts often,especially when i start craving meat!

so i eat alot of romaine hearts, you know those ones by earthbound farms that come in a square plastic container, sold at whole foods? they are pre-washed and you can just eat them right out of the container.

i wonder what it is about green cravings, why they stabilize my blood sugar?

i saw some more persimons at a store today, still at almost $3.00 a fruit.

keep us posted, this is fun to see what others are experiencing! thanks!

Lots of persimmon orchards here? Can't say that I've seen many but there sure area lots and lots to eat. Not imported either. Maybe there just aren't many on this island. I remember the first time I heard that some trees are in greenhouses. I couldn't imagine a tree in a greenhouse. But I have seen some.

I eat lots of these things. Maybe too many. I'll throw together some observations and some things I've heard and read. First, Koreans have an old saying, that if you eat too many persimmons you'll get constipated. I have heard this twice. Both times though it was in reference to hachiyas. I feel like when I get so many that I'm full full, really, fully full, then I tend to get stopped up. Seems that it's not only with the hachiyas either. And not only with the harder non-hachiya types. But once I get going it sometimes takes a prybar, no more persimmons, or a really full belly before I'll stop. I can easily eat 10 in one go. I've never had that many hachiyas in one sitting but I probably could do it.

Some related things. In 80/10/10 Graham says that it's the tannic acid in unripe persimmons that gives a person that chalky taste. Puckering. I think astringent is another word for this awful sensation. When I lived in Thailand I learned that guava tree leaves are astringent and thus good for diarhea (sp?).

So, I'm wondering if the tannic acid in persimmons, even ripe ones, if you eat a lot of them, can give you constipation.

You know what your mouth looks like when you've eaten an unripe hachiya. A pucker. It's a constriction. If an tannins can have that effect on a person's mouth, maybe they can have the same or similar effect on the entire digestive system.

Somewhat related is something regarding acorns. There's tannic acid / tannins in acorns. Many California Indian tribes ate tons of them. But they blanched and boiled and did who knows what to the little nuts. They'd turn the nuts into flour and eat it in various ways. I remember learning that this tannic acid is a toxin. Of course, all foods have various amounts of toxins. I have no intention of giving up this little orange colored treat.

I just got a huge box of really soft ones yesterday so I'm not fixing to go off them anytime soon. But to let up on them a bit seems wise. So for lunch today I had a bunch of tangerines and a bunch of leafy greens. My favorite way to eat greens is to stand in the garden, (greenhouse now) and pick and eat, pick and eat. Funny that nobody joins me!

I get them from a fruit vendor. It's a fruit shop connected with the national farmer's cooperative. They have these supermarkets all over the country. There's one not far from where I live. Next to this supermarket is the warehouse. Inside the warehouse there are also lots of fruit vendors. I live at a Buddhist temple. One of the ladies who works in the office is in charge of ordering fruit. She gets it from one of these vendors. Several months ago she talked to the vendor and arranged for me to get their old stuff and damaged stuff for cheap. So I get the stuff that is too soft to sell. And for next to nothing. I'll get tens and tens of them for about $6 or $7! Fabulous. The taste is exquisite. Sure, sometimes a few of them are bad, but not often. And anyway, for this price, for this taste, for this nutrition, I'll toss a few of them onto the compost pile and not fret about it. So this is an idea for others. Try contacting a supermarket, or a warehouse and see if you can get their old stuff for cheap. I'll post this idea to the main board so more people might get the idea. Works well for me. Fruit ain't cheap here. So to make it my stape would otherwise be really expensive.



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

Nothing whatsoever should be attached to. - Buddha

We had a lovely french market here.....and guess what they had..the HUGEST Permissions.. I have got a basket full..oh and 6kg of clementines!!

Uma your feast sounds wonderful.. if I try something else.. I usually have to stop after two bites..my body is crying out for CLEMS!!

I feel you with the romaine craving tho..strange..sometimes I want greens..but not often!!

Raw-k on guys!!

