I started eating living-foods in late 1999/early 2000 and I was experiencing wonderful benefits, so much energy I could run a marathon (actually I did run a 20k). I didn't need much sleep like 4-6 hours. I was always following a 100% or close to 100% rawvegan diet. Everyone’s definition of 100% is different. I did not use honey or ate fermented foods. I ate fruits (mangoes, pears, tomatoes, cucumbers, oranges, apples, etc.), veggies (mostly greens like spinach, all 3 kinds of kale, romaine, collards, chard, cabbage, etc.) and fats (sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, flax, almonds and Brazil nuts. Everything was local organic or store bought organic.

For a few years now my energy has dropped bad, I'm always fatigued, have soreness in my legs (I can't even work out anymore because of the pain) (calf muscles constantly twitching/shaking), my left eye always twitches, sleep 10+ hours, depression apparent, slower healing now, just a overall of feeling like a failure.

I've tried many different rawfood routes; no fats, just mostly fruits and some veggies (10 months) , then no fats and mostly greens and some fruits (11 months), even a balanced diet 50/40/10 (fruits, greens, and fats: the fruits/greens would vary on the percentage) with little success.

Again, I thought B12 could never affect me and a lot of people like I was will say that B12 is a scam.

Man am I paying for it now. You should have your B12 check (the urine UMMA B12 is the one that will give you accurate results, because my blood homocysteine and B12 levels were great but urine B12 was high).

I'm still in the process of considering B12 injections or having to eat meat/diary (again I absolutely don't want this but if I'm suffering from Brain & nerve damage then what else is there)
Right now I'm taking Jarrow's B12, methlycobalamin and my uMMA is still way high.

A lot of you over the years have given pointers, insightful and useful information and I'm thankful for everyone's responses.

[www.b12.com] These people have the urine UMMA test that again is more accurate than a blood test.

I've never mentioned this in the past but I do have family ties with some people over at NFL.

I'm striving to stay with rawfoods

Because:


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



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/13/2006 08:48PM by rawdev.

Wow, it is interesting how before your story was that you had diabetes before going raw, and now you say you were in perfect health untill you got a B-12 deficiency! You should keep better track of this stuff if you want to troll...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/13/2006 09:14PM by dream earth.

ok, i don't know what's going on with all the edits, i feel like i'm not getting everything, but, rawdev, my question is: are you incorporating sprouts, grains and sea veggies in your diet?

Thanks

Woah, maybe I'm missing something, but what's with the criticism here? Here he's saying he enjoyed great benefits after going raw, nothing jarring with having diabetes beforehand...

Though yeah, maybe it's cuz of the edits the message seems a bit ..edited.. not sure getting everything.

Have you discovered that B-12 deficiency is the cause of your malaise??

Best of luck
Adrienne

Hi RawDev,
Sorry to hear about your fatigue.
My partner had anemia- low iron stores and low B12- prior to going raw. At that time, nothing nutritional helped until she started eating smaller portions; then her iron stores and B12 levels shot up.
She again developed low levels after a couple of years raw. Again, her levels dramatically increased when she decreased the amount of food she ate. she had her levels tested both before and after a five-day fast, and both levels increased greatly after the fast without any supplementation.
We think the digestive system works more efficiently when its not stressed by too much food. I've heard from several sources that the normal stomach capacity is about two cups, and one should not eat more than that in a meal. Raw food meals require about 2-3 hours to leave the stomach, so one should space out meals at least 3 hours apart.
I noticed that in all your permutations of the raw diet, you've included fruit. I've heard from different sources, including Brian Clemens, that fruit is problematic. The high sugar content raises blood sugar too fast, and the digestion of fruit actually demineralizes the body. I've restricted the amount of fruit I eat, and my partner eats none at all. You can try elimiating fruit and see how you feel.
About B12- both of us take a B12 supplement because we've been confused by contradicting info. My B12 level went down, too, after going raw, although not to anemic level.
Good luck to you on tweaking your diet.
Chickory

dream earth, I'm confused to what your stab is towards me?

