Do the cravings for cooked food ever go away?

[rawmom2006]

I posted this on another board but I wanted to know what you guys have to say. I have been raw on and off for almost 5 years. Even when I am on 100 % raw for long periods I still have cravings for cooked vegetarian and vegan foods. I am wondering if after a long time on 100% raw they go away. When I first became a vegetarian my cravings for meat eventually went away after about 6 months. They never came back and now the thought of eating the flesh of an animal is so beyond gross it never enters my mind. So I was wondering is that what happens with raw or do the cravings always stay even after years on raw.

[Rawkinlocs]

I personally feel that they go away with time. Some even go as far to say that if you continue to eat spices, salt, and other condiments that you can tend to keep cooked cravings alive. This may or may not be true. But for me, personally, I have lost cravings for many things cooked...but some still linger a bit. For example, right now I have no cravings for any cooked foods BUT, if I smell it or see it on television or if someone is in front of me eating it, the desire or craving may get kicked up. But there are a lot of cooked foods I once loved but desire no longer - I was a BIG bread eater and it took me a while to lose my desire for it, but I no longer crave breads. I was also a big sweet eater, but there are SO many raw desserts/sweets, plus all the fruit I eat - I no longer crave COOKED sweets - I can whip up a peach cobbler or some cookies or ice cream or brownies - all raw - and I'm good to go!

So, I think it really depends on the person...but all in all, I think that at some point you do lose the outright cravings for cooked food...but again, sometimes certain things or surroundings may trigger an urge - but it usually doesn't last.

Yesterday, I felt like I was having a SAD pizza attack! I could have made a raw one, but I know from experience that raw pizza doesn't give me the same "satisfaction" taste-wise that SAD one's do. But I ended up making some zucchini and yam "pasta" and I made some sauce that I really seasoned well and added chopped red and green peppers and onions and it was the BOMB...totally curbed my craving for pizza!

[hypnocmt]

Nowadays, with a few exceptions, I find the old lure of cooked food like the lure of cheap, meaningless sex. It may look good and even smell good; you can even build it up in your head and fool yourself into thinking it will be satisfying and meaningful. So you do it..and then you feel cheap, and dirty, and let down and empty and disappointed.

That always kills it for me...and then I have a spicy flax cracker for some flavor overload, or I make myself a sweet stevia and berry smoothie . And I feel.....uhhh...real good....ahhhh.

lol.

BTW- Anyone else here notice how much certain cooked foods taste/smell just like BO. How gross! One day-aftercooked-food episode of morning breath is enough to get me back on track....yeck!

[dreamrawalwz]

I believe that cravings are as your body is trying to detox those substances. I believe that because that is a clue to a food intolerance and craved intensely the VERY things I was intolerant to. Once the substances are completely out of your system you will no longer crave them. Going back and forth from raw or not will make the cravings return.

[Veganforlife]

I believe what Rawk, hypno and Dream said. I feel so much depends on the person, the environment, and whether you are 100% raw. Also, Green Smoothies seems to curb those cravings for a lot of folks. I feel as long as you are not 100% raw you will get those cravings. Because the taste and the memory is there. Once gone (100% raw), the taste fades and then the memory. It hit maraw (her thread is floating around about her realizing how all of a sudden she didn't crave those foods anymore). It just depends.

[andypdx]

WOW! Cooked food = cheap sex!

LOL!

I'll have to use that one in the future!

I'm almost 5 months into raw, and I thought all of the cravings would be gone by now. They are probably about 90% gone. I love raw pizza, and nut loafs taste almost exactly like (cooked) vegan burgers to me. Whenever the cravings appear, I fall on one of these substitutes, and I'm good for another week or two.

[sueko]

I've also read and heard (in an interview with Victoria Boutenko) that including green smoothies in your diet does away with the cooked food cravings. I wouldn't know, I can't have fruit:mad: , but it would be interesting to know if it works for others.

[Raw Mom]

I've also read and heard (in an interview with Victoria Boutenko) that including green smoothies in your diet does away with the cooked food cravings. I wouldn't know, I can't have fruit:mad: , but it would be interesting to know if it works for others.

I've been high raw for about 8 months. Added green smoothies about 4months ago. My cooked food cravings come with my stress level. When I do eat cooked, it doesn't taste the same AT ALL. That's what brings me back to raw. It's when I put it in my mouth and don't even taste it...those times I start to look at my anxiety level. :)

[145ish]

Love the analogy of food & sex! Too funny.

I was at Wild Oats the other day and they were cooking something that was beef and it smelled like dirty socks. I accidentally said out loud "man, that stinks" :eek: lol Some guy standing next to me turned and looked at me like I was from another planet.

