What made you change to a totally raw diet then, Conscious Cuisine?
I can't see anything wrong with the occasional cup of herbal tea!
What made you change to a totally raw diet then, Conscious Cuisine?
I can't see anything wrong with the occasional cup of herbal tea!
Well, Wuggy, you are right! There is nothing "wrong" with eating steamed veggies, cooked teas, and the like if those are your choices...other raw foodists will say that there is--many say: "Cooked Food is Poison!" but I am not of that extreme opinion. If it were truly "Poison" we would all be dead! I prefer to say that "Raw Foods offer Superior Nutrition".
I follow a "high-raw" diet in general, with a minimum of 50% and up to 100% of my foods as truly Raw. I have periods of time when I am 100% for cleansing, health and Spiritual reasons.
Oh, I'm confused again, as I thought you described yourself as a 'Raw Foodist', so I took that to mean the 100% all the time type!
Do you have a specific question you would like to ask me? Do you want to know how long I have been 100% Raw? Is that what you are after? It seems to me you are irritated and looking to find fault with me, Wuggy, based on what is happening here and in other current threads...
Does a person who becomes Vegan not have the right to call themselves 'Vegan" if they have only been "Vegan" for 6 months or so?
In my post above, I simply was describing my usual diet when I am *not* 100% and answering your question as to why I decided to become 100%.
You have got me wrong, my original thread was open to all, and I am interested because I have been considering Raw as an option, for health and spiritual reasons.
I didn't ask how long you'd been raw - you have brought it up many times that you are raw, but then in this thread you say that it varies from 50% - 100% for you. This seemed to me to be at odds with your previous statement that one can only call oneself a 'Raw Foodist' if one eats 100% raw.
So I still don't know if you are a Raw Foodist - as you said, if someone eats Cheese now and again, they are not Vegan.
I know you think I'm attacking you, but all I'm after here is a good insight into something which genuinely interests me. I like to get things 'right', so try to look at it from all viewpoints before making a decision, that's all, I promise you!
I am *currently* and have been for many months now 100% Raw. I am a "Raw Foodist". That means I consume nothing "cooked" at all- no "gum", tea, Braggs or anything heated above 105 degrees. Honestly, after today, I feel like eating a big bowl of very cooked mashed potatoes, though.
Oh dear, is that my fault, - sorry!
I'm afraid that's what I'd be like - in times of crisis, back to the potatoes!
Anyway, we've sorted ourselves out now, haven't we, CC?
I will save my aggression for those who really need it!
No, certainly not your fault, Shugar... We're all good...
I am stressed and I crave Dahl, Soup, Staemed Veggies (especially Broccoli and Cauliflower!) and Mashed Potatoes when I am tired and anxious. They give me a warm feeling and a serotonin boost.
Be kind to yourself CC - If you really crave something, one meal wont hurt you. Besides, dhal and potatoes are yummy!
Sorry if I'm being stupid, but is that 105-115 Fahrenheit, or Centigrade?ConsciousCuisine
Now there's a sentiment I often hear from omnis...
I know you didn't mean that, but if raw-fooding is a part of CCs convictions, we'd do better by her by helping her get past her cravings, rather than suggesting she give in to them.
(btw, that's not meant to be an attack on you, Banana
No Gods, No Masters.
You know I occasionally have falafel and even french fries or cooked hummus and chips. It certainly reminds me why raw food is better, but I love falafel's. I also eat steamed & baked potatoes, and I more rarely eat steamed broccoli beans and other 'not really edible raw' veggies. I've even been eating candy occasionally. All I can say is I eat raw for health and ecological reasons, but I eat vegan for those and other ethical reasons (do no harm). What I really care about (diet wise) is making sure I have a primarily alkaline diet made up of raw or nearly raw foods. Nutrition is very important, and raw food is the most nutritious food there is with the exception of veggies that are NOT part of humans evolved food (soy is a great example). They actually become more edible from cooking. Of course if you live in an area where a large variety of edible raw foods can be grown, it's possible to be 100% raw without extreme effort. Especially if you have your own land to grow foods.No, certainly not your fault, Shugar... We're all good...
