Eating enough on 100% raw - need help

[The Sproutarian (Mr Raw)]

l've been 90% raw food half a year and have been feeling much better. Recently l have gone 100% raw and have been feeling terrible. l am not hungry and l don't crave any cooked heavy foods, but since going 100% raw l find that l need to eat much more than comfortable to get to 1,800 calories (trying to reach 2,000 calories seems impossible if l balance my diet well), even then l am still losing too much weight. Surely it isn't natural for humans to have to stuff themselves with so much food.

l've read widely about how 100% raw fooders get calories, but all seem unbalanced and unhealthy to me.

l don't want to consume too much fat because we aren't supposed to (l try to get 20% calories from fat). So l may struggle through drinking 100 grams of nuts and take 4 tablespoons of chia, but l won't have an avocado on the same day because l would be loading up on too much fat. This is supposed to be a long term diet (over 20 years), not a five year diet and then fail and drop out like so many raw fooders do, it needs to be done sensibly without overloading the body.

l don't want to be getting most of my calories from fruit because l feel too much sugar isn't a good thing. This means l must get my calories from grains, nuts, seeds and fruits.

l am finding this article is ringing true:
http://www.beyondveg.com/billings-t/cal-par/calorie-paradox1c.shtml#quantity required
http://www.beyondveg.com/billings-t/cal-par/calorie-paradox1d.shtml
http://www.beyondveg.com/billings-t/cal-par/calorie-paradox1e.shtml



l was trying to eat my way to 2,000 calories but it took about 8 hours eating a day. l now blend my food, but it is filling me up far too much and l feel really off in every way.

Anyone know what l should do to get the calories? Remember, l want the diet balanced...,not too much fat, not too much fruit or 12 banana's each day.



My basic daily diet
* 4 - 5 tablespoons of chia seed
* maybe 2 kg of fruit a day, 20 pieces of fruit (peaches, apples, tomatoes, some melon and other fruits)
* raw sprouted grains (200 grams of unsprouted seed weight) = struggle to get this down. lt fills me up too much and l feel aweful.
* 100 grams of blended soaked nuts = struggle to get it down. lt fills me up and l feel aweful.
* heaps of sprouted greens

How can l eat all this food? l was hoping to down 300grams of grains (could be 700 grams if sprouted). l blend it, but the problem seems worse, fills me up more and makes me feel bad.

l've always had a good appetite, but all this eating required to get enough calories in a balanced form feels un-natural. l can't ignore what my body is saying.

l think l should go back to 90% - 95% raw...getting the extra 300 calories from a large baked potatoe would make all the difference between being a glutton starving on an overly full stomach and a person who eats in moderation but is getting the nutrients required. Eating in excess is bound to shorten anyone's lifespan [l feel].

lf anyone here is really 100% raw and eats the grains, fruits, greens and nuts/seeds, how are you dealing with the problem of consuming excessive bulk?

[Angelgome]

When you say feeling terrible what is it that you mean?

You know I have been researching quite a bit and I personally came to the conclusion of dropping the calorie count paradigm. I find myself to be eating 600 calories a day sometimes and outperforming most people. I have consider that MAYBE just maybe that the calorie system doesn't apply to all lifestyles.

Do you think you might be going through a detox? Believe or not, those last 5 percent make a huge difference. I recommend you implement some juicing in your daily regimen, like a wheatgrass/carrot/celery/ginger juice to help.

Also reconsider your fruit intake, read a bit more on it. Try it yourself eating a lot of fruit for a day. See what your body tells you.

Listen to your body for it is very wise.

[The Sproutarian (Mr Raw)]

When you say feeling terrible what is it that you mean?
Feeling full and feeling like l never want to eat another raw nut or grain for the rest of my life (feeling really put off food). Feeling on a much lower spiritual level. Not as blissful...even stressed and annoyed.





Do you think you might be going through a detox?
Definately not detox, this is a completely different feeling from the many detox symptoms l have experienced over the last 12 years fasting. lt is something to do with the more concentrated foods (2 day old grain sprouts and soaked nuts).


