Hi from Guam

[divegoddess]

Hi
I've been a vegetarian for nearly 20 years, and I was introduced to raw foods about a year ago. I've been more consistantly raw after doing a 7 day fast/detox program in Bali in October. I've been reading the posts the last few days, and what does eating SAD mean? I suppose it means not raw, but what does SAD stand for? I've gained 3 pounds since going totally raw. Am I the only one who's gained weight? I'm not too overweight but I want to drop about 12 lbs, now 15....I also noticed that most people who did the fast/detox lost an average of 10-15 lbs in 7 days. I lost only 2, then gained it back as soon as I started eating. The others continued to lose weight. I wonder why?
How safe is it to go raw if there are very few organic veggies and fruits available? We sometimes get organic apples and bananas, but I can't afford $5 a lb for bananas and $6.00 for 2 apples. I've been feeling better, and my digestion has been great, but I'm wondering if I'm pumping myself up with pesticides.

[Ariannah]

Welcome to you! SAD is a frequently used acronym for "Standard American Diet".

I'm trying to move toward different phraseology such as "Conventional diet", out of respect for other people. Also, not all cooked conventional diets are junk-filled.

My take on organic vs non: Yes, get it when available, affordable, but even buying standard vegetables and fruits and eating them raw is better than cooked.

I'd say about 60-70% of my diet is organic.

[divegoddess]

Thanks for replying. Another stupid question, what is the standard American diet consist of? I was raised in Japan, and our "conventional " diet was rice, miso soup, vegetables, fish, sea vegetables and some meat rarely more than 2 oz. What I've seen Americans eat is mostly processed micro waved foods, fast foods and lots of refined flour and sugar. Is this what is meant by SAD?

If I only eat affordable organic food, my organic intake will go down to 0. We only get spinach, bagged greens, apples and bananas. Even our non-organic vegetables are very expensive. I'm sure than on the mainland the organic vegetables are even cheaper than our non-organic. So it's not too unhealthy eating non- organic raw produce?

[Nenyath]

Hi Divegodess! First of all, your questions are not stupid, not at all! Second, welcome to Raw Food Talk! I really hope you will enjoy it here and find the answers to your questions! As for what SAD consists off, I think it is as varied as the people in the states. I'm from Denmark and I just basically use SAD for a synonym for a cooked diet where you do not give your health much of a thought- this is just my take on it.. I've not done a fast yet, so I cannot answer that question. I have noticed though than whenever I do 100% for some days, I will gain a little weight, it always melts off again and looking at the big picture I am certainly loosing weight. Try not to care much about weight, look in the mirror instead!

Fly forever free..

[luckitri]

Raw is most important. Organic is next most important. There are many here, who as they progress on their raw journey do find that they have to have only organic. You can still get much benefit from non-organic raw. And all of your non-raw foods (well here on the mainland U.S. anyway) is definitely tainted with all kinds of things - and since so many of them are listed as food grade we don't need to be told on the label. If you get to the point where you notice that you must eat organic - a window will open for you.

Weight loss - it is all so individual. Over 6 months I did lose 25-30 pounds and I still need to lose at least that if not more if I am to rebuild a healthy body the raw way but no rush - it will happen when I am not looking - because that is the way it happened for the first big loss. At the very first I bloated up and had gas and needed to supplement with pro-biotics and enzymes. The bloating made weight loss difficult to determine. I did not focus on weight - I focused on health and how did I feel. I never even set up a scale at home. I would find out when I went to visit the Dr. I still do not need new clothes so even though I lost alot - well those clothes were too tight - now they are just nice.

I am so curious about Guam and the supermarkets and produce stands. I know nothing about that place. I guess I just thought it was tropical and assumed that the availability would be excellent.

[divegoddess]

Thank you for your reply luckitri. Actually, it's getting better here on Guam. I moved here from Saipan (much worse) but I used to live in Brazil where everything was fresh if not organic, they even mixed alcoholic drinks with fresh juices straight from the fruit, and both Saipan and Guam being tropical I thought there would be so much more local produce but it's the US territory thing, after the US took over it became dependent on shipments from the mainland, there are some independent farmers, but I heard that the local produce was dangerous because they use tons of pesticides. the land here is also contaminated from the war. There was an article in the paper that was really scary. There has been some improvement since one of the duaghters of the main supermarket chain came back to Guam from California. She became a raw food vegan while living in California and told her family she couldn't live here unless there were some changes in the food selection. They now have a whole health food section in the supermarket, some organic produce but the problem is that it takes nearly a month for the food to get here and most organic foods go bad. When I buy my bagged organic greens, I have to go through it and throw out the bad part so it all won't spoil right away. They sell food that is half spoiled or molded here. I think if I lived somewhere like California I would only eat organic. BUt Guam is better than some of the other islands in Micronesia. When I went to Chuuk they were out of any produce for a week. In Rota, they had hardly anything and tomotoes (conventional) were $6.00 a lb. In American Samoa, people fight over iceberg lettuce when the shipment comes in. The one thing we do have is coconuts. I find them on the ground and bring them home.

As far as weightloss goes, I haven't been that concerned about it, since I wasn't really overweight or trying to lose weight. My weight had been consistant for the last 5 years. I just heard that most people lost weight when they went raw or did a fast/detox. I just thought it was strange that I would gain 5 lbs after going raw when most people lost weight. I know 5 lbs doesn't seem like much but I am 4'9. It's not just the number on the scale, my stomach used to be flat and now it's distended like I am 5 months pregnant, and my pants don't fit any more. I work in a bathing suit and people are commenting so it's hard not to care. I'm eating raw for health reasons, not to lose weight, but I didn't think weight gain would be a side effect.

