I have not started raw nutrition yet but...

[Kallistw]

... I want to ask you 2 things that troubles me:
1) what about travelling??? is it easy for a raw foodist to find food abroad? And I dont mean USA, canada or West europe.... I mean east Europe, Asia or Africa....
2) what about being in a hospital? I mean, if you have to get operated or stay in a hospital, what happens with the nutrition habits... I read that if you are 100% raw, you cant put up with cooking stuff, you feel sick or worse...

I would appreciate your opinion... In my county, even "vegetarian" is a rare word, not to mention "raw"... I think they would look at me as "ET-phone home"... :D :D

P.S. As I already mentioned in "who are you" section, I am not yet raw but I am seriously eager to become one....

[Tirza]

I don't know if you mean extended travel or just passing through.

On some of our recent trips we have done the following:

- I take along a mini chopper (if I think I will be able to get quality vegetables)

- I take a bullet blender for a modified smoothie and for soups and pates.

- If you have a way of washing and keeping greens and can find them, fine-but that is often not the case. You can wash them if you can find clean water. I would use food-grade hydrogen peroxide in the water to rinse though, just to be safe. I have a friend who travels to India once a year and while not raw, she is a vegan and therefore uses lots of fresh food. She takes her little bottles of food-grade hydrogen peroxide faithfully.

- It is good to use vegetables and fruits that can be peeled. It is a shame to lose the nutrients just under the skin, but better that than worry about what germs are on the surface if you aren't sure if you can clean them adequately.

- Otherwise, when I have been too much on the move to deal with greens or don't have the facilities, I always take along a green powder as second-best. I use my little bullet blender to make my smoothies, using the green powder and as much fresh as I can. If apples and bananas are available, along with the green powder, that is pretty good. I take macha tea powder and bee pollen to add as well.

- Think of the stories we have all heard of how the North American Indians used to travel or get through the winters. They had something called pemmican which was a mixture of dried berries, etc. bound together with fat and whatever. See what I mean at: http://www.physicalmind.com/pemmican.htm They have a meatless pemmican recipe.

We can go further than that:
We have lots of recipes for crackers, pizza crackers, etc. with lots of great stuff in them.
We have fruit leathers.
We have dehydrated cookies.
We have energy bars.
We have granola.
We even have dehydrated burgers and falafels that travel well. Those along with whatever fruits and vegetables I was able to take on the plane are terrific!
You can say "no thanks" to the airline food. (Once we ordered a raw fruit plate on the plane. A fair bit of it was mushy and even rotten.)

- Take nuts (soaked and dehydrated before if applicable), seeds, dried fruits and vegetables. Not salted.

- Research the process of purifying water for travel.

- After I have done this a few times, I have come to the conclusion that it is far simpler to eat raw when I am travelling. Simpler than any other way of eating, as well as simpler than eating raw at home. At home I have all my equipment and I feel obligated to try to make up a lot of complicated stuff or I'll feel guilty.

[Nimmanu]

... I want to ask you 2 things that troubles me:
1) what about travelling??? is it easy for a raw foodist to find food abroad?
And I dont mean USA, canada or West europe.... I mean east Europe, Asia or Africa....

I think the previous poster covered this very well, so I'll skip it.


2) what about being in a hospital? I mean, if you have to get operated or stay in a hospital, what happens with the nutrition habits... I read that if you are 100% raw, you cant put up with cooking stuff, you feel sick or worse...

I would appreciate your opinion... In my county, even "vegetarian" is a rare word, not to mention "raw"... I think they would look at me as "ET-phone home"... :D :D

P.S. As I already mentioned in "who are you" section, I am not yet raw but I am seriously eager to become one....

Well, I don't mean this in a bad way, but in what country are you obligated, no matter what, to eat the food they provide?

Bring in your own things for your stay. Things like crackers or fruits/veggies that can sit for a few days.

Other than that, why are you so concerned with this that you'd give up the health benefits of eating raw for fear that you MIGHT have to go to the hospital, and if you do, you MIGHT not feel well from eating their food?