I am stressed and I crave Dahl, Soup, Staemed Veggies (especially Broccoli and Cauliflower!) and Mashed Potatoes when I am tired and anxious. They give me a warm feeling and a serotonin boost
mysh: 115-120f is the mythical number. In reality raw food degrades as soon as it's ripe, and stored foods can degrade as well as cooked or frozen foods. The best foods are foods right from your garden to your plate of course. In order of value:
raw and ripe
dried/cold store
fresh steamed/baked
frozen
fried/broiled
radiated (microwave)
Of course foods saturated in pesticides don't easily fit into that list, because they're high in carcinogens before ever being picked and they're usually grown in depleted soil. Micro-waved food has some very unique properties. Properties that make it not food.
Thank you SOOOOOOoooo much for this list Phillip! Just what I need to post on the fridge for reminding the family!
(Actually we've just unplugged the microwave totally!)
Edit: message deleted as the one who wrote the message this post was a reply to, asked me to delete his original post.
That just makes me more curious about it....
Well, someone provided a link to one of the veganoutreach sites, and Philip (and I) had some critical comments on that, and the original poster wanted his original post removed... Philip basically said 'Are you sure this is a good idea', and I wrote that...
...and this (as a reply to a question about 'the purpose of beyondveg.com):"Veganoutreach and veganhealth are depressing sites, run by a friend of the guy behind the main anti-vegan-site on the net; beyondveg, which they promote. I think what they represent is so utterly useless that I consider censoring away links to them; they don't link to our site anyway (and I assume they never will, because one of several reasons this forum exists is to try to eliminate some of the negative side effects of the nonsense they provide)."
Since the writer of the original post wrote me a PM and wanted his message removed, it made sense to remove the response to it as well."It is run by a computer consultant who have spent some years, obviously too many, on a plant based diet - unfortunately without knowing much about what he was doing, and instead of adjusting his diet/nutrient intake within what is defined as 'plant based', he and most of the other writers there are people who have left veganism and added meat and/or dairy and eggs to their diet.
Regarding the purpose of the site: Since we know that one doesn't need to add animal products to get the nutrients you need, and the writers behind beyondveg basically have added animal products to their diet, Tom Billings & co simply seem to want people to use more animal products. So the big question remains: WHY do they want increased use of animal products? Why do they call it beyondveg instead of antiveg? And why do they do it the way they do, trying to present themselves as people who has gone 'further than' veganism? All over their site they do whatever they can gain popularity/credibilty among vegetarians/vegans, and mention that their writers are yoga teachers, people who make meditation music etc... for example Sharrhan Williams ("Musician, painter, and long-time meditation practitioner.") who dropped being a raw-foodist and who know eat fish, beef, turkey, cheese and eggs etc). They even got Stephen Walsh, former head of The Vegan Society to write that beyondveg represents 'useful sceptisism'. The Vegan Society promote veganoutreach, and veganoutreach promotes beyondveg....
I agree with whoever it was who stated that it's not interesting to discuss whether Stephen Walsh and Jack Norris are infiltrators in the vegan movement, but it's very understandable that many vegans mean that they behave as if they want to destroy the vegan movement from the inside - which of course only is possible by pretending to be true vegans.
Opps...we're off topic now, this is a raw food thread!
(There are other threads about the different 'wings' of the vegan movement here and here.)
But since you insist, now they're back....
I will not eat anything that walks, swims, flies, runs, skips, hops or crawls.
Korn - I am glad you did this. I have logged onto these sites before and been confused as to their intents and purposes.
Thanks Korn! We use veganoutreach material here in Australia and were considering printing up some of their material with our contact address. I will be interested to read the links you have provided.
On the thread topic of raw food, I am a little wary that it is extremist in a way and quite concerned about the long term health effects. The beauty of the raw food argument is very appealing and I was quite taken by it some years ago after reading Raw Energy by Leslie and Susannah Kenton. I still want to try make my own essene bread someday [and have a recipe if anyone wants it] but feel that a raw food diet is akin to fasting in that a great deal of the nutrients remains locked in the food, which normally would be released in cooking. Over cooking will reduce the nutritive value, raw leaves much of it locked in the cell tissue and light cooking allows for breaking of the cell walls which increases the surface area that digestive enzymes can work on and releases cell contents.
The boost that you get may be from similar effects as fasting, but cannot be sustainable in the long term. There have been reported deaths from malnutrition, the symptoms of which were brushed off as further 'detox' effects. Raw food *is* very good for you but personally I suggest that some lightly steamed veg on a cold day with a squeeze of lemon and some home baked flatbread dipped in homous is also really good for you.
