Not raw yet...

Hello everyone! I’m a vegan (still cooked) and have been reading a bit about raw food because it seems like the next logical step to the ultimate in healthy eating. I have MANY anxieties about turning raw (not just the fact that I just spent over $6,000 on a new cooktop, wall oven and microwave).

All good eating advice always has the addition of “eat as much raw food as possible.” It also has the addition of “eat as little fat as possible.” Many of the recipes contain major amounts of nuts, seeds and oils that I’m just not used to eating. I can’t see how eating this much fat is healthy when our bodies only require a few grams per day.

The same goes for fruit. Fruit is good and healthy, but in moderate amounts due to its sugar content. There seems to be unlimited portions of fruit (fresh and dried) in the recipes I have seen. Diabetes is a health concern in my family and so sugar (processed and natural) is something I avoid.

There’s no beans and no rice! This seems strange to me as well. What about the BEANS???

My family is already upset that I’ve gone vegan, and I don’t know how they would handle raw. How much cooked food can you eat (when family gatherings require it) and still retain the health benefits of raw?

I feel like I need to read much, much more and it’s quite overwhelming. If anyone can shed some light on this so I don’t quit before I get started, please do so!!!

Thanks everybody!

Comments

  • BluedolfinBluedolfin Raw Newbie

    Hi Nek~ I first want to say…. relax…. Your food intake is a choice you are making. The great thing is that you get to choose moment by moment. If your intention is to improve health, listen to your body as to what works for you. If you eat something that doesn’t feel good, drink water to flush it out or do a cleanse. Let that choice get flushed with what gets produced. I will personally guarantee that if you eat something that is not raw/vegan, the raw/vegan police will not confiscate your mandolin, blender, food processor, and dehydrator! Nor will you be fined, hand-slapped, or kicked off this site. ;-) Being anxious about your choices produces more lasting unhealthful chemicals in your system then eating something “unhealthy.”

    As for the issue of Diabetes, look up Glycemic Indexing. The index classifies individual foods as to how an “average” body reacts to it in terms of triggering insulin production. Low Glycemic foods create a slow, steady insulin reaction enabling the body to keep a more steady insulin level. A food like watermelon triggers the body to produce a quick insulin spurt which then drops quickly which is not advantages for a Diabetic (or anyone else for that matter, it also triggers fat retention and other undesirable effects).

    I am not sure if going raw/vegan creates a different environment in the body causing the body to react differently. If anyone has been diagnosed with Diabetes, I hope they post their experience. I do know as the body is given what it needs it heals itself lessening dysfunctional symptoms like those classified as Diabetes.

    I am also interested in people’s views on the nuts/fats issue. I have wondered about that also.

    Oh, as to the investment in the new kitchen, it will pay off when you sell your place… money well spent in that regard.

    Keep exploring… have fun and relax. :-)

  • ZoeZoe Raw Newbie

    I found it helped to read up on why people reverse disease and become so healthy on raw foods. Here’s some bits and peices I thought you’d find interesting..

    Raw food is a cure for diabetes see http//.www.rawfor30days.com

    When we heat food above the human body temperature of 38 degrees, it changes. This heated or changed food effects our health much differently than natural, unheated foods.

    Prior to 1930, It was believed that whenever we ate, there was an immune system response as if we were poisoned. An immediate rise in white blood cells, by about 300%. White blood cells are our body’s soldiers, they are produced to fight off threats, like poison, trauma or disease. This reaction to eating was called Digestive Leukocytosis and thought to be normal. In 1930, Dr Paul Kouchakoff conducted research to compare the effects of cooked food versus raw food. He discovered that Digestive Leukocytosis occurred only when cooked or processed food was eaten. He found that there is no immune system response when we eat our food in it’s natural, unheated, unprocessed state.

    Because of Digestive Leukocytosis, eating cooked food keeps our immune system in a constant state of emergency. Even what we call allergies are just our over burdened immune system literally freaking out when a new irritant is encountered.

    After years of cooked food, our immune system literally gets worn out. We become run down, and illness becomes a normal part of life. We think that we are just aging. We believe we have no choice other than to be sick.

    When we eat Purely Raw foods, our immune system rests and recovers. People who switch to eating only raw foods always experience the same thing. Lifelong problems, conditions and diseases go away, usually within weeks or months.

    People eating Purely Raw have experienced complete reversals of cancers, diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, autism, depression, skin disease, etc. The list goes on and on. Our immune system can heal anything, if it’s not continually engaged in a war against cooked food. Our bodies treat cooked food as poison, this of course means, that cooked food is poison.

    Another immune system response to cooked food is mucus. When cooked food is eaten, our bodies try to protect us from this invasion by creating mucus. This mucus makes a wall between the food and our bodies. The mucus builds up in our guts, causing Mucoid Plaque. This is a rubbery hose which lines the intestines and severely reduces the amount of nutrition we can take in from our food.

    When food is heated, the enzymes are also destroyed. Enzymes are the life force in food, the magic elixir of Life. They merge with our bodies and tell us how and where to use the food we eat. It’s the enzymes which tell the vitamin C in the orange to go and become part of our skin. Some believe that enzymes are destroyed by stomach acids, but research shows that enzymes are mainly absorbed in the mouth, before our food gets into the stomach.

    Our body cannot communicate with the food unless the enzymes are there. Raw food contains its own digestive enzymes and literally digests itself inside you. Raw food breaks itself down and goes where it is needed, and all is well.

    Without it’s enzymes, cooked food sits in you like a brick. Your body has to use its own digestive enzymes to deal with the cooked food. Many now believe that humans only have enough digestive enzymes to last them into their 40

  • Wow you guys! Thanks so much!

    Bluedolfin, you about summed up my entire family’s feelings about not conforming! You’re right, I need to relax. Unfortunately, we won’t be selling our house soon, it’s brand new! ;)

    Zoe, I knew about pH being very important, but hadn’t read anything yet about cooked v raw. The info about Digestive Leukocytosis was very interesting and it makes total sense! I have a lot to read!

    Thanks for the support! You guys are already nicer than people on other vegan forums (no names mentioned.) I’ll keep you posted on my progress, if you’re interested.

  • BluedolfinBluedolfin Raw Newbie

    Hi Nek~ Another thing about family… they won’t understand, unfortunately. I know my mother takes it as a personal offense if people don’t eat her food for whatever reason… “it won’t hurt to have some… or some more…” (telling myself…) Breath….relax…

    An idea for when you go to family, bring something(s) to share… add to the table and let people explore what you are eating…

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