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If you are worried about oxidation in your smoothies, how about adding some lemon juice before you blend?Quote:
Rose Braverman
Lemon juice is a powerful antioxidant, and I rub it on the cut surfaces of apple pieces for my daughters lunch box.
This stops them oxidising and going brown, and lasts all day.
What an excellent idea, I will try that. Thanks.:-)
I know this is an old thread but I thought I would share my struggle with 100% raw. I did it only for several days totally raw (no tea or coffee either) and I became unbearably cold. I would curl up with a heating pad just to keep warm and I couldnt wait for a hot bath before bed. I live in Northeastern Minnesota and I am quite small and I also have hypothyroid issues so I wonder if all those things combined just make eating 100% raw a real challenge. I decide to stick with an average 50% raw and allow myself some cooked and warmer foods. I love homemade hot soups too much and my cooked beans. I think this is far more realistic and doable for me and still gives me the benefit of a greater percentage of healthy raw and living foods. I eat a very unprocessed whole foods diet anyway. Has anyone else struggled with getting chilled eating raw? I may try to attempt it again in the summer when it is warmer. Today was 10 degrees F. and -35 degrees farenheit with windchill factor with a stiff wind coming off lake Superior. Brrrrr.
I am by no means an expert, but from what I understand being cold can be a symptom of low metabolism. You don’t say what type of thyroid problems you have but if it is hypothyroidism vs. hyperthyroidism, feeling easily cold is often a symptom of hypothyroidism. Being from Hawaii, it is difficult to imagine how you manage to keep warm in your climate. Hope you find some answers on the effects of raw foods. Good luck.
Hi, thanks for responding. I did say in my post I have hypothyroid issues. I am being treated for it (have been treated for it for years) but have not had my levels checked for some time. I am sure a lot of it is that. I have always gotten cold very easily too. Frustrating. Hawaii sounds wonderful right now! We have had a record low of snowfall this year, very unusual. I don't think we have had more than a few inches all winter, when usually we have at least a few feet on the ground by now. It's been dreary and cold though.
Could adding fresh chillis and ginger to your food help with your heat problems? Or gently warming food in a dehydrator?
When the temperatures really drop though, hot veggie chillie always hits the spot!!! You just have to listen to your body. x
Thanks for the suggestions Crafterga. Actually I do enjoy fresh ginger and chiles already! I had a chile on my salad last night. My body was craving it so I bought some yesterday. I do not have a dehydrator yet but I am working on it. My raw food consists of fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, lots of homemade smoothies and juices with greens and coconut or fruit (and fresh ginger :-)), whole raw seeds and nuts, sprouted lentils, sea vegetables, soaked sprouted buckwheat and oat groats. Minimal processing. But I do believe a deydrator would open up the possibilities, especially when I go canoe camping in the summer and will need food that keeps for a week. For now I have foregone 100% raw and am aiming for half raw half cooked food. I dont think my body is ready for totally raw yet, and maybe my psyche isnt ready either. Thanks again for the suggestions. The chile sounds good!
The idea is so good.I will try it .Raw food are so good for health.They provide energy and nutrion to us.
There are many benefits of raw foods.They prevent body form many diseases.
Robinwomb, your diet sounds so healthy! I hope it's going well now and you're not constantly freezing anymore :)
But the other problems yous have had made me weary now with going fully raw meself. I hope my body's ready for it, been trying to adapt for 5 months now, giving meself another 2 :P
Thanks spidress! I am still not fully raw though I do eat quite a bit raw. I can't say as I am the healthiest right now as I have relapsed back into anorexia nervosa and a low weight after an almost three year semi recovery, though when I do eat I choose very healthy food. I am not giving up though! I am trying to get through college and battling not to get any worse. It is very very cold here right now. Today was -5 F (-20.55 C) and the wind made it much more brutal. I couldn't imagine living without my hot herbal teas right now. ;)Quote:
spidress
When I did go fully raw for short periods I did it too much too fast and my digestion took a huge hit. I was eating 12 to 15 servings of raw fruits and vegetables a day and going to the bathroom a LOT. I think taking it more slowly makes sense if it is something you want to try. My heart is just not in it and I really don't see that the benefits at this point outweigh cooking at least some foods. The last thing I personally need to do right now is restrict my food intake even more in terms of variety. I certainly wouldn't discourage others from trying a raw food approach though. Some people seem to have a lot of success. I hope it all works out for you. Don't let my personal experience discourage you. Our bodies are all so varied and different.