I picked up a book recently by Leslie Kenton, author above, and was disgusted to see she had totally changed her tune and was including such delights as raw liver in some of her 'health coctails'. Somehow all of her previous authority on the subject ran away like a dropped beetroot and ginger smoothie.
"if compassion is extreme, then call me an extremist"
"but feel that a raw food diet is akin to fasting in that a great deal of the nutrients remains locked in the food, which normally would be released in cooking"
Wha? I have to ask how you believe this, or expect others to. cooking is an invention, as in it was created quite recently in terms of human timeline. How do you propose our bodies, which evolved to eat raw food, are unable to absorb nutrients from such food? How is it that wild animals survive on raw food for their entire life?
Also how is not cooking food extremist? Is not smoking and not drinking also extremist? I would like to hear a rational explanation for this.
"The boost that you get may be from similar effects as fasting, but cannot be sustainable in the long term"
What about people who are raw for decades? why are they still living in excellent health. Also why have I been raw for a year and a half and why am I in the best shape I've ever been in? A human can not fast for a year and a half, so I have to ask, how have you come to this conclusion?
I am not entirely convinced that we are best suited/evolved to eating an entirely vegan diet as defined within the most strict definitions but that is my personal belief, entirely open to considered challenge. I would suggest that in times before the mass use of cooking as we do now and historically that the raw diet would have consisted of a variety of shoots and roots, various insects and other creatures like worms and molluscs, ripened fruit at various stages of ripeness including some that are decomposing which would be a great source of vitamins and beneficial bacteria and some fungi. Eating would have been a constant grazing process from dawn to dusk; it is mainly through the agricultural process that we have become more sedentary and needed less time to spend foraging and more time with other pursuits. The disadvantage is degraded land and stripping of essential nutrients which is mitigated by travel/foraging.
We are quite different from wild animals in our eating habits and sources of food. Carnivores eat periodically and rest frequently, omnivores eat most things they come across and spend a large amount of their time finding food, herbivores spend most of their time chewing and digesting. Veganism is a limited herbivore diet. I say limited since the quality of our food can be quite various even if we do consume organic produce - which is preferrable but still depends on the quality of soil it is grown in for trace elements.
The raw food argument is elegant; for the very 'back to nature' ideology that it proposes, but does not take into account our lifestyles and the toxins in our environment, eating habits and quantity of food we eat. I would love to live a lifestyle where I just live out of my garden taking foods that delight me with their freshness and nutrition, but I also like to collect my bean seeds and cook them well to remove the natural toxins that protect them from being consumed. Sprouting them first apparently assists in this also but I am wary about eating raw soya beans and love soy products which require some degree of heating to make them edible.
I used the extremist word carefully; in that it seems that going from all cooked to no cooked due to the benefits of raw food with exclusion of all cooked food seems extreme considering there *are* benefits to some cooking. If you would like I will find some peer-reviewed nutritional studies on the effects of cooking food.
I don't understand the connection to smoking or drinking though since they seem to be a different matter entirely; apart from there being no physical health benefits for smoking and limited health benefits for the moderate consumption of alcohol. Lots of fresh raw food is great! but are you suggesting that heating food does not give any benefit?
The short term feeling of wellness from fasting is due to nutrient restriction - which can be found in many raw food diets. A cooked food diet makes available more of the nutrients in the food and hence you don't need to eat as much or as frequently. I am sure that you can manage well on a raw food diet, but it does require careful planning and regular meals in comparison to a part cooked food diet. Possibly the best investment would be one of those whizz bang juicers that cost a fortune but seem to be able to grind almost anything into a wonderful pulp without mixing it with too much oxygen (causing oxidation). Cows come equiped with their own wonderful munchers and a range of stomachs to digest the relatively insoluble cellulose. Our guts are better suited to soft stuff like sprouts, fruit and some seeds and the aforesaid insects. It may sound awful but if you want to really get back to nature, the best example would be in the chimps and they eat all sorts of non-vegan things.
I am just worried that people with the best of intentions don't get sick due to what is a very attractive ideology, but not as simple as throwing out the saucepans. All said in a spirit of care and concern.
