"Raw" things that can make you crave cooked

[Sharon in Colorado]

I received this newsletter from Jinjee. I always love reading her thoughts -



I’ve discovered why it was so hard for me to stay 100% raw the last few years. I was eating what I call “borderline” foods – foods that are considered raw but often aren’t such as store-bought nut butters, prepared raw foods that you can now get at Whole Foods that contain coconut butter and coconut oils which I don’t believe are good for you as they harden at room temperature and have an eternal shelf-life, dehydrated foods, dehydrated and prepared and raw restaurant foods containing Braggs liquid Amino acids (not good) and Nama Shoyu (not good), lecithin (bad), cacao powder (a heavy drug), and even un-soaked nuts (not ideal). When I ate like this too often my cooked food cravings would return in a serious way. Now that I am no longer messing with the borderline and I’m eating more simply it is so easy to stay 100% raw it is almost effortless!

I added the emphasis.

Other things to consider:

Sea Salt - I see salt as an addiction.

Olive oil - Olive oil as a pure concentrated fat.

Agave Nectar - Agave Nectar is one of those "questionable" food where you really never see it being produced.

Dehydrated Foods - Makes flavors unnaturally over concentrated, causes thirst, causes cravings for more, etc.


Would be a great idea to take a survey in the kitchen of these foods present, and then, one by one, take them out of the diet, maybe giving each one a couple of weeks or so.

Thoughts?

[sport]

IOther things to consider:

Sea Salt - I see salt as an addiction.

Olive oil - Olive oil as a pure concentrated fat.

Agave Nectar - Agave Nectar is one of those "questionable" food where you really never see it being produced.

Dehydrated Foods - Makes flavors unnaturally over concentrated, causes thirst, causes cravings for more, etc.


Would be a great idea to take a survey in the kitchen of these foods present, and then, one by one, take them out of the diet, maybe giving each one a couple of weeks or so.

Thoughts?
I agree and it is my aim to be without any of these items in 3 months.

Salt I gave up salt more than a week ago.

Olive Oil. I finished a bottle about 4 days ago and have one bottle remaining. I will never again buy a bottle of olive oil and will have to reconsider opening the one I have (but probably will and transition)

Agave I have some on order but am down to one light squeze per icecream batch which I feel sure that I could do without.

Have not dehydrated anything for about 8 weeks other than to dry some almond and seeds after soaking them.

I am nearly where I want to be but when I get there I will want to be somewhere else.

[lissomllama]

Jinjee is totally correct. Personally, I don't eat those things. I don't consider them healthy/natural even if they are raw and usually their rawness is questionable as well.

My one thing though is unsoaked nuts. The only nuts I soak are almonds because they are so hard but I eat walnuts, pistachios, sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds without soaking because I believe that it is more natural that way. I strive to eat everything in its natural state and nuts don't come off the trees soaked so what is so great about soaking? I honestly don't know why it is better, what does it do for one's body? For me, they don't taste as good as unsoaked nuts and I don't feel any different health benefits from eating them soaked so I just soak almonds and that's it. I don't eat cashews because I don't trust that they are fully raw and I like pistachios better anyway.

[Nini]

Do you know this Inspiration from her meant so much to me that I emailed her and thanked her? I know I've read this info before, but last night the light bulb went off!

I agree with what everyone has commented and I think I'm ready to make some adjustments. It will be hard, but I'm feeling a bit lethargic again and have gained a few lbs. I'm definitely at a weight plateau.

(Of course, this comes right after I tried Bill's raw meatloaf....)

I joined seasiren on a September challenge. I will be making some changes on Friday!

Nini
:cool:

[Sharon in Colorado]

I am glad I didn't get hit over the head for posting that!

I do admit though, I use much of this stuff for raw food prep, and I think that transitional recipes have their place. In fact I've worked years on developing recipes with transitional and "raw" products to help others in their transitional phase.

However, I do find that some of this stuff will cause cravings to kick up.

When i wake up and only eat fresh fruits, juices, veggies, etc. it is so much easier for me to stay on the path, but if I introduce anything else, I find myself craving either transitional raw food or straight-out cooked food.

[Denise Nicole]

I love getting her e-mails!

Sea Salt - I see salt as an addiction. This is sooo hard for me, I crave salt all the time. But I have let go, I hope the cravings stop soon.


