About onions and garlic

[Bobbi Luvs U]

i am fascinated by the raw diet. i would really like to try it because i love to experiment with food and try new things. but i find a lot of the science behind the raw food diet kind of dubious.

for example: i've read on other sites that other animals don't eat onions and garlic, and they are hard to eat raw, so humans should not eat them either. it is best to get all your nutrients from uncooked sources, and if it can't be eaten raw than you should not eat it at all.

but i read on another site that onions and garlic are loaded with nutrients that are unique. these nutrients are made avaliable for digestion via cooking. uncooked onions and garlic are not nearly as nourishing as they are when cooked.

so someone tell me what's right. i have heard of raw recipes with onions, but if the nutrients are not avaliable for digestion in thier raw state, doesn't it kind of defeat the purpose?

[fiamma]

Hi and welcome to the Forum :)
I'm not an advocate of a raw diet, although I think it's important to incorporate a percentage of raw foods in our diet everyday. Concerning garlic and onion, I used to put raw garlic in hummus, but I've stopped that now because I find it difficult to digest. Here they often put sliced raw red onion in salads - again I have to pass on that because it takes a long time to digest. So although I don't really know the science behind it I tend to go by what my body tells me.

[Justin]

as fiamma suggested- how about including an element of raw food into your diet? even woody harrelson, who has a full time chef, says he is only 90% raw

[Bobbi Luvs U]

lol, i hope you are not misunderstanding what i am saying. i LOVE raw food. i eat a lot of raw stuff in my diet. i'm just curious about how 100% raw foodists get thier nutrients, and how they look at thier food. i also want to learn more about the science/philosophy behind the raw food diet before i commit to anything. That's the only reason i'm asking about onions and garlic (which i adore, by the way, no kisses for me ;) )

it's actually a joke in my family - i even like 'cooked' veggies so raw that they are super crunchy. my dad says he can break a tooth on my broccoli! :D

[piggy]

i also have difficulty digesting raw onion, cooked is fine though, and so is garlic. anyway, lots of people seem to have problems digesting the stuff, especially raw. in the same way many people seem to have light intollerances to vegetables from the nightshade family such as tomatoes, eggplant, peppers etc.
for some or other reason they're just one of those foods that many people don't agree with. So i'd say the best thing is what Fiamma said...listen to your body..it usually knows what's good for you.
i don't think onion/garlic have any nutrients that u can't get somewhere else,do they?

[nervine]

juice the garlic along with other fruit and veg, you'll barely taste it and will digest well.

garlic is very good against athlete's foot and other yeast problems, also very good for when u caught flu or a cold.

[harpy]

I think they are meant to have quite good effects on the cardio-vascular system too. I can't digest raw ones unfortunately - this seems to be common - but I think cooked ones are probably better for you than none at all (and I like them as well!).

[twinkle]

... i have heard of raw recipes with onions, but if the nutrients are not avaliable for digestion in thier raw state, doesn't it kind of defeat the purpose?

Not if they make the dish taste better :)

I heard of a study a while back that seemed to suggest that if you don't enjoy the food you're eating you absorb far less nutritional value from it.

[nervine]

Not if they make the dish taste better :)

I heard of a study a while back that seemed to suggest that if you don't enjoy the food you're eating you absorb far less nutritional value from it.

Same with eating in a hurry.

[Stezzy]

I have problems digesting onions and garlic both raw and cooked. I had some raw red onion with salad recently and I had awful stomach pain and gas for the next 24 hours:( Saying that I do have a particularly sensitive digestive system but I think most people will find raw onion hard to digest. If you can tolerate onion and garlic they have great anti-viral and anti-fungal properties so they're both good to include in your diet.

[rawliana]

Hi everyone,

There's a lot of misunderstanding going around the raw food community.
The truth is, onion and garlic should be eaten in very small quantities and rarely, too. Though very powerful, they are also very harsh on our intestinal flora.

I think it was Norman Walker who said that if you need to spice a food up in order to eat it, don't eat it. You're not hungry. You just want something pleasurable to enjoy.

All the best.

[Zero Cool]

Sometimes I'll eat an onion raw, just like an apple. My stomach will digest anything. I have to brush my teeth like twenty times though before I leave the house. ha ha.

[nervine]

I have problems digesting onions and garlic both raw and cooked. I had some raw red onion with salad recently and I had awful stomach pain and gas for the next 24 hours:( Saying that I do have a particularly sensitive digestive system but I think most people will find raw onion hard to digest. If you can tolerate onion and garlic they have great anti-viral and anti-fungal properties so they're both good to include in your diet.
try cutting up the onion and let it dry for a day or so, if you still have problems, eat spring onions instead, they're nice in salads

same with garlic, let it dry or put them in the ground and let them sprout, then eat the greens

[fiamma]

I've stopped using both onions and garlic - no more peeling or chopping onions or crushing garlic, thank God! And they used to go off so quickly, probably I wasn't storing them properly. I think I'm enjoying my food much more now though, I feel like I can taste the true flavours of my food, it seems simpler and more healthful somehow. And with not having to fry onions (which seems to be Step One for soooooooo many vegan recipes, yawn), you save on that little bit of oil too, good if you're watching your weight. OK so it's not a lot, but every little helps...

[health freak]

I love eating raw onions and garlic. i believe it's a matter of habbit. i guess your body is not used to eating them and that's why you feel intolerant to them... I come from Greece and mediterranean diet includes large quantities of onion and garlic. I'm used to eating them from my childhood and simply can't live without them... And yes, onions and garlic are VERY nutritious when raw. Garlic, among other properties, has the ability to stabilize the heart pressure. f.e. when your pressure is high, it lowers it. But if you eat too much of it your heart beat might go below normal! It is also a good source of Calcium, Phosphorus and Selenium, and a very good source of Vitamin C, Vitamin B6 and Manganese. Garlic also has anti-cancer properties. Raw Onions are very healthy too. i eat every day especially in my tomato salad! they are very low in Saturated Fat, Cholesterol and Sodium. It is also a good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin B6, Folate, Potassium and Manganese, and a very good source of Vitamin C.

what you cook is dead food. Human is the oly animal in nature who cooks their food to eat it. and that's soo unnatural as we're made fruitarians. Before the ice age, humans ate fruits and seeds. they have ALL the nutritional elements not only to survive but to live a high quality and happy life...

[thecatspajamas1]

When I eat raw onions I get sick. When I eat them cooked I'm fine. I have heard that onions are toxic, but I have also heard that they are good for you. Garlic is supposed to be good for your immune system and cardiovascular system.

[Tibetan Snake]

When I eat raw onions I get sick. When I eat them cooked I'm fine. I have heard that onions are toxic, but I have also heard that they are good for you. Garlic is supposed to be good for your immune system and cardiovascular system.
Try just a little at a time.
I don't get sick by Onions or Garlic raw but the smell that my sweet has chainges dramaticly when I eat a lot of ither, so I go for little and often.
Any one tride sprouting Linseed or Butter beans? There the only ones of a list of 23 things that I'm scepticle about.
Also I'm thinking of getting a blender and was looking for one that would do ice and last lot longer than the warenty, can any one sujest one pls.:D

[Tibetan Snake]

I tryed Linseeds and they just went sssssssssooooooooooooo slimy. Like frog sporn. pppphhhhaaaa.

[samariah]

i avoid onions and garlic usually just bc i find them bloating/hard to digest. i just listen to my body.

[Cherry.Chops]

i have been craving fresh garlic!!!