Need Help re: Raw & Fruitless Diet

[JumpinJax]

Hi,

I am about to embark on the worst diet of all - the fruitless raw diet, but I need some help. I'm about 95% raw at the moment and for the next couple of weeks will work my way up to the full 100%. I really need to start eating less sweet fruit and take care of my terrible yeast problem. I know this is a controversial topic whether to cut out fruits or fat, but I plan on cutting back on both. I worry that I won't have enough protein and minerals/vitamins.

This is what I'll eat:
all greens
cucumbers
bell peppers
onions
garlic
celery
broccoli
cauliflower
cabbage
lemon
carrots (limited)
avocado (very limited)
sea vegetables

Is this even enough nutrient rich food? I am worried I will do damage to myself if I am starving my body. I do have to be very strict until I can get this yeast to a manageable level.

Can anyone help with advice? I am sure going to miss fruit!!!!

Thanks in advance,
Jaclyn

[Sweet lips]

Are you willing to take probiotics? to assist with your yeast problem. While, I eat mostly veggie, I do have some fat in my diet. Have you seen Gabriel Cousen's book, he lays out a very managable plan and I would highly suggest that for you - as you do not want to do harm. Good fats are needed.

[Sharon in Colorado]

I know there are different takes on what to do for candida.

That said, if you are going to completely cut out fruit, you aren't going to get the calories you need to function, then you'll turn to fat to make up the difference.

A calorie is made up of carbs, protein and/or fat. Fruit is very rich in carbs. Vegetables and greens are not. They have all the protein you need and they're chock full of minerals but you'd have to eat a garbage bin full of greens daily to be satisfied, and to get your body's needed caloric intake.

Now here's where the fat comes in. Since you won't be getting nearly enough calories without the help of fruit, you will start eating fats to make up for it.

Please understand that this has nothing to do with not watching calories since you are raw. It's just science & how your body works. You NEED calories to function and for energy. When you don't get it, you will get tired, hungry, cranky, etc. Sure you can go on veggies and greens for a limited time, but if it isn't giving you enough energy you will get run down very quickly.

This could possibly work if you are in mostly rest mode, but for an active lifestyle your body requires carbs to function.

Fat is a bigger issue with candida because it keeps sugars in your body longer. It would be easier to avoid fat and eat fruit, even lower sugar fruit, with greens and veggies combined properly.

Hope that helps and doesn't offend.

[VeggieMel]

I also eat very little fruit. When a fruitless diet was recomended to me I thought it would be really tough, but I really like it now. I'd recommend that you put seeds, sprouts and some nuts into your diet. You can make great seed cheeses out of sunflower and sesame seeds, and they are high protein, and they are also FILLING which is so important to staying raw. Sprouts are full of minerals, not to mention that buckwheat sprouts and quinoa sprouts are high in protein. Also, why do you want to eat carrots? They are very sugary.

[Gosia]

it is impossible to cut both on fruit and fat. You need energy, say it is about 2000 calories. You will not be able to get abywhere near that if you exclude both fruit and fat. And, yes, you are right to suspect that you might be depriving yourself of crucial nutrition. However, maybe an experiment like this will be helpful in learning something about nutrition. Just please, do not do it for too long. Take care,
Gosia.

[redfinch57]

I tried to cut out fruit for one day to get rid of my candida symptoms and couldn't stand it. The next day I cut out nuts and it was much easier and I feel better already. I did not wake up with a foggy head at all, and do not feel tired. If I start craving nuts, then I will listen to my body and eat them in smaller quantities (I was eating quite a few when I first went raw) to make sure that I get all my body needs.

Rachel

[Helen Of Tennessee]

Hi Jumpin Jax,

I know of two methods that are used for Candida. Dr. Doug Graham's - no fat but eat fruit and then there is one by a man with the last name Couisens. I'm hoping someone knows his first name; his website; and or book. He has had success with cutting out all fruit, which is the route you are wanting to try. If someone can get his full name to you or his website, I'm sure you can get the info you need for your Candida problem following his protocol.

