80-90% raw not enough for perfect health?

[raweater]

I had been eating 80-90% raw (the 10-20% cooked being normally whole grain organic pasta or organic baked potatoes, 2 quite unhealthy things). I thought I could be in perfect health at 80-90% raw but as I posted a few days ago I had gotten nasal congestion. I went back to 100% raw and my congestion that had lasted many days already immediately dissapeared once going back to 100% raw. Now what I had was very, very mild, like what most peole live day to day and consider "healthy", but for me it was being "sick" as I'm normally in perfect health since eating raw and even minor health issues like nasal congestion piss me off. This certainly motivates me to go 100% raw.

So now I'm wondering if I should make the final move and go 100% raw and refuse to eat anything cooked. I have been 80-90% raw since over a year (around 95% raw in summer and 80-90% in winter).

As I said the only cooked things I eat are pasta or potatoes, 2 unhealthy things to start with (the main reason being that I would never in my right mind cooked healthy food like vegetables, those are healthy when raw, why make them toxic? grains and potatoes are already mostly nutritionally worthless to start with which is why I think it's less stupid to eat those foods cooked, they're already unhealthy to start with).

Also, last time I ate at a family member's I got very severely ill, so that also made me want to refuse eating food made elsewhere.

I also just ordered 3 new raw recipe books to help keep me 100% raw, I have been 100% raw since except a bowl of rice I made one day (I normally never eat rice). I'm finding more and more new raw recipes I love so being 100% raw isn't hard, but I'll need to figure out a solution for restaurants and elsewhere.

[halikatak]

I'm not an expert, but I doubt that the pasta/potatoes are making you sick. I think maybe it was a timing thing.

I would try going 100%, but if it is stressful then go back to what you were doing.

I don't believe that it's an "all or nothing" approach.

That's just me ;)

[justinesmith]

Only you can make the decision to be 100% raw. It is a very personal choice IMHO. There are recipies on this message board that are so extremely delicious ~ I hardly even crack open my other recipe books anymore (except for Alissa's - no joke) and I find that those recipies are better than any cooked food I've ever had. Best of luck on your journey.

[raweater]

Well grains and pasta do tend to cause congestion, and I normally get congested when I start eating grains and potatoes and it normally goes away when I stop, that's why I'm quite sure that's the direct cause, it could also be an indirect cause by weakening my immune system.

In any case I only get "sick" (not in perfect health) when I eat cooked food. I'll keep trying to stay 100% raw, or certainly 95% at least.

[TheAvocadess]

Hi!

My asthma & allergies didn't stop until I went 100% raw. I used to be 85% raw with cooked vegan. Didn't work for me and I couldn't lose weight.

I'm now 3 months 100% raw, 25 pounds lighter, & my asthma is almost gone! YAY! Finally some relief!

[Revvell]

I thought I could be in perfect health at 80-90% raw but as I posted a few days ago I had gotten nasal congestion. I went back to 100% raw and my congestion that had lasted many days already immediately dissapeared once going back to 100% raw.

There's your answer.

Revvell

[klomasius]

80-90% works for me, but as everyone's bodies are different, it will mean your answer for your body/situation might be different.

100% raw IS healthier, there's no doubt about it, but I feel that losing the social and situational flexibility that being 'high raw' gives me eats up some of those health benefits and means I have a lesser quailty of social life and less flexibility when it comes to eating out.

Here we do not have ANY restaurants that serve fully raw food (even most salads have things like cooked olives, non raw dressings, etc.) let alone one fully raw restaurant. Yet I have almost 50 completely vegetarian restaurants which are very vegan friendly. Unfortunately raw is still something the general public hasn't even heard of let alone entertained.

So the 'stress' of the extreme limits I'm forced to deal with if I'm 100% raw is the only option sometimes overtakes the great health benefits I get when on 100%.

Happiness is part of healthiness, and not just mentally. Happiness or lack of actually causes physiological changes within the body that can boost or lower our overall health. So taking happiness into account when considering health is a smart thing to do.

My solution to the problem? Go 100% for periods of time and allow my body to benefit from these periods. I know full well that at the end of the 10, 15, 30, 45 days or whatever or raw, I can have as much coffee, cooked food or whatever I want, so the cravings are either non existent or mild (or if bad for a day I know that tomorrow will be better). The thing is that I don;t tend to want heaps of cooked food if I 'allow' rather than 'forbid' myself have any. It's just an option hanging there (Note: I don't have any food addictions, so I understand it must be easier for me than for many who do).

I feel fine on less than 100%, I don't need to lose weight so that's not a problem, I never got that sick as a cooked vegan so I never experienced going from 'ill health' to health.

It's just varying degrees of healthy for me!

[RawSweetie]

80-90% works for me, but as everyone's bodies are different, it will mean your answer for your body/situation might be different.

100% raw IS healthier, there's no doubt about it, but I feel that losing the social and situational flexibility that being 'high raw' gives me eats up some of those health benefits and means I have a lesser quailty of social life and less flexibility when it comes to eating out.

Here we do not have ANY restaurants that serve fully raw food (even most salads have things like cooked olives, non raw dressings, etc.) let alone one fully raw restaurant. Yet I have almost 50 completely vegetarian restaurants which are very vegan friendly. Unfortunately raw is still something the general public hasn't even heard of let alone entertained.

So the 'stress' of the extreme limits I'm forced to deal with if I'm 100% raw is the only option sometimes overtakes the great health benefits I get when on 100%.

Happiness is part of healthiness, and not just mentally. Happiness or lack of actually causes physiological changes within the body that can boost or lower our overall health. So taking happiness into account when considering health is a smart thing to do.

My solution to the problem? Go 100% for periods of time and allow my body to benefit from these periods. I know full well that at the end of the 10, 15, 30, 45 days or whatever or raw, I can have as much coffee, cooked food or whatever I want, so the cravings are either non existent or mild (or if bad for a day I know that tomorrow will be better).

I feel fine on less than 100%, I don't need to lose weight so that's not a problem, I never got that sick as a cooked vegan so I never experienced going from 'ill health' to health.

It's just varying degrees of healthy for me!

Ahh.....so sane.....so sane....:)

[klomasius]

OMG, someone called me sane! That's fantastic! Can I get that as a certificate please??