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Login Here Signup Here Signup using FacebookI am new (thank you) and live in a place which is very difficult to get health foods. I am wondering if somethings are RAW, even though it doesn’t say it on the packaging…such as a bag of arrowhead mills organic chick peas, Lundberg Wehani Whole grain brown rice, Chatfield’s Cocoa powder…. amoung other things Ive seen in the small healthfood store I have available. There are no bulkfoods either (boo hoo)... ANY RULES OF THUMB???
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Hi Hydrohawk,
Beans and grains are generally raw (otherwise they would be marked roasted ie: Kasha is roasted buckwheat). You can test your grains and beans by seeing if they sprout. Steamed or heat treated grains and beans will never sprout. Chatfields Cocoa is roasted. Most powdered cocoa on the market is roasted. If its raw it’ll say so on package. Look for Raw Cacao nibs. Its chunky and you can reduce it to powder in a small grinder.
Hi there. I often wonder the same thing about dressing ingredients- how are olive oil, and hemp oil, as well as others raw? Also, red wine vinegar? Is that raw?
Extra virgin cold pressed oils are raw, although I get mine from a farmer I know who presses his olivesat extra cold temperatures, just to be sure. Cocoa powder is not raw, unless it is marked so, i.e. “Raw Chocolate Powder” (which you can get on the internet). Rice is almost always steamed (to keep bugs out).
Extra virgin cold pressed Hempseed oil is raw.
Check out this list for foods that are NOT raw…. http://purelyraw.com/deadfoodlist.htm
Remember that the word “raw” as pertains to nuts usually ONLY means not roasted, but they are often heated for pastuezing or processing reasons. For example almost all pecans sold in the U.S. have been subjected to steam heat while in shell before they are shelled. (INdustry standard for decades, although some companies use bleach on the shells). Brazil nuts are heated in shell usually, etc. Most foods that are raw never saw “raw” anyhow, so go by lists and read up on industry standards in the country you live in. Don’t automatically trust stores, either.
why do so many people on this website praise raw cacao beans if they really are not raw then, according to that website? i guess some of the people who submit recipes are not experts on the raw food diet and should be questioned before i go out and buy every expensive thing that they talk about. it turns out that everything expensive that i buy,because it is praised by raw foodists and other diet gurus, turns out not to be and i wasted my money. maybe i shouldn’t hop on the bandwagon so fast but i guess it’s a learning process.i guess the raw and organic fruits and vegetable i’ve been buying are really raw and organic, i hope. i think i’ll stick with the simple things like fruits and veggies and no exotic stuff. i wonder if the whole foods cacao beans are really raw. i’ve never tried raw cacao beans anyway and wondered if they were good.
I’m with ya, Topcat; There other surprising things on that list, such as Agave nector, seaweed and wild rice. I dont feel so bad about the cocoa I bought now, but I will try to get some ‘raw’, it must be closer than something that doesn’t SAY raw,... or IS it???
Thanks for everyone’s input, it’s all clear as mud! That purely Raw website is great, THANKS RENOIR!
I was reading about rice paper for spring rolls (Banh Trang). The raw rice is soaked and made into sheets and then steamed for 30-45 seconds. I don’t think that is long enough to reach 118 degrees. Technically, it appears that he rice paper is raw. Could somebody tell me if this is wishful thinking on my part?
Stream for this kind of pressing is well over 118 degrees, but if there is some “new” method of creating cold steam for this, I’d love to know.(really)
what can i use for a sweetener then?i don’t want to blend dates everytime i need a little sweetener
MY RICE SPROUTED!!!! YIPPEEEEE!!! Well, I took the advice of RawNutrition of trying to sprout the rice and it worked!!! NOW, what to do with it
you have to decide how much it matters if your small condiments and flavoring agents are truly 100% raw. if it’s that important to you, you may not want substitutes, you may prefer to just function without those things.
raw honey is a great sweetener, although some don’t use it because of the non-veganness of it (i’m beegan, myself).
thanks for the advice, i think i will use maple syrup because the flavor is neutral when i sweeten things and also because it is part of the lemonade mix in the master cleanse. i don’t have to be religiously raw. i will try honey also, because i like the flavor of it.
Amigovia I think steam is a lot hotter than 118 degrees. With something as thin as paper, it stands to reason that it will reach the same temp as the steam after 30 seconds. If it can burn you, it is too hot for raw food.