I said that for a couple of years I was in perfect health (my diabetes A1c was/is in better control than most non-diabetics and it still is in great control), no problems and high energy but in the last 2 years it's been a real struggle.

My post has nothing to do with being negative towards living-foods/rawfoods as I thoroughly enjoy being one with nature & natural foods.

moniqueyvette,
Yeah I've always ate dulse and kelp but never tried sprouts and am going to include them slowly into my diet.

blissmummy,
yes it is my B12 that has caused me problems and what is really strange is my blood work of my homocysteine and B12 have always been in the normal range but my UMMA was way high/not in the normal range. That's why I would recommend anyone in doing a urine B12 test.

ckikory,
I was at my worst when I did mostly fruit (80/10/10). Paul Nison (Raw Life -- Raw Knowledge 1 & 2) is struggling with his diet right now as well. Paul started around the same time I did.

Again, I would never troll or bash living-foods. If I or someone wanted to troll it would be real easy to do so and that's not what I'm about.

I think I should do a topic to see who and how long they've been eating rawfoods. Because I received explosive results (wonderful benefits) on the first couple of years eating rawfoods (I, like many people ignored or say B12 will never effect them or that B12 is a scam).
This also goes back to what everyone continues to say in that "we are all different". Maybe some of you require very little B12 to sustain optimal health (I know I found out the hard way).

The last thing I want to say is I edited my first post twice because I coudn't get the B12 link to work correctly and I truly want people to check there levels, heck If I could I'd pay for everyones costs for the test, that's how devoted and concerned I am...

rawdev, good luck on your journey, and by the way, what is UMMA? inexperienced with all that...

I would love to see a personal nutritionist or something, would LOVE to consult Gabriel Cousens or someone, but that's a dream for now...

:~)

keep smilin'!
bliss mummy

No need to follow any one way of eating just because it works for some people. Many people do well on all-raw if they are coming off a rich, cooked, meat-centered or egg & cheese-centered diet. Then all the nutrients in those foods that have been stored up in your body are gone after a few years and you start to feel bad.

If cooked food (easy to digest kinds) and some animal product (cheese & eggs) that is not taken from abused animals might help you, why not do it? If you are so inclined, you could pray for the animals first who involuntarily "gave" their products that you might recover. Come on, you have only one life. You have to take care of it, not follow some theoretically-perfect diet.

I don't eat 100% raw, I get too weak.

UMMA

Vitamin B12: Urinary Methyl Malonic Acid (UMMA).

I'm into living foods because of my health. That said, my son (who listens to my babbling when I've discovered some new item pointing to the benefits of this particular lifestyle) pointed out that "Life feeds on life".

I thought that was so profound. He mentioned he just paraphrased something he read...somewhere.

After a year of mostly raw, I've come to find that for me personally there are several rules I discovered along this path:
1) everything in moderation, nothing in excess.
2) variety is mandatory.
3) simple works best.

There are probably more, but the fundamental realization that Life feeds on Life just puts everything into focus.

No, I'm not advocating eating animals, unless you determine your body needs the nutrition supplied by that source. But think about it: sprouts, fruits, vegetables, leafy greens...it's all ALIVE and I need it to live.

Funny how stating the obvious sometimes seems like a revelation.

Rawdev's comments about staying raw and how that potentially created a problem sort of brought all this up...which is what I'm commenting on in this post.
I'm not 100% anything anymore. Except for 100% seeking health!

No one path is perfect for everyone.

OK, I'm done now!

you might already know this but 2 big tbsp of nutritional yeast has 133% daily value of b12!

try taking manganese in liquid form, or magnesium. they are both really necessary and people lack these two a lot

Why don't you have one of the NFL people who you are 'related' to come here and positively identify you?