By the way the other weekend I was at a market on Haight St. in SF, between Ashbury & Clayton. They had organic hachiyas displayed out on the street and there were lots of ripe and ready ones. They were 69c each but i bought a couple flats and he gave them to me for 50c each. maybe you could get even cheaper for ones that are soon to be thrown out. This is a way better price than I get up here in Garberville. just in case any readers are in/near SF.

love,
Uma

Uma, i got too curious and googled Garberville, wow, you are wayyyyyy north!

i am in Marin, so you actually drive all the way to San Francisco for persimons?

thats cool, although i am still new to nor/cal and still get lost around here.

so how many days on persimon feasting/fasting?

Mono eat persimmons today - feel great YUm
Uma are your Persimmons Organic?
Mocha


> Myspace: [www.myspace.com]
> Blog: [chefdemocha.blogspot.com]

No, I was in SF vacationing for the weekend. But the markets there are definitely a fun aspect of the trip. I go down a couple times a year. It's about a 4 hour drive. With a friend, it's not so bad.

Today is day 5. Yesterday I ate only fuyus, today only hachiyas. I notice more calm and less excitement about eating when I do it this way rather than eat whatever kind whenever I want.

Yeah my persimmons are organic.

I love romaine hearts. I can eat a whole bag in a sitting. (those bags that have 3 hearts in them) In the summer I've noticed I can go a long time without greens (like several weeks) without craving them. As it gets colder I start wanting them more. Maybe because I'm eating more fats and need more to bulk it up or something. But the green of it definitely feels good.

Troy: I've eaten persimmons for 5 days now and haven't gotten stopped up yet. I'll let ya know if that occurs. I could see that happening with the harder fuyus, they seem to sit in my gut for longer.

Love,
Uma

uma, today i ate a half ripe hachiya and actually
enjoyed the astringincy of it.

of course i totally favor when they are a huge orange messy
transluscent syrupy sweet goo. but has that ever happened to you?

no can't say that it has. i accidentally got a chalky bite today, i don't enjoy that feeling!

troy: i wonder, are the toxins in the skin? i've noticed lately that i enjoy sucking out the guts of the hachiya and leaving some of the skin behind.. sometimes it's even hard to chew completely so i spit it out.

mocha: i take it you love durian? me too.

love,
uma

uma, thanks for mono inspiring me once again

this is for you:

Enjoying the persimmons thread. And been eating plenty myself


I saw a p-tree today - they are the most amazing look, no leaves, just fruit.

How many persimmons a day are you eating on a monofast like this?

Uma
"mocha: i take it you love durian? me too."

- On occasion, I tend to indulge


> Myspace: [www.myspace.com]
> Blog: [chefdemocha.blogspot.com]

has anyone ever tried


?

Uma, yeah, I think the tannins are in the skins. Last year, when I first arrived in Korea, and started eating these things like wild, I noticed a strong discomfort in my belly. So I Googled persimmons to see if others were having trouble. Didn't find much but I did read that some people have trouble digesting the skins.

Are you still eating just persimmons? I think this is a great idea. I don't want to do it myself though.

I wonder about how many you eat in a day, or in a sitting. Or, actually, if you have an idea of the weight of the amount that you eat in a day or in a sitting. It's so so darned easy for me to eat them til I drop!

Also, are you drinking water too?

You say that you enjoy sucking the guts out! Love the way you said this! I do pretty much the same oftentimes. Sometimes, like yesterday, I remove the crown and spoon the stuff out. But sucking it out reminds me of one way to eat mangoes. I've heard that Indians will wait until a mango is soft, then knead it and knead it and knead it until it's super soft. Then they'll prick a hole in it and suck out the juice. Mango juice! So, drink your persimmon juice! I'm enjoying mine.

Another thing to add to all those ideas about tannins that I wrote in a previous post. I sometimes feel "dry" lips after eating a bunch of persimmons. Even without the skins. Yesterday, I ate at least 10 pretty big fuyu type, really really soft. Without the skins. Then I had one hachiya, again, really soft, but with the skin. And soon afterwards I got that dry sensation in my lips.

So, seems to me that constipation is a condition that comes in part from not having enough water in a person's body. Seems to me that astringent foods sap up water. I say this because of how my lips feel, and because of what I've heard and read regarding astringency. And because of things that I wrote about in that previous post.

Maybe I'm thinking too much!

I'm easing up on these puppies now. Got lots of tangerines so I'll step up on those.