Olive oil - Olive oil as a pure concentrated fat. Humm, this one I have not put much thought into, you make a good point.


Agave Nectar - Agave Nectar is one of those "questionable" food where you really never see it being produced. Again not thought about it before now.


Dehydrated Foods - Makes flavors unnaturally over concentrated, causes thirst, causes cravings for more, etc. I have always disagreed with persons who advicate dehydrated foods and I don't consume most of them. The only ones I am currently using are dates as I continue my transition to more mono food eating (I can see it as a possibility now). I was always taught way back when I began fits, dense calories, high sugar, can dehydrate your body to digest.

[Rawkinlocs]

I think everyone is different...some people can go straight from SAD (or cooked, period) to SIMPLE raw...others definitely cannot and a lot of those items are good for them to use in their transition. Some people may get triggers of cravings when consuming those items but many do not and eat them with no problems whatsoever as far as craving cooked food. We're all different and at different levels of eating, etc.

Some people eventually are led to give those items up later in their raw diet but some raw fooders who have been raw for years still eat those items either occasionally or frequently.

I just don't want anyone who is new-to-raw to think they have to give those things up right now and start feeling like they are doing something wrong or unhealthy 'cause those items listed are a still going to be better than eating some of the foods that some people are coming from eating in their SAD diets.

I also wanted to add that, there are SO many food items that are potentially "bad" for you or less-than-optimal that even fall into the raw, natural category. I could bring some people onto this forum who would tell those of you who eat simply that many of the foods you may still eat are either not optimal or they are toxic...foods such as: sprouts (many of you practically LIVE on these), broccoli, kale, onions (and anything in it's family), wheatgrass, mushrooms, red/yellow/orange bell peppers, cabbage, carrots, tomatoes, spinach, beets, squash and on and on.

So, there is always gonna be something that we can either do with or without...but we have to listen to our own bodies. eat as cleanly as we can at this moment and not always go on the experiences of others.

[sport]

This is sooo hard for me, I crave salt all the time. But I have let go, I hope the cravings stop soon.

.
Item on this evenings news.
The government here have set a target to reduce the average salt intake from 10 grms a day to 6 grms by 2010 but have come up against a stumbling block.
The bread and meat processers are failing because of technical difficulties.
I think that their only difficulty is that they still want to give the customer what they want and sadly, salt is what they want.
10grms of salt a day is a lot of salt and if that is an average then someone else is taking my 10 grms as well.

[Sharon in Colorado]

ITA with Rawkinlocs, espcially with people coming from a heavily processed SAD, it would be difficult for many to make an immediate switch to the purer food without the transitional items.

And sometimes if you let go or stop using those items before you are ready, you can go back to cooked from deprivation. That is why I was suggesting a slower approach if one wanted to delete these items from ones diet.

[sherahtaylor]

This is really interesting. I'm in the middle of my 3rd week raw, and since I don't have a dehydrator I've been eating mostly simple foods, smoothies, juices, etc. I've made a few things like RP's fudge, and bought some elaborate meals from a local raw instructor (pizza, cinnamon rolls, etc). I've noticed that about 99% of the time, I feel heavier and kind of "blah" after I eat those foods. Then when I get hungry again and eat say, two oranges for my meal, I feel wonderful.

It's not that the other foods make me feel bad like cooked food or anything - I can just sense that for MY body, simple is better. It's good, I think for me anyway, not to say "I CAN'T have those things" because then I automatically kick into a "I want it even more, I'm craving it now" kind of thing. When I allow myself to make it once in a while, then I don't want it as much.

Plus, with so many little ones running around, I find it is soooo much easier, faster, and just all-around more peaceful in the household, when I am able to just grab some veggies and make a smoothie, or cut up a couple of peaches in 2 minutes and I'm good to go.

[dreamrawalwz]

I completely agree! I feel those that are transitioning may hbe to include these items and slowly remove them down the road so they don't completely fall off the raw wagon. I think eventually once they're used to 100% raw that the items will bring up cravings. I don't know, hard for me to explain. I found for me that during my journey slowly but surely I removed the olive oil and dehydrated foods. I just recently removed salt and that' good for me.

[sherahtaylor]

How can I go about getting the newsletter from Jinjee?

[Rawkinlocs]

How can I go about getting the newsletter from Jinjee?

