The right balance with good fats

[mamajane]

I am curious about what the best fat/greens balance is -- though I'm sure it is different for everyone.

I've been reading lots of raw books and websites, and am thoroughly confused. I found one site that advocated only 1 ounce of fats per day, which is really small. Or 3 - 4 ounces if you're an athlete.

I can't have bananas so I'm putting in a half avocado in the two smoothies I have each day (about a quart each) to thicken them up and fill me up more, and then consuming another half avocado in the lettuce wraps, plus the seeds, nuts, and garbanzo beans in the hummus I make. Sometimes I feel like I rely a little too heavily on nuts and worry that I'm eating too much. Coming off of cravings, I'm still not to the point where I know I'm responding to my body's signals correctly. I'm not sure how to translate a serious desire for [cooked meaty food] into what I really ought to eat, so I reach for the hummus and lettuce wrap stuff, or handfuls of nuts.

I am working out most days - 20 mins or so on the treadmill, lifting (small) weights, yoga here and there, and a bike ride at night before bed. Both my husband and I are losing weight (I'm down 17 pounds and have 17 more to go to get to Dr. Furhman's recommended weight... but I'm less worried about numbers as I am obtaining whatever weight my body is most happy at, you know?) but I seem to have to work out harder/longer than my husband to get the pounds off.

In the morning I'll decide I'll just do two green smoothies and a blended soup for dinner and forego snacking, but I can't seem to make it. I crave a sweeter smoothie in the morning and be really wanting something more savory by late afternoon / dinner time, and sometimes lunch time too. I can't sort out if that's a body signal or just old cravings.

[robh]

mamajane, can you edit your original post and remove the cooked food? Posting cooked food like that kind of taboo around here. I like to be silly and describe the food in a non-pleasing way. "greasy cooked animal flesh" for example

How much fat to eat is a hard question to answer because there are many answers (opinions) as there are raw foodists. Your body is really the best answer for you. Overtime, as your body begins to fix itself, you start to understand what it wants and does not want.

If it helps answer your question, I can share the answer my body gives me.

I enjoy raw fats. Like anything else, I can enjoy them to excess. I know when I eat too much fat because my skin feels oily and kind of gross. I use a nutrition-tracking software to get a feel how much it too much. My ideal amount of fat is about 30-40% of my calories. If I eat any less than that, I won't feel full. If I eat more than that, I get that greasy feeling.

Here is another answer for you (took me a while to look up). In the book "Becoming Raw, The Essential Guide to Raw Vegan Diets" Chapter 7 pages 113-120 go over the standard recommendation that **most** people should not consume more than 35% of their calories from fat.

The word "most" is important. There is some evidence to suggest that the quality of fat, not quantity is most important (page 118). In a study of 7 countries, in most normal, meat-eating cooked diets, the rate of health problems associated with fat increased as fat intake increased. In Crete, however, the rate of coronary artery disease was the lowest of all countries in the study, yet the precentage of fat in their diet was the highest (37 percent on average). In Crete, and in mediterain diets, in general, fats come from sources like olives and fish.

On page 121 under the section "Total Fat Recommendations for Raw Food Adherents", the book points out that raw food vegan diets are not like cooked meat-based diets. The quality of our fats is very high (probably higher than the Cretians if I had to guess). Therefore, our fat intake can exceed 35 percent without it being a risk to our health. The book cites 6 studies performed on groups of raw foodist that indicate improved health (compared to standard diets) on high-fat raw diets consisting of percentages from 37 to 43.

It is important to note that they are NOT comparing a low fat raw vegan diet to a high fat raw vegan diet. They are comparing a high fat raw vegan diet to a STANDARD diet consisting of cooked foods and animal products (proably includes beef). So which form of raw food diet is better? I do not have any information on that. Raw foodists are a very small group of people. Hence, the studied performed on us are even smaller and in some cases non-existant. Answers to those types become highly speculative.

You are probably fine eating as many avocados as you like. If you body tells you otherwise, look for low fat calorie sources to suppliment your diet to bring the percentage down.

Also, just because you cannot eat bananas now (I assume this is a digestion issue) does not mean you cannot eat a banana after your body heals for some months. I could not eat raw onions until recently, for example.

[MysticTree]

in relation to the exercise you take. When do you take it? It has been shown that if you exercise for 20 minutes in the morning then your metabolism is raised and it stays raised throughout the day. If you exercise later in the day then you still raise your metabolism but it remains raised for only about 1 hour post exercise. I can't remember who carried out this research and I haven't had time to google but it was reported in one of the UK broadsheets - the Telegraph or the Times I would imagine.

[Raw Angel Mom]

Congratulation on your journey!

I feel is what is the most important for you is to get comfortable with the raw food life style. Until you know deep inside that this is the way for you. This is why Alissa is teaching about freedom. She isn't saying that you must eat food rich in fat or nut but you need to eat and feel satisfy. The nuts and avocado seems to do this for you. Unless, you have a reaction to them, i wouldn't cut down. You will do this naturally on your own.

The first step is to train the mind and you cannot skip it. It is why, you need to eat to your satisfaction.

I don't tend to eat much fat, i am not incline to that but at time, i will eat a lot of fat. It is like that i go through a phase.

Some people needs more fat. My husband needs his fat (coconut, nuts, seeds, avocados, etc....).

If you feel fine with this, then just go with it.


If you have again a reaction such pimple or skin irritation, then yes cut down.

All the best!

[mamajane]

mamajane, can you edit your original post and remove the cooked food?

...

Also, just because you cannot eat bananas now (I assume this is a digestion issue) does not mean you cannot eat a banana after your body heals for some months. I could not eat raw onions until recently, for example.

