Okay. I am not 100% raw. Probably around 75% if you want a figure. When I do eat cooked food it is all vegan, all organic and always pure and whole. I don't eat much grains either. I also eat very little--never stuffing myself.

I have been experimenting with this way of eating for about 2 years now. I have noticed many miraculous improvements in my health (i.e. clear skin, more energy, better digestion, no body odor, etc.) but I still keep getting horrible, god awful, COLDS that linger!

I thought by now my immune system would have been much stronger. It is hard to justify the way I eat to my coworkers and other people around me when I am always sick!

Is this normal? Am I not "doing it" well enough--or am I detoxing? The reason I say this is because when I first started raw I couldn't tolerate fruit--and had horrible and consistent candida problems. Now those problems have been long gone and I feel like I have been thriving in a lot of ways on a high fruit diet.

Anyone's experiences or input is greatly appreciated.



[minou-minou.blogspot.com]
myspace.com/summer33ny

I don't think it is detox after 2 years, it is more likely that you are doing something wrong somewhere. Are you paying attention to food combinations? There can be a problem there. Like having acid fruits after other foods? Too many fats? Fruits after starches? Starches and proteins? Too much acidic fruits? Unripe acid forming fruits? Eating late at night? Not getting enough fluids? Have you noticed any foods which seem not to agree with you? Are you eating organic fruits? I don't know about the USA, but in Europe it is not wise to get fruits and vegetables from the supermarket because they can be irradiated.

are you supressing your symptoms when you develop a cold, or are you letting it run its course? i've found getting out of your bodies way while you are sick will allow it to work best/fastest to return you to balance and health. are you allowing yourself to rest until its over, or are you trying to "push through it"? grapes and orange juice, lots of water, lots of rest, and finding ways to eliminate stressors in your life, be they dietary, emotional, or physical.

here's the first stress to eliminate: you don't have to justify the way you eat to anyone but yourself. don't take on the added stress of being a "model raw foodist", just be you, following your own path towards optimal health. you don't have anything to prove, just your beautiful life to live to the fullest!

Just a thought: Extra healthy CAN mean extra sensitive. Is this a bad thing? Find the thing that conflicts with your goals....and do something more passionate....and engage in that fully. Do something VERY small and regularly to aid in your problems....and thereafter pay them no mind.

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

Just advice... take it or leave it.

Don't ever try to justify to others, especially co-workers, what you need to do for yourself.

Do what works for you... for YOU not for others.

I don't think we are all SUPPOSED to be anything.

Be good to yourself. You are worth it.

Lee

i eat garlic...nasty but it kills off a cold.
if you feel one coming on, take a clove and
cut it up into small chunks and swallow it
with some water.

just like buckleys...tastes aweful but it works

i find saunas a great help when dealing with a cold, fortunately i seldom have them anymore. good luck

The raw foods you are eating are giving your body the vitality it needs to cleanse itself regularly. Of course, your 25% cooked foods are probably creating this needs for the cleansing in the first place. Perhaps this is your body's way of telling you that now is the time for you to increase your commitment to the raw foods. What about for the next period of time, moving your cooked food consumption from 25% down to 10%. You might find that your sick time decreases as your cooked food intake decreases.

decrease the cooked and see what happens. worth a try.

You could be detoxing, even after two years. From what I have read the body takes approximately 7 years to fully detox. So you have a ways to go. Being raw also, is not the cure all people think it is... you are still going to get sick.... but imagine how much sicker you would get if you were not on this healthy path.

The way I eat cooked is I go a few days raw and then I have a cooked meal. When I have a cooked meal I always get phlegm. I always have lots of sneezing and blowing. I would try going 100% raw for a period of time (at least two weeks) and reintroduce some cooked a little bit at a time. Like if you like rice try eating some rice and wait 2 days before you try to eat some other cooked. Maybe some things are causing you more irritation than others and you might want to see what those foods are and eliminate them completely.

It is my goal to eliminate nearly all cooked and I think Bryan has the right idea about your body telling you it is ready for less struggle. I have found that my body is less and less tolerant of cooked.

Depends on what kind of cooked food you are eating... I myself wouldn't touch cooked rice or any grain... when I eat cooked food it is lightly steamed veggies or a baked pototo. I have never had a reaction from eating these.

minou33,

Could you share what your typical daily menu looks like in terms of foods, times you eat, and amounts? This could shed light on why you are experiencing so much detox. Here's an example of mine:

2pm: 5 pounds of satsumas
7pm: 3 pounds of satsumas. 1 pound of broccoli salad with juice of 4 oranges, 1/4 cup hemp seeds, 1/8 cup sun-dried tomatoes, 1/2 bunch cilantro.

