Told not to eat raw. help!

[lizzyrose]

I started raw 3 months ago and have been pretty darn close to 100%. It started as a quest to combat fatigue, lack of mental clarity and headaches -- and I'm always freezing even though i live in florida!!. I've been feeling "better" but not 100% so my quest continues. I've now gone to both an acupuncturist and an herbalist who have both told me according to chinese medicine, i have a "cold, dampness" in my organs, liver not working properly to clean the blood, and poor circulation. With these symptoms, they say raw food is the worst thing I can do.
I'm supposed to be eating warm soups, rice/oats/grains, steamed veggies and meat (UGH!)
I don't want to give it up Raw completely so I'm trying to find a happy medium...

Any suggestions for how to keep raw food in my diet while still getting 'warm" foods too??

[Eva]

Boy the topic of the day!!! Read this thread for lots of info, and there is another one floating around that says something like "aww summer's almost over" in the title. http://rawfoodtalk.com/showthread.php?t=41322&highlight=acupuncturist

[lizzyrose]

Thanks Eva!
I actually just saw that post after I posted mine and I love the info. you included. That helps a ton!! I'm going to have to go check out that book and Gabriel Cousens book.

[Veganforlife]

lizzyrose - 'ya gotta remember too that if you "heal" yourself by eating raw, you won't be going back to the "doc", and they don't want that. They want to keep you as a patient. I know. My thyroid specialist I bet is STILL scratching his head as to how I did it. Was told many times, "Oh eating those foods have nothing to do with your numbers improving..." Hello? It has EVERYTHING to do with it...
Good luck!

[Eva]

Ah, and as for meat -- I remember reading about the dairy side of it (so, well, I guess that's not meat), that the ONLY warming dairy product was organic butter. The rest wouldn't help... And even the butter was NOT recommended unless ALL of the vegan options were not enough.

[Raw Angel Mom]

I was cold too on JULY, LOL.... This absolutely normal and trust your gut feeling. I think this is because you are detoxing and also losing body fat. The cold thing is normal and your body will adapt and you will be actually to be able to tolerate the weather better. I am not cold on winter neither hot on summer, so trust raw food.

Now sadely, accupuncturist and some natural therapist, do not believe in raw food. I would go see someone that do raw food instead not the ones that eat cook food. I am sure that you can find someone.

Now, you can eat room temperature food, or even warm it up with your dehydrator. Since you live in florida. I would take my ingredient out of the fridge one hour prior to make your dish. There are all kind of way to eat warm food. You can also let your vegetable sit in in the sun before making your food, etc... Except for salad for it would get soft and loose the crisp.

I suffer of Chronique fatigue too, and now i have a lot of energy since raw food. You may still experience fatigue, because you will detoxe but this is again normal, it just mean that you body wants you to sleep in order to heal and do some repair.

I did some colonic therapy and my therapist wanted to me to start eating fish oil, dairy and meat :confused: This is crazy. I just couldn't believe this. Sometime, you need to stand your ground and believe in you versus other opinion.

Some people are still program with old believes and it makes it difficult to go with our intuition but if we do listen to this little voice, it brings freedom and guide us on the right path for us.

Take what resonnates and leave the rest.

Hugs to you!

[carolg]

Vegan and all are right here. Doctors want you in bondage and depending on their services in exchange for your money. They don't want you well, but their job is to make you believe that as they keep you coming for years and years. To warm up the body what about ginger or cayenne. I wonder why the acupuncturist forgot to tell you that. Now you are student of learning daily about raw foods and life, so make choices that help you keep you from the vultures as they are not cheap in most cases so to me the best word is vultures. Of course not all the same way, but still if you can't afford to pay for their services, they quickly don't discount to help you. I'm sure there are many who have your interest in mind, but from my experience my new dentist does have my pocketbook in mind and he gets paid of course but also gets rewarded in pickles, foods, homemade raw stuff, plus since they love junk food and convenience sometimes with junk food they embrace. They are not changing to raw but know my position.

Feel GREAT!

If I had listened to my husband's doctor he suddenly found when he had epilepsy attack, one time, over 30 years back, he would be still on Dilantin and possibly dead. I took charge and in 6 weeks totally healed. I was naive, called the doctor's office to tell them, and their comment: keep him on the Dilantin. I became history after 10 days of putting hubby to a near death experience by Dilantin--the silent killer that could have been his. He's still free and mainly eats today raw, but back then we switched to vegan immediately.

carolg

[Ilse W.]

Liver -
Carrot juice and carrot/apple juice are very good for the liver, as is dandelion juice or tea, dandelion root tea, dandelion greens in your smoothie (not too much, they are bitter), and especially milk thistle extract (Silymarin) in capsules.
Circulation -
I don't know that much about things to help circulation, but I imagine a rebounder would help a lot to get stagnant blood and lymph going. I'm sure someone on this forum knows about heating foods that help with circulation.

I find that everybody (so called professionals) out there are biased towards their particular method of healing. Listen to your own body. You said you feel better already. Give it time to improve even more.

[Coconutcutie]

I received the same "cold,damp" diagnosis as you did by a TCM practitioner/acupuncturist last October. I wasn't fully into raw at the time, so when he told me all raw foods were weakening to me and told me I should be eating the cooked diet that you have described I went for it. I spent my winter eating small amounts of organic meats with each meal, along with lots of cooked grains, steamed or stir-fried veggies, no fruit, etc. Nothing raw passed my lips for almost 4 months. He also gave me herbs to make into a tea that cost me $45 per week, so after 2 months of using those I had to drop them due to the fact that we were going broke.

