What exactly is 100% raw?

[Garlic]

If I'm drinking some green tea, am I 100% raw?
If I am eating some frozen organic fruits, am I 100% raw?
If I am eating raw cashews (that I hear are technically not raw), am I 100% raw?
If I am occasionaly eating frozen organic corn, am I still 100% raw?

[Eva]

I think 100% raw is really difficult to obtain when we are relying upon others for some food (ie not growing all of our own food)...

And every single raw foodist will give you a different answer. That means, fortunately (I think!) or unfortunately, you sort of have to come up with your own answer.

I drink herbal tea almost every day (and, yeah, it's way over 118 degrees) and white tea on occasion. I get frozen organic fruit every once in a while. I eat cashews that say they're raw. And I sometimes use Nama Shoyu, which I keep hearing opposing sides of if its raw. It makes me feel like poo every time I have it, so I guess I care more about that than about whoever determines the rawness of it!

And to answer your question... I think that raw really means uncooked or touched by man... BUT a raw diet is the 118 degrees or less for food, no sulfites etc... And I can't quite put words on where drinks come in. I know that I personally don't find a traditional beer or wine to work in my picture of raw, but I think herbal tea fits in fine with my raw diet. Cashews do too. And so does cacao, although I can't have too much or I find it addictive.

Maybe none of that answered your question! :eek: :D I'm curious to see what others have to say. :)

[Carlsbad]

There's debate about some of this stuff, but here's what I know, in case it helps.

Tea is not raw.
Frozen fruits are raw as long as there hasn't been sugar added.
Raw cashews may have been heated to remove them from their shells. You can buy "truly raw" cashews from David Wolfe, but they're wildly expensive. Most people just do what they can on this one. If you're uncomfortable with the uncertainty, then don't eat them. At this stage in my journey, I don't think I could be raw without them, so I just buy the raw ones from Whole Foods and call it a day.
Frozen vegetables (like corn) have been blanched (boiled) before freezing, so those aren't raw. You can buy corn on the cob, scrape it off, and then freeze it, and then it's raw, but the packaged raw stuff ain't.

Hope that helps!

[Raspberry4]

Eva - if you are reacting to Nama Shoyu it is probably because it is wheat based - which I cannot eat either due to gluten intolerance. Perhaps try Bragg's ?? or Tamari - with no wheat in it? Good luck to you.

[Bananapie]

I have this wakcy idea that the food must have energy in it or life force. For example cultured foods are not all that fresh but they have living organisms in it. Similarly, I wounder how people live on so much cooked food and the only answer I can think of is that by our preparation of the food some energy or life force must be infused back into it. This is all really out there stuff and as a serious Capricorn I am not very comfortable talking about it. I like science backed knowledge. I am just beginning to learn about intuitive knowledge. It seems that the more I am on this raw journey the more that intuative knowledge becomes somewhat trust worthy. I guess most of us round up 98% or 99% to 100%. There are way to many great things in the world to be doing than worrying about the 98 or 99% not being 100%. Not to discredit the question though... I think it is a great question as many people out there I am sure do worry about it.

[Garlic]

thanks for your responses.
so my question is whether you call yourself 100% raw, if you are eating no cooked food, doing green smoothies, dehyrdrated crackers, etc. but you are eating raw cashews from whole foods?

I feel 100% raw because I will eat NO cooked food.
it's been a bit over a month for me.
but I do eat raw cashews.
I do eat frozen strawberries (because it's so hard to find fresh organic this time of year).
I do drink decaf tea.
but with all these questionable items, maybe I should call myself 90% raw?

do you drink tea and consider yourself 100% raw?

Bananapie:
I am not worried . . . I would just like clarity.
I have been a vegetarian for 7 years.
I have been vegan for 2 years.
I was not calling myself a vegetarian and still eating fish.
I was not calling myself a vegan and eating a product that had milk listed as the next to the last ingredient.
I am a vegan.
actually there is no such thing as a 90% vegan.
so, am I a rawfoodist?
am I a vegan rawfoodist?
am I a 100% vegan rawfoodist?
am I a 90% vegan rawfoodist?
I would really like to be clear on this.

[futureboy]

Green tea is technically NOT raw since it's over 118F. That being said, I'll still have some every now and then in mornings just to have that warm feeling in my stomach. Few people will argue that green tea is in any way bad for you, and it is light-years healthier than coffee, but it is technically not raw. I've found that after having been raw for enough time, I don't enjoy green tea anymore.

Frozen fruits are OK if you need to use them, but of course it's best to use fresh fruits. I try to hit Whole Foods every other day and stock up for the next 48 hours so I don't have to freeze them.

Cashews -- no idea. If it says raw, that's as best as you can do. Try to limit nut intake on the raw diet; it's very easy to indulge in a few handfuls of nuts.

Frozen corn--same thing as fruit. If it's raw it should be eaten fresh, preferably not frozen, but if you must, go for it.

Rule of thumb: let your body decide what it feels is good. I stopped green tea when I'm 100% because I didn't feel good having it anymore. Your body is with you until the end, so let it be your guide.

[EZ rider]

Green tea is technically NOT raw since it's over 118F. That being said, I'll still have some every now and then in mornings just to have that warm feeling in my stomach.This winter I tried a cup of warm water in response to a post I read on this forum. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it satisfied my desire for something warm to drink and also left me with that clean clear feeling that only drinking pure water can do. Also I have found this to be a good way to increase my daily pure water consumption. Try it, you might like it :)

[tanishamarshall]

Like some have said above 100% is different for everyone. for me I do eat some of the questionable items like Tamari, Honey, and Braggs, to me I'm still 100% but for some they would not consider themselves 100% and probably have a good reason.