"if compassion is extreme, then call me an extremist"
Not sure what this is all about other than implying that raw foodism and veganism is 'sooo hard and stuff, and bad for healthfullness'. Which question (of mine) does this address? Does it need to be established that humans can not only survive, but thrive on a vegan diet? If it does that open up a whole realm of regressions on to infinity. Also does eating wild food somehow negate soil issues, scarcity, and other factors?.. How do you propose any diet negates these issues anywhere on earth?
Oh yes, I see, it must be too good to be true!The raw food argument is elegant; for the very 'back to nature' ideology that it proposes, but does not take into account our lifestyles and the toxins in our environment, eating habits and quantity of food we eat.
And how or why would it take in to account these toxins, and how does cooking food deal with these toxins? Would it be the same way cooking somehow releases nutrients better than mastication and the rest of the human digestive system? Also why are you claiming raw food diets are based on 'back to nature ideology'? Is this a generalization based on the book you read? Do you believe that 'eating habits' somehow can not change?
Your body is designed to remove natural toxins from vegetables, as are the bodies of every herbivore and omnivore on this planet for a large variety of plant foods. Some plants are not edible raw, nearly the same number that are not edible by any process other than composting to manure.I would love to live a lifestyle where I just live out of my garden taking foods that delight me with their freshness and nutrition, but I also like to collect my bean seeds and cook them well to remove the natural toxins that protect them from being consumed. Sprouting them first apparently assists in this also but I am wary about eating raw soya beans and love soy products which require some degree of heating to make them edible.
??? I fail to see where this makes raw food diets similar to fasting, difficult to digest or extreme. Is this simply a list of your wish to avoid a raw food diet? How does that support your earlier statements? How many of these points are relevant in any way to raw diets?
I agree completely.I used the extremist word carefully;
This would be great. Not only could you provide proof that one must eat cooked food to increase it's nutritional viability, therefore staving off the effects of a fasting like diet, you could also learn a lot about exactly what happens when you expose complex organic matter to heat.in that it seems that going from all cooked to no cooked due to the benefits of raw food with exclusion of all cooked food seems extreme considering there *are* benefits to some cooking. If you would like I will find some peer-reviewed nutritional studies on the effects of cooking food.
How does the question " Also how is not cooking food extremist? Is not smoking and not drinking also extremist? " become construed as cooked food has no benefit? No, your assertion now is that not cooking food is varies radically from the norm. Obviously this is not true, most people have consumed raw foods on a daily basis, and this has been going on longer than recorded history. Doing it more is not extremist any more than abstaining from vices more than average. In fact you go as far as claiming people who go raw go from all cooked to no cooked... what? I have never known a person, even the most junk food filled omni that never eats raw food. Unless you live in an incredibly different world than I do, the only thing extremist here is your hypothetical situation.I don't understand the connection to smoking or drinking though since they seem to be a different matter entirely; apart from there being no physical health benefits for smoking and limited health benefits for the moderate consumption of alcohol. Lots of fresh raw food is great! but are you suggesting that heating food does not give any benefit?
Again, please explain this. Repeating it is not proof. Repeating it does not explain your reason for believing it. Repeating it has quite a different effect.The short term feeling of wellness from fasting is due to nutrient restriction - which can be found in many raw food diets.
This sounds nice, but is it true? When you cook a meal do you say, happen to add anything besides chunks of chopped plant matter? Are any of the foods refined, do you use oil? Seriusly have you thought this through? Do you assume others have not? Are you just going to repeat it again?A cooked food diet makes available more of the nutrients in the food and hence you don't need to eat as much or as frequently.
Okay, here is my careful planning for my raw food diet along with my vegetarian and vegan diet history. 'Hmmm that looks good, yep I'll have that, yup seems tasty now, ah I'll eat more greens around dinner time'. I eat between one and five meals a day, just like I did as an omni, and lacto ovo-vegetarian, and as a vegan. I mountain bike, hike, regularly resistance train, and (I repeat) am in good health, and am atheletic far more than the average vegan. It requires as much 'careful planning' as any diet. You really are going to have a hard time convincing me, a person experiencing it first hand, that the requirement are what you mandate. Again, is this a reason for you to not be raw?I am sure that you can manage well on a raw food diet, but it does require careful planning and regular meals in comparison to a part cooked food diet.
yes, raw food diets require complex and expensive loud equipment and may introduce dangerous oxygen into your diet. That's why I have only one juicer that I use once a month at the most, and it's hand crank model. My $30 blender does fine when I want to turn something in to pulp.Possibly the best investment would be one of those whizz bang juicers that cost a fortune but seem to be able to grind almost anything into a wonderful pulp without mixing it with too much oxygen (causing oxidation).
