near the end of my rope!

[lizzyrose]

I’ve been probably about 90 percent raw for close to a month now (after what most would consider a pretty healthy diet of primarily veggies – raw and cooked). At first I was feeling pretty good. not great, but good. Now, the past week I’ve been constantly lightheaded and dizzy and get close to blacking out when I stand up. I’ve tried increasing my sugar, decreasing my sugar, increasing my fats, decreasing my fats, increasing my salt, decreasing my salt. No change! The whole reason I’ve gone this route is because I struggled for years with headaches, fatigue and brain fog. Good news is the headaches are pretty much gone and the fatigue is better, but the fuzzy, lightheaded feeling is making me crazy! I even made an appt with a neurologist for tomorrow because I’m so frustrated!! I’m worried that I’ve actually lost too much weight (i weight about 104, 5’3”) and that I need to go back to eating poultry, fish, etc.

Is this just detox? Or could I be lacking nutrients, minerals, etc.?

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

[Dimond]

Have you tried increasing greens? That was one thing you didn't mention.

Could be detox or something else. What does your typical daily food intake look like?

[lizzyrose]

I make about 32 oz of GS in the morningwith lots of spinach, a banana and whatever else is around, now adding ginger and either chia or hemp. Lunch is a fruit salad of sorts, sometimes with avocado. Snack on some nuts during the day, and dinner is either another smoothie, or fruit or I've been having corn, pepper, zucchini with lime juice, usually snack on some flax crackers... definitely no shortage of food! I'm a grazer so it's hard to say what a regular day is.

[Revvell]

Google the word "retrace" or "retracing"

[Green_Woman]

Lizzy -

This is the exact same thing I'm currently going through. I believe now what I'm experiencing is just a symptom of detox, as it's now getting better after a couple weeks of nausea, lack of appetite, dizzy spells, fainting, etc.


DO NOT EAT COOKED FOOD.

You'll just send yourself down an even LONGER path to "recovery" from the detox if you postpone the symptoms with cooked food, even cooked veggies.

Read my blog (last two posts, and the comments) for some folks' advise.

:)

Good luck. Stay strong!

[Green_Woman]

Also, view this link... looks like we're going through same stuff:

http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/showthread.php?t=42647

[lytlsprout]

read Alissa's book. she and most of the raw celebs talk about this. you're detoxing and once all the junk is gone the healthy weight will come! don't worry just keep on track.

[smoothiegirl]

Yep, going through the same thing. I think it's detox. I'm not near as woozy as I was and my head feels a little clearer. I had days where I didn't know where I was. My body went through a huge transition and all my systems went bonkers. It has started to adjust. I don't get near as hungry as I used too and the light head is better. It's almost like my body reacted to all the raw foods w/some pretty negative side effects. But slowly it has started to accept the new foods. :)

[shooting star]

A bit of a shot in the dark this - but check the cooked food you are eating for aspartame (nutrasweet). It can cause dizziness and woozy feelings - my mum suffered for ages before she found out what was causing her headaches and dizzyness.

It is in a lot of things even savoury food and 'health foods' so check any labels just in case.

[Eva]

lizzy are you able to take time off from work? It seems you may need to take it easy and ride out what's happening but get lots of water and things like green smoothies... Just my thoughts without knowing all the details.

[Conscious Midwife]

A bit of a shot in the dark this - but check the cooked food you are eating for aspartame (nutrasweet). It can cause dizziness and woozy feelings - my mum suffered for ages before she found out what was causing her headaches and dizzyness.

It is in a lot of things even savoury food and 'health foods' so check any labels just in case.


Yeah I'd be investigating the 10% before I caved in and consumed poultry.

Increase the variety or change the timing of your RAW Food sugar sources.
Are you on BP meds, soetimes when people are healing and doing great their RX drugs are over medicating them!

[shashibala]

Are you getting enough sodium? I would work on upping the minerals, including natural, unrefined salt, in your diet. Your blood pressure might be low. Celery is a good source of healthy sodium and sea weeds contain minerals. I'm just guessing here though!
I wish you the best!!

[lizzyrose]

Thanks for all the suggestions!
Unforutnately can't take time off work... and the word "relax" has not made it into my vocabulary yet. Been trying some deep breathing exercises hoping that would help.
I say 90% but that's compared to the uber-raw crowd. My 10% is basically almonds (called raw but apparently not really), a little bit of roasted carob since I can't find raw around here. Not organic fruits/veggies. so, I may be underestimating my % of raw.
The one thing I really can't figure out is what to do about fats in my GS's. Some say yes to slow the absorption of the sugar. Others say no cuz the fats could be causing the problem.
UGH! I'm just afraid the dr. will tell me to change my diet -- in which case I'll probably just ignore him. I guess I'm hoping he'll tell me nothing else serious is wrong and I'll assume it is just the detox.

