Me again - I am in my fourth week of raw but have not noticed anyone eating any dried fruits. By dried fruits I don't mean done in a dehydrator at my home - do not have one. I mean the organic raisons, prunes and apricots. They do not appear to have added sugar at least on the labels. does anyone else eat any dried fruits? I don;t eat alot but they do curb my sweet tooth every couple of days.

My other vice appears to be decaf coffee with skim milk. I could kick myself every time I cave and have one. I have to find a substitute - I suppose warm water could work for me.

Any thoughts?

i mostly assume raisins, prunes, apricots that i could get at the grocery store are not raw, regardless of whether they are organic or not. but, no worries, and no raw food police... if they are helping you stay on track right now, by all means. you'll probably let go of them in time. if 100% raw is super important to you, you can also source them online and find "truly raw" dried fruits, but you'll pay $$ for it.

you could check out fresh dates and see how you like them. i didn't like them at all at first, but now i really do.

depending on how slow or fast you care to wean yourself off of the coffee, here are some ideas:

decaf coffee with homemade nutmilk
teechino with homemade nutmilk
warm-brewed rooibos with homemade nutmilk

or if you care to get REALLY crazy with it: [www.rawfoodtalk.com]

good job you! don't sweat the small stuff... you'll be amazed at what you just naturally let go of over time.

I did while transitioning. Made my own dehydrated strawberries, blueberries, and roma tomatoes! I say that if it helps you to reach YOUR fresh, unprocessed plant food goals - more power to you!

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

Try dandelion root tea - the real stuff, not the instant variety. May not be raw, but it is good for you

I still do half-caff with soymilk. I use the lightest roasts--some of them are color-coded now to tell how cooked or overcooked. I don't feel very guilty about it, but not completely guiltless, either.

Sometimes I use nutmilk, but I like to keep the fat down.

I think homemade teas would be better.

I don't dehydrate foods because most of them, especially fruits, have exposed to air surfaces when in a dehydrator. Fan forced air is then blown across the exposed surfaces for an extended period of time. Here is an interesting article about oxidation:

[www.foodprocessing.com]

Also, I believe a small amount of dried fruit a day it good for you, especially mission figs.

I had a lot of dried fruit when I was about 80% raw and starving (couldn't get satiated, I mean. ), but now I'm doing 95-99% raw and a lot of juice and fresh things. I think dried fruit has a lot of sugar, as stated, isn't very filling, and makes me bloated sometimes. But I'm not opposed to it. And I love dates!

[utopiankitchen.wordpress.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/12/2008 01:25PM by Utopian Life.

love it....kind of addictive from all the sugar though. The chewiness is so great, nothing else like it.

i am also a new raw foodie...and i've been going to trader joes to stock up on dried fruits...i always check the label and only buy the dried fruits that only have the fruit as ingredients, no added sugar (i'm weening myself off of mont morency cherries because they have sugar)...i've been avoiding apricots with sulpher dioxide (keeps them unnaturally orange and plump)...the unsulphered ones are dark brown, much chewier and more flavorful. i tend to eat only the dired fruits that are organic as well.

on a side note, i spoke to trader joes employees about how particular they are about labelling food (dried fruits and nuts as raw) and they seem to be pretty good about it)

I work at a co-op, and I've inquired to our bulk buyer about the temperatures our dried fruits are dried at. This was over a month ago, and he's still waiting for the various suppliers to get back to him. Seems like an easy one to me, but sometimes tracking down information can be frustrating!

dried fruit tastes raw to me. i mean i'm sensitive to cooked food and can feel/taste if it's raw or not.

i'm trying to cut down for the candida thing, but they are my little indulgence!
plus many dried fruits are high in antioxidants.

i try to avoid dried fruits now... they give me sugar cravings... I could eat a pound of medjools or black mission figs...

damn... im drooling