Fortunately we neither have the nutritional requirement of cows, or the need to eat cow food. We are primates. Primates are not cows. Cows are not primates. In fact the vast majority of herbivores have one stomach.Cows come equiped with their own wonderful munchers and a range of stomachs to digest the relatively insoluble cellulose.
Okay, so I was wondering why you mentioned that at the beginning. Precedence and persuasion. BTW how long have insects been soft? Oh, but insects are a great source of intestinal parasites, which our digestive system isn't acidic enough to keep in check.Our guts are better suited to soft stuff like sprouts, fruit and some seeds and the aforesaid insects. It may sound awful but if you want to really get back to nature, the best example would be in the chimps and they eat all sorts of non-vegan things
You really you have to establish the source of you assertion that people will get sick, otherwise well...I am just worried that people with the best of intentions don't get sick due to what is a very attractive ideology, but not as simple as throwing out the saucepans. All said in a spirit of care and concern.
Hey though, seriously I'd like to see the reasoning behind your assertions rather than something that looks like it's taken directly from veganhealth.org or westonaprice.org.
In the interest of harmony I will not be continuing this discussion.
"if compassion is extreme, then call me an extremist"
I would have thought that, once the initial investigation and planning had been done, that a raw vegan diet would be one of the simplest and easiest diets to follow??
Raw Vegans
A raw vegan is the ULTIMATE vegan...
Since I am a raw vegan, I was curious as to what turned other people onto the diet.
I believe a raw vegan diet is the most beneficial and most advantageous diet, which is why I became a raw vegan.
She died the way she lived; ugly.
May I ask how long you've been raw? I'm wondering if that's something that a human can really live on long term, and if so, if it actually improves one's health.
I'm not really thinking about going raw, but then, you never know, maybe some day... Going vegan and going raw seem fundamentally different to me. Veganism is so much more than a diet, it is a philosophical, ethical position. Health benefits are just a part of it. But health benefits are the only reasons why anyone would go raw; or so it seems to me anyway...
I eat about 50% raw diet, but I don't identify myself as a Raw Vegan. I have read a lot of information recently about the positive aspects of a raw Vegan lifestyle. If done correctly. I don’t think it is unhealthy. A lot of information I have read, and heard, has been that it is ‘unhealthy’ similar to how being vegetarian or a Vegan was automatically called unhealthy based on insufficient knowledge and misleading research. I know when I have only eaten raw foods from 5 -15 days that is when I have felt my best. I still have a lot to learn. I am reading through the book Conscious Eating (thanks for the recommendation CC.)
There was a time when the foods eaten were raw. The invention of fire came much later. I think for some who are 100% raw they do it more than for the health benefits.
I would be curious to read the replies from the raw Vegan’s on this forum.
I agree with Mz Natural - a raw vegan diet can be amazing if done correctly - but who has the time and money? I am quite satisfied being on a simple vegan diet, as I became vegan for the welfare of animals, not for health reasons. I just do what is recommended for everybody - try not to have too much junk food and insure my intake of calcium, B12 and omega 3s and eat plenty of wholegrains, fruits, vegetables, legumes and nuts!!!!
I sent you a PM, Cobainist...I am still wondering how old you are and when you became vegan
Click below for a thread on Raw Food Vegans (of which I am one
http://www.veganforum.com/forums/sho...ht=raw+foodist
Just to clear things up and perhaps offer a different perspective, I think you conveyed a little animosity as well.
Yes, it is me...I *have* been told that I look like a "voluptuous" (meaning anything over a size 8 in America, apparently, but that's another thread) and reheaded Kate Moss.
I do not judge by age; I understand what this is like. I started College at 16 and sometimes it was fun and interesting and sometimes people were narrow-minded about things and behaved poorly towards me because I was so young.
I have a Daughter, who at 11 posesses more wisdom, poise, passion and gentle balance than 75% of the "Adults" I know...
The only reason I mentioned age at all is beacuse you "outed" yourself a bit by you comments about being a Nirvana fan since in the womb...that could make you as young as 12
I remember being intensely into Nirvana when I *was* a young teen and seeing them in concert and even in small clubs before they were popular, so...see how my mind travels?
