In need of good orderly direction

[Sparklie]

It seems to me like everyone here is doing really well on raw, no problems transitioning. Maybe I am expecting too much, too soon. I've have been trying to go 100% raw for a few years now and keep hitting road blocks. I was having mono fruit smoothies and steamed veggies to transition. I have had some sad foods in there, but for the most part done well. I have candida and colitis. Although my stomach is doing pretty well, my face is breaking out more. I know about the detox issues, but am concerned the breakouts are due to too much sugar in the fruits. I've also had heartburn from pineapple. At this point, I have stopped fruits and had carrot juice and cucumber, celery juice.

How do I know which greens are easier to digest with fruits than others? Kale gives me trouble, but I've heard to try baby spinach, so I'll try that tomorrow when I can get to the store. Bananas constipate me, but maybe I need to start slowly with them, or add more water to my smoothy. I love the taste and know I would enjoy them everyday, if I didn't breakout and get constipated.

I really want to figure this all out and I'm feeling very confused. I'm in need of some good orderly direction. Please help.

[Ilse W.]

Alissa would probably be the first person to tell you that she is not a doctor and cannot give you any direction that would help your specific problem. I think you may want to read some more specific books written by an actual M.D. I think that maybe Gabriel Cousens, M.D.'s book "Conscious Eating" would have the answers you are looking for.

[Sparklie]

Thank you, EmmaT. I just bought the book. I finally feel like I will get some answers.

Bless you.

[katchmoleen]

It sounds like you are moving in the right direction! Constipation....that is a GOOD thing for people like you and me, lol. Our guts are just so used to moving things right on through that it doesn't know how to contract normally. So it just takes some time to learn how to handle normal BMs I am finding I am less constipated over time, now that the diarrhea seems to be pretty much licked.

Baby lettuces and baby spinach are so easy to digest. When I was really in a colitis flair up, baby greens were about the only raw veggies I could digest. You might try celery too, blended up. Anything blended up is good for me. Love those green smoothies.

Maybe you can not worry about the break-outs for now? Easier said than done, but I DO think it is detox and just has to be gotten through. The fact that your stomach is doing better is so major. Congratulations!

[klomasius]

Read up lots but do listen to what your body tells you as well. That's the way I live my life food wise.

Like you I'm currently going through an outbreak of acne and rough skin on my face, more so than pretty much at any other time of my life (though I did have pretty good skin as a teenager).

For me I don't think it's the fruit that's causing it as I've been high fruit for a long time (years) and it's only recently happening.

What has changed for me was that I switched to 100% raw about a year ago. I personally believe the acne is part of a detox I'm going through as I feel great otherwise. Sometimes it takes a long time for toxins to come out of the system, especially from the fat surrounding organs and places like the bones. These substances can get dumped into the bloodstream and cause problems (like acne).

For me I'm just riding it out, it's going down gradually and I'm just keeping on with the raw.

One thing I don't do well at the moment (and which I feel would help me with the acne) is exercise. Exercise helps to cleanse the body of waste, helping to speed up the detox process.

Easy to digest greens: stick with baby greens, these have less fibre and are generally more easy to digest, if the leaf is soft (i.e. like butter lettuce) then it'll most likely be easier to digest. Kale is tough and fiborous, fine for those without digestive issues but it might cause a problem for those that do.

I'm sure you'll get some good advice from others.

[RawKnitster]

If you are not used to eating greens you may not have the right stuff to digest them. You can change that by easing into the greens slowly. Start small and gradually increase the amount of greens you consume. Spinach and oranges is a simple smoothie that should be easy to handle. Other good smoothies for you might be pears and parsley OR apples and romaine. Keep it simple until you get used to it.

Hope you find something that works for you. You will probably find your digestive issues and tastes change along the way. :)