Are you sure you're getting colds and not just allergies? Many allergic reactions look like, or rather feel like, colds. Prehaps you're allergic to cats, to pollen, to your laundry detergent, etc. Just a thought.

Hi Minou,

No advice, just wanted to say, I sympathize with you! I am in the same boat - about 75% raw lately, and 25% cooked (mostly due to finances in my case)

But what they DON'T see are all the invisible things I used to get, like mental fog, diabetes symptoms (high blood sugar, measured on glucometer), constant smelly gas (just lovely!), and colds that lingered longer and are much more severe, and just random weird problems like a few months ago I got a SERIOUS infection on my hand. The difference is, I don't ever have to go to the doctor, as things never get out of my control.... whereas everyone else runs to the doctor and looses tons of $$ - much more than I spend on my raw food!!

The way I see it is, if you are not getting sick, your body is probably not healthy because with all the pollutants in the earth as it is right now, your body SHOULD be doing something to detox every once in a while... it's the people who "never get sick" who usually end up with cancer or something down the road in my observation.

Not that being sick is fun, but maybe it's not as big of a deal, you know?

Angie

BTW - I love your blog - I've been reading it with my tea and raw food for breakfast this morning!! :.)


Me (30), Joseph (24 mo.) Jeremiah (4 mo.)

We are enjoying spring and being outside!!!

dear minou33,

Do you ever fast?
If you don't, then I don't agree with greenpower's statement (see quote):

greenpower Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I don't think it is detox after 2 years, it is
> more likely that you are doing something wrong
> somewhere.

Immunity is a fascinating and complicated subject. Eating well certainly does help, but it can only do so much. Some people inherit a very bad deck.

If you are around a young child who is in preschool or kindergarten or something that might explain why you are getting sick more often--they catch a lot and pass a lot around.

I'm no expert, but I'd make sure you are getting enough zinc.

If you feel a cold coming on, take extra zinc (lozenges are best) and extra vitamin C (but not necessarily together). Seems to help me. I swear the "EmergenC" brand C & mineral powder cures anything. I take several packets a day if I'm coming down with something and it usually knocks it out.

But maybe it's allergies or detox, as others have suggested.

I went to an allergist last year and found out I was allergic to a lot of stuff I never knew about.

She wanted me to take shots and she said that after a year of shots we would see if the shots had at all worked. I went for a month then gave up. I didn't seem worth it to me. Your mileage may vary.

I'm going to try and make my body as healthy as possible.

At times I wonder: am I detoxing or do I have the flu or a cold or have I just been overworking and under-nurturing?

It doesn't really matter what the cause is. The cure is the same: eat foods that are easy to digest (raw, vegan, unprocessed food), get enough sleep and exercise, avoid negative people when you can, nurture relationships that are positive, spend time in nature, do some yoga, meditate, love yourself, breathe in, breathe out...


Lee

Are you healthy in other aspects of your life? I find that if I exercise for more than 90 minutes I am sure to get a cold, it has to do with the stress hormones. Also, plenty of sleep and happiness help!

Thanks for everyone's responses.

I do weekly juice fasts, and I do yoga and exercise often. I am in a great place mentally. I am actually the healthiest I have been in so many other ways. So I do know what I am doing is right.

There are also a lot of factors in my life that make me prone to illness I guess, I work in New York City, breathing in all that toxic air, I work and commute long hours, I work with a lot of sick children, etc.

Intuitively, I feel as if I need to have more greens: green smoothies, juices, etc. Fruits are a large part of my diet and blood tests from months ago have indicated that I am low in the stuff that greens provide. Nothing is as nutrient dense as dark leafy greens.

I am doing the best I can right now and I'm going to continue to improve. Thanks for everyone's responses.



[minou-minou.blogspot.com]
myspace.com/summer33ny

I know what you mean about following your intuition. I craved orange juice for years, and had to take the EmergenC I mentioned from time to time. Now that I've started eating a lot more fruit, the cravings have diminished and I haven't needed as much extra vitamin C (so far). I just needed to eat more fruit - the apple a day on my SAD diet wasn't enough!