I agree, for myself being Vegan is more than a healthy choice.
I have a garden it is a little less than 1/2 acre. I enjoy being out there and I really miss it in the winter months. I do have collards/kale year round. I still have some tomatoes and squash. I normally give produce away to family, neighbors, and friends. I only buy organic produce from Roots (local co-op) and Whole Foods Market. In a few years I will buy a hothouse so I can grow vegetables all year long.
I believe you will enjoy having a garden! I enjoy every step in the planting process. I find it relaxing. It is a great feeling ‘living off your own land’.
Just my musings...
I consider a person to be "High-Raw" or a "Raw Foods Enthusiast" if they are only eating a percentage of their diet Raw.
I am a Raw Foods Chef and Educator who Teaches Classes and delivers Raw Foods to Clients' homes Weekly. The only foods I "grow" myself are the sprouts and wheatgrass, which I could easily purchase at dozens of places throughout the town I live in and sometimes do.
Despite the fact that I am not gardening personally due to a lack of space and time, dozens of people are able to maintain a Truly Raw Lifestyle and diet. When I say "Raw" I mean 100% Raw, not 25% or 50% or 75% Raw. One does not justly call oneself "Vegan" when consuming flesh or secretions of animals 25% of the time, does one?
Well NIRVANA formed in the mid-1980's but their debut album was released in 1989.
Twelve? Haha. Wow...no sorry. I'm of "legal"age.
She died the way she lived; ugly.
Whole Heartedly
If a person can truly maintain a 100% raw vegan diet without growing their own foods, please inform me. I am sincerely interested. I would love to know how since at the moment I am unaware of how it can be done.
I was told that even store bought organic foods and produce can contain certain pesticides which are not considered raw.
She died the way she lived; ugly.
Did you read the other thread? There are some helpful posts there...such as which foods people often think are "Raw" but are cooked (Nama Shoyu, Braggs, Kombucha, Miso etc.).
So, are you saying that you eat everything uncooked, 100% but count some of the foods as "cooked" because of pesticides?
There are all tyes of Raw Fooders...some eat Raw Meat and Dairy!
If you are actually cooking and eating any food that is cooked, it seems that an issue like a trace of pesticide residue on an organic fresh, raw food woulf be of no consequence...
Please elaborate!
Soy milk is definetly a great example of foods people think may be "Raw". Soymilk is very, very cooked and even pasteurized often so it is cooked several times before being packaged.
Basically, if a food is packaged, it is likely cooked (not most bagged salads of baby greens etc.) ... Frozen veggies are cooked as well, but actually tend to have a better nutritional profile than canned ones...
Most dried fruits are cooked as are many nuts and seeds. The other thread I linked has much good information...
I special order dried fruits, nuts and seeds to ensure they are as fresh and raw as possible and avoid packaged foods...
I'd love to eat raw and feel that I 'should' for my health but I just crave those heavy foods like porridge and bread. I wonder if this is my body's perverted desire to ingest things that are bad for me and, if so, what can I do about it. (I have poor self control
This is my 200th post. Do I get a prize?
I have done some research into the science behind the raw food diet and have come up with some interesting stuff - everything from antioxidants through microwave cooking and bioavailability, vegan heart disease incidence and causes, dental erosion rates, how some hominids have lost their ability to produce vitamin C, prevalence of amenorrhea in vegans and vegetarians, evolution of digestion and the use of fire to the connection between colour vision and herbivores.
Interesting stuff - I will collate the info and some sort of coherrent fashion - it will all be referrenced from peer-reviewed scientific texts that are less than ten years old and the news is pretty good from a vegan point of view. There are some cautionary notes for raw foodists but it is certainly not an attempt to discourage the practice. I understand there are some passionate views on the topic from active practicioners and that is great! I hope they find something of interest in the postings to come...
"if compassion is extreme, then call me an extremist"
I'm actually trying to transition to raw. I'm hoping to go 100% by the new year, but we'll see how it goes. I'm about at 85-90% raw so far except for money shortage-induced boughts of vegan-junk eating every once in a while. I'd love to hear other experiences.
After stirring the pot?
Eve
I'd love to eat raw and feel that I 'should' for my health but I just crave those heavy foods like porridge and bread. I wonder if this is my body's perverted desire to ingest things that are bad for me and, if so, what can I do about it. (I have poor self control
This is my 200th post. Do I get a prize?