I know that different people have had success with both ways, so all you can do is try both ways and see which one works best for you. I hope it's not long until you're feeling much better!

<>< Helen of Tennessee

[Rawkinlocs]

Helen, I think you're referring to Gabriel Cousens and the book, "Rainbow Green Diet" (or something like that) or is it "Conscious Eating"...yeah, I think it's the latter.

I also have bouts with candida in the form of oral thrush and sometimes yeast infections. I get flair ups:

1. When I eat cooked foods, mainly junk food
2. When I eat a lot of nuts
3. When I eat a lot of fruit/nut combos

But when I eat mostly fruit and little-to-no nuts, I am great!

[Helen Of Tennessee]

Hi Rawkinlocs,

Yes! That's him. Thanks.

So Jumpin Jaxs, if you want to cut fruit out to try to correct your Candida, then do a search on Gabriel Cousens and he'll have the info you'll need.

I think I read his program does take a little while long than Dr. Grahams. Dr. Grahams way is about 3-4 weeks. If my memory serves me right, I think in Gabriel Cousens, you cut fruit out for 6 weeks, or was it 2 months? Then there's other steps in the program. I've heard good on both protocols.

<>< Helen of Tennessee

[Sharon in Colorado]

Yes, you have to abstain from either one or the other. Your body wouldn't get adequate calories doing both.

I recall reading about a girl named Lucy on Graham's board. After cutting out all fats for something like 2 weeks she felt much better. She used the lower sugar fruits in the beginning. When I tried to access that thread, it had been changed to another thread, but you can still ask around or do a search on his raw & sports board at vegsource.com

I did find this:

I have candida or a yeast infection. How can I eat so much fruit?

Excess fat is the culprit in candida, not sugar, per se. When fat levels in the blood rise, so does blood sugar, because excess fat inhibits insulin from performing its function of escorting sugar out of the bloodstream. The excess fat lines the blood vessel walls, the cells, insulin receptor sites, the sugar molecules themselves, and the insulin with a thin coating of fat, thus blocking and inhibiting normal metabolic activity.

Too much sugar in the blood is as life threatening as too little and can result in serious illness or death. Yeast, or candida, is a constant presence in the blood; it serves as a life preservation mechanism, blooming when there is an excess of sugar in the blood stream to bring blood sugar down to a non-threatening level. When the sugar is distributed and used by the cells of the body, the yeast quickly dies off as it is supposed to.

If fat levels stay chronically high due to a poor diet, sugar will remain in the bloodstream and feed the large candida colonies instead of feeding the 18 trillion cells of your body. Starved for fuel, these cells can no longer metabolize energy, and you become tired, and feel rundown. Because all carbohydrate, fat, and protein that we eat is converted to simple sugar (glucose) if it is to be used by the cells for fuel, the way out of this cycle is not to eat less sugar, but to consume less fat. When fat levels drop, the sugar starts to get processed and distributed again, and the yeast levels drop because there is no longer excess sugar available.

from: http://www.foodnsport.com/mambo2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=35&Itemid=25

[Jackie1995]

Also, you may consider juicing!

This technique is great to
1) give your body a break
2) allow you to "eat" lots and LOTS of veggies with not too much pulp (depends on your juicer)(but they're all pretty good at cutting out the majority of the pulp)
3) get that "full" feeling, so you're not starving
4) try out lots of different combinations to get some really satisfying tastes
5) feed your body lots of nutrients in a very easy to digest manner

I do a juice fast for about 5 days every two months (it started out every month, but vacations knocked me off schedule).

Also, this week I realized I'm craving some down home juicing, so I've done a 32 ounce juice every day. Carrots, bok choy, celery, cucumbers, beets, stuff like that, sometimes an apple, but no other fruits this week, and I'm feeling very good.

I wish you luck, but want to congratulate you on being on the right track.

I mean, without our bodies, we're not here! So we really need to take as best care as we can of them!

Have fun experimenting!
Jackie