Craving Meat!

[Fresh_Verve]

Hey there beautiful Raw people.
I need a bit of help. its been 3 months or so on raw foods. feeling for most part amazing. however the last two days I am incredibly craving meat and fish. OMG! like you wouldn't believe it. I know that some of the cravings are mostly detox reaction but yesterday it took every single part of my being not to eat the can of trout that i had - phefff..... i didn't and today gave it to my friend. This was the LAST thing of the "old" world left in my kitchen.
WoW.... what to do? I live in Peru so not so many things are available but I am borderline here.... nuts and seeds are not cutting it for me. I have adequate omega 3, 6 and 9 in my diet (flax seed oil) and i have a multivitamin. also i have nori sheets available to me and I am not craving them - but a nice piece of ***edited out by Moderator*** would do it for me now...
any suggestions? WELCOME.

for women: have you found that during certain parts of your cycle you crave things more? But I'm not talking chocolate here.

gracias.....

ps: I will be starting another fast in 2 weeks (a 10 day fast)

[appifanie]

I'm a vegan - I don't eat animals. I'm not as raw as I'd like to be, but I'm always vegan.

This should help eliminate cravings for animals - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkLt88_u5lQ

[DawnD]

Hi welcome to RFT. I would think that you would want to just push through these cravings til they pass. I don't know of any food off the top of my head to sub or satisfy for meat craving. I never was one to disire a lot of meat so I dont miss it. I use raw milk cheese about and ounce or two a week. Hopefully someone will chime in that has conquered the cravings that you are facing. I wish you the best on your journey.

[GreenT]

Watch the movie documentary "Food Inc." That really changed my eating lifestyle :)

[bananarama]

DO NOT EAT RAW MEAT!!! It contains bacteria (i.e. salmonella) that could cause your kidneys to shut down, and then you could DIE. I'm being totally serious here. It's not funny at all.

You crave what's in your blood, and you're probably eliminating stored meat residues right now. If you have acess to any kind of colon-cleansing product (i.e. psyllium husks or a brand name product), or even to a colon hydrtherapist (if you have), then that could be the route to go.

[Aleesha Sattva]

We are a raw VEGAN board and therefore we don't discuss eating animal products.

in light,
Aleesha
Moderator

[MelanieBear]

If you find that you're craving dense things, I'd consider staying away from a fast. If the body is asking for dense foods, restricting it to very light (or no) foods could cause you to binge later, or to go back to the animal products. Better to take a middle path than wind up "cleaning" out just to go back to the very habits you're trying to transform.

I think spreads made of miso and tahini mixed together are very dense, filling, and salty. I'm not sure if you can get these where you are, but it's worth checking. Can you identify what about the meat you're craving? Texture? Saltiness? The heavy feeling of eating it? I can't say that I've craved meat in a long, long time, but when I do have a craving, I try to identify *why* I'm having it.

Maybe it's also worth checking to be sure that you're getting adequate protein in your diet and some good sources of density. There are so many ways to meet those needs in the plant world---you can do it!

Any time you feel your motivation is waning, it's great to look at websites that do vegan educaton. I like "The Humane Myth" a lot---maybe you can check that one out for inspiraton!

Very best,
Melanie

[Aleesha Sattva]

melanie, i've actually healed/overcome so many cravings by fasting. so many. so saying she shouldn't fast because she is having those cravings isn't necc. accurate in my opinion anyways...

in my experience, it's more of a reason to fast! cleanse those residual toxins and memories from your cells... do some nice deep cleansing and see what awaits you on the other side.

but then as you know... i'm a lover of the fast!

[Fresh_Verve]

hmmm... interesting feedbacks...

I feel somewhat restricted in my capacity to reply due to the forum policy, however I will try.

Thank you Melanie for your questions and your comments. I found it most useful and your questions allowed me to turn within and reflect on a few things more.

Bananarama - I have eaten raw meat in my childhood (customary thing where I grew up - a delicacy) and I am alive. you will not die from eating raw meat if its prepered right. and yes I agree with you that you crave what is in your blood.