I especially like Lee's advice.

Good luck,

LaPieta

For me, there is more to health than eating raw. How much I eat, for example. Do I eat what my body wants me to. Exercise, rest, mental state as well.


RawGosia channel
RawGosia streams

Zinc was mentioned in this thread, so I will pose my question here. I notice that a lot of things I eat have small amounts of zinc, but the ones that add up are higher-fat, like nuts and seeds. What are good raw sources of zinc that are lower in calories and don't involve sprouts?

I found this cool chart: [www.healthalternatives2000.com]

I had 5 kiwi today already. I guess I can eat raw corn but it's not in season. I'm already at 36% of my calories from fat today.

My vitamin has 33% DV of zinc, but I want my nutrition from food.

Minou...I have felt this frustration too. If raw foods have taught me anything it would be that health is merely a perception. That sounds difficult to choke down when you have a gound of snot oozing out of your sinuses and you haven't been able to breath through your nose for 2 weeks. =) but focus on the important things...like BEING able to breath, and FEELING good, and having ENERGY...'health' has so much societal baggage attached to it. Define what is important to you...explicitly. Focus on that, and don't worry about the others, they can do as they please.

As for the symptoms or colds you describe. In my world...colds/flu type symptoms are always detoxification. The trick is...certain kinds of food are KEY to really cleansing out your body. For me, the BIGGEST of these things is raw milk, raw yoghurts, cheeses, kefirs, and raw eggs.

I could live off of nibbling leaves, and drinking fresh milk. It is pure sustenance, warmth, and motherly love. I also...don't eat pure raw. I eat about 50% raw foods, and 50% "cooked" foods. I've been doing this for about two years. During that time, I haven't been physically sick once, I have had light runny noses at times for a day or less, but am always able to breath.

Mostly my diet is indirectly dictated by what I want and what I feel. I eat sugary fruits lightly, 1 or 2 pieces a week...i eat a LOT of avocados. I eat as much raw dairy as I can get ahold of. I never have enough, my body surges for it. I eat raw wild meats when available, and frozen raw wild meats once or twice a week.

I eat a lot of fermented foods, i love kimchee, i eat saurkraut when I have it. Sourdough rye breads are my favorite, and is actually one kind of bread that I do feel okay eating. I eat a LOT of raw honey...i like to ferment it into a bubbly softdrink, not really any different from soda, but has a tad bit of alcohol. It's usually the first thing I drink in the morning, and I bring some to work with me for an extra jolt.

There is a large list of things I DON"T eat, this is just from experience. Many of these things will ruin my day if they end up in my body. I don't eat anybody else's oils. I don't eat things cooked in oil. I don't eat anybody else's grains/breads. I don't eat anybody else's sugar or honey. I don't eat anybody else's meat. And when I say 'anybody elses'...I am applying this mostly to restaurants or non ceremonial food.

If you take the time, energy, and focus to create food. I'm going to eat it with you, and I'm going to enjoy it, regardless of my presumptions. On the same side of deals...if you so much as whisper the word 'fermentation' or 'culture' I'm over you like white on rice


[edit]
as an afterthought Minou...it sounds like you are doing very well. I would urge you to continue your juicing, continue the fasting, to the extent that you feel the need. Your body can really bury 'toxins' deep inside. And it may not come out quickly. Keep it up, I'm glad you're feeling well other then this, that is a good sign, follow it.

on another side note, I would also urge you to try out some GOOD grassfed raw dairy and see how you feel.

be well...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/14/2008 11:43PM by svakanda.

Hi Svakanda,

I know you mean well, but this is specifically a vegan forum.

...and in my personal experience, even when I ate SAD/Junk, dairy was the last thing I would ever do if I had a cold or flu. I feel like it is one of the least cleansing substances for my body... congestion, inflammation, fatigue and just overall nastiness. ...just my experience.

Aloha Nui Loa,

Greg

A great many people think they are thinking when they are really rearranging their prejudices. - William James

There is no pill that can be swallowed,
There is no guru, that can be followed, - Michael Franti (Pray For Grace)

The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion. - Albert Camus

Greg I totally hear ya on that... anytime I even have a wee bit of dairy I turn into a mucous monster ...



My website: The Coconut Chronicles

I was doing some reading and saw that you can have some teeth issues. As they say, too much of a good thing is not always good.

Mix it up! no need to be freakish about the diet. Just eat healthy and live life!

- Mary