Taming the appetite

[rosehiptea]

I am having a much easier time staying raw this time because I have something that is taming my appetite. I have had chronic pain and fatigue for 23 years now so I went to a naturopath a few weeks ago. She did some allergy testing and we are waiting for that to come back. In the meantime she put me on a seed rotation and I eat these seeds every day. The best thing is that I feel much less moody and my appetite is normal for the first time in years.

I really think I was craving EFA's and I just never felt like I had eaten enough.
Now I am never hungry and I don't have to eat very much at all. That has sometimes been the hardest part about staying raw.

I have a TBSP each of pumpkin and flax and 1 TBSP Cod liver oil.
Then about mid cycle I have 1 TBSP each of sesame and sunflower along with a GLA capsule. I have only been following this for 2 weeks but I have been feeling much better and have no problem staying mostly raw now.
I grind the seeds in a coffee grinder and mix them with a little nut butter till they stick together. Then spread them on celery or raw bread or crackers or sometimes just mix them with dates and coconut and make seed balls and
eat them that way.

Today I just haven't been hungry. I ate the seedmix for breakfast with some grapes, had a few more grapes in the car and just finished 20 ounces of fresh carrot juice. I haven't been hungry all day and it feels nice not to feel like I always want to be eating especially the wrong things. What relief to finally be taming my appetite.

[goobygirl]

Ewww. cod liver oil. I'd rather not. Glad it's working for you, but there are good vegan, plant based substitutes for CLO.

[rawstrength]

I'm so glad that you've found what works for you. EFAs really make a world of a difference. For many (myself included) they help heal mental/psychological disorders.

There are terrific vegan substitutes for cod liver oil. Where does a codfish get her EFAs? By eating algae! If you do the vegan EFAs then you will get all the goodness of fish, whilst sparing yourself from the heavy metals (fish is contaminated with mercury) and saving the fish from a cruel and untimely death. I like Omega Zen vegetarian DHA extract. Also, red algae and blue-green algae has fantastic EFAs. Unlike the omega-3s in flax seed and pumpkin seed, the EFAs in algae do not have to be converted by your liver. They are all-around terrific.

Save a fish; eat algae!

[HolyGuacamole]

Yeah, EFAs rule.

I'm glad something's working for you and you're feeling better!

[spicyfull]

Food is Always the answer. I am so Happy you have such a terrific Doctor.

[rosehiptea]

Thank you all for you help with the Cod Liver Oil question.
The only reason I am taking it is because I have had pain and fatigue for so long with increasing problems Ie a heart arrhythmia that I am willing to follow
her suggestions right now. I would rather take the cod liver oil and Thank the
Cod for helping me right now then to go on drugs to control the arrhythmia.

I will definitely check out the plant based alternatives to the Cod liver oil.
I guess I never really thought about there being an alternative but I already
have chlorella on hand and take that. Maybe some of the other algaes will
help . I can ask her if she can help me to find an alternative to the Cod liver
oil that is plant based and I am sure she will at least try.

I did mention to her that I had been doing a raw dieta and she wasn't supportive of that. I have just started going to her after years of just dealing
with it.

BUT I am so confident that Raw will heal my problems that I am going to stick with it.For now she is helping me to get more balanced and even just that one suggestion has made a world of difference for me.

I am a little upset with myself because I already was following a lot of the things she suggested and yet I wasn't trusting myself. At least she isn't pushing a bunch of supplements on me. She is using diet and food allergy testing and I am sure all of that will help me to get turned around.

At the same time I already KNOW that a raw diet will and is already bringing
about the changes I need.

[rosehiptea]

In his book, Dr. Rudin (see below) points out that most Omega-3 studies are based on fish oil. Rudin finds this disappointing, as he has had better results with flaxseed oil in his own studies. This may be because flaxseed oil starts with the plant form of linolenic acid, ALA (alpha linolenic acid), whereas fish oil contains the animal form, DHA (docosahexaenoic acid). The body makes its own DHA and EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) from ALA. Although some claim that the amount of DHA made is small, the body doesn't need much DHA. Most DHA is contained in cell membranes, and is held there with little replacement. In contrast, ALA and compounds made from it are also needed in the body for a number of essential functions. Fish oil cannot provide ALA, and therefore deprives the consumer of this critical compound. Some people feel that they need DHA or EPA as a supplement, and that's their personal choice. However, most sources covering the different types of oil indicate that plant-based Omega-3s, or ALA, is the better choice.

[HolyGuacamole]

So you're doing what you should do, which is take the advice that resonates with you and discarding that which doesn't, such as her disapproval of a raw diet.
And as far as the cod liver oil and even going to the naturopath are concerned, sometimes it's all about mitigation. If something is debilitating, you do what you have to do in the short term to get it under control and then you fine tune things. I think anyone who's had a debilitating condition would understand that. You do what you gotta do.

Best wishes for your continued good health!

[EZ rider]

I have also found the fats in the diet to be very helpful to me in staying all raw. I know many people restrict their fat intake like the 80-10-10 diet but when I do that instead of listening to my body I have problems staying raw. I find it better to listen to my body rather then determine what I eat based on a percentage or any other system that ignores my body signals. I do very well eating avocados as my fat source and I think its because my diet is high in fruit and the avocado is a fruit. I don't eat nuts or oils and I don't eat a lot of seeds, just some of the seeds that come through my kitchen in the foods I eat. When I sense a desire for avocado from my body and I provide that then I feel "right" and raw works for me but when I try to steer my diet from my head rather then from listening to my body then It isn't long before I am no longer satisfied with raw. The problem with not eating raw is that I only feel really good when I am raw so I just listen to my body now and I provide what its signaling for and enjoy feeling good on raw. I guess it all comes down to finding what works.

[EZ rider]

I've just been doing some reading about omega 3 (isn't google great !) and I found that avocado is a good source of omega 3. Here's some info links:

http://www.fatsforhealth.com/library/libitems/getting_thin_on_fat.php
http://www.bipolarworld.net/Treatments/Alternatives/fats.htm
http://naturalmedicine.suite101.com/article.cfm/avocado