Believe or not, those last 5 percent make a huge difference. I recommend you implement some juicing in your daily regimen, like a wheatgrass/carrot/celery/ginger juice to help.
Yes, my body is telling me this. l started growing my wheatgrass last week....should be ready in a few days. First time i've had it in many years. Used to juice two big trays a day.

When l used to go raw l felt fantastic (best ever). l used to live mainly on green juices, but l was a skeleton and everyone told me l looked sick. Now l look much better, but l don't feel that much better.


Listen to your body for it is very wise.
Yes.




You know I have been researching quite a bit and I personally came to the conclusion of dropping the calorie count paradigm. I find myself to be eating 600 calories a day sometimes and outperforming most people. I have consider that MAYBE just maybe that the calorie system doesn't apply to all lifestyles.
l used to feel the same way....l would love that to be true, but my body is telling me different.

ls your weight stable? Do people comment positively on how well you look? Are you very very thin?

Does anyone else here eat under 1000 calories and can easily sustain weight without being painfully thin?

[sport]

Feeling full and feeling like l never want to eat another raw nut or grain for the rest of my life (feeling really put off food). Feeling on a much lower spiritual level. Not as blissful...even stressed and annoyed.
I do not take either nuts or grains and feel great. I have a horror of grains as I feel that they are the cause of most of the problems that the body encounters. They are alien to us. If you replace your grains with fruit I am prepared to guarantee you that you will feel a whole lot better.
I am having nothing but watermelon for breakfast this morning and I am getting 630 calories and more that 50% of both my mineral and vitamin requirements for the day. I do not have a problem getting 2000 calories per day.

[Psychalone]

I have to say I agree with angelgome on the calorie thing. I of course would take it even further but not in this thread.

It has been the experience of may LONG TERM raw fooders that the calorie requirement diminishes drastically when on a raw food diet. For example, my first "hero" in the raw food movement, Storm Talifero (thegardendiet.com) Started off eating typical gourmet raw vegan, then slowly purified it to more whole foods, juices, nut milks etc. Now he says he mostly just drinks orange juice with the occasional salad. he's now 61(?) and he's still a big dude. Then you have people like Richard Blackman AKA Jericho Sunfire who started fruitarian and his intuition told him to, after a few years, start cutting down on the fruit and go mostly juices and he has maintained a strong physique. The key thing here is that these people exercise and do alot of weight/resistance training, which I think is key to building and maintaining "size". If you were to take any of these raw food guys and have them live a sedentary lifestyle I can guarantee they'd all shrink down to typical "skinny" cliche stereotype bodytypes that we associate with vegans.

Here's another VERY IMPORTANT thing to remember. 80% of the population is obese. What's "normal" and "healthy" here is in fact diseased. So naturally you're going to be rather thin compared to most toxic people if you don't work out. Think about it...most fatties here have alot of mass, yes? What is that mass? Well alot of it is fat, true, but another reason is twofold.
1.) water retention. You notice the same thing in bodybuilders, especially ones that use creatine. They retain water which gives them the appearance of being 'bigger". Of course the body is really retaining water to neutralize/dilute toxicity.
2.) People are inflamed. When you organs are over-taxed they become enlarged, when your colon is toxic it becomes inflamed, the skin retains water and swells.
When you go raw you lose this weight because you're finally able to get rid of and manage all the crap inside. Usually the quick weight loss from fasting and raw food is water weight. First few days is usually water weight. I've found that during fasts My weight stabilizes at 130, never goes below, so usually i'll lose 5lbs in the first 3 days or so and then I just stay at 130.

Also remember if one is healthy and has a low bodyfat % but has no muscle...they are going to look like a skeleton, naturally. This doesn't mean they're unhealthy, it just means they don't have alot of muscle mass. Most people don't, they just have enough fat to make their weight fall into the "normal" range of the doctors inaccurate and faulty scales of "healthy weight". What the hell is healthy weight? As long as your organs are functioning, you have energy and can perform daily tasks and chores, why look to weight to determine health? What if you don't want alot of muscle mass? What if you like being "light"? Are you then "unhealthy" for choosing to be slim? The whole thing is ridiculous.