Go to their website: http://thegardendiet.com and sign up!

[mel123]

;) i would like to add to this conversation. it believe it is important not to trigger a sense of deprivation. as we learn listen to the body, itwill tell us all we need to know. jingee came to this realization from listening to her body. i was reading something from gariel cousens talking about being peaceful and gentle with our bodies when removing harmful, addictive substances. i agree 100 percent. i am transitioning, allowing my body to dictate how fast i go. there are times when i slip into the comfort of old behavior, in those moments i am loving and forgiving with myself. there are a baseline of eating behaviors i refuse to engage in. no sugar, no white flour, very low glycemis. that really controls my appetite naturally, mainly vegetables. but after that i do not restrict myself. that is enough for me to handle physically and emotionally. do i feel eventually i will let go of things like nama shoya, who knows. i do not care for dehydrated foods because i haven't really found a recipe i throughly enjoy. i use my dehydrator to warm up things and for my veggies. it is all a journey one step at a time.

[Mishelly]

I think everyone is different...some people can go straight from SAD (or cooked, period) to SIMPLE raw...others definitely cannot and a lot of those items are good for them to use in their transition. Some people may get triggers of cravings when consuming those items but many do not and eat them with no problems whatsoever as far as craving cooked food. We're all different and at different levels of eating, etc.

Some people eventually are led to give those items up later in their raw diet but some raw fooders who have been raw for years still eat those items either occasionally or frequently.

I just don't want anyone who is new-to-raw to think they have to give those things up right now and start feeling like they are doing something wrong or unhealthy 'cause those items listed are a still going to be better than eating some of the foods that some people are coming from eating in their SAD diets.

I also wanted to add that, there are SO many food items that are potentially "bad" for you or less-than-optimal that even fall into the raw, natural category. I could bring some people onto this forum who would tell those of you who eat simply that many of the foods you may still eat are either not optimal or they are toxic...foods such as: sprouts (many of you practically LIVE on these), broccoli, kale, onions (and anything in it's family), wheatgrass, mushrooms, red/yellow/orange bell peppers, cabbage, carrots, tomatoes, spinach, beets, squash and on and on.

So, there is always gonna be something that we can either do with or without...but we have to listen to our own bodies. eat as cleanly as we can at this moment and not always go on the experiences of others.

Please tell me more about the bolded. I have never heard that these foods were toxic and less than optimal. Im new to this whole thing. I always thought those were excellent foods.

[luckitri]

Mishelly, I don't think that Rawkinlocs was saying that those foods are toxic - just that she knows people that think that some of those foods are toxic and she COULD bring them to this forum to enlighten us. (or in my case confuse) I think that her point is that it is all very personal. Some call it intuitive eating as opposed to I can study what these people think are toxic from their own intuitive eating adventures and intellectually apply what they have concluded or I can do my own intuitive eating and just remember how bad I felt after eating a certain item. Mushrooms are on that list. I have always always always loved mushrooms. I have only been trying raw a few weeks and I don't love mushrooms anymore. I don't know why because I would gobble them raw before I went raw but suddenly I just don't care for them and if I do eat them I don't feel so good.

[Mishelly]

Mishelly, I don't think that Rawkinlocs was saying that those foods are toxic - just that she knows people that think that some of those foods are toxic and she COULD bring them to this forum to enlighten us. (or in my case confuse) I think that her point is that it is all very personal. Some call it intuitive eating as opposed to I can study what these people think are toxic from their own intuitive eating adventures and intellectually apply what they have concluded or I can do my own intuitive eating and just remember how bad I felt after eating a certain item. Mushrooms are on that list. I have always always always loved mushrooms. I have only been trying raw a few weeks and I don't love mushrooms anymore. I don't know why because I would gobble them raw before I went raw but suddenly I just don't care for them and if I do eat them I don't feel so good.

This make sense, thanks.

[Sharon in Colorado]

;) i would like to add to this conversation. it believe it is important not to trigger a sense of deprivation.

From my own experience I feel the most deprived when I'm not full. So if I take something away from my diet, even when I'm not ready, if I don't make a replacement to fill myself up, then that is when the backsliding starts.

If I don't do that, out of the deprivation I would turn to fatty foods, dehydrated stuff, or cooked.

