Thinking of trying a raw food diet...

[taoofjord]

So here's the basics... my mother has been eating raw for about 6 months now and she really enjoys it. The idea of eating raw intrigues me and I am curious if my stomach problems (gnawing like pain in my stomach, often at night time. Doctors call it "non ulcer dyspepsia) would go away completely if I did this. Not to mention that my body isn't that great to begin with as I get injured pretty easily.

Anyway, I know very little about eating raw but it does interest me. One of the obstacles of doing this would be that it seems like a huge hassle if I want to eat anything more than a salad. I really do not want to cook three times a day. I'm the type of guy that will just make a quick sandwich, pull out a frozen dinner, or grab some food from chipotle before I'd decide to cook something myself.

I've only seen this diet from the perespective of my mother who has a dehydrator and makes some elaborate meals (which all taste great, might I add)... I would obviously not be doing this at this point in my life though.

Another obstacle would be that I really do not want to do this if it makes me lose weight. I'm a pretty thin guy and don't need to lose any weight. Once my knees heal up I want to start rock climbing and I'd like to make sure I can get enough calories and protein to put on a couple more pounds of muscle. Any suggestions?


One more thing. If you do respond to this thread could you do me a favor and tell me how eating raw has helped you in your life. I find that my memory is pretty awful and that I have suffered from anxiety problems for as long as I can remember. Can eating raw help with either of these?

I have heard that some people have gone as far as saying that it has helped them overcome or even cure cancer. Obviously, I'd be a bit skeptical about that.

Anyway, thanks for your time.

[Veganforlife]

First - welcome!
Why not do a 30-day challenge and then YOU decide how you feel. I can guarantee that you will feel 100% better.
I have cured my migraines, which I've suffered all my life - I'll be 53 tomorrow!
You have nothing to lose but the feeling that a SAD diet gives you.
As far as not losing weight - some others will have to pipe in on that. Maybe Fruitarianone? He's a good resource...
I say go for the 30 days and then report back to us...

[Rawkinlocs]

Welcome!

I agree with Veganforlife about trying it on for size via a 30-day challenge.

As for the meal prep, there are a LOT of very easy, simple, takes-less-than-10-minutes recipes you can whip up with a simple blender and/or food processor - things like nut pate' that you can eat with crackers (maybe Mom would have some of those available for you) or just wrapped up in a green leaf with some tomatoes and onion slices; RP's brownies (check out our recipe section for that) - 3 simple ingredients that make the most awesome, uncooked brownies; collard wraps; the zucchini pasta, smoothies, ice cream or shakes and a whole lot more!

As for the weight loss - this may or may not happen. At first, you may lose a little weight ONLY as your body rids itself of old, stored toxins that are stored in fat. Once that is cleaned out, the body will rebuild with healthier "stuff" and you will rebuild to your body's ideal weight and maintain it. Once your knees, etc. heal, perhaps even consider some muscle-building exercises (check out our Exercise forum for advice from some of our more athletic members here ;) )

As for what changing to a raw "diet" has done for me - well, I didn't have any major health issues but it HAS helped me with the following:

chronic headaches/migrains
joint pain (mainly my knees) and back pain from having epidurals during labor/deliveries
constipation issues
acne-prone skin that I've dealt with from puberity into adulthood
more energy - got rid of the sluggishness I once felt constantly

I can understand your skepticism about people being free from cancer via a raw diet...but consider that these people are not selling anything - if there was a "magic product" involved, then yes, I'd question it. But it's simply eating raw plant-based foods - many things can be remedied simply by eliminating dead foods and adding living foods.

So, give it a shot...see what happens!

[Sharon in Colorado]

Everything improves on raw, I'm serious! The energy is so much more different, pains go away, all kinds of great stuff happens!

You can make this totally easy on yourself, you don't need to prepare anything if you don't want to.

Just grab your favorite fruits and vegetables and chow down. You can eat plenty of bananas, a melon, cucumbers, grapes, celery, dates, lettuce, mangos, nuts, seeds, anything raw.

