Hi Everyone!

I am new (er) to eating raw. I have been checking it out for quite some time and am slowly transitioning over. I am currently approaching about 75% raw. I have a question that I can not seem to find anywhere... Is raw unpasturized cheese/dairy considered raw food? Also, if anyone has any tips for me or any advice that they would like to share, it would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks everyone!

This forum is vegan and your question is best discussed at another venue. Here, you'll just be making people feel sorry for the cows.

Hi Sapphire33,

I believe This Question does not really belong to what this thread of Board has in subject(on the top of this page:
"This board is for the discussion of Vegan Living and Raw food related discussion. "

But..
I can help You out on some definitions, and as:

1.Vegan Means no animal products, or products in which production animal ingredients, or animals were used(although NOT present in final product)

2.RAW DOES NOT Mean Healthy., and by many people/in most cases it is done in Unhealthy Way,
I Call it "Interpretation".

People hear one thing, often mistake effect for cause and make decision based on those assumptions.

I'd find myself more helpful answering/ asking questions like: am I Going for: RAW, or for HEALTHY?

What Will guide me?

What / which one would be more stable and sure as a guideline?

Healthy Means : raw 90% of times
Raw Means: ??/chances are about 30% Healthy.(raw potatoes/ food containing harmful bacterias killed by cooking.. like diary, milk)

It is not best to try to adhere to someone else's guidelines we haven't fully embraced / understand.

I find much simples and more foolproof to choose simple not contradicting rules i feel most comfortable with, and following the idea for some time to see if it works for me/ asking people who succeeded on that path already, and are willing to share with me/ us on this board. :-)


..And #3
Technically RAW Means unprocessed. Thermally, mechanically.
But if We talk about: Human Food: It shouldn't be considered THE ONLY Guideline.
And if we talk about HEALTHY HUMAN FOOD more should be set as Guides.

I'll write here simplest and most precise "system" for measuring if it is HUMAN food, and more of them specific food contains the better,

We could Call it star system 1 being lowest quality/health 5 being of best effect as to our health, energy, happiness, bodily functions.

1.FRESH
2.RAW
3.RIPE
4.ORGANIC
5.PLANT Based: Green Leafy Vegetables is a good example


Beside those above #4
Definitions are not as important as outcome.
Ex.: If you do believe 75% raw is enough to call yourself "Rawfooder", that's fine.
Yet, it has NO REAL effect on your health, or i should say MAY have NO EFFECT..

WHY?

Quite Simple.
if 1 glass of poison would make us sick, than is 1 drop of that poison still good for us?..ONLY ONE drop.. or even less.. can't taste it, but it still IS a substance destroying our health.
Or at least that's what I've found out in My life, as well as about 20 million or maybe 1000 of other people, Not necessarily RAW, or even VEGAN.. But even Meat eaters.
it IS THE LARGEST ALLERGENIC SUBSTANCE TO HUMANS on this planet. DIARY.

Most of the rest of population is suffering from effects of allergic reactions to diary not even knowing it.
Depression, diabetes, broken bones/ osteoporosis, memory loss... 1000s of other.
Sometimes so sudden that it takes 30 years to develop condition that will DISABLE Us form doing what we did that caused it.

what is deterring our health is not always "visible"
if you take 1 drop of poison it will STILL have effect on how you feel, act, it may take in that dosage MORE Than 1 glass of it to make you sick, but why in a first place am I drinking/eating that poison, or even considering choosing DIFFERENT FORM Of the very same poison?

If Diary however IS You Addiction (one of the strongest and most harmful in human world):-| What could be of big help, and a big step is: thinking what is it that your body needs it for, and choosing healthy, and tasty alternative, that You'll Enjoy.
May it be PROCESSED food, LIKE:

If You need diary products fo fat/protein/ content, try finding alternative in a VEGAN world like ALMOND Milk, COCONUT, .. some of BEST Tasty, and Healthy ALTERNATIVE To MILK.
THESE CAN BE And ARE RAW.(of course if nuts will be pasteurized, or heated/dried in too high temperatures/ to quickly, than different taste will tell that they were not raw, But it still will be healthier alternative than diary.

Generally if human has taste for milk/diary is a early sign of improperly balanced lifestyle causing to much pressure/ creating over acidified environment as only one of MANY examples.
That condition is depleting body from calcium, magnesium, and 10's of other minerals in order to return body to proper balance (reinstate homeostasis)

There are dozens of diary alternative: almond cheeses, wheat milk, nut/seed/fruit "milks", or it should be called drinks.


..NO "Raw Milk" is not as healthy a i have also been led to think/taught to think some LONG time ago
I have found many believers in the GOODNESS of Milk in Ajurvedic "branch" of Healing/curing business.
It is not only very dangerous, but also not natural way of trying to find out a balance in life.

BUT If that is what it takes for You to understand/ or SEE through your body/eyes consequences of either Raw or Cooked/UHT milk/diary products.. No one here will stop You but Yourself.

Good luck in finding Peace in Your life,
Just don't look to far.. and don't look to hard,
After all You may not Need Any FOOD to achieve it.. :-)
I Didn't..

