Anyone "raw" out there?

Iristxo

Hi guys

I hope I manage to not make very many enemies in this forum I have managed to antagonize a few in the other one already!

Anyway here's the thing: I have been looking into the "raw food trend" for quite a while now and most of it sort of made sense to me for quite a while although I never really managed to do too much raw food. In the last few months and since I could not do too much raw I started lurking and posting in a few vegan forums where I was kindly informed that apparently most of the premises that raw foodism is based on (enzymes, digestion issues etc) are basically not quite true. Recently in the nutrition and diet forum in these beloved boards of ours I have also been informed that there is not really those many toxins in meat as well (which I am very very reluctant to believe). So the "other trend" out there seems to be the low-carbs diet thingy. So basically now I am like, if I don't eat animal fats, I don't eat fruit or very many of the other carbs either well surviving on veg alone is going to be difficult!

I am only half-joking. Of course I will not go off carbs altogether and I do not intend to start consuming any big amount of animal fats any day soon. But just wondering what other people who have ever been in a similar situ as mine think out there. All the info out there seems to be so confusing and contradicting! I know the right diet for everyone is different... I am just having trouble finding the right one for me!

Any thoughts anyone? Sorry for boring you all to tears!

Iristxo

By the way this is probably the first step to me making enemies but I have to add that my reasons to be "mostly vegan" (we do eat fish) is 80% health and 20% ethical (she blushes).

Tar.Aldarion

There are one or two raw foodists who abound these boards now and again, but they may not reply soon!

Abi

Iristxo wrote: »

Hi guys

I hope I manage to not make very many enemies in this forum I have managed to antagonize a few in the other one already!

Anyway here's the thing: I have been looking into the "raw food trend" for quite a while now and most of it sort of made sense to me for quite a while although I never really managed to do too much raw food. In the last few months and since I could not do too much raw I started lurking and posting in a few vegan forums where I was kindly informed that apparently most of the premises that raw foodism is based on (enzymes, digestion issues etc) are basically not quite true. Recently in the nutrition and diet forum in these beloved boards of ours I have also been informed that there is not really those many toxins in meat as well (which I am very very reluctant to believe). So the "other trend" out there seems to be the low-carbs diet thingy. So basically now I am like, if I don't eat animal fats, I don't eat fruit or very many of the other carbs either well surviving on veg alone is going to be difficult!

I am only half-joking. Of course I will not go off carbs altogether and I do not intend to start consuming any big amount of animal fats any day soon. But just wondering what other people who have ever been in a similar situ as mine think out there. All the info out there seems to be so confusing and contradicting! I know the right diet for everyone is different... I am just having trouble finding the right one for me!

Any thoughts anyone? Sorry for boring you all to tears!

I eat raw veg, I much prefer it to cooked stuff actually. I'd fill a bowl with raw turnip and carrots. I dunno, just tastes better that way to me. Veg lose their nutrients from the moment they're picked, so murdering them in boiling water cant be much use.

You're talking a lot about carbs and stuff, is this like a weight-loss fad for you? sorry don't mean that to sound patronizing. But if eating raw is just something that you have to adapt to rather than like, well it might be hard for you to maintain.

Iristxo

Thanks all for your responses. I found the real response that I was looking for by reading a different thread: you can't really do low-carb if you're vegan.

I'll just go for a nice healthy balance like they always say

Iristxo

Abitar wrote: »

But if eating raw is just something that you have to adapt to rather than like, well it might be hard for you to maintain.

No, it wasn't quite for me although I still try to maintain some of the habits that I got out of it, namely eating raw until lunch and the food-combining stuff. Now that all my previous knowledge has been challenged I don't know what to believe any more. Think I'll kick-start the day with porridge I suppose and of course still try to eat some raw fruit/veg throughout the day because it has more nutrients.

Sapsorrow

Iristxo wrote: »

Now that all my previous knowledge has been challenged I don't know what to believe any more.

You're on the path to enlightenment now so! Seriously though, the thing with nutrition is the more you learn the more you realise how little you really know so it's actually a very good sign. If you think you know it all (which I did until relatively recently) then you most definately know nothing. It's such a vast area and the science is so complex that no one can know everything about it. There is so much misleading information out there, I think you may be a bit like me in that you tend to go for the more holisitic side of things but so much of the theories are based on complete bs and people who write about it and promote their theories don't feel like they need to admit that what theyre saying simply isn't true or provide an evidence base for what they're saying.
I went through a similar crisis about a year ago, I joined boards with pretty much the same set of misconceptions that you have questioned here and have since been encouraged (by having to defend myself in debates) to really look at the logic and evidence behind my theories only to find they had no basis whatsoever I had simply made the mistake of unquestionly accepting what I was reading in my books or online. It's important to not let your 'beliefs' stand in the way of your acknowledging the truth which I know I've been guilty of in the past. It's a hard transition but tbh it's totally worth it, I'm eating better and feeling better than ever since.
The guys in the nutrition forum are actually incredibly clued up and not a bunch of Atkins fanatics, you'll see when you've been around a bit longer that people have no time for talking about Atkins at all. What some of them are into is the paleo diet which is a completely different thing. You can learn a hell of a lot from them, I know I have and they've put me onto loads of incredible theories and studies I'd probably never have come across otehrwise.

EDIT: regarding the low carb thing you should try and research the connection between carbs ann heart disease/atherosclerosis. It's very shocking, and there is much more consistent and biologically plausable scientific evidence for a role for carbs in CVD than there is for cholesterol or saturated fat believe it or not.