That's cutting off your foot to keep your toe from hurting.... Why would you do that? :confused:

[RowanC]

I recently returned from a trip to Western Europe and honestly, eating raw wasn't easy, but it WAS doable! The easiest country was Holland. Great health-conscious stores abound. The produce there RAWKS! More difficult were the others, but there were many fruit/vegetable stores, you just had to know how to find them as they often didn't advertise and often were in people's homes, or what appeared to be their homes.

I forgot to mention the most difficult thing for me in Spain and Portugal were the signs saying "No tocar la fruta!" or DO NOT TOUCH THE FRUIT! In the US we are used to feeling each piece of fruit and picking out the ones we want. There, they do not allow that. You point to what you want and the lady hands it to you. I tried explaining several times that Americans and Canadians weren't being rude, we just had a different way of doing it at home. I also made several signs for people in English for which they were very grateful!

In a hospital, you should be able to speak with the dietician providing you're conscious and able to speak. Most hospitals will at least try. Most hospitals have plenty of raw fruits and veggies.. you may not like the mix, but they'll have it. You can also have family bring you items from home.

[aubrey]

Hi,

I am new here. I used to belong to this group a couple years back, but then went back to eating cooked food because I moved in with my parents when I started going to law school.

I can identify with some of your concerns. When I first went raw, I lived in Texas, and as far as my own experiences went, where I began eating raw was not the optimal environment! There were few health food stores, few places to buy organic, and few options when going out to eat. But I chose instead to make it a creative endeavor to figure out how to make it work, and I did make it work, and amazingly, a lot of people were really inspired to start eating at least more fresh food themselves when they saw how yummy it truly could be!

Moving back home was not as hospitable. My parents made me feel as though my eating habits were too extreme and radical. I didn't feel that way, but was made to feel guilty whenever my mother would make a nice, cooked Sunday dinner. I went back to eating cooked food, and when I did, for the first week, I was very ill.

I am back into the raw now. I have a chronic illness (that's how I discovered this diet to begin with) and I went into remission after only a couple weeks of living in the raw. I had a hospital stay once while raw...I had caught a stomach virus. I did as the others suggested and brought some homemade apple sauce and peach juice to the hospital with me. Peach nectar actually has an enzyme in it (as does apricot nectar) that calms the stomach and abates nausea. I also brought along some "zucchini noodles", and some sunflower seeds to suck on. I made much quicker progress than the others in the hospital with the same thing (the nurses told me this). In having a chronic illness, I can honestly attest that you are far less likely to wind up in the hospital eating raw than you are eating cooked and processed foods.

It is hard sometimes to get past our environment and those that influence our lives. I have no friends, family, or acquaintances that eat raw, and its hard when my friend's restaraunt of the month club goes to a steakhouse. But if people truly care for you, they will respect your decision. I had a heartfelt talk with my family, explaining how this diet is essential to my health, and they know how critical my condition can be at times. They have begun to support me and try new fruits, vegetables, and dishes that I make, and have discovered that they actually really love them. Work with what you have available to you, and though you don't need to push your philosophy onto others, you can explain your decision and offer to make them part of it...you never know who you may inspire.

If you feel in your soul that eating raw is right for you, then you will find a way to make it work. Letting go might be difficult at first, but after some time, you'll wonder why you even liked some of the food you are attached to now in the first place!

Good luck!
~A

[Noix_coco]

... I want to ask you 2 things that troubles me:
1) what about travelling??? is it easy for a raw foodist to find food abroad? And I dont mean USA, canada or West europe.... I mean east Europe, Asia or Africa....Kallistw, I just booked my flight from Singapore to NZ yesterday and I had the suprise to discover that we are allowed to chose from a lot of options for the meals, including a raw vegeterian meal.

I'm French, so I can tell you you won't have any problem to find some fruits and veggies there. In China and Taiwan, where I've lived, if you go to the local markets, you can find a lot of fruits and veggies too. In Singapore also, no pb. But you won't find any raw restaurant!

Helene, one week of raw food!

[Kallistw]

Thank you all for your answers, I appreciate that.... For me, getting raw is not a simple decision... I want to know everything I can regarding this matter... BUT Nimmanu, I NEVER said that I will give up my try just for the "fear of the hospital", so dont be so aggresive to me, please!! :cool: