Sunflower Seed Hangovers uh!

[Murray]

I guess you could say I have developed a recent addiction to Sunflower Seeds...
I have been raw for 6 years, and am going through a phase where I am wanting heavier foods, thus the sunflower seeds.
During the day it's just fruit for me, but for dinner I eat a mega-salad - loaded (ie 2-3 cups worth) with sprouted and "cheesed" (fermented) sunflower seeds. Inevitably, the next day I wake up feeling sluggish. It's obviously partly the excess oils I'm consuming, but I wonder if it's also some kind of sunflower allergy?
When I eat unsoaked sunflower seeds, I feel even more hungover.
Does anyone else get this?
Thanks for your help!

[Dimond]

It's likely just too many fats. Try cutting back to 1/2 or 1 cup to see what happens. Though sometimes you need to stay away from a problem food for a bit.

The other culprit could be if they're not truly raw and organic. Sunflower Seeds are usually easy to get raw though.

[Murray]

Thanks, Dimond. Yes, time to get disciplined and cut back...
The seeds definitely are raw though, because they sprout like a charm!

The other thing that kills me - and so I rarely do it - is mixing raisins and sunflower seeds. Man is this delicious! But oils and sweet/dried fruit... as I say, it kills me the next day.

It's funny, many of the raw food deserts merrily combine seeds and dried fruit. It seems some people can handle it. Not me! From what I've read, too, the oils hold the sugar in your system for longer, and necessitates extra insulin production too. Or something like that...

[juliebove]

Just a thought, but... Could you be diabetic? The symptoms you describe sound like they could be diabetes. At any rate, it does sound like you are eating far too many seeds at one time. I generally aim for a handful of nuts or seeds at once. Yeah, I eat more than that sometimes, but not usually.

[Springtime]

The other thing that kills me - and so I rarely do it - is mixing raisins and sunflower seeds. Man is this delicious! But oils and sweet/dried fruit... as I say, it kills me the next day.


Oh, god those rasins and sunflower seeds are delicious together! But i totally agree on the hang-over thing, I get that too. I can't have more than 1/2 cup sunflower seeds at the same time or i'll feel terrible, nauseous and sick.

One good thing this lead to, though, is that when i really indulged in the rasin/sunflower combo one day i just felt awful and didn't wanna eat anything the next day - which got me into juicing! So if it wasn't for the sticky feeling of having had too many seeds in one day, i woud have never discovered the joys of juice!

[raw_danceruk]

I get the same if eat seeds and nuts... now its a very rare treat

IMO anything that drains my energy isnt worth eating!

the odd bit of cashew butter..I dont buy nuts or seeds!

that "hangover" isnt worth it.. indication to me that its less than optimal for me personally.

[Murray]

Thanks guys for your support. It seems I am not in this boat alone...

Yes, you're so right - eating energy-drainers are just not worth it. Too may seeds is a bad habit, and as we know, habits are actually not THAT hard to break... 2-3 days of denying oneself the pleasures of old habits and the habit is pretty much a thing of the past (in my experience).

I know how much better I feel when I cut oils out of my diet. I know many people stress the importance of oils, and many people can probably metabolise oils better than me...

But my feeling is we can get what we need from greens. Roll on the green smoothie and mega (un-oiled) salad!

[Murray]

Raw vegans are stupid? Mmm, I don't think intelligence - or lack of it - really comes into it.

What I would say is:

Raw vegans are...

-Disciplined
-Healthy
-Nature-conscious
-Full of life
-In tune with their bodies - and hopefully their minds too (!)
-Compassionate