Go by how you FEEL, now how you look. Shoalin Monks don't look very big compared to US wrestlers or boxers, but they can outperform just about anyone on the planet (except john chang :p). If you're really worried about looks and can't let that go then do some heavy resistance training and you'll start putting on the muscle. I just started doing some and i'm eating roughly 1500 cals a day, mostly from bean sprouts, and already my biceps have doubled in size (though to be fair, they were pretty small before, lol) and i'm already building up mass and definition. I've been eating only kidney bean sprouts bought dry at a local supermarket for $1.50 a bag (one bag contains everything I eat in a day, so try to tell me this is too expensive at $50 a month :p) and i've been supplementing with enzymes, probiotics and algae.

Also the exercise will boost your digestion like you wouldn't believe, and if you use enzymes as well there's nothing you can't handle. I eat about 2-3 cups dry each day in the afternoon. When sprouted thats probably running about 6-8 cups of sprouts. I eat that all in one big meal and handle it just fine because the morning and early noon is excersize time so my system is revved up by the time i eat, and because the sun is at it's ideal position (according to Ayurveda, digestive fire is strongest at noon, when the sun is at it's highest) and i'm supplementing with enzymes, 6-8 cups of sprouts is water on my back, lol.

Don't let the myths of a society stop you from achieving the health and happiness that is your birthright. Listen to your body, it knows best, it is the mind that gets in the way (ask ANY yogi, lol).

[Angelgome]

I do look well. I am still losing fat but I have a lot of muscular definition. I can bench 210 and do my workouts pretty easily even on days that my body tells me to eat low quataties of food.

I am not too big on nuts unless they are soaked for 15 hours and then put onto a food processor for something like a raw lasagna. I even strech it a bit by taking some digestive enzymes when I eat something like that.

[Emiliana]

I may be missing some raw foodist debate thing here, being new and all, but couldn't you add some calorie dense veggies?

I love eating raw beets, sweet potatoes, carrots, parsnips, etc. You can juice them, put them in smoothies, make spiral noodles with them, etc.

Juice, in fact, would be a great way of getting more calories. You seem a bit too worried about fats and sugars--surely your body will tell you what's working and what's not.

[Raw Angel Mom]

We don't need the same amount of calories when you are on 100% pure raw, because your absortion is maximal. If you do partly raw, you will absorb less nutrient and therefore need more quantity of food.

Read 12 step to raw food by Victoria Butenko.

I eat far less and i am not skinny for that.

Also, when you reach a certain age, it is wise to diminish your quantity of food. The author on "Beautiful on raw" is a living proof. She is 53 and looks like early 30's

I wouldn't worry about the number of calories, i would go with how your feel energetically, withing your body etc...

All the best

[The Sproutarian (Mr Raw)]

I have to say I agree with angelgome on the calorie thing. I of course would take it even further but not in this thread.

It has been the experience of may LONG TERM raw fooders that the calorie requirement diminishes drastically when on a raw food diet.
That wouldn't surprise me, especially since alot of energy would be spared up from properly combined blended raw vegan foods.


For example, my first "hero" in the raw food movement, Storm Talifero (thegardendiet.com) Started off eating typical gourmet raw vegan, then slowly purified it to more whole foods, juices, nut milks etc. Now he says he mostly just drinks orange juice with the occasional salad. he's now 61(?) and he's still a big dude. Then you have people like Richard Blackman AKA Jericho Sunfire who started fruitarian and his intuition told him to, after a few years, start cutting down on the fruit and go mostly juices and he has maintained a strong physique. The key thing here is that these people exercise and do alot of weight/resistance training, which I think is key to building and maintaining "size". If you were to take any of these raw food guys and have them live a sedentary lifestyle I can guarantee they'd all shrink down to typical "skinny" cliche stereotype bodytypes that we associate with vegans.
lnteresting comments about size and exercising. Exercise is something l don't feel like doing much of these days. Used to exercise alot on my raw food diet and feel incredible. These days my energy is much much better, but still quite low. l know l need to exercise.

My number one health inspiration was always Ann Wigmore. She was a picture of health and l believe she never cheated. The other two guys l have recently discovered who inspire me are these two lads:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-97jKP9nS8&feature=related
These people have gone 100% raw for a long time and had the health to prove it. l don't see many raw fooders on youtube looking that good.