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

Nothing whatsoever should be attached to. - Buddha

Today is day 10.

My mind has been craving other things.. mostly tangerines and nori rolls. But in truth, each time I sit down to eat a meal, I really enjoy it because it's so yum. It's the mind boredom thing of having the same thing each time. But I continue because I'm still getting benefit from it.

I have been experiencing a lot of cleansing in the last few days: one day of nausea which seems to have passed, frequent dizziness when I sit or stand up too fast, some weakness, funky body odor, funky taste in mouth, plenty of mucus, longer and less interrupted sleep. I had some tiny skin growths on the back of my hand ... i get these little guys on and off, and a 3-day fast usually eats them up but then weeks or months later they can reappear. Well this mono feast seems to have eaten most of them up. So, it's kind of like a water fast in slow motion and with less need for bed rest.

I switched to doing mono days of either fuyus or hachiyas. It turns out to be kind of intense to do a mono day of just hachiyas. I don't know if it's because they're so sweet, or because of the tannins in the skin or whatever. But even if I eat them really ripe, sometimes I still end up with that icky chalky feeling. So a friend suggested cutting the top off and eating the insides with a spoon. Today I'm trying that. So far it's fun: I don't eat the outside skin and I don't eat the firm stuff in the middle, but just the super liquidy goo in-between the two. It's kind of luxurious, because I got so many hachiyas for so cheap. But that middle part seems to go down nice & easy with no weird after effects, so far.

I do love my hachiyas, and one or two or three can be a gourmet treat, but mono eating them gets a little over the top for me. Fuyus seem to be easier for that endeavor.

Fruitgirl: thanks for the gift!...and, what are those fruits in the next pic?

cocoa nibs: How many in a day? I haven't been keeping track. A lot. I probably eat 6-10 fuyus at one sitting, but sometimes I have a couple big meals in a day, other days i have several much smaller meals of 2 or 3 so it's hard to say. Just keep eating them till I don't want any more. I can eat a lot more on a day where I did strenuous physical activity.

Troy: For me, persimmons seem to have the perfect water content. I do drink water occasionally, a few sips during the day, a few sips before bed at night. But I don't feel thirsty very often. On a watermelon mono feast, I end up peeing a lot. On a banana mono feast, I end up getting thirsty and sipping water with the bananas. But on the persimmon mono feast, neither of those things are happening.. not peeing out of control, not getting thirsty. Regular. Seems to be working for me. But, maybe getting too much of that astringent taste would affect something, I don't know.

Love,
Uma

uma,

the second pic is dried hachiya. i've never had one.
dont they look awesome???

hey, on the persimmon feast, im guessing there is little change
in body weight. is that right.

do you think you're soon finished?

xo, fruitgirl

So, Uma, did you finish after 10 days? I enjoyed reading your posts. I think it's great that you did that. I got 15 persimmons yesterday for about $5 then ended up giving away about half of them. I'll get more tomorrow because, like you say, they're so yum.

The dried persimmons in the picture are hachiya persimmons. They're pretty intensely sweet but very nice. I've eaten too many in the past and boy did that ever feel like a boulder in my gut. I seldom eat them nowadays. If you see some from China, you might want to eat few or avoid them. I'm told that Chinese use lots of this and that chemical on their farms. Of course, it might be just that the Koreans who've told me this are falling for a nationalistic line, or whatever other lie / misinformation. I do tend to believe though that in general, Chinese are probably not very interested in organic. I remember in Thailand, where many farmers are generally not very well off financially, they use all sorts of things in all stages of the growing process, and after harvesting as well.



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

Nothing whatsoever should be attached to. - Buddha

if any one lives in fairfax,(bay area) I have BAG loads of hachiyas to give away. They are evrey where around here, and I have a fruit collecting fetish

So I ended my persimmon party on Monday night, after 13 days of feasting. I had a head of romaine lettuce. Then I ended up eating more persimmons! They're just so dang good. The next day I ate a variety of fruit and today I'm having my first veggie/fat meal.

I feel the cleansing starting to slow down and it's a nice feeling. I am still able to sleep longer than I'm used to. I feel like I got a lot out of the cleanse and the effects are still going on. Thanks for everyone's support!

Love,

Uma