Heres a good starting point: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM

Re: the raw thing I can promise you the premise is wrong, I know because I used to be well into it and have since studied physiology as part of my degree and realised it made no sense. Any basic physiology book will be able to show you it's not how it works. A good balance between raw and cooked is ideal seeing as some things are more bioavailable one way or another, just don't boil anything.
Long term raw foodists can end up very run down, it's so hard to get it right and the stomach really is better off helped out a bit with cooking some of your food. Temple posted some research at one point as far as I remember about increased prevalance of fungal infections (indicitive of decreased immunity) in lon term raw foodists.

OutlawPete

Iristxo wrote: »

I have managed to antagonize a few in the other one already! !

People tend to have a nervous breakdown when you take away Roast Pork as I found out in the following thread the past few days

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055838161

I am considering going Vegan as I have been 80% Raw for over ten years now and 100% Raw for seven of them, due to health reasons, won't bore you all, but suffice to say, it changed my life.

The thread in After Hours was supposed to see how people would eat without Fire, I also excluded Sharp Tools as I wanted to see what people would feel they world eat if they had to gather / hunt with their bare hands.

Read the thread, some people's responses are hilarious.

I ended up asking the Mods to lock the thread as I just couldn't take another:

"The thread would be good if you could use fire and tools.." :rolleyes:

Despite repeating over and over and over that it's a thread BASED on NOT having Fire or Sharp Tools, I still got the same crap.

In fairness, quite a few did enter the spirit of things and gave some interesting answers.

I think one of the hardest Foods for people to give up when transitioning to a RAW diet, is Bread.

People be loving their toast ..

Getwellsoon

Iristxo wrote: »

By the way this is probably the first step to me making enemies but I have to add that my reasons to be "mostly vegan" (we do eat fish) is 80% health and 20% ethical (she blushes).

No need to be ashamed of that at all! I went vegan mainly for health reasons. I just think it is a better way of life to adopt, for our health, for the animals, and for environmental reasons. I don't think anyone on here has the right to condemn a vegan for their reasoning behind it, or for the odd slip up or maybe allowing one occasional dairy/meat product to creep into their diet - what matters is we are making a difference for ourselves and the planet.

Anyway, back on topic, I was also considering going raw, or at least introducing raw food into my diet on a larger scale. But similarly, I have not got around to it. I think if I had a dehydrator I'd consider it a little more, but the whole dehydrating stuff to make your own breads and crackers seems like such an effort and needs to be planned ahead so much - I dedicate enough time to meal preparation as it is! I've tried out a few raw recipes from the "Rawvolution" book though and they have been amazing. I also saw a blog online somewhere about raw eating which would probably have been really helpful to you, but I can't remember the URL. There's a guy in the food diary forum who is well up on his raw foodism. You should search for his diary! He has lots of tips and advice on there.

What also confuses me about people who say they are raw foodists is: do you eat raw meat? I've heard of people doing this. It's weird! But then again, I've eaten raw fish in the past in Japanese dishes and it's been lovely, so I don't really see why raw meat isn't more common. I always thought that a "raw foodist" is a person who also eats raw meat, but a "raw vegan" is someone who does not.

OutlawPete

Getwellsoon wrote: »

I think if I had a dehydrator I'd consider it a little more, but the whole dehydrating stuff to make your own breads and crackers seems like such an effort and needs to be planned ahead so much - I dedicate enough time to meal preparation as it is!

With regard to Dehydrated breads, there is a Raw Food Cafe in Wicklow called Healthy Habits (Menu below) and they supply Cornucopias 'Dehydrated Wraps' for years.

I have bought them direct but have arranged to collect them from Cornucopia also.

If you contact Healthy Habits and as for Kevin he will answer any questions you have.

In saying that, I tend to use Cos or Baby Gem Lettuce in place of wraps these days, find the wraps to be a little tough and so the lettuce can be even more 'wrap like' that the dehydrated wraps.

Getwellsoon wrote: »

What also confuses me about people who say they are raw foodists is: do you eat raw meat?

I eat quite a bit of Sashimi from Kokoro on Liffey St in Dublin:

Abi

OutlawPete wrote: »

With regard to Dehydrated breads, there is a Raw Food Cafe in Wicklow called Healthy Habits (Menu below) and they supply Cornucopias 'Dehydrated Wraps' for years.

I have bought them direct but have arranged to collect them from Cornucopia also.

If you contact Healthy Habits and as for Kevin he will answer any questions you have.

In saying that, I tend to use Cos or Baby Gem Lettuce in place of wraps these days, find the wraps to be a little tough and so the lettuce can be even more 'wrap like' that the dehydrated wraps.



I eat quite a bit of Sashimi from Kokoro on Liffey St in Dublin:

Woohewww look at you.


Soon as I saw your name beside the thread title I thought "I bet I know what he thought"

OutlawPete

Abitar wrote: »

Soon as I saw your name beside the thread title I thought "I bet I know what he thought"

Where you right?

Getwellsoon

OutlawPete wrote: »

With regard to Dehydrated breads, there is a Raw Food Cafe in Wicklow called Healthy Habits (Menu below) and they supply Cornucopias 'Dehydrated Wraps' for years.

I have bought them direct but have arranged to collect them from Cornucopia also.

If you contact Healthy Habits and as for Kevin he will answer any questions you have.

In saying that, I tend to use Cos or Baby Gem Lettuce in place of wraps these days, find the wraps to be a little tough and so the lettuce can be even more 'wrap like' that the dehydrated wraps.

I eat quite a bit of Sashimi from Kokoro on Liffey St in Dublin:

Thanks for the info! I am yet to try a dehydrated bread/wrap/cracker, so look forward to the new experience! I've used lettuce in wraps before

I love Kokoro, they have a lot of vegan sushi, but I usually just make my own.

Mentalmiss

I am one of the boards resident raw people and always willing to help anyone who wants to follow down that path.