Deficiencies

[Mango134]

So I have been working more and more raw foods into my diet over the past year, my goal has been to be 100% and I never make it at 100% for more than five days at a time. I have been vegetarian for 16 years now and never once been deficient in anything. Trust me, doctors thought I was bound to be deficient in something while growing up and checked my blood religiously... I was always fine. Over the past year of incorporating more raw foods and phasing out dairy, at first I felt so much better. Towards the past 4-6 months, I started feeling extremely tired and weak, my hair has been falling out, lots of headaches, some shakiness. They thought something was wrong with my thyroid, it was fine. Doctors have continued to monitor my blood and just recently found I have low potassium, they of course put me on potassium pills which I was not happy about but have been taking them, now my calcium is also low. I have to admit that I have been feeling better since taking the potassium. I'm not near as tired, haven't had shakiness, and less headaches and hair falling out. I thought I had been eating soo much better this past year, why all the problems now? Anyone have any input on all this? It would be much appreciated!

[Aleesha Sattva]

I have no idea. I do know that my blood work is stellar. Perhaps look at what you are eating that isn't raw... and removing those items from your diet.

Chia seeds are high in calcium... adding a tablespoon or two a day (soaked) would be a great idea!

As for your potassium levels... why not add an avocado and a few bananas a day and start drinking cantaloupe juice (or eating it). Those are all really high in potassium.

[Aleesha Sattva]

one more thing... do you take probiotics? because if your body isn't absorbing your nutrients that can be an issue. so get a good quality probiotic and start taking it daily!

[Mango134]

I do not take probiotics. I really do feel like I'm just not absorbing nutrients which scares me because I have no clue what is going on. I eat bananas like crazy, always have. Everyone laughed when I told them I was low in potassium because everyone knows how many bananas I eat. Tons of greens. I eat avocados but not regularly, and not cantelope regularly. It just seems like everything I put into me has potassium. The day I had got blood work done that showed I was low in potassium, all I had ate was two bananas that morning. I will def try the chia seeds and more avocados and cantelope though! Thanks for the quick input Aleesha!

[Aleesha Sattva]

definitely get some probiotics. i loooove garden of life - it's super high quality and more expensive but soooooooo worth it!!!

[kaleboy]

do you juice much ? although bananas are high in potassium because they are solid you may not be getting much if you are having absorbtion and digestion problems. Naturally if you are not getting enough Potassium then the electrolyte in your body is not up to scratch and pretty much nothing works then.

So probably the best way to fix / by pass this is on rising before anything have freshly squeezed carrot, celery and beet juice and mix it with a cup of coconut water.

This is basically an injection of pure bio water straight into you body after the nights fast and may just work for you :)

[Mary Kay]

Sounds like you've gotten some great advice so far! My potassium was also a little on the low side, and so I started taking dulse, which to the best of my knowledge, has about the highest potassium around.

Then to boost all my minerals, I pretty much have wheatgrass every day lately.

I also believe in a couple supplements, which I take, but not religiously:

Young Living's Mineral Essence --tastes nasty --a liquid, but I put it in water.

Ionic water soluble angstrom minerals. I think the best deal is from a co. called Complete H20 Minerals. I buy their Body Foundation, minus the vitamins. It contains a great mixture of minerals. You can also buy them individually - like you can get a quart of potassium for around $30.

I also occasionally take azomite - a powder in water (thanks for the reminder --haven't done in a bit)


Mary Kay

[Mango134]

I don't juice much besides some fruit juicing. Believe me I would love some veggie juice in my life. However, I have a jack lalanne and it just doesn't work well for veggies, you get nothing out of it and it clogs up. So I only use it for fruit juicing every now and then. Hopefully someday I will have enough saved up for a good juicer. I am also not very knowledgable on juicing and juice fasting. I need to do more research. Although the input on electrolytes is useful and I thank you! I will at least make sure to get more coconut water in my diet asap!

[Mango134]

I recently spoke with a dietician who looked at my bloodwork and thinks i'm not getting enough protein and iron. crazy. so she said when you have low iron, you tend to be thirsty a lot and it makes you drink a lot.... i drink an insane amount of water, its by my side 24/7 and i'm constantly sipping on it. well all that water is flushing everything out (potassium and calcium). i already eat nuts everyday plus have a green smoothie and generally a large salad daily. apparently its not enough for me.
just wanted to update in case anyone else started having or does have similar issues

[kjduf]

You can juice out of your vita mix. I have a champion juicer but hate juicing greens through it. I have tried cutting it up in small pieces and it just seems like I don't get anything out of it. So I put kale and rainbow chard in my vita mix and added some water and a apple. After it was a smoothie I drained it over a mesh strainer and whala I have my juice. I don't drink it in the smoothie form cause for some reason my body isn't loving that right now.

As for the pulp I am going to try to make a soup and see how it goes. Hopefully it will be good cause I hate wasting food.

[rawnhealthy]

Lots of great input. thought I'd also mention that when our colons are not functioning well, over the years there can be layers of waste that prevents the body from absorbing nutrients properly. Some people have had luck with colon hydrotherapy, doing an internal cleanse to get back on track.
I personally have had a lot of success with this, but of course it is a personal choice. Just thought I'd bring it up:heart