Diarrhea Compromising Raw Diet...HELP!

[RawInNOVA]

Hi,
I have a problem...and sorry in advance for the topic. But I really need advice!

I've been high raw vegan for several weeks (since Aug 2010), and was doing really well on it. I am convinced it's the path for me (or was), since it seems to be helping alleviate pain from the auto immune disorder that I have. It wasn't hard for me to start or maintain (about 80% raw from the very start...sometimes more like 90%). I did go through a period of detox initially, including diarrhea, but I thought things were leveling out. Then I tried to kick it up a notch by introducing new raw foods into my diet. The morining I put raw Kale in my morning smoothie (instead of spinach), all heck broke loose. That same day I tried Chia. Now I have really bad diarrhea that is not letting up. It was so bad I had to take Pepto, which I really didn't want to do.

When that didn't help, I decided I'd better eat something cooked to solidify things, so I ate rice and buckwheat noodles over the course of a couple of meals and cut back on my raw for two days. It seems to be helping.

Meanwhile, I'm really concerned about continuing my raw lifestyle. I want to continue but don't want to compromise my health (I have enough other issues to deal with).

Have any of you experienced this? If so, what is your advice about having chronic diarrhea on the raw diet? Is this something serious or something that can easily be controlled?

I start each day with a green smoothie (spinach, frozen blurberries, banana, hemp protein powder, water, cocout kefir). I get tons of probiotics in kefir and supplements. I eat banana at least once a day if not more.

Perhaps I need a lower percentage of raw? Or maybe it's the combining of foods? I have made an appt with a nutritionist who knows raw and hope she can help. NOTE: My doc it against my following a raw food diet.

Thanks for any advice you can provide.

[Dimond]

Welcome RawInNOVA. :) What do you typically eat that isn't raw? Because you have an auto immune disorder, there may be certain foods you can't eat right away but may be able to at a later time when you've healed some. You may find it beneficial to do some type of cleanse before being raw or high raw to help get rid of some of the toxins before you add in more healthy foods. Juice feasting is one option.

[Aleesha Sattva]

I would suggest you begin P&B shakes! Here's some info for ya:

http://www.astrodreamadvisor.com/Body_B&P.html

And as for reducing the amount of raw... Cooked food is not health... so stick with the raw foods that your body is enjoying, remove the cooked foods and be patient. Gift your body the time it needs to heal.

Cause it won't heal overnight. It needs time, energy and nutrition... and that is raw live foods!

[RawInNOVA]

Hi Diamond,
Thanks for the warm welcome!

Before yesterday, I was almost 100 percent raw vegan on most days of the week (with the exception of condiments and my supplements), but for one dinner out every so often I'd have sushi, so that would be rice and fish. I've already cut out dairy, red meat, corn, sugar, wheat product...anything processed. However, I am concerned that the many supplements I'm taken for my autoimmune disorder (as prescribed by my doc) are not all vegan.

I agree I may have to do a fast and then an rotation diet to identify offending foods. I hope to work with my new nutritionist to do that.

Meanwhile, is there anything raw I can take to help the issue I'm having? More bananas I guess?

[ArcturusXIV]

I would suggest you begin P&B shakes! Here's some info for ya:

http://www.astrodreamadvisor.com/Body_B&P.html

And as for reducing the amount of raw... Cooked food is not health... so stick with the raw foods that your body is enjoying, remove the cooked foods and be patient. Gift your body the time it needs to heal.

Cause it won't heal overnight. It needs time, energy and nutrition... and that is raw live foods!

Oh boi! A penny!?

I had a dream yesterday that I swallowed some sort of wooden object as a child (maybe a linkin log? Can't remember.) Do you believe in prophecy? Maybe it's time to get on this cleanse.

[ArcturusXIV]

As far as diarrhea, it is sad to let something that simple sabotage you when I have Crohn's disease! I get make up to 25 bowel movements a day, including all night, when I have an attack! YIKES.