Looking in a right place for a right thing,.. those two MUST match if You want to find what you are looking for.

It's like going for an health advice to a Vet.
Nothing wrong with it, but his profession is animal health,
So looking for it there may be mistake, but surely interesting one.
AND It is YOUR WAY, Your Path,
That's what Life is about.. experiencing The same life as everyone else YOUR WAY.
..Take it step by step, don't try to jump it over in 1 lapse..
too much to loose... And why skip all the nice things that could happen if you would take it one step at the time.
ENJOY. I DO :-)

Free, Open source.Healthy
F.E.A.R. is
an acronym that stands for, False Evidence Appearing Real
F.A.I.T.H. - the First Attribute IN Thoughtful
Health

The above posts are exactly correct. YOU are welcome here, but the discussion of animal products is not. There are many other locations where research and answers can be found on this. I personally avoid any foods that necessitate the ownership, overseeing, restraining and/or killing of animals. Just my thing.

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

Sorry...I didn't mean to offend anyone...I didn't realize. Thanks for your help.

You can make raw, fresh milks with plant-based foods.

Also, I think some people on this site aren't necessarily vegan- they just don't eat animal products, which would make them strict vegetarians. Veganism is a lifestyle wherein you also wouldn't buy products tested on animals, with animal ingredients (like personal care), leather, wool, silk, etc.

[utopiankitchen.wordpress.com]

I would avoid it, it carries the leukemia virus which is killed by pasturization.
[www.all-creatures.org] Dairy producing regions (where dairy farmers are likely to drink the raw milk that they produce rather than buy the paturized milk from the store) have high rates of leukemia.

Human breastmilk is more appropriate than other species' breastmilk. But most of us lose the ability to digest after 4 or 5 years of age for a reason

Very interesting! Thanks a lot for letting me know!

You could make your own version of raw milk using items such as nuts and rice.

Wishing you vibrant health

Hello!
Wow- a lot of people were pretty abrupt with you.
I am vegan now but when I was vegetarian I was drinking raw milk because regular milk was pasteurized,etc. It seems like grocery stores are making raw milk more widely available.
That said, I suggest you pick up a book like 'Skinny Bitch'-which completely convinced me to go vegan. They talk a lot about the dairy industry and what milk and cheese does to your body. It's not pretty.
So- although I am vegan I will not be rude or militaristic about it. I understand where you are and it sounds like you are trying to make better choices about your diet. Best of luck!
Devri

Haha..thanks a lot for the kind words, Devri! I am a very conscious, healthy eater and understand, and appreciate, taking care of your body and respecting it through your nutritional beliefs. I felt terrible after the first couple posts because I didn't mean to offend at all...I have been there and have had it happened to me Anyway, I AM working on becoming cleaner and healthier as much as what will work for me. I have already kicked up my raw intake even more because I have found how fantastic I feel and I couldn't imagine not feeling so amazing. So, thanks again for the kind words and thanks for the book recommendation...one only learns by being led in the right direction

Sapphire, I've found that the more raw food I eat the less I want dairy in general. Cheese started tasting really gross to me as I increased the raw % in my diet. You will probably just lose your taste for it eventually.

don't feel bad, i don't think anyone here is offended or angry, i think you're just getting the quick response to a non-vegan topic coming up. there have been a few discussions that escalated into flame wars so some of the regular posters here just nip it in the bud as soon as it comes up. nothing personal, really. also there are just some people who have a very utilitarian, direct style of posting that doesn't incorporate platitudes or flowery language, it's just straight forward facts. it can be easy with this flat, 2-d medium to miss the personality behind the words, it can seem brusque.
dont' take it personal i guess, because it's mostly not.

Coco, I love your reply! My husband, a sweet thoughtful man, eats meat and is a dairy manager for a large market for 31 years . I have been trying to lovingly educate him . I feel most of the people on ths forum are lightyears above most of the population. I learn something ever time I log on to this wonderful site! Janice

I find that fresh Young coconut juice & pulp blended together until smooth is the best tasting milk I have ever found. Its RAWlicious.

Ez-Rider,

Wow..that sounds wonderful! Is that all that you use to make the coconut milk? Do I just have to juice it first or can I use my food processor or blender (I don't currently have a juicer)? I would love to try it...

I have to second reading Skinny Bitch. There were some things in there, about milk specifically, that made me laugh out of shock until I started to cry.

Wow, I've never thought that writing/ sharing some of my own experiences, and the length of my writing could be taken as offense/ being abrupt. I thought it would be obvious if one writes so much it is out of care, and empathy.

I'll make a note to myself to use more balanced words in future.
:-)

As to nut milk making technique..
I've used blender to make my, important is to soak nuts for sufficient time, and to make sure to try different brands of nuts to find those that haven't been destroyed by heat during drying and packing. taste will be different, though some may like that taste as well.

Free, Open source.Healthy
F.E.A.R. is
an acronym that stands for, False Evidence Appearing Real
F.A.I.T.H. - the First Attribute IN Thoughtful
Health