You do not have to soak, sprout, juice, grind, blend, ferment, mix, dehydrate or even cut anything at all. Some people do that do get a familiar taste or flavor. We as a human race have become accustomed to mixed up flavors, cooked textures, etc. But it's just not natural.

Just make sure you eat enough to fill you up, so that you don't feel hungry or deprived.

If you feel like chewing on something heavier, why not just pay your mom to make it for you, or at least reimburse her for the ingredients. Surely she'd be game for that?

[chilove]

Hello and welcome,

All of the things that you have heard of people curing are true! It is amazing what our bodies can do when we simply supply them with the correct, health building conditions. My stomach problems (IBS and stomach pain) and anxiety and panic attacks were cured by going 100% raw. Give it a try, you have everything to gain and nothing to lose!!!

All the best,

Audrey
www.rawhealing.com

[Shmoopie]

Having a long history with anxiety myself, I can tell you that, yes, raw will definitely make a HUGE difference.

[James Smith]

I have been raw for about a week now. :) I've played around with raw before, but this is the longest I've done it. I am also a guy, also thin, and also don't want to waste time preparing food. I am still working out a lot of the kinks in the diet, but apparently I have worked it out enough to be raw this long.

One key is to eat high calorie foods. If you don't eat enough calories, you will go hungry and eat cooked. Eat lots of fruit, especially high calorie fruit. Here is what I have been eating.

Breakfast and lunch: fruit "salad". Just fruit that's cut up. Bananas, pears, and apples. These fruits have calories, especially bananas. Be careful with eating too many bananas though, as that could cause problems. IIUC, it's best to eat bananas with certain other fruits and veggies.

Snacks: raw sunflower seeds, dried fruit. The raisins that I buy claim to be "sun dried", which means that they could be raw. I also buy figs, which are probably not raw, but I don't know for a fact that they are cooked either, so there we go.

Dinner: Some fruit plus a large vegetable salad. A leafy green (spinach / romaine / arugula), avocado (also good for calories), tomatoes, garlic, whatever else you want. I have also sprouted some lentils. Sprouting is super easy. There is a cheap sprouting contraption that you can buy online. If you want to try sprouts but don't want to sprout by yourself, some regular supermarkets sell sprouted beans in the produce section.

[taoofjord]

Thank you all very much for the responses. It was quite helpful. I'm considering trying it for 30 days to see how I like it. I've got a couple quick questions before I start looking into this more deeply:

I was wondering about whey protein. Let's say I ate raw most of the time but had a whey protein shake a couple times a day to get that extra bit of protein I need. How bad (or good) of an idea is this? Obviously it's not raw or even organic, but I think it would certainly help me quite a bit in maintaining a proper intake of protein.

Also, once my body is accustomed to eating raw, what if I want to eat cooked food? I'm 24 and the only thing I enjoy more than music is great food. I'd have an incredibly difficult time giving up thai, japanese, vietnamese, indian, and mexican food completely (let's face it, it won't be easy to go to one of these places and get something raw - for me or for the restaurant). How would splurges/cheat meals affect my body? I'd assume stomach aches would be something I could expect? And how would it hinder my body once it is detoxed?

[Sharon in Colorado]

You can read here about protein:

http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3708

Whey is actually a milk waste product. If you feel you need to supplement with a protein product, a lot of people here use hemp protein, Alissa sells it, and there are some brands you might find in the health food store such as Manitoba Harvest and Nutiva. It SHOULD be located in the refrigerater, and if it isn't, proceed with caution.

[Shmoopie]

taoo, it's a little easier to think in terms of food groups. If you were to transition to raw, you could start dropping food groups. For instance, stop eating dairy. That way, while you're transitioning (if that's the way you decided to do it), you could still eat some of those foods you mentioned (mexican, etc), but be sure to not have the cheese, sour cream, etc. Then after a while, you could cut glutens, and be mindful of glutens and dairy when eating out. A while after that, you could cut meat or whatever else until you're 100% raw. It's a little easier to think of it that way instead of thinking of entire types of food that you'd have to give up like mexican, chinese and thai.

Does that makes sense?