I'm sure eventually I probably won't use Tamari and Braggs anymore and I know I can substitue Sea salt for them but for now I use them.

I think we have to decide what is considered 100% to us. I believe all editable foods grown naturally are considered raw.

[Garlic]

So, what I'm hearing is that I could call myself 100% even though others would not agree?
as long as I feel it in my heart?

[Bananapie]

thanks for your responses.
so my question is whether you call yourself 100% raw, if you are eating no cooked food, doing green smoothies, dehyrdrated crackers, etc. but you are eating raw cashews from whole foods?

I feel 100% raw because I will eat NO cooked food.
it's been a bit over a month for me.
but I do eat raw cashews.
I do eat frozen strawberries (because it's so hard to find fresh organic this time of year).
I do drink decaf tea.
but with all these questionable items, maybe I should call myself 90% raw?

do you drink tea and consider yourself 100% raw?

Bananapie:
I am not worried . . . I would just like clarity.
I have been a vegetarian for 7 years.
I have been vegan for 2 years.
I was not calling myself a vegetarian and still eating fish.
I was not calling myself a vegan and eating a product that had milk listed as the next to the last ingredient.
I am a vegan.
actually there is no such thing as a 90% vegan.
so, am I a rawfoodist?
am I a vegan rawfoodist?
am I a 100% vegan rawfoodist?
am I a 90% vegan rawfoodist?
I would really like to be clear on this.

I do agree that it is a question that one must answer for them selves. However I do believe that someone could call themselves vegan and not be a hundred percent. I know I did that when I was traveling because it was much easier than saying ovo-vegetarian. Most of the time if you say vegetarian and you are traveling you end up with dairy loaded cow puss dishes. I found it was just easier to say vegan. Similarly with raw foodest I do say 100% even though I have herb tea, cashews, nori sheets and a little bit of maple syrup. These are all such a small part of my diet and I think mentally if I did not consider myself 100% I would easliy compromise on other things.

[Bananapie]

So, what I'm hearing is that I could call myself 100% even though others would not agree?
as long as I feel it in my heart?

Sure or you could even say I am 100% to the best of my abilities

I think there might even be some math term that says always round up so if your 98% you can legally round up to 100:D

[EZ rider]

So, what I'm hearing is that I could call myself 100% even though others would not agree?
as long as I feel it in my heart?I would agree with that. I consider myself all raw but in actual practice I am not because I take a couple of supplements (Icelandic kelp and probiotics). For a description of the rest of my raw eating see this thread:
http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/showthread.php?p=369778#post369778
If a person is not feeling well enough on raw or raw isn't working for them then maybe trying for the brass ring (100%) or close to it might be beneficial ? Thats a choice each person needs to make for themselves, IMO.

[GlimR]

I eat as you do for the most part...I say I am a raw foodist...for me that pretty much covers it. Getting hung up on the numbers could make me crazy. Wishing you an amazing and peaceful journey~

[EZ rider]

I say I am a raw foodist...I like that. Just saying "raw foodist" and letting it go at that works for me too :)

[Garlic]

I wasn't thinking about saying "I'm a 100% rawfoodist" to people.
I wouldn't say that.
I would tell somebody "I'm a rawfoodist".
but if that person was familiar with it and asked me "are you 100%?", my heart says yes, but technicalities says not really.
that's where I'm struggling.

[GlimR]

Garlic~
I see your point~ The thing is, everyone has their own definition of what is "really raw" and the varied opinions of what defines raw are myriad just like in every other way of eating there are different approaches and "styles". I think the bottom line comes down to what feels like truth to YOU. For me, one of the most freeing things about a raw lifestyle is that I am not tied to arbitrary "rules" about what I could or should or should not eat and there is a definite peace about not sweating the small stuff.

But we are each unique and what might make me crazy might be just what works for you....your "style".

I think if you technically want to be 100% to the letter of the law a person would only eat raw, whole foods exactly as they come from the earth...

I can only speak for myself but the need to define exactly what I am eating by the numbers doesn't work for me...it's only a small part of what defines me as a whole...it's just what I eat~:)

[EZ rider]

I liked what StarFire posted on another recent thread:

http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/showthread.php?p=369217#post369217

StarFire: you have an amazing way with words and pictures :)

[Blazin'Jane]

I think of my self as "very close to 100% raw." Something about absolutism scares me a bit. For example, I ordered a "garden salad" the other day, and asked for some things not to be on it. It came with some shredded cheese, which I must have overlooked, and so I dug as much out of it as I could and decided not to sweat the rest. I never would have chosen the cheese or put it on myself, but there it was. Idon't cook anything, I usually don't put anything cooked on my plate, but it was reasonable to eat the salad anyway. So I am "very close to 100% raw". I'm ok with that. ;)

[maui_butterfly]

when i do the monthly challenge, i consider myself "100% raw" even when i occasionally incorporate questionable items: oolong tea, agave, miso, braggs aminos, cashews, almonds, olives-that-might-not-be-raw, frozen fruits, maple syrup, etc. these things are questionable to others, but not to me at this point in my life. and that may change, you never know. i listen to my body, and right now, i don't feel unhealthy after a cup of my favorite oolong tea, i feel great. i'm learning to trust my own instincts, and find that on this raw path my instincts are becoming more and more trustworthy. that is more important to me than whether alissa, or david wolfe, or anybody else would consider me "100% raw".