Hello people of the raw community. I need some help in the form of advice. First, let me give you my situation. Last year, around the beginning of November, I decided to go raw. I made the mistake of not researching enough about the diet. I was also under a lot of stress, smoking marijuana and munching afterwards, and this led to poor eating habits. I would eat a lot of food-- mostly raw, some few processed things-- until I felt extremely uncomfortable, to the point where I did not feel like eating for hours.

One night I was so depressed, after eating a big raw dinner, I ate about 3/4 of Brazil nuts. It was bad. The next morning I woke up and it felt like my throat was clogged and that something was stuck in my chest. I started to tone down, drammatically I think now that I'm looking back at what happened, but the clogging persisted. I started to realise that I had been tensing my stomach after eating so much and then sleeping not too long after.

Then I started to experience chest pressure and regurgitation, and I freaked, thinking that something was stuck in my chest. I swallowed a raw egg that night, and was no longer a vegan. There was temporary relief but the symptoms only got worse. All this time I could not refrain from eating huge meals. I was so depressed, and started to eat things I would never even eat, when I was not a vegeterian, things that never even tempted me to eat. Like cakes and cookies. I would breake and eat so many of them throughout the time period spanning Thanksgiving and Christmas.

At one point I had enough, and decided to go on a lemon cleanse. I felt better in my stomach, but my chest had this weird pressure and nerve tingling. My teeth would tingle, too. I also remember a weird crawling sensation climbing up to the middle of my forehead. It was scary. So I broke the lemon cleanse on day six. Craving something heavy, I ate bean burrito and it made my stomach feel uncomfortable, just like before. After five or so more days of binge eating, I decided to do a water fast. Please understand, my mind was going crazy with all of these symptoms, I had limited access to a computer, and the only book I had was Nature's First Law. A note about that book: with my weakened mind it made me think everything was poisoned. I water fasted for six days drinking distilled water, resting and stretching, sometimes meditating. I broke the fast near the end of December eating bananas which tasted good. But I felt incredibly weak and started to make smoothies with hemp powder and bananas. It gave me some energy but now I have perfectly round swollen stomach that won't go away.

Now I am back to eating mostly raw foods. It's really all that I can tolerate and I love fruits and vegetables. I love everything. It all tastes good to me. My chest feels better but my neck is swollen and I feel light-headed and have low energy. It is day 4 of being raw, and I have to say that my mind after all this is in a better place. A lot of this had to do with lack of information, lack of patience, and anxiety on my part. I am slowly overcoming.

The thing is my choices are severely limited. I do not have health insurance, and the two times I went to see a doctor via emergency room and then free clinic. They found nothing wrong. They were stumped. Raw food is the only thing that's making me feel better in mind, body and spirit. Everything is tolerable, and it feels like detoxing but I am still in the dark.

No one I know is raw, they only know of it. I am asking anyone out there to offer me some advice on what I am experiencing. Please. I also have a few questions.


Is it healthy to just snack throughout the day?

I've cut down on nuts. They make my throat feel worse it seems. I buy the raw ones from Whole Foods. What should I be wary about with nuts?

Why do I have such a swollen round stomach? It doesnt hurt. After I eat it feels like it might explode (I know it won't)

How much quantity of fruit or vegetables is considered overeating? The reason I ask this is because I have lost my true sensation of hunger. What signals me is time or a little increased pressure in my belly. In I'll eat like three to four bananas, in one sitting, three times a day. 3 oranges. 2 glasses of green smoothie, made with lots of spinach, bananas and berries and 1/2 pound of nuts. A large green salad with olive oil and vinegar and avocado and tomatoes. I am 126 pounds, male and moderately active.

This one seems ridiculous, but how does fruit work?

Am I under-eating? I can't tell. I cannot feel my stomach, only the swelling.

Should I start juicing?

My neck is swollen. Is that a lymphatic fluid condition?

I broke my fasting incorrectly, twice. Am I in bigger trouble than I realize?

What is the truth about b12? The symptoms I am experiencing overlap. A lot of this information has left me jaded and confused.

What books should I get for information?

Who is Dr. Bernarr?

I have other questions but I don't want to be a burden. If even one question is answered, I will be super happy. I hope that I am somewhat clear. If not a reply will help me to clarify. Thanks all, and one love.

P.S I stopped smoking marijuana because my head also feels sometimes like it's about to explode.
P.S.S I have not felt any pain with anything, just discomfort from swelling, tingling, stiffness and pressure

Hello, jovanny,

Did they do a full blood panel when you last went to the doc? The distention of the abdomen--is there pain when you depress it with your hand? Are your bowels moving well and fully evacuating?

Whatever you consider hunger is hunger for you. What matters is satiation. There is no particular quantity of raw produce which suffices except what your body prompts you to stop at once consumed.