[luckitri]

Distended like 5 months pregnant sounds serious. I hope that some longtimers on this board respond to your post in the next few days and maybe they have seen this before and have a better idea than I. You have a wonderful multi-national perspective. I was in northern Mexico once and their produce was disgusting - all the good stuff was sent up here to U.S. but I hear it is much better now. We are warned about imported produce since the NAFTA and CAFTA regulations do nothing to ensure that the imports that we receive will be grown with the same standards we demand of domestic farmers. But I hear that from the other side - those farmers feel that they are being destroyed by the same regulations. . . . fighting over lettuce! I would want a victory garden!

[mongomango]

Hi! I agree it's best to eat raw even if you can't afford organic. Dunno about the weight thing, but keep with it, let your body do it's thing...the weight will ultimately come off.

As far as pesticides, washing your produce well removes a *great deal* of pesticides. It's not perfect, but taking the time to do so is immensely beneficial.

Additionally, I always say a grace before I eat, and I include a request that all my food be cleansed of all toxic substances. You can even do this while preparing food. I firmly believe that this is also not only beneficial but effective.

Good luck and no worries on the weight or what people say. Your body will adjust the way it needs to.

[mysticalend]

Hello, Divegoddess

You're not going to believe this, but I am typing this from Guam right now. My uncle has lived here for 30 years, and I decided to come visit him this holiday. I will be heading back to Florida on 1/1/07.

Too funny.

My experience with raw food has had me drop 30 pounds (from 175 to 145). Probably not a good idea, I suppose, but this journey was just as much of a spiritual one as it was a physical one. I have since gained 10 of those pounds back, and plan to put on more.

The key to losing weight, I believe, is the undigested lipids in your system. Raw foods with an overabundance of fats also have the enzyme Lipase to break them down. Coconut, avocado, walnuts, brazil nuts, and almonds are good sources for Lipase. These were also the main sources for me concerning my protein intake, which is probably why I lost so much weight so fast (over a 4 month period). Now I used spinach, kale, and romaine as my main sources of proteins, and my weight has stabilized.

Or so they say.

As far as organic produce is concerned, I have a difficult time eating conventionally grown produce because my body has adapted to the organic versions. The research is still inconclusive conerning whether or not the enzymes are destroyed by the fertilization process. I would think that any living being that is sprayed with chemicals from an early age would lose some of its vitality, and thus I err on the side of caution and only buy organic. However, the practicality of the wallet also plays a part in this as well, so sometimes concessions need to be made.

Have you been to Simply Foods yet? It's the best source of organic cuisine (though not 100% raw). I'm thinking of moving to Guam ... care to venture into opening a raw cafe with me? :))

Good luck on your path, and maybe we can meet for a raw lunch at Simply Foods before I leave the island.

as you were

mysticalend

[divegoddess]

To mysticalend,

I can't beleive you are here on Guam! Then you know what I'm talking about in terms of very limited organic food. Have you ben to payless at Micronesia mall? That whole healthfood section is only a year old, but the fresh organcic food is limited. They actually had organic carrots last week, we haven't had organic carrots for at least a month! Are you just eating organic produce while you are here?
I go to Simply foods all the time, I used to eat there more often before going raw. If you are serious about opening a raw cafe here, let me know. I know several people who are also raw vegans, including one of the owners of Synergy Yoga studio. She's the one that brought in the organic produce into Payless supermarkets. By the way, if you aren't busy, Synergy studios is having an open house this Sat from 10 to 1 pm, free yoga classes, and think there's even raw vegan food. It's in Maite. I don't know if I can meet you at simply foods before you leave because i'm working during the day and they are only open for lunch, but I'd love to talk to you. e-mail me at hanadai723@yahoo.co.jp.

Divegoddess

[michigan roman]

hi divegoddess

welcome to alissas

i dont think the s.a.d. has been defined by anyone yet like you asked so i'll do so now by describing what all the people here in suburban detroit have always ate :

alot of critters , ecspecially cattle , then chickens and pigs .
then alot of bread and potatos .
critters , bread and potatos have made up about say %70 of peoples diets .
which makes the diet very low in fiber .
then people have mostly ate canned vegis , salads at dinner and a bit of fresh fruit . along with the real junk stuff like cookies cake chips pop candy at high levels .
oh and i better add rice and pasta dishes with mainly a varying type of sauce containing meat . and also cheese + milk .

thats the high in fat and sugar + low in fiber and raw vitamin and mineral diet thats the cause of most disease in america .

oh and on your stomach bloat , well ive been vegan 14 year - raw just over a year and i too am getting a bloated gut at this point in my transistion , and ive been starting to eat alot of pineapples lately and that seems to help .

HAPPY DIVING :)

[spicyfull]

I wish you everything you need to Stay RAW....Welcome to MY World..........

[divegoddess]

Hi Michigan,

When you use the word "critters" it makes me get goosebumps and my stomach turns. Thanks for letting me know. It's very different from what I grew up with. I guess my diet wasn't all raw but it was healthier than some of the SAD diets I've heard about since everything was fresh, nothing canned or packaged, and we ate a lot of vegetables, hardly any meat, mostly because it was expensive.
My brother moved to the United States 25 years ago and when I went to visit him I noticed that he had adopted the SAD. It was mostly processed food, pizzas, fast food, no fresh vegetables. Even when I wasn't totally raw, raw vegetables and fruits were about 75% of my diet so I went to the organic grocery store and made fresh salads but no one in my brother's family would eat any. He made fun of me and said I ate rabbit food.

So pineapples help a bloated gut? I think I'm getting a lot of gas as well. I'll try the pineapples.

[rawpriestess]

welcome to the board