Here's another VERY IMPORTANT thing to remember. 80% of the population is obese. What's "normal" and "healthy" here is in fact diseased. So naturally you're going to be rather thin compared to most toxic people if you don't work out. Think about it...most fatties here have alot of mass, yes? What is that mass? Well alot of it is fat, true, but another reason is twofold.
1.) water retention. You notice the same thing in bodybuilders, especially ones that use creatine. They retain water which gives them the appearance of being 'bigger". Of course the body is really retaining water to neutralize/dilute toxicity.
2.) People are inflamed. When you organs are over-taxed they become enlarged, when your colon is toxic it becomes inflamed, the skin retains water and swells.
When you go raw you lose this weight because you're finally able to get rid of and manage all the crap inside. Usually the quick weight loss from fasting and raw food is water weight.
You make good points.



Also remember if one is healthy and has a low bodyfat % but has no muscle...they are going to look like a skeleton, naturally. This doesn't mean they're unhealthy, it just means they don't have alot of muscle mass.
That is my case. Very little muscle and have never been able to manage more than one push-up or chin-up ever. Doing a second push-up is simply beyond impossible for me.


What the hell is healthy weight? As long as your organs are functioning, you have energy and can perform daily tasks and chores, why look to weight to determine health? What if you don't want alot of muscle mass? What if you like being "light"? Are you then "unhealthy" for choosing to be slim? The whole thing is ridiculous.
l see exactly what you are saying.


Go by how you FEEL, now how you look.
l think l should do what makes me feel best and eat when l am hungry, i.e: fruit greens and a small portion of nuts/seeds when l feel the need. l never feel great on sprouted grains, but l might try blending a small portion with my green drinks. l will also exercise alot more.


Also the exercise will boost your digestion like you wouldn't believe, and if you use enzymes as well there's nothing you can't handle. I eat about 2-3 cups dry each day in the afternoon. When sprouted thats probably running about 6-8 cups of sprouts. I eat that all in one big meal and handle it just fine because the morning and early noon is excersize time so my system is revved up by the time i eat, and because the sun is at it's ideal position (according to Ayurveda, digestive fire is strongest at noon, when the sun is at it's highest) and i'm supplementing with enzymes, 6-8 cups of sprouts is water on my back, lol.
That's alot of sprouts to fit in your stomach.

l try not spending excess money forking out for supplements, but l do respect your reasons for doing so. l prefer to help my poor digestion with LOTS of alfalfa sprouts and Ann Wigmore's `rejuvalic' (fermented wheat sprout water).


Don't let the myths of a society stop you from achieving the health and happiness that is your birthright.
l try not too. lt's difficult to know who to believe.


Listen to your body, it knows best, it is the mind that gets in the way (ask ANY yogi, lol).
True. l can't do it any other way. But at the same time, i'm frightened by all the raw food horror stories l read online of failed 100% raw vegans.

How long have you been on your present way of eating? Are you 100% raw?


I do look well. I am still losing fat but I have a lot of muscular definition.
How long have you been on this diet for?


I am not too big on nuts unless they are soaked for 15 hours and then put onto a food processor for something like a raw lasagna.
l find it used to be best to soak nuts for 2.5 days before eating. But as i've gotten more experienced in eating nuts, l can now soak them for alot less and still enjoy them. Once 24 hour soaked nuts used to dry me out and choke me up, but now it's no problem. lt's interesting how bodies can adjust.

--------------------
l still feel really off since eating all that raw food yesterday. l've gone from flying high for months on end to feeling really bashed around and low....the magic feelings have all disappeared. The sprouted grains completely shot me down (l got all weird and moody after 30 minutes) and the evening meal of nuts completely finished me off. lt was the first day l ate when l wasn't hungry and l paid the price big time. That teaches me a big lesson, perhaps even the biggest lesson i've ever learned in health...`only eat the food that the body requires and thrives on, and don't eat too much. l knew yesterday by instinct that l shouldn't be touching those grains.

l hope i'm not rambling too much.