Your diet seems OK to me, but heavy on nuts. Fat can be very hard on the liver and gall bladder in a crisis. It should generally not be combined with fructose in a crisis(or ever, in my opinion). Fat and greens--OK; fat and fruit--DANGER! For some people anyhow.

As to fruit, it works by providing water, vitamins, and most important, usable quickly metabolized energy in the form of fructose. It is generally fast digesting and wholly edible. The liver likes it, and the brain cannot live without it. Many raw foodists do very well by getting the bulk of their calories from fruit, and supplement with mineral rich leafy greens and a small amount of nuts and seeds for fat and additional minerals.

B12 deficiency typically has subtle symptoms unless serious. You would know by tingling sensations in your extremities, small motor dysfunction, confusion, and erratic digestion. Getting tested is the best way to find out; supplementing with a sublingual lozenge is good insurance, but may not be necessary.

I have never fasted, but I hear that the best way to break it is with something like watermelon or citrus juice: something light and non-taxing to the system. That you are even trying to fast to give your body a break is a credit to you; your instincts about what you need seem sound. If you can juice, juice. If you can smoothie, smoothie. It's the fastest way to get nutrients into your system. I would caution to combine leafy greens with fruit, that is, to cut the fruit with greens and to omit nuts from these concoctions. Maybe some hemp or flax seed wouldn't go amiss, however.

Don't know who Dr. Bernarr is . . . . stumped.

To close, stay off the weed, for chrissakes, it's throwing off your neuroreceptors. Look back over your e-mail--you are doing a lot of good for yourself, or you are trying to. Hew to that. Keep us posted, and good good luck.

Dr. Bernarr is a an advocate of raw foods , not sure much but he has some articles out there floating around the net ... this is his website [www.HealSelf.org]

actually im not even sure its a *him* lol

this article was written by dr. Bernarr [www.rawfoodinfo.com]

and this one [health101.org]

just type in dr. bernarr raw foods and a number of things will pop up

oh wait its a HIM lol i found this quotation hehe

DR. BERNARR IS THE ABSOLUTE AUTHORITY ON FASTING. DR. BERNARR IS PROBABLY THE ONLY TEACHER/PRACTITIONER TODAY, WHO THOROUGHLY UNDERSTANDS NATURAL HYGIENE.& FASTING
"Jennings, Graham, Trall, Tilden, Carrington, Shelton, Fry, all the wise ones, wrote about Natural Hygiene. Since the demise of Shelton, the only person who has truly done any significant "updating" of Natural Hygiene, is Dr. Bernarr. Dr. Bernarr is probably the only teacher/practitioner today, who thoroughly understands Natural Hygiene, the immutable principles discovered by the true Natural Hygienists of the past. Dr.Bernarr has not tried to re-write Natural Hygiene to suit himself, but instead has stayed completely true to it, and has gently added a few more invaluable pieces of the puzzle, to add to the actual body of knowledge. Dr. Bernarr is the absolute authority on fasting, there is no one who knows fasting like he does, and the result is the recovery of real health."
Written by Miss Zsuzsa Blakely, Natural Hygiene writer, teacher and lecturer, vegan activist, animal activist

at [www.rawtimes.com]

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist




Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/16/2010 04:26PM by Jgunn.

on a side note Zsuzsa used to post here quite frequently but you would have to ask Bryan more about her , I think he has some articles she had written

there is some blips on the internet about her, i think she had a run in with the law at some point over animal control (or spca) abuse , i beleive *dont quote me on that* the details are fuzzy ...

anyways sadly she doesnt post any more , she was a wealth of knowledge, extremely passionate about her ideas and opinions, and greatly missed around here .. well at least by me anyways

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist




Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/16/2010 04:32PM by Jgunn.

Okay.... I just read through most of 80/10/10. I realise most of where I went wrong.

I hope you've gotten most of your questions answered.

I noted that in your first post you mentioned a swollen, round stomach that feel like it might "explode."

Have you read about food combining? I get gas when I eat fruit with other harder to digest foods. When I eat it alone, well-before anything with nuts or seeds, for example, I do fine. Here are two sites with info:
www.alderbrooke.com/chart.htm
www.raw-food-living.com/food-combining.html

Another possibility is an allergy to wheat and/or gluten. Have you been eating sprouted wheat or other grains that contain gluten. I have little knowledge about this, but have known people with wheat/gluten allergies who have distended stomachs after eating foods that are wrong for them. I don't know if they would have the same problems eating wheat sprouts, etc., although I would expect so.


My favorite raw vegan

maybe you should give yourself an enema or get a colonic.

I'm also vata... alot more makes sense now... I have a lot to learn about myself and balance, balancing myself... thanks for caring all...