Once after a week long fast I ate a commercially made corn chip and I swear it tasted just like cardboard.

I've been lucky. I really have not had any cravings but then again I never really did have them. My mind wanted stuff and would yell "I want Pizza" but technically I wouldn't call it a craving.

[sport]

I can honestly say that I do not crave cooked food and find the thought of consuming it very offputting (even more so than cheap sex)

[RawVegan4Health]

For me they eventually went away. Occasionally the smell of certain items, like pizza, made me think they smelled good, but I never had an overwhelming urge to eat them. This took time to get to this phase for me however. When I slipped up and ate cooked food again, my cravings increased dramatically. I had to wait again basically for these cravings to subsie again.

[juliebove]

Odd, because I rarely get cravings for food of any kind. When I do get cravings it's usually for tomatoes, onions and peppers. Raw of course!

[Trolltyget]

I stopped getting cravings about 6-8 months after going raw..now I never crave anything cooked, just raw food... (mostly combos of nuts+dried fruit, and dehydrated dishes) :p

[Stina]

I'm still getting cravings, especially to Chinese and Thai food and I think it's linked to MSG, but I keep myself distracted with wonderful new Raw recipes.

[Zuri]

Nowadays, with a few exceptions, I find the old lure of cooked food like the lure of cheap, meaningless sex. It may look good and even smell good; you can even build it up in your head and fool yourself into thinking it will be satisfying and meaningful. So you do it..and then you feel cheap, and dirty, and let down and empty and disappointed.

That always kills it for me...and then I have a spicy flax cracker for some flavor overload, or I make myself a sweet stevia and berry smoothie . And I feel.....uhhh...real good....ahhhh.

lol.

BTW- Anyone else here notice how much certain cooked foods taste/smell just like BO. How gross! One day-aftercooked-food episode of morning breath is enough to get me back on track....yeck!

Hahaha, "meaningless sex, BO". hehe

[Zuri]

Love the analogy of food & sex! Too funny.

I was at Wild Oats the other day and they were cooking something that was beef and it smelled like dirty socks. I accidentally said out loud "man, that stinks" :eek: lol Some guy standing next to me turned and looked at me like I was from another planet.

Once after a week long fast I ate a commercially made corn chip and I swear it tasted just like cardboard.

I've been lucky. I really have not had any cravings but then again I never really did have them. My mind wanted stuff and would yell "I want Pizza" but technically I wouldn't call it a craving.

I love it when that happens. Like others have said, it brings me back to raw and when I eat cooked it begins to change my taste buds so that I get used to eating cooked, which I don't want or like. I like tasting my food. The subliminal messages sent in t.v. don't help either, which is why limiting or not even watching it really helps me. We're surrounded by cooked food and alcohol!

[dustandbreath]

never had cheap sex, but after so much cooked, I guess I now know what it is like. . .

My wife was just reading a blog by a 30 year raw vegan who has just started having intense cravings for cooked food. He thinks it is his body trying to slow down. He says he has so much energy, he now literally hardly ever sleeps. Too much energy . . . lol. Weird. Anyway, cravings come and go

I also agree that the taste of some things (especially processed stuff) tastes like crap . . . or cardboard, and I am sorry if I let any of it pass my lips, even if just a lick. I did have a nice potatoe salad with sour cream and onions that my wife made--my first deliberate cheat after 30 days and while I thought it was good, I also didn't feel like "wow, I have just made myself feel better." So I compensated with a kickass lemon/ginger/cayenne shot, and then a large salad. And I am back to raw.

There is just so much out there that smells great, but leaves you feeling YUCKY, I have to remember that. Like a combo meal at Steak and Shake. I used to CRAVE their shakes and burgers and cheese fries (smothered in half a bottle of pepper juice/vinegar) but for the next 3 hours I felt like a corpse.

What bothers me the most is not having something, say, at a picnic, when all around you people are eating things you can't have (if you are committed to raw, that is.)

[Rednurseceo]

My wife was just reading a blog by a 30 year raw vegan who has just started having intense cravings for cooked food. He thinks it is his body trying to slow down. He says he has so much energy, he now literally hardly ever sleeps. Too much energy . . . lol. Weird. Anyway, cravings come and go


I know that may sound weird (or not) ;) , but when I go 100% raw I get insomnia. So I would end up "sabotaging" myself and eat crap the next day so I get sleepy. I like to sleep coz I do miss my dreams :D

[Little Mango]

I've been raw since January and still get cravings. I had a piece of bread today coz I was miserable and now I am even more miserable.