[Zella Juice]

Green Smoothies make all the difference. We usually put a small amount of coconut oil in ours for better absorbsion. I would not be raw if it weren't for Green Smoothies and Avocadoes. Eating cooked will just put you in the vicious cooked food cycle that is hard to get out of.

[Elisabeth]

Are you varying your greens, or only using spinach? I've heard that too much spinach (or most other greens) can cause issues, and that it's best to incorporate lots of types of greens.

Just throwing that out there, just in case.

Good luck! :)

[lizzyrose]

I never heard that about spinach. Good to know. I add a littel bit of collards but guess I should branch out a little more. Any suggestions for a tasty green?

[Bananna]

I'm telling you; it's orthostatic hypotension!

What's your average blood pressure?

[eco-median]

i respectfully disagree here.

eating raw is cheaper than eating SAD.

you do not HAVE to eat all organic products, only what u can afford.
eating a diet consisting of mainly fruits and veggies (even heavy amounts of it) is much cheaper than having to buy thousand different foods like the 'other' way of eating.
I hear you there, on not being able to take time off work, afford expensive ingredients, etc. I have to stop myself from becoming resentful toward all the posh folk out there with dehydrators, jobs with high salaries, big plots of land, etc. It's hard, I think, for that sort of person to realize what a struggle raw can be for people who are already struggling to get by.

[lizzyrose]

Well, bananna, that could be it! Went to the dr. today and my bp was about 105/58 (or something like that - it's generally pretty low).
So, if that is it... what do I do about it?
Dr. suggested more salt - since I use very, very little, always have - and B12.
I'm also practicing deep breathing. any other suggestions?

[Bananna]

well there are many unhealthy ways to raise your blood pressure...so it stands to reason that when you eliminate those, your bp will lower.

I don't know how to raise it healthfully really...exercise, salt. I don't really know!

According to my 'research' take it slowly, get up slowly, exercise gradually increasing intensity instead of just getting up and going for it all at once.
...then they start in with their medication talk, meh.

[BDraw]

Lizzy -- glad to hear you aren't as "bad" as you suspected and that the doc did not tell you to eat otherwise.

I too have low blood pressure -- always have. And there are days when I get dizzy when rising from a sitting position. Anyway, a natural doc recommended Licorice root and it helps. I just grabbed my container which happens to be from Nature's Sunshine. It claims to: support the adrenal gland, provide lymphatic energy and support proper sugar balance.

Good luck figuring this out. And congradulations for staying RAW!:D

[lizzyrose]

I actually have been "prescribed" licorice root for adrenal fatigue but sort of ignored the recommendation. I'll have to give it a try and see if it helps.

Thanks!

[Apasaraw]

Low BP can be allergy to soy...are you consuming Noma Shoyu?
http://www.yourallergysymptoms.com/soy-allergy-symptoms.html

[Zella Juice]

About too much greens. It is true we need to rotate our greens and not have the same kind all the time. We usually change it up every week.

As far as cost of being Raw. It's about the same. We would be spending this much on packaged food. Especially when we bought those frozen dinners. And then when you factor in all the eating out when we were too busy to make something. It comes out to about the same. Plus we save on Doctor Bills. :)

[Bookish Lass]

Which greens? I like kale, collards, cilantro, parsley, turnip greens, mustard greens, beet greens, radish greens. For some reason I haven't liked blended or juiced lettuce, but other people do. I haven't liked chard that much either.

[Elisabeth]

I usually just use organic spring mix, which already has a good variety of greens in it, and then supplement with kale, spinach, and sometimes arugula, which is kind of sharp/peppery.

[JennaBoBenna]

Which greens? I like kale, collards, cilantro, parsley, turnip greens, mustard greens, beet greens, radish greens. For some reason I haven't liked blended or juiced lettuce, but other people do. I haven't liked chard that much either.

I don't like blended lettuce either! It gives my smoothie a bad aftertaste

[Raw Angel Mom]

Detoxing could do this but also, maybe you should check for food allergy. Maybe too much fruits or nuts or something that doesn't go well with you.
I do consume nuts but not regulary because it cause problem with me but my husband is perfectly ok with the nuts food base. I went from 145 pound down to 106 pounds, i was eating what i want i just lost that weight. Now i am back to 126 pound and look much healthier. For me, it seems that it did settle down. Like the bad fat wanted to be out. Try to follow your body needs. I do well with fruits and others don't. Therapethic enzyme might be something that you should consider. If you have a gut that is leaking, it will lead to all sort of problem. I read that therapethic enzyme will not only repair your guts but will also repair your cell. Unfortunately, many have a leaking guts and aren't necessary aware about this, you can problem google to find more info and where to buy some good enzyme. Alissa Cohen sell them on her site. I tried them and i loved them.

Regardless that i had those symptome and lost so much weight, i never felt better since being on raw. This such a new concept and in time, you will learn what your body wants.

Best wishes!