Hi Robinwomb, I am sorry to hear that you're struggling but I admire your determination and your spirit. You know you have our collective support & good wishes :)Quote:
Robinwomb
Ah man, that's not good :/ What's your caloric intake? Maybe you should be eating tons more of nuts and seeds? :P For some reason whatever I eat during the day, it always adds up to 2000+ kcal, so I'm trying to do enough workout to actually get into my normal weight.
And it's not as cold here either, -3 it claims at the moment. But I know what -20 with wind feels like - terrible and worse. And I guess how your body accepts and deals with the mainly raw food really depends in your body, metabolism and all other stuff. Take the '40 below fruity' girl in Canada - in the middle of nowhere with tons of snow but she's managing whereas many people do struggle with getting their body to their side in this decision.
But taking it slow definitely is a good idea. Step by step and just see how your body feels. After all, there's no point in pushing it, if the result is only getting worse. You only have one health in this lifetime :)
My calorie intake is below 1000 (too embarassed to get more specific). I also exercise more than an hour six days a week. It's like there is this switch in my head that flicks over and I have this sudden unbearable fear of eating and gaining weight. It wasn't even like this just a few months ago. I think it was precipitated by getting injured while running for which I am doing physical therapy now. I put my whole heart and soul into running only to have an injury that is taking months to heal (would take less time if I stopped exercising) that will not allow me to run. Long story. I think due to years of hypothyroidism my body can not tolerate cold, and a raw food diet does tend to drop the body temperature slightly. My themostat is forever out of whack between thyroid issues, surgical menopause, and being underweight. So it might be just an individual thing as to why I freeze so badly eating all raw when others handle it well. I was able to go fully vegan overnight no problems and that was just about two years ago (as of February 27), but even with my ability to restrict and exercise eating raw was too tough.Quote:
spidress
Blueberries thanks for the well wishes! I miss posting here but school, work, exercise are all keeping me way too busy and it's already past my bedtime. :)
im thinking about goin raw as i think its the best so thank you
Are you kidding me? LESS than 1000?!? How are you still standing :/ Look at Freelee Frugivore (or the Bananagirl, as she's known), about 3500kcal per day and look how good she looks! You need to take care of yourself, I'd say the injury is indicating that you should take some time off and let it be, you can't overwork or you'll end up in a hospital. With this low calorie intake I am not surprised at all that you're cold, there's not enough energy to keep the body heat. My body was fine with going vegan overnight as well (3 years as of this Mon :P) but raw is something body really needs to get used to. Just take care of yourself, please! And eat more! Nuts are your friends!Quote:
Robinwomb
I'm no raw expert either, but I do know the problem for a lot of people who go 100% raw is that they have a very low calorie intake. You're not supposed to eat 2 bananas for example, you're supposed to eat at least 7 or something. As was already said, don't go nuts on the nuts. There is a whole movement of people out there who live mainly on fruit (and some leafy greens I think). If you're interested you can look up Freelea on Youtube (or Google 30 bananas a day or the 80/10/10 diet).
Robinwomb I'm sorry to hear that you suffer from anorexia. I've experienced this in my close family as well. Don't give up, you can win this battle!
Best wishes to you Robin for getting the problem under control. Are you able to get any "real life" help at the moment? e-hugs from here.
Robin,
also heartfelt wishes from my side ... and start making some nice green smoothies to add some substance to your intake!
I understand that you have this fear of gaining weight (to be honest, I do, of course, not really understand it, but I know that the condition makes you believe this) but you have to trust us that you should eat more. I don't suggest to eat 3500 calories a day, but you should get closer to 2000 at least. And as long as you do eat fresh, ripe fruit, you are going to be fine!!!
Best regards,
Andy