Some simple questions from a newbie (smoothies, water, amount of food, etc..)

[KenjiVeg]

Hi everyone! :)
I leaved a message in the Welcome section, anyway i'm Marco, 25, vegan from may, interested in raw, nice to meet you!

I actually started to eat around 50% raw from some days (i've basically done some mono meal with a lot of fruit and nothing else), and i'm meeting the first sickness.. Headache is the first one, and now imsomnia too.. (here is 5.00 am....). Is it normal after only a couple of days meeting that? :/
Anyway, I have some questions about some starting informations, where i'm finding myself a little bit confused, because of the HUGE amount of contrasting informations
on the web. I want to say that i'm interested to basically be vegan as now, and slowly becoming raw untill 80% in the long period.
I'll leave my questions here, and i really hope to have an answer from you.. Any short answer (or a link to a full discussion) can be great as weel! :)

1) If fruit (and veg) are composed of a great part of water, why i read everywhere to drink AT LEAST 3 liters per day? I was used to drink "when i have thirst",
in my omnivorous life, and in my vegan one, drinking something like 1liter per day, 1.5 if i do sport.. So why now that i can take A LOT of water from food should i drink so much? Ok, i do a lot of sport, everyday, but is it really necessary to drink all this water? Following the logic, shouldn't i decrease the amount of water i drink, because now i take a lot of it from food? :/

2) What's the main difference between a juice and a smoothie? I know that smoothies are richer in fibers, and that help our intestine, but apart that, is one better the the other
in a raw diet, and way?

3) I've read that cooking around 40° Celsius (and not more) is allowed. But, what can you cook at this low temperature? I think i can do nothing but warm up a little bit my food.

4) I read various articles about the problems related on the use of salt and oils (every kind of oil, that is basically fat) and that they must be avoided.
So, how do you dress your salads? I tried to eat a salad without salt nor oil, and it's disgusting. I know, it's just the habit, i can train to eat it, but.. is there another way to eat greens? (apart blending).
And, if sometimes i want to eat some pasta (i'm italian after all.. ) what kind of dressing could i use, instead of a classic tomato sauce cooked with onion, olive oil and basil?
I was used to eat often my handmade pesto too, but now that i'm avoiding oils.. what can i do? Pasta with nothing? Mmm... seems to be bad as hell..

5) If i avoid refined oils, where should i take my fats? Nuts and avocado? I read that nuts are not allowed in a 100%raw diet, is it true? So, you take fats only from avocado??

6) I workout almost everyday, and beeing vegan gave me no problems at all. But becoming raw, and starting to eat a low amount of fats (and proteins, because i'm avoiding legumes too), do you think my muscles can continue to grow? Is it the 80/10/10 diet a good choice for me, or should i increase the amount of proteins a little bit, in order to gain pounds of muscles? I'm 1,85 cm, 72kg. Quite skinny, but i'm training to build some mass from 4 months, and i don't want to loose all my results undereating the correct amount of food..

7) Could you please link me some discussions where i can find various examples of daily diets? So i can better understand how to distribute the food during the day, and
understand also a little bit the average amount of food that "you" consume daily. I know it's a lot more than i eat beeing vegan, but "how much" more? I saw
some diets here and there, but they was confusing, some used a lot of fruit.. and others less fruit and a lot more greens.. so what should be a correct balcance in percentage
of eating fruit/greens?


I think it's everything for the moment.
I'll be really, REALLY grateful to everyone that will help me. I work everyday around 10 hours, and after my daily training i don't have free "hours" to spend online searching
for every question i have, singularly.. I tried, but i failed. So that's way i created a "megapost". I'm really looking forward for your answers.
Thank you again!

Marco

[michigan roman]

for me walnuts and hemp seed have given me greatest muscle mass

i also believe in making alot of home made nut and seed milks in blender for protein ,
i add sweet fruit to make smoothies out of the nut and seed milks

avacado and banana for me also put on muscle or weight

maybe also try spirulina . it tastes bad to me , but i mix it into sweet juices like orange
juice and its good that way . spirulina is very high in protein plus a whole bunch of other
things . i buy the NOW brand off amazon.com in powdered form

i like sprinkling lot of sesame seeds on salads for protien + good fat + calcium

[robh]

Kenji,

Welcome.

1.) Water helps to rid your body of toxins. It also hydrates your cells so they work more efficiently. More water also improves digestion. When your body is losing weight, water carries the fat out of your system. That being said, someone that weighs 300lbs (150kg) may need 3 liters. If you weigh 150 lbs (75kg), you may only need 1.5 liters per day. So long as your urine is almost clear (not yellow) you are drinking enough water. Also, do not be concerned if you urinate frequently after increasing your water intake. Your body will get used to the new amount of water and eventually urinate less frequently.

2.) If you are interested in healing your body or ridding it of toxins, you may want to reduce the amount of fiber (drink juice) to increase the rate of healing or detoxification. With a reduced amount of fiber, your body doesn’t have to work so hard to digest food. This gives it more time to heal. Fiber is very important for your health. If a slow detoxification is OK, eat the fruits whole and consume all the fiber. This is the best path. For me, I do not like juicing because I end up throwing a lot of the food away in the form of pulp.

4.) Yes any temperatures over 104 degrees F (40 degrees C) will destroy many of organic elements in our food that makes us healthy. You could heat soup or other food to 40 degrees, but it is not very warm. I do not heat anything.

5.) When you eat fat, it is best to eat the entire food (not just the oil). You may eat, for example, all the raw olives you like. You should only eat 1 teaspoon (5cc) of olive oil per day, however. Eat the entire food, not the oil. This is healthiest.

6.) 80-10-10 provides a lot of energy. I notice a lot of raw athletes do 811. It sounds like you want to do body building (lifting weights to build muscles). If this is your goal, there are certain amino acids that you need to consume while you lift weights. I do not recall which amino acids those are and I do not know which foods they come from. Eating raw food will give you more endurance to do more reps though.

Also, we are not allowed to discuss 811 in this forum. This is a raw vegan forum (raw gormet).

7.) If you truly want to do 811, 30bananasaday.com has a lot of information. It’s basically 811.

Good Luck

[Aleesha Sattva]

Agreed. This isn't the forum you want for information on 80/10/10. They have a forum set up for you if you are interested in learning about their program BUT...

Lots of people here (Rev is a shining example) who eat a raw diet and have great muscles! Check out some of her posts. She's into a lot of different things like kettle bells etc.