I knew a guy once that wouldn't go raw because he worked on telephone wires and was afraid going to the bathroom more often would sabotage his job. What a silly reason! Your health is more important. Go for it!

[RawInNOVA]

Hi, thanks for the input. I should probably be more clear. The diahrrea has gone beyond a mere inconvenience. At this point, I feel my health is in danger. I won't go into gross detail, but this is just not about inconvenient rest stop issues.

Perhaps I've caught a bug of some sort. I guess I'll just keep up the raw as best I can and see what happens. Dunno.

I guess I shouldn't be too surprised because way before I even know what the raw diet was, I had problems when I ate too much "roughage". Now all I eat is roughage. Are there just some medical issues where a person cannot tolerate raw (ie IBS or other similar?)

[Shels]

Many people have healed IBS by going raw (or even just vegan). This could just be part of your transition, but there does seem to be a bug going around lately as well.

[RawInNOVA]

Just a quick update: Both my doc and raw nutritionist have advised me to add more healthy cooked food back into my diet. I've added some buckwheat noodles, rice & bean, oatmeal, some Ezekiel toast...just occassionally. I was worried that I've had reactions to some of these, but I have not...maybe I don't have food sensitivities after all?

I will still try for my green supersmoothie every morning, raw fruit snacks and salads every day. Mostly the cooked foods are consumed at dinner time. This has helped the problem immensely, although I'm still not completely "right as rain".

It saddens me that I'll have limits to my raw journey. It has definitely changed how I look at food now. I feel like when I eat cooked foods it's just dead bulk. I guess if I keep portions small and pile it high with veggies, I'm still doing better than I was before Raw when I ate nothing but dead food all the time.

<sigh>

[RawInNOVA]

Also, I am having symptoms of Candida. Perhaps this is the issue? Could detox from being raw bring Candida problems to surface?

[MyHealtherMe]

Sounds like normal detox. Push through it. Get a colonic and eat a bit of steamed broccoli. Once you get it out it's out. When you move back to a cooked whole food diet it stops detox and detox symptoms - which can be necessary - but don't stay there! Clearly you have something you need to clean out of you! That's why the diarrhea.
Slow it down and then get back to it (whether that be a day, a week, or a few months). Remember to get back to DETOX!!
Oh.. and don't go too far down.. stay with whole foods and high raw :)
Peace & Love

[Bobbo]

My husband went through the same thing when he started eating raw. I think this is your body cleansing itself because my husband doesn't have this problem anymore unless he eats something bad. Keep eating raw and drink plenty of water.

[Raw Angel Mom]

If you have this problem, this mean that you need to stick to raw food even more.

Perhaps, consider fasting, it is a great way to resolve any digestive issue.

You will have to start slow and see what work for you, meaning, don't mix too much food, just to see which one seem ok for you.

Stay away from cook food. Commit for 30 days at the very least.

There is a tendency to go back of what we were raise with when something doesn't go smooth with raw food. I am the first one that did that because i went underweight my first year and guess what, even i did brown rice and steam vegetable, it didn't work for me and ended up with physical fatigue again. It is only when i started to do detox and later on fasting that finally, my digestion normalized. It was far better then previously on cook food but when i started the detox, it when i saw more significant change.

Some people, look great and heal quickly, others it requires patience. Don't forget, we have abused our body with cook food for a very long time, and not to count that i my time, mothers didn't nurse their child and give them formula and even allowed that their tonsil being removed at age 5. Not to count all the second hand smoking that was a style then and consider armless when you were pregnant. We need to be patient with raw food and allow the process to take place. The good news we will get there with raw food but if we go back to our old way, their will be a delay.

So have faith in raw food and keep trying different food. Try to learn your body. Consider juicing with fresh herbs (parsley, dandelion, plantain, cilantro, water cress, etc.....). Many of these herbs are great kidney/liver cleanser.

You deserve to be radiant of health and beauty, raw food will guide you there.

All the best!