[Rawkinlocs]

Mishelly, luckitri is right (thanks lucki)...I didn't mean to imply that "I" thought those foods are toxic...it was mainly to prove a point that basically, you can find someone to say that almost ANYTHING is bad for you...even our beloved raw diet! But you have to listen to your own body and the signals it gives you. Eating _____ may bring about a craving for cooked food for some, but for others it may not. Eating ______ may not agree with some, but it might agree with others.

Some say that eating dehydrated foods makes them want to eat cooked food...I've seen even people that post here say that when they try to eat the mono-diet or the 811 diet that it was more difficult for them to stay raw and when they follow the advice of Alissa (to just eat raw) that they do much better with staying raw. Then on the other hand, some who eat the meals have a hard time with cravings and do a great deal better with eating simply and avoiding spices, etc. Everyone is different and has to approach eating raw in the way that works best for them.

So with the whole "toxic foods" thing...it was just to prove a point. There really are some raw fooders who say that those foods and more are not optimal foods for humans and it could be true...not everything that grows from the ground is meant for our consumption (think about eating tree bark) but just like with the condiments and dehydrated foods...sometimes those foods are good in transition and later on, your body will just naturally no longer desire those things in one way or another just as luckitri mentioned about how she used to love mushrooms but now she doesn't eat them.

[Mishelly]

Mishelly, luckitri is right (thanks lucki)...I didn't mean to imply that "I" thought those foods are toxic...it was mainly to prove a point that basically, you can find someone to say that almost ANYTHING is bad for you...even our beloved raw diet! But you have to listen to your own body and the signals it gives you. Eating _____ may bring about a craving for cooked food for some, but for others it may not. Eating ______ may not agree with some, but it might agree with others.

Some say that eating dehydrated foods makes them want to eat cooked food...I've seen even people that post here say that when they try to eat the mono-diet or the 811 diet that it was more difficult for them to stay raw and when they follow the advice of Alissa (to just eat raw) that they do much better with staying raw. Then on the other hand, some who eat the meals have a hard time with cravings and do a great deal better with eating simply and avoiding spices, etc. Everyone is different and has to approach eating raw in the way that works best for them.

So with the whole "toxic foods" thing...it was just to prove a point. There really are some raw fooders who say that those foods and more are not optimal foods for humans and it could be true...not everything that grows from the ground is meant for our consumption (think about eating tree bark) but just like with the condiments and dehydrated foods...sometimes those foods are good in transition and later on, your body will just naturally no longer desire those things in one way or another just as luckitri mentioned about how she used to love mushrooms but now she doesn't eat them.

Thanks for your explanation. I think I kind of freaked out because I had put broccoli and a number of the vegetables you mentioned in my green juice yesterday and there was such a peculiar taste I almost threw it away. But I drank it anyway...Then I saw your post and well you know the rest, lol..

[Rawkinlocs]

Yeah, broccoli has not been said to be "toxic", but just that because it's SO cellulous-dense and it's hard to digest for many people in it's raw form. But some tend to find it more easy to eat if it's marinated and even put in the dehydrator to make it more limp...kinda simulating steamed.

I've also heard of people blending it in smoothies too. But broccoli does have a pretty strong flavor and smell...when I made Alissa's broccoli soup, my kids complained of the "awful" smell that filled the house after blending it!

[Lay-Lay]

I have gravitated away from these on a daily basis. I just have them once and a blue moon and some never. I have found in the past feww weeks I can't stand sea salt in anything, but I am eating a lot of celery. ***Shrugs***

[Sunshine9]

I've got to play devils advocate here and say for a moment that I disagree with many of the listed above, and think the reasoning behind their "badness" to be entirely one dimensional. I don't think we should eat anything ever and assosiate BAD or unpleasant sensations with it. Even if we know it isn't the most ideal thing, we must eat it with love and gratitude... I think that is the healthiest thing of all.

Especially sea salt, cacao, unsoaked nuts, and coconut butter.
There are many healing properties to these foods that are worth exploring. Whole books have been written on the topics. Granted every person is different and you have to see what works for you... But check it out.

I would agree though that the best diet ever wouldn't include excessive dehyrated foods, oils, or sugars. And I do agree that soy is best in minimal amounts.

[dogmd]

Yes. I got her e-mail as well and this is a very good discussion. Thanks sharon in colorado!!