DAY 1-This is my first time raw - Questions

[A QUEEN FROM QUEENS,NY]

Peace ...

this is my first time going raw and I dont know what to expect. I have spent a month reading the forum comments and it seems very intense. I have a few questions

1. what is SAD ???
2. I thought it was not good to combine veggies and fruit together?(green Smoothies) I check out a few food combination charts(for colon purpose) and its a big NO NO!!!!
3. Is it ok to have a cup of tea (hot, warm)

please feel free to tell me everything!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Peace

[Mona]

Hello and congratulations on your first raw day!

SAD= Standard american diet

Proper food combination is a good thing to have in mind but it is also important
to have fun with your food and prepare recipies that you really like, especially in the beginning. You decide yourself what feels good for you. Even if you don´t combine everything right it is still better then eating SAD. I think it is common to start eating simplier food after you have been raw for a while, but don´t worry about that now. Just eat whatever raw food you feel like.

And have your cup of tea :) .....you don´t have to be a 100% raw to feel better. You decide where you want to be in the scale of 1-100%. Just relax and find your own way to do it. Good luck!

[Rawkinlocs]

To Queens: I'd firstly like to say welcome to the forum! Now, if you do not have Alissa's book, I HIGHLY recommend getting it. Yes, there are "rules" and various "schools of thought" on HOW to eat raw but you will find that Alissa's approach (the premise for this board) is more freeing and what it does is allow your BODY to be your guide. When first starting out, you really should not try and make things to stringent as raw is "strict" enough already as it is...when you start trying to be even MORE strict in the beginning stages, it will oftentimes (most times, actually) cause you to fall right back into the clutches of old, cooked favorites. What you want to do is to just go raw...allow your body to get the cleansing/healing/rebuilding process started and get used to eating raw foods. Then as time goes by, your body will naturally start making adjustments - you'll find that you just can no longer tolerate certain combinations of food or certain amounts of 'this or that', etc. That is the best way rather than to get 'confuzzled' about all the various "ways of doing raw" and trying to figure out who's "right" and who's "wrong".

As for green smoothies, it has been indicated that greens are a food group all in and of themselves and not to be lumped together with other vegetables.

Also, Alissa recommends 100% raw - everyone has their own "thresh hold" of what they will and will not "allow" (such as "not-so-truly-raw-cashews" or steel cut oats or in your case, tea) so what you want to do is figure out is how you feel when drinking it. But you CAN have tea and it still be "raw-appropriate" simply by warming your water and allowing it to cool until "finger-warm" (will not burn your finger if it rests in it) and then steep your herbs OR make iced tea or sun tea.

Just a quick note: You had originally posted this in the Monthly Challenge forum area and I merged it with the challenge thread for November but then thought that perhaps it should be here in the main area, especially Mona's response because the challenge thread IS for being 100% raw and that response was inappropriate for the monthly challenge section.

[Mercy]

Hi Rawkinlocs!

Your answer prompted another question from me. Is HOT water not raw?

I sometimes just boil water and drink it as hot as I can handle it. It is especially comforting in the winter when you need to warm up. I don't remember reading anything in Alissa's book about not drinking hot water. Did I miss something?

Also, I have ocassionally added Postum or some other "coffee" substitute to my hot water. I presume that Postum is not raw, but I'm not sure. Do you know? I just started 100% raw two days ago, and I don't want to make mistakes because of lack of knowledge.

[Rawkinlocs]

Hi Rawkinlocs!

Your answer prompted another question from me. Is HOT water not raw?

I sometimes just boil water and drink it as hot as I can handle it. It is especially comforting in the winter when you need to warm up. I don't remember reading anything in Alissa's book about not drinking hot water. Did I miss something?

Also, I have ocassionally added Postum or some other "coffee" substitute to my hot water. I presume that Postum is not raw, but I'm not sure. Do you know? I just started 100% raw two days ago, and I don't want to make mistakes because of lack of knowledge.

Hi Mercy,

I don't think there is a problem with drinking hot water (I've heard this is great for digestion first thing in the morning) but I think when it comes to steeping something in said water (such as the herbs/tea) then you are now "cooking" the tea. At least that's my take on it. I've never heard of Postum.

[Revvell]

Google is my friend:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postum