Oh I'm sorry! I edited my post - I knew I wasn't supposed to write about eating cooked food but that didn't translate into 'don't mention it at all' for some reason. Mental brain fart.

This is super helpful, thank you! I have noticed that even if I feel kind of gross at the end of a big nut/avocado day (I get kind of uncomfortably full-feeling), I feel much better in the morning. The good fats must be easier to process/deal with, even in some excess than [taboo cooked food].

The bananas are a weird thing, they make my mouth and throat itch. Kiwis do too but much less, as does pineapple. I can tolerate the later but it's annoying. The banana makes me worry my throat will close off. I'm curious to see if these allergy-type reactions get better on this diet.

[mamajane]

in relation to the exercise you take. When do you take it? It has been shown that if you exercise for 20 minutes in the morning then your metabolism is raised and it stays raised throughout the day. If you exercise later in the day then you still raise your metabolism but it remains raised for only about 1 hour post exercise. I can't remember who carried out this research and I haven't had time to google but it was reported in one of the UK broadsheets - the Telegraph or the Times I would imagine.

I exercise in the mornings, usually. The treadmill and weight lifting are done in the morning, and yoga in the afternoon if I do them all. If I only do one, it'll be before noon. I did try yoga at night just the other night to see if it would alleviate some of the bloating/icky feeling I had after a day I had two avocados and a great amount of nuts. It helped a lot and I slept better, I think.

[mamajane]

Congratulation on your journey!

I feel is what is the most important for you is to get comfortable with the raw food life style. Until you know deep inside that this is the way for you. This is why Alissa is teaching about freedom. She isn't saying that you must eat food rich in fat or nut but you need to eat and feel satisfy. The nuts and avocado seems to do this for you. Unless, you have a reaction to them, i wouldn't cut down. You will do this naturally on your own.

The first step is to train the mind and you cannot skip it. It is why, you need to eat to your satisfaction.

I don't tend to eat much fat, i am not incline to that but at time, i will eat a lot of fat. It is like that i go through a phase.

Some people needs more fat. My husband needs his fat (coconut, nuts, seeds, avocados, etc....).

If you feel fine with this, then just go with it.


If you have again a reaction such pimple or skin irritation, then yes cut down.

All the best!

Thank you -- I think my issue is that I can feel a bit yucky after a day where I think I might have overindulged. I'm not measuring nut intake, maybe I should? But say I had two avocados, one in a smoothie, one in a lettuce wrap, plus hummus, and say many many grazings on nuts ... the things I will notice are:

- very full, uncomfortable feeling like I used to get at a restaurant or when I'd make a big cooked italian meal.
- my skin had been clearing up really nicely but I noticed a couple of small pimples.
- don't know if I'm still detoxing or if these rough patches in my mouth have anything to do with it.

I think when I feel these yucky feelings of being too full, and a bit bloated, is when I've done really well all day, but then have that strong craving for savory in the late afternoon evening. I feel a lot better when I don't eat after 6:30 or 7, but I'll give in and have lettuce wraps and lots of nuts... and then feel icky. I'm wondering if I ought to try to spread out the eating a little more evenly. I'm not really all that hungry in the morning, but I've been trying to make myself drink a nice big green smoothie first thing, and then have lunch on time. My propensity is to not have a breakfast smoothie until 10 or even 11, lunch at 3 and then dinner around 8. But that late dinner makes me feel bleh... especially because it's so full of (good!) fats.

Hmmmm....

[MysticTree]

Are you soaking the nuts? I think it's quite common to feel icky after eating lots of nuts though.

[Raw Angel Mom]

Thank you -- I think my issue is that I can feel a bit yucky after a day where I think I might have overindulged. I'm not measuring nut intake, maybe I should? But say I had two avocados, one in a smoothie, one in a lettuce wrap, plus hummus, and say many many grazings on nuts ... the things I will notice are:

- very full, uncomfortable feeling like I used to get at a restaurant or when I'd make a big cooked italian meal.
- my skin had been clearing up really nicely but I noticed a couple of small pimples.
- don't know if I'm still detoxing or if these rough patches in my mouth have anything to do with it.

I think when I feel these yucky feelings of being too full, and a bit bloated, is when I've done really well all day, but then have that strong craving for savory in the late afternoon evening. I feel a lot better when I don't eat after 6:30 or 7, but I'll give in and have lettuce wraps and lots of nuts... and then feel icky. I'm wondering if I ought to try to spread out the eating a little more evenly. I'm not really all that hungry in the morning, but I've been trying to make myself drink a nice big green smoothie first thing, and then have lunch on time. My propensity is to not have a breakfast smoothie until 10 or even 11, lunch at 3 and then dinner around 8. But that late dinner makes me feel bleh... especially because it's so full of (good!) fats.

Hmmmm....

I would experiment and abstain from eating nuts for a little while. I noticed for me, they gave me skin rash and even pimple. When i soaked them and they are truly raw, it isn't as bad but i can tell my body don't like them in big quantity.

Perhaps what you need, is to try to chew thoroughly and wait enough time to digest your meal before the next. I would have a big meal at night but eat light during the day.

The first think, you should do, is to take the nuts away just a little while to see how you feel.

With the amount of exercise, you are generating more acid from your muscle and on top you are detox. This is quite a bit for you kidney.

If you noticed that you are much better without the nuts, then you know you will have to be careful that they are truly raw, soaked and you need to eat them in small quantity or moderation.

All the best!

p.s Many nuts sadly says it is raw on the package but they have been pasteurized (high temperature).

[mamajane]

Thank you both -- I wasn't soaking the nuts and I did find out that my almonds are pasteurized (sad!!)

I haven't had nuts in 4 or 5 days and have felt much better, though the tiny pimples are popping up here and there, hopefully that's just still detox.