The result? I put on some weight (this was a good thing though), was more fatigued, became extremely depressed, my skin constantly broke out, and I was freezing all of the time despite living in a temperate climate... I have other health circumstances that could have caused these issues, but let's just say that the cooked diet did not produce an improvement in my health whatsoever. In late March of this year I did a 180 after finding more info on raw foods and the healing potential with them and I went 100% raw overnight. I do feel much better on raw then I did on the all-cooked diet I suffered through this winter.

I do plan to include more warming spices in my fall/winter eating, and also to eat slightly less fruit and use the dehydrator more.

Needless to say, I don't plan on going back to that acupuncturist (for more than this reason though), and I plan to stick with raw for life despite the "well-meaning" anti-raw advice I may get in my wellness journey

[Stina]

My boyfriend is an acupuncturist and teaches at the Oriental College of Medicine. He initially chewed my ear off but all of these ancient Chinese theories about what's wrong with the raw food diet.
But guess what? He's slowly going raw with me. He couldn't deny the results he was experiencing as he started to incorporate raw foods into his diet.

Dr. Gabriel Cousens successfully refutes these erroneous theories if you can wade through his medical literature.

:)

[cara4art]

Another reason traditional Chinese medicine and Ayurvedic medicine tell people not to eat raw a lot is that in much of Asia, it is not safe to even eat raw foods, hence the whole cuisines there tend to be largely cooked. And a traditional practitioner will keep saying don't do raw. Now, I've gotten a lot of benefit out of acupuncture treatments, but when they tell me that I should be eating meat, I let it go in one ear and out the other.
But a more modern and eclectic practitioner is well aware of raw and it's healing powers and will often suggest incorporating more raw vegan foods into one's diet, all the way up to advocating 100%, depending.
I have a friend in Hawaii who went through the whole training at Five Branches Institute(major accredited acupuncture school in Santa Cruz, CA)and she has her practice, and although well-versed in the traditional Chinese dietary recommendations, she advocates raw a lot, and incorporates major amounts of raw for herself and her husband. One area that is of great interest to her is detoxification from drugs, cigarettes, alcohol, chemical exposures, etc. and we KNOW how detoxifying the raw lifestyle is! They are both major Astanga yoga practitioners as well.
So take heart - there's tons of support here!

[RawHeaven]

You know I very much respect eastern medicine and traditional chinese medicine and philosophy. Afterall I'm a certified feng shui master and I've spent a considerable amount of time in China and studying ancient practices. I also went to an acupuncturist during my leg recovery who helped me so much. I mean really helped me keep my faith that I would get well, moreso than westernn medicine. He was treating my entire body, soul, spirit etc.

HOWEVER, lol...you knew this was coming...I think you have to keep any healing practice in perspective and take it with a grain of salt. Most healers trained in Chinese medicine are not keen on raw foods. It's just the way it is. I don't agree with it, but they believe it's not good for you. They mean well, but you have to realize their beliefs are based on 6000 years or more of practice. It's not gonna change overnight.

I believe you need to listen to your soul and the results you're receiving eating raw foods. I don't need anyone to tell me that cooked foods no longer support my body, my life or goals no matter who they are and what they're saying to me. I'm paying attention to me and how I'm feeling. No matter how strong their argument is or how brilliant and loving they may be, the answers are right in front of me.

I think any healing practioner is an amazing person and I really do respect them, but not all will be the best for you. If you're working with someone who is not supporting your beliefs and philosophy, find someone else or learn to trust your own intuition and innate healing information. I lucked out and was blessed. Although my acupunturist believes that raw foods are not the best he trusts I know what I'm doing and we work together. We don't preach to each other and it works. I think he's slowly coming around, haha.

There are too many ways to heal for one way to be "right". I think that's why there is variety and choice. :D And keep in mind not all acupuncturists will point you in the wrong direction - some are opening up to greater possibilities in healing.

Cara4art is correct about how the no raw foods mind frame started, but things are changing in Asia as well and it's becoming safer to eat raw foods. But we're HERE, where it's okay to eat raw foods and some who study chinese medicine are beginning to open their minds to other possibilities. At least the ones that I know who are located in the Bay Area.

Lizzyrose, sorry you had that experience, but most experiences come into our lives to wake us up and educate us. Now you know. And I bet you learned a lot in the process and have grown because of it. You now have more proof for yourself that raw works for you. hahaa. I'm glad you're doing well.

[ALICIA21]

I started raw 3 months ago and have been pretty darn close to 100%. It started as a quest to combat fatigue, lack of mental clarity and headaches -- and I'm always freezing even though i live in florida!!. I've been feeling "better" but not 100% so my quest continues. I've now gone to both an acupuncturist and an herbalist who have both told me according to chinese medicine, i have a "cold, dampness" in my organs, liver not working properly to clean the blood, and poor circulation. With these symptoms, they say raw food is the worst thing I can do.
I'm supposed to be eating warm soups, rice/oats/grains, steamed veggies and meat (UGH!)
I don't want to give it up Raw completely so I'm trying to find a happy medium...

Any suggestions for how to keep raw food in my diet while still getting 'warm" foods too??


If you continue to eat organic herbs you will always have energy.

[Marco]

I am by no means a doctor, but I would recommend doing what you feel is right inside you. Mother Nature has a way of taking care of those that trust their instincts.

[rawstrength]

As Joseph Campbell (American scholar and philospher) would always say, "follow your bliss."

If raw is working for you, then you can disregard what your acupuncturist/herbalist says.
How do you know that what worked for the Chinese thousands of years ago will work for you today, in your specific circumstances?

[annavon]

Gabriel Cousens book "onscious Eating" addresses raw food from a Chinese perspective (as well as Ayervedic). The book is quite large, but full of extremely informative information.