Aleesha thank you for your reminder on the vegan aspect of the forum, also agree with you on the fasting way and removing the residual toxins.

My diet choice and change has to do with what I do for living and how I chose to live with the spirit, I am very aware of the implications of karma, energy, spirit and so on in ingesting animal flesh. I also chose to view the world with Buddhist perspective. I am a proponent of vegan lifestyle myself so sending me to a YouTube video to "cure" my cravings isn't helpful.

It was not my intention to cause controversy by starting this thread.
I am guessing that none of you were born vegan so you must have gone through some sort of transition to arrive where you are at, I was looking more at the tips and things you did then to help you with that transition.
Now I know that this topic isn't discussed here - which is another thing for me to reflect about. I remember reading that 80/10/10 isnt discussed here either.

Lucky for me today I got a hold of an amazing book that is addressing my question and more completely in tune with what I am doing - By Dr. Gabriel Cousens called Spiritual Nutrition - Six Foundations for Spiritual Life and the Awakening of Kundalini.

I guess where I'm at the bigger question that I'm asking is - what is the relationship between the nutrient assimilated and spiritual unfolding? At the same time being daily reminded that I am human and ALWAYS working on myself.

Thank you all.

[RawKnitster]

Try a marinated Portabella mushroom. Very satisfying when I want something "meaty". Quick and easy, too. I've been making this recipe for years. Have not found a way to improve on it. I think it came from "The Raw Food Primer".

Use a spoon to scrape the black feathers from underneath a big, fresh portabella mushroom. Slice the mushroom in strips about 1/4" thick. (Thicker is okay, just marinate longer.)

Marinade:

3 T. olive oil
1 T. Nama Shoyu (or equiv.)
1 T. water
1/2 t. minced fresh garlic
1/2 t. cumin powder
1/2 t. dried thyme

Whisk together the marinade ingredients. Pour over the mushroom slices. Stir to coat evenly. Marinade at least 10 minutes, stirring occassionally. (If you taste it, you will have a hard time waiting 10 minutes.

Eat as is, or wrap in romaine leaves with slices of avocado and tomato.

[RawKnitster]

To answer another part of your original post, I used to crave seafood a day or two before starting a new cycle. I say used to as I'm well into menopause now. Once in a while I get a craving for seafood. Salty, raw green olives or soaked dulse tossed in a salad takes care of the fish cravng. :)

[Aleesha Sattva]

thanks for the recipe raw... i'm saving it for later this week. mmmmm i looooooove ports!

fresh, we don't care what you choose to eat. it's your choice and we honour that. we simply don't discuss it here is all. ;)

[Fresh_Verve]

Thank you so much for this post and the previous one. :)
This drastic diet change has been something interesting. My body can't seem to tolerate fresh garlic, onions or leeks. I am trying powdered garlic now - however I have to be careful in how much i use (I wonder too if that is considered raw - probably not - high process of heat etc...)
I love mushrooms and they definitively give me the "meat" feeling - they aren't easy to get here though but when I see them, I jump on them :)

I am going to make your Nori Rolls tomorrow. That sounds divine.

As for the cycle, I think my body is adjusting (yet again) to many changes - i'm in the middle of mine now and I have insatiable appetite (+ the cravings). I'm keeping a journal so i will be able to evaluate more when I go through this process... funny how things make sense in retrospect no?

Thank you again for your posts.

[EscapeArtist]

I craved meat like crazy when I went raw for a month
Two things that helped a LOT
-b 12 supplements, reduced my cravings a ton
-more greens

[RawKnitster]

You can leave out the garlic. :)

I forgot about the nori rolls. That is another salty dish that satisfies.

Thinking about fish reminds me of the time I had lunch at a friend's house. There wasn't much raw so I loaded up on lettuce and green olives. I ate so many olives it felt like I had gone swimming in the ocean. I only eat 5-6 at a time now. I buy quart jars of big, raw green olives from "Raw Earth Organics" or "Essential Living Foods" (these are packed in Peru!). Both have a buttery, meaty, saltiness that satisfies all cravings. :)