I notice that none of the people who posted 'supportive' messages above are long-term members of this forum. They are not aware that many people actually spend years trolling by way of passive-agressive messages which inevitably erupt into open hostility untill they come back under a different name. Several years ago, this 'de v' person showed up at the forums right after one of Pete Aldo's recent aliases was banned; his first few posts were homophobic, anti-vegan rants, after which he decided to develop a persona, in this case claiming he had diabetes and posting an endless array of leading messages, all along the way apologizing for them by saying how much he loves veganism. The only reason he even picked the name 'dev' is because that was at the time my real first name. Now suddenly he doesn't even choose to mention the fact that he already had a pre-existing and deadly incurable disease before he even started on raw foods that obviously pointed to the fact that he abused his body severely throughout his life and that he will obviously have future health problems because of it? Those of us who don't have diabetes don't have the high risk of complications that you would; so leaving out this information just shows how much of a troll you are even if you weren't lying all the way. I imagine most people with diabetes don't feel so great...

Having said all of this, I'm not going to waste my time arguing with this person about who he really is for the billionth time, even though I know that eventually he would crack and reveal himself as Pete like he always did before. I have better things to do.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/16/2006 09:19PM by dream earth.

lilpaws:
"2 big tbsp of nutritional yeast has 133% daily value of b12!"

What would be the recommend brand? I ask because I think you can by yeast just about anywhere.

josephsgirl:
Manganese or magnesium, again what are the best brands out there? I can go to the health food store and there's like 20 plus kinds. I've seen or heard of Floravix or New Chapter.

I've always followed the "you get what you pay for" slogan, so I don't want to buy just any supplement if there's top quality supplements that work then I'll pay the price.

My father use to take a cheap multi-vitamin that could be bought at any supermarket and it didn't do anything for him.

Dear Rawdev,

Hope you do better with the B12. I also found myself with a B12 deficiency after about 15 years of 100% vegan diet. I also thought B12 deficiency was a myth. It took me about a month of eating a vegan B12 supplement to get rid of the pins and needles in my feet and hands.

My husband has been 100% vegan for as long as me and has never experienced any weakening or B12 deficiency symptoms. Unlike me though, he eats cooked food regularly, including nutritious yeast.

He buys the nutritious yeast in bulk from the bulk bins at the health food store. The manufacturer is Red Star. They also do the baker's yeast, so don't buy the baker's yeast thinking it is the same thing.

Does anyone know, is nutritious yeast a raw food item?

Personally, it gives me heartburn, so I don't eat it.

Good on you rawdev for continuing your quest. Hope you're not put off too much by some of the negative posts. My impression is that some people think if you confess to having a hard time on raw food, you must be a raw food traitor. We'd all be better off supporting each other.

Sorry rawdev -- I meant "nutritional yeast", not "nutritious yeast".

Dream Earth I think you hit the nail on the head.

Cherimoya

Dream earth, I have know idea where you came up with the name Pete Aldo's?

My name is:
Devin Thedell aka: rawdev

Dream earth wrote:
pre-existing and deadly incurable disease before he even started on raw foods that obviously pointed to the fact that he abused his body severely throughout his life and that he will obviously have future health problems because of it? Those of us who don't have diabetes don't have the high risk of complications that you would; so leaving out this information just shows how much of a troll you are even if you weren't lying all the way. I imagine most people with diabetes don't feel so great...

Wow,
I'm truly shocked to the powerful, cut-throating and berating tone you used in your statement.

"that he abused his body severely thoughout his life".
Have you ever heard of Juvenile child (Type 1) onset diabetes?
I've played my hand with the cards I was dealt and not lived a sluggish life as you claim.

Let's see of the 4 years since I first posted on rawfoodsupport I don't think I've ever posted any "homophobic, anti-vegan rants" as once again you claim I have.
Maybe this Pete Aldo's has, but not me...

Do you treat or speak of all diabetics this way? What about people with other diseases?


A favorite quote of mine is:
"I respect all walks of life" by rawdev (simple but meaningful)


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