I am just the same!
No!You get nothing!!
Porridge and bread are both nutritious foods (if the right ones are chosen - for example, flavoured sugar-laden oatmeal and white fluffy bread are bad, but plain oatmeal with fruit and nuts make a nutritious breakfast - I eat this everyday - and sprouted essene bread or wholegrain breads are full of goodness). Oatmeal is especially beneficial for cholestrol and digestive health.
I love raw food, I still eat cooked. A large portion of our meals are raw.
You know, I enjoy reading rational posts about this. When I went vegan I got the most delusional 'unhealthy' talk from vegetarians, not omnis. When I went raw, It came from everywhere, but really shocked me coming from vegans. The same questioning I could use to prove to an omni or lacto-ovo-vegeterain that they were relying entirely on dogma for their argument was now applicable to people that I assumed capable of discussing diet in a rational manner.
Anyway:
I'm one of those. Although It doesn't really mean as much to me as it's a dietary distinction, and not an ethical one. A vegan doesn't kill or enslave others (or support it) for pleasure like an omni or lacto-ovo-vegetarian, so there's a distinct difference that is very important to communicate. In the case of raw, a person that gets 10% of their calories from cooked food is simply eating some food cooked. As I know there are likely to be raw vegans that use petroleum products on their skin, swim in chlorinated water, and breathe automobile exhause and industrial waste, the health distinctin is pretty much untrackable too. In fact the only real distinction other than process, is nutritinal value (including toxicity) and digestive functionality. Anyway the point I'm getting to here, is that I don't think the distinction matters. I know it doesn't to me. On the other hand, I don't really consider a 50% raw diet particularly raw because it's not that far from an average vegan diet. Even when I was vegetarian I was 40-50% raw, as are many omnis I know. I don't usually say this about distinction, because I do believe in calling a lifestyle what it is (there is no such thing as a semi-vegan etc...), but creating or promoting a secondary naming system for raw vegans seems like more of a form of entertainment than useful dialog.
Anyway those are my thoughts.
Raw food contributors welcome
As suggested by Phillip888, I am getting some useful material together on the topic of raw food but thought it would be useful and informative to hear about the reasons that you have chosen a raw food diet and the unsuitability of cooked food for human nutrition.
I believe that you would have spent quite some time in investigating this topic and would have more than personal experience or anecdotal information to share.
This may be helpful for other vegans considering the benefits of a pure raw food diet. I will ask CC if she would be interested in contributing also and anyone with an interest or experience with the diet.
"if compassion is extreme, then call me an extremist"
this is quite interesting if any are interested http://www.thegardendiet.com
the garden diet?
Thanks for the link! There are a lot of benefits inherent in a vegan diet and quite a few digestive complaints that can be assisted by an increase in raw food in the diet. Without actually purchasing any of the large range of merchandise from this site, I cannot ascertain upon what foundations they are basing any claims for increased longevity - since obviously there are no mortalities so far. The testamonials did give some insight however, in that a raw food diet is calorie restricted in the sense that there is more indigestible material in the diet than a cooked food or non-vegan diet. The improvements in weight, mental clarity, skin health, and digestive disorders can be attributed to increasing the volume of water in daily intake, increased levels of fibre in the food bulk, increases in antioxidant content of food especially Vitamin C and Vitamin A, decrease in fats in the diet and a decrease in protein. These are all excellent choices for good health but some of the links on this site have serious pseudo science issues. There is such a thing as writing for an audience but the level of boilogical understanding exhibited by the authors is remarkable and quickly makes me question the basis for the claims.
I am finding most of the web based sites that promote a raw food diet have little evidence to back their claims, but a lot of opportunities for you to give money for their publications...
"if compassion is extreme, then call me an extremist"
i must say that a founder of a particular raw food website visited a number of forums i went on simply to post the link to their site - they never actually engaged in any discussion on veganism.
i believe ruthie and lisa recently stayed here, it does look lovely
http://www.shekinashram.org
there is a raw food weekend planned for next april.
anything that has been processed (like soymilk and sauces) or had to change form to eat i dont consider raw.
heres a website of a raw fooder. her journals are very interesting. u might enjoy.
http://www.shazzie.com
"you dont have to be tall to see the moon" - african proverb
Posting Permissions
Bookmarks