[The Sproutarian (Mr Raw)]

l also feel much better when l eat my food. When l blend my food in the vitamix 5200 l feel that i'm flooding my body with too much stuff (the effect isn't that good). l mix around each mouthful in my mouth before drinking, but l still feel alittle off doing it this way, even with blended fruit. When l eat l usually sit down and take a long time and can concentrate and enjoy every mouthful, but this method takes a long time which isn't practical for me to sustain.

One thing l do enjoy and thrive on is juiced weeds.

So basically l thrive when l eat lots of fruit, greens and some nuts. Does anyone else feel this way about blending v's eating?

Maybe l should start new topics for these, but l don't want to be the annoying new guy who starts ten threads in one day. l haven't even read much of the forum yet.

l also find l get a dry throat when l eat too much fruit. That's why l need plenty of greens and some nuts. l hope the high amount of sugar from eating lots of fruit doesn't cause me to lose more nutrients than what l gain. Eating lots of fruit does scare me alittle, l read very bad experiences online about it and in Kulvinskas' book.


Please note
l live in a cold climate and winter is coming around soon. This means that l will only have access to oranges, and only expensive oranges at that. l will be down to only four pieces of fruit a day. How do l deal with this problem? Maybe my body will accept more grains and nuts in winter when l don't have much fruit. Anyone have experience in this?....forced to leave fruit for the winter and seek other replacement foods.

[dime]

That is my case. Very little muscle and have never been able to manage more than one push-up or chin-up ever. Doing a second push-up is simply beyond impossible for me.

Why are you then pushing to 2000 calories? I can do 30 push-ups and I'm still around 2000 calories. No point in stuffing yourself with calories if you won't use them, and very obviously your body doesn't want that much.

I wouldn't blend nuts, seeds, fruits, etc, it's hard to control how much you eat when such concentrated foods are blended. 100gr of nuts at once is definitely too much. Only things I'm blending is tomatoes, cucumbers and romaine lettuce.

Why is more than 20% fat per day unhealthy? Is there some study showing this, or how did you come up to this conclusion?

[The Sproutarian (Mr Raw)]

Why is more than 20% fat per day unhealthy? Is there some study showing this, or how did you come up to this conclusion?

lt's a combination of many things.

1). Successful long term raw fooders (Kaelash Neel and John Kohler) mentioned that most people fail to stay 100% raw over a lifetime because they consume too much fat in their diets. They claim they have seen countless cases of this. l think their opinion carries alot of weight.

2). General info available that says high fat diets are not good.

3). My experience says high fat diets are not the best for health, which makes me believe there is something true to this way of thinking.

[dime]

1) This doesn't mean it's unhealthy.

2) and 3) If it were me I'd try to find some more reliable, proven information.

[Revvell]

l also feel much better when l eat my food. When l blend my food in the vitamix 5200 l feel that i'm flooding my body with too much stuff (the effect isn't that good).

Sooo, you're eating mono meals? If not, it's all getting blended in your stomach anyway.

Some here tend to put ~ imo ~ too many different foods into their blenders. I'm surprised if/when they feel well after.

I created a smoothie book with only a few ingredients in each recipe as guided (originally) by Victoria Boutenko.

Anyway, the point is, if you don't eat 5, 8, or 10 different items when you chew, why would you put that many different ingredients in a blender? (Don't know if you are or not).... For many, because they can, I guess. I can't and wont. Stomach isn't made to digest that many various foods at once... I suspect.

[mcster]

I haven't read any of the responses to your thread except for your original post. So in response to it...after going from vegetarian to 100% raw, I lost excess weight and got down to my ideal weight within weeks. I train 4hrs/week in addition to having an active lifestyle and have tones of energy to fulfill it. Exercise is key to health. I have never in my life counted one calorie. The only thing I seem to do differently from you is that I consume more fat (but keep in mind that I exercise too). I start off my morning with fruit and eat it frequently until lunch. I have a smoothie or salad for lunch. I continue eating fruit unit dinner when I'll have another smoothie, salad or some other raw dish. I have one or two avocados per day, one or two spoon fulls of coconut oil per day and half a handful of nuts and seeds per day. Good fat helps you burn off bad fat. Also keep in mind that detox can take well over a year in some cases. Hope that helps.

