newbie - a couple questions

[shakalover]

hi everyone~

I'm new to this site and new to the raw food lifestyle (been doing it for three days).

I noticed this morning that I was really bloated. I know before when using different food plans, I've experienced initial bloating; I was wondering if this is similar (b/c the last thing I want is to gain more weight!)

also, i seem to be constipated. Is this also something that happens in the beginning?

lastly, are beans considered raw food? obviously not processed ones, but black beans, pinto beans, kidney beans...

Thanks for reading.

[Nadhirrah]

I can tell you about beans! most beans dont taste good when they are sprouted, the chick peas and azuki (sp) and i am told black eyed peas are very good sprouted. pintos not so good i tried them once and that was all it took. as for being raw yes you can eat them you sprout them and then use them.

[Angelina]

The nasty bloating!! ~ I got that too when I first began, I still get it on occasion. It was due to too many nuts!! And that although they were raw, I hadn't soaked them (especially almonds). Also, I was having very constipating veggies, I made this carrot slaw which was to die for but that didn't help move things along. If I were you, I'd write down everything I'm eating (I know that most here don't, or even count calories) for the purpose of figuring out the culprit. When I first started I kept it very simple and I wasn't having a huge variety of foods, so it was easy for me to figure out what it was. A few other things that could cause bloating/constipation:

Water intake ~ too little
Bananas~ clogs some people up
Carrots,or other starchier vegs.

Also, don't forget your body is going through a transition. Depending on what your diet was like before, this may be a drastic change. Also, sometimes when you increse fiber in your diet, it takes your body time to adjust to larger amounts of fiber. Maybe keep it simple for a few days, some salads with flax oil, apples, fresh veggie juices. Trust me, I know what you're going through, I was ready to give up I felt soo uncomfortable, but its definitely worth it. Now the only time that I can say I feel similiar is when I slip up ~ and that makes it all the easier to get back on track and stay on track.

[shakalover]

thanks, Nadhirra and Angelina. :)

[Raw_Medic]

Constipation and bloating in the first few days of raw is completely normal. As your body begins to detoxify it's swirling up all kinds of toxins that have been previously stored, this wil cause constipation and bloating. After cleaning out and healing your body considerably, you will still have these symptoms from time to time. Our bodies are constantly healing. Remember we have been cooked most of our lives, and now that we're going raw we have a whole lot of damage to undue, as we clean our diets we will have toxins coming to the surface, so after months of being raw you may experience some detox symptoms similar to the ones you're describing.

Hope this helped :)

Ursula