I have been vegetarian for 5 years. fasting, raw food and fruitarian experiments.
I have been experiencing candida, general yeast overgrowth, depression, anxiety, acne for ten years, and i find taht the only thing that helps is to eat raw. I am doing well at staying away from cooked grain. Some issues about eating too much fruit as i find i get sugar-addiction symptoms (highs and crashes, obsessively thinking about food, overeating)
also, want to eat local food not bananas and dates.
Any suggestions about staying satisfied and eating enough calories?
at other times i have relyed mostly on salad and find that frusterating too: sore jaw muscles, general craziness.
I dont feel good baout eating meat. i think it makes me crave sugar and caffeine, and it seems unesessary.
Hard to get reliable info because eating "raw" is still on the fringes, and i sometimes feel that it is obsessive behaviour.
anyone have concerns about vit b12? what do you think about this issue? do you supplement? anyone eat raw dairy?

thanks.

Kelly

Kelly,
Why don't you try sprouting some mung beans, red lentils, and garbanzo beans?
I find that when I need to feel "full" amd don't want to eat as many sweet fruits these proteins help keep me feeling satisfied. I also try making hemp protein powder shakes with unsweetened almond milk and I add fresh or frozen berries rather than sweeter fruits like dates, bananas or mangos. you can add pure stevia if you want/need to for sweetness w/o the sugar highs of agave or honey. Some people have been mistakenly preaching agave as a "low glycemic sweetener" but my diabetic family ( most of them vegan and vegetarian) and I have never found this to be true nor has the diabetic association ever made such a claim. Agave is a natural sweetener, but it is tropical and can completetly give me a sugar rush like nothing else can, particularly if I stick to a fruit only diet and eat an agave sweetened treat. I would advise sticking with stevia for now....You could also make your shake with water or another nut or seed milk of your choice. Coconut oil butter is also a great way to put in a few more stabilizing calories in your shakes without sugar, and 1-2 tablespoons of hemp seed butter or almond butter is a delicious addition too.

I like making raw nori rolls with a sunflower seed pate as the base "shmear" on the nori wrapper, adding some lentil sprouts or mung bean sprouts on top of that for another layer of protein, then alfalfa sprouts for greens and some grated carrot for sweetness. avocado slices are optional.. This is often hearty enough for me when I'm craving heavier denser feeling foods and want a few more calories. I also eat more dehydrated crackers that I make from butternut squash and sometimes flax. You could also make grain and seed breads or crackers if you eat them. I eat my crackers with an easy to prepare garlicky garbanzo bean hummous that I make.

As far as B12...Everyone, and I mean everyone here has differing ideas. I take B12 shots 2x a month. I cannot metabolize b12 from food or supplements. i was a vegan too long w/o supplementing like i should have early on and now shots deliver my b12 in the best possible way for my body health. Many raw food leaders also diverge in their opinions. I personally believe and subscribe to the scientific model of B12 only being able to be stored in your liver for 7 years and after that you're on your own. I do not believe our earth's soil has enough minerals in it today in 2007 to provide my body with all the nutrients I need from vegetation. So I use supplements judiciously and suggest to all my newbie friends that they take a good quality sublingual b12 tablet forever, or for as long as they'll be vegetarian and abstain from red meat and flesh foods. Damage from B12 deficiency can mimic alzheimers, giving you early onset dementia, hand tremors and limb tremors and severe depresion that you think is other related.

In regards to raw dairy...you'll hear that this is raw vegan forum and people do not discuss the merits of raw dairy because of it. To each his own in that regard. Some do have it and don't tell, some don't have it and will pontificate. Most people, if not all people here do not eat meat for both spiritual and physical health reasons.

Since you seem to be so sensitive to sugars right now and really want to get off the binge cycle and candida merry-go-round, for more guidance and hand holding with a raw foodist leader who gets where you're coming from, I'd recommend getting a copy of Dr. Gabriel Cousins "Rainbow Green" book. He advocates a low sugar raw diet, is very thorough, and really pretty good with creating low glycemic raw foods and recipes.


peace
love
i breathe in
i breathe out
Bikini

Hi Kelly,

How about green smoothies? I'm just getting into them, so it's still honeymoon time for me, but from what you write (wanting to stay local, needing something filling, wondering about raw dairy (I imagine for the calcium), green smoothies sound like your perfect food. Here's Victoria Boutenko's discussing them: [www.vegetarianbaby.com]
She also wrote a whole book about them called _Green for Life_, which I haven't read yet.

(By the way, they don't taste bad. The greens by themselves would, but the other ingredients make it so you can barely taste them.)

Betty

"Don't believe everything you think."

--Bumper Sticker

Yayyyy, like perbetty said, green smoothies!

My skin is rocking since I'm having one once a day, everyday!

In mine I put: 1 pineapple, 1 stick celery, handfuls each of spinach/watercress/rocket, 3 de-veined collard leaves, teaspoon of spirulina, a shot of wheatgrass. The pineapple is so sweet, it almost covers up the hot peppery watercress (it would taste better without, but I don't mind). You can add a banana for extra creaminess.

redDwarf/Kelly, you may want to read about veganism. Milk and egg products are constantly being linked to various health problems including skin problems. If you're worried about B12, just take a supplement for peace of mind.

Get yourself a free fitday account: www.fitday.com and start tracking your nutrition to make sure you are giving your body what it needs.

You might try a parasite and worm cleanse..using tinctures like wormwood, cloves and walnut hulls. I read that Candida is a symptom of parasites.

Love,
Prism

Perbetty,

Thanks for the link to the Boutenko article. Can you offer some suggestions for "recipes" for green smoothies? What do you mix together???

Thank you.

Patty

Thanks Bikini,
you have a lot of good ideas.
I'm sprouting some beans!

K