[The Sproutarian (Mr Raw)]

Sooo, you're eating mono meals? If not, it's all getting blended in your stomach anyway.

Some here tend to put ~ imo ~ too many different foods into their blenders. I'm surprised if/when they feel well after.

I created a smoothie book with only a few ingredients in each recipe as guided (originally) by Victoria Boutenko.

Anyway, the point is, if you don't eat 5, 8, or 10 different items when you chew, why would you put that many different ingredients in a blender? (Don't know if you are or not).... For many, because they can, I guess. I can't and wont. Stomach isn't made to digest that many various foods at once... I suspect.

l'm not a fan of eating or blending too many foods together either. Three is my limit, even when juicing.

eg,
* mix acid fruit with other acid fruits only
* sweet fruits with other sweet fruits only
* sprouted beans with other sprouted beans but also with alfalfa

l'm not religious at all, but l feel the Essene view of eating is spot on. Don't combine more than three foods less you bowels becoming steaming bogs. Don't eat foods from far away lands less it turns a poison in your body. lt goes something like that.



I haven't read any of the responses to your thread except for your original post. So in response to it...after going from vegetarian to 100% raw, I lost excess weight and got down to my ideal weight within weeks. I train 4hrs/week in addition to having an active lifestyle and have tones of energy to fulfill it. Exercise is key to health. I have never in my life counted one calorie. The only thing I seem to do differently from you is that I consume more fat (but keep in mind that I exercise too). I start off my morning with fruit and eat it frequently until lunch. I have a smoothie or salad for lunch. I continue eating fruit unit dinner when I'll have another smoothie, salad or some other raw dish. I have one or two avocados per day, one or two spoon fulls of coconut oil per day and half a handful of nuts and seeds per day. Good fat helps you burn off bad fat. Also keep in mind that detox can take well over a year in some cases. Hope that helps.
l would love to add extra fat because it would be so simple to do, but l can't ignore John Kohler's warnings of the high failure rate of 100% raw fooders who do consume high levels of fat.

lt would be interesting to hear from someone who has successfully done a high fat high green 100% raw food diet for over 15 years and is still doing it and very healthy. l wonder if there is such a person??

[mcster]

l would love to add extra fat because it would be so simple to do, but l can't ignore John Kohler's warnings of the high failure rate of 100% raw fooders who do consume high levels of fat.

lt would be interesting to hear from someone who has successfully done a high fat high green 100% raw food diet for over 15 years and is still doing it and very healthy. l wonder if there is such a person??

The smartest thing I've ever done in life is to keep expert advise in perspective and put more importance on results I find from my own experience. You have no idea the level of stupidity I've found in my profession from "successful and well regarded PhDs". I don't think anything bad is going to happen to you if you increase your fat intake to see what happens. Be your own lab. No one can know better than you. Not even me...haha!

[Revvell]

I've actually heard the opposite ~ that folk who don't eat enough (whatever that means to each person), quits because they always feel hungry. They "say" they needed more protein yet, in actuality, they needed more food, including those people are calling "fat"....

[The Sproutarian (Mr Raw)]

The smartest thing I've ever done in life is to keep expert advise in perspective and put more importance on results I find from my own experience.
l try to do that too. l'm very skeptical of many experts, but some experts will be closer to my way of thinking than others.


You have no idea the level of stupidity I've found in my profession from "successful and well regarded PhDs".
Nothing would surprise me about these folks. Heavily into dogma and can be very set in their thinking. l tread very carefully with those folks, but not only those folks, all folks.

After 2 days of feeling bad l am starting to get back to my old self thanks to green juices. :woot: Now l will eat when l feel like it and not overdo it.

l do appreciate the advice given here because l am more relaxed about it all again. l'll let myself be the guide and see what happens. Might even give updates down the track.

[The Sproutarian (Mr Raw)]

Late post: l think i'm getting the hang of all this, thanks to you folk here.

l tried the wheat sprouts again (2 day old), but this time watered down more in the blender so as to make wheat milk. l drank two glasses until l was about 80% full. l feel much better and know this is the way to go this coming Winter when there is no fruit around. While l feel grains are not natural, i'm not advanced enough to ditch them just yet...l need more time to purify and get my digestion working well before l ditch grains.

Thanks again everyone for you suggestions. l didn't reply to everyone who posted here, but l do appreciate your input.

[shaunamom]

I'm rather new here - okay, this is my first post, LOL - but there could be another reason you're feeling so badly with the increased grains and nuts, too.

Have you ever looked into any contaminants in the foods themselves that might be an issue?

I get quite ill off of gluten, and currently, most grains of any kind in our modern food supply are contaminated to an extent that it makes me very ill. Most people who are gluten intolerant can tolerate the contamination, but I have noticed that many who have eliminated it from their diet completely become more sensitized when they start to eat from contaminated sources again.

The same, unfortunately, can be said of nuts in regards to contamination. I have yet to find nuts I can eat that do not make me sick as a dog (I get neurological symptoms from gluten, so my reactions are, at least, nice and easy to attribute to a specific cause).

I know contaminants may not be the issue, but when you described your reaction to the grains and nuts, that's exactly how my daughter would react, and I know the increase would have made me extremely ill as well, so I thought I'd respond and offer another possibility to the mix. :-)

[The Sproutarian (Mr Raw)]

Have you ever looked into any contaminants in the foods themselves that might be an issue?

I get quite ill off of gluten, and currently, most grains of any kind in our modern food supply are contaminated to an extent that it makes me very ill. Most people who are gluten intolerant can tolerate the contamination, but I have noticed that many who have eliminated it from their diet completely become more sensitized when they start to eat from contaminated sources again.

The same, unfortunately, can be said of nuts in regards to contamination. I have yet to find nuts I can eat that do not make me sick as a dog (I get neurological symptoms from gluten, so my reactions are, at least, nice and easy to attribute to a specific cause).

I know contaminants may not be the issue, but when you described your reaction to the grains and nuts, that's exactly how my daughter would react, and I know the increase would have made me extremely ill as well, so I thought I'd respond and offer another possibility to the mix. :-)

l've ate more of the same foods today that made me so sick the other day. Definitely not contamination or gluten intolerance. l'm thriving on those foods at the moment. l definitely ate too much, but even worse, l ate too much when l wasn't hungry. Big mistake.

l did an experiment last night. l ate 4 apples before bed and felt good and about 80 - 90% full. Normally when that happens the apples will be out of my system by about 30 - 40 minutes. But...l decided to eat an extra apple and was nearly 100% full. Well, those apples stayed in my system for a couple of hours and would have badly fermented in my stomach. No wonder gluttony causes shorter lives.

[The Sproutarian (Mr Raw)]

Some of my foods:

Alfalfa smoothie (http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b151/Marc_au/Ron1/Ron2/Ron%204/Todaysmeal4.jpg)

Wheat Milk (http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b151/Marc_au/Ron1/Ron2/Ron%204/Todaysmeal5.jpg)

Fruit for the week purchased directly on the farm - alfalfa sprouts getting green in indirect sunlight - l go through tons of alfalfa (http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b151/Marc_au/Ron1/Ron2/Ron%204/Todaysmeal6.jpg)

Weeds and flowers- doesn't get much better than this - weeds rock!!! (http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b151/Marc_au/Ron1/Ron2/Ron%204/Todaysmeal7.jpg)

Prickles - nettle weed (http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b151/Marc_au/Ron1/Ron2/Ron%204/Todaysmeal8.jpg) :dance:

Rejuvalic - fermented wheat sprout juice to help me produce vitamin B12. Such a highly important food (http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b151/Marc_au/Ron1/Ron2/Ron%204/Todaysmeal11.jpg)

Adzuki, mung and alfalfa sprouts before the main meal of walnuts and almonds (http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b151/Marc_au/Ron1/Ron2/Ron%204/Todaysmeal3.jpg)

Weeds, flowers, apples and blueberries. A very very potent combination that sent my mind to the moon. After eating 4 kg of blueberries each week for 2 months my mind was stronger than it's had been in living memory - l felt like a demi god. (http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b151/Marc_au/Ron1/Ron2/Ron%204/Tonightsdinner1.jpg) :woot::woot: