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Consuming Enough Protein on a Raw Food Diet


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I am not yet a raw foodist but I am leaning heavily towards becoming one. I am an athlete when it comes to running, playing five sports competitively (basketball, baseball, soccer, golf and ultimate frisbee) as well as a weightlifter I am very into calisthenics. I like to train with weights three or four times a week for about an hour each session and do high intensity cardio a couple times a week and steady paced cardio (like running or swimming long distances) two or three times a week.

 

Eating the right amount of calories to support my body weight was relatively easy but if I become a raw foodist, I am concerned I will lose muscle mass. I am currently 6'0 and weigh 185 pounds (17 years old), I've put on around 15 pounds of lean muscle since I began working out a year and a half ago.

 

If I went on a raw food diet I would really be getting my protein from nuts and seeds as fruits and vegetables don't provide as much but you can only eat so much. They cost a lot and have twice as much fat (which is good fuel) as they do protein but I still can't imagine myself getting more than 35-50g of protein a day. Could I supplement with pea, rice or hemp protein? I don't know if those powders are actually considered raw anymore. Also do those have toxic chemicals in them? I want to detoxify my body as well. If anyone has any advice for me, the newbie, it would be greatly appreciated.

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Hi Redsox,

 

Few things..

We evolved to eat whole foods, not "isolated" or "engineered food supplements"! Moreover, humans have been building huge muscles and athletic physiques for thousands of years without the need for them, their a money spinner, their sucess is result of clever marketing. I was able to add over 80lbs of mostly muscle to my frame without spending a single penny on them.

 

My question to you would be, why do you want to become a raw foodist? If am too be honest, i see them as people who treat a basic need as a morbid obsession. Their food faddists.

When i was in the British army, i was sent for survival training in the Scottish highlands, i always remember one survival expert explaining to us, that we should cook our food whenever possible, as when food is cooked, the body uses a considerable less amount of energy digesting it (now not overcooked). Many scientists also believe it was cooking food that played a large role in making us human, ie it freed up energy and allowed us to over time to develop smaller stomachs and bigger brains. Its an interesting theory, one that i happen to agree with.

 

I would say if your consuming an ample amount of legumes, quinoa, nuts and seeds etc, you'll get all the protein you need and more.

 

Just my two cents

Best wishes

Rob

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Humans are genetically engineered to consume raw food. When food is cooked, the structure of food is changed. Dr. Paul Kouchakoff and Dr. Howard Loomis in two seperate studies proved that when you consume raw food, your body releases and creates more white blood cells as if to fight a threat. Our body doesn't recognize cooked food.

 

Also, it was proved by Louis Maillard that cooking food creates milliard molecules which are toxic to the human body. You change the nature of proteins, carbohydrates and fat when they are cooked, making them toxic to us. Carbohydrates especially. In Sweden they even found (and informed the public) that cooked carbohydrates contain high levels of acrylamides which when tested gave genetic mutation and even cancer to rats. Acrylamides are much, much more dangerous than any of the cancer-causing agents found in food. There' s a reason why humans are the only species that cook their food, all other animals and organisms feed naturally- raw. When you cook food at about 115-118 degrees (Fahrenheit), you call off all the enzymes and a lot of the other nutrients in food, especially vitamin c.

 

By the way, I cannot claim to know this completely by heart. Nutrition has been my passion for the past two years of my life and that's why every time I learn more, I want to do more. This is the specific link of only ONE of the many articles and studies that I read to increase my knowledge.

http://www.rawglow.com/cookedfood.htm

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Exercise physiology and ancestral eating habits has been my passion also, FOR 22 YEARS, my views are from research and personal "experience". Here's some other research in this documentary called "did cooking make us human"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HY_vd4SNC-U

check out the raw food study 7 minutes into this video. It would appear there are differences of opinion among scientists and researchers regarding whether or not homo sapiens have the capacity for digesting huge quantities of raw plant foods. Most species that do have the ability to digest huge quantities of raw plant foods also have huge stomach's and small brains relative to their size. Indeed were are the only species that cooks are food (as far as am aware), were also the only species that have sent shuttle's to other plants, that build tower-blocks, that used the internet to communicate.

 

With every field of endeavor, there is good research and bad research, there are "reputable" organisations that give out bad advice all the time. For example, A couple of years ago, "reputable" researchers at Harvard Medical School published research stating fructose is bad for us, does that mean we shouldn't consume fruit? After all, that information came from were some of the west's top medical doctors and nutritionists come out of.

Edited by HIT Rob
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Sorry, I did not intend to make it seem that I was undermining your knowledge and experience. By stating how long I've been doing research I merely wanted to suggest that I do have background on the matter and that I'm not completely ignorant. The thing about experience is that you can't experience yourself getting cancer or developing problems with your kidneys, liver or heart from toxins until you actually get it. You don't know your lungs are developing a tumor until you notice yourself have breathing problems. You don't know your heart is suffering until you have your first heart murmur or palpitation. Competitive bodybuilders and athletes out there may not know that their cook food could very well be a cause of their cancer from all the toxins they get from it because their experience has shown that cooked chicken is a good source of protein and helps to add muscle. But in fact, the research shows that your body does recognize half of it and that you're gaining dangerous toxins from consuming it.

 

The comparison between humans and animals when it comes to human feats is a faulty analogy, simply put. We are different organisms with different capacities no matter what we eat, and we will be like that until evolution changes that. It's like saying, in the reverse direction, that we should eat cat food because they can jump five times their height. It just doesn't work.

 

There will always be faulty research. More than half of the research that comes out in modern day society about food is funded by the manufacturing companies that want their researchers to reach a certain conclusion. So because they don't receive a grant from the government, they don't have to be supervised by them and therefore don't have to cover every track of research. They can follow the one they know is going to get them the result they want, even if they know they jumped over things. I looked up everything I could about research Harvard has done on fructose. The statement about not eating fruit is incorrect. The studies done by Harvard were done on high-fructose corn syrup and other ADDED sweeteners, not ones that occur naturally in nature. If you eat an apple, you're not going to have the same chemical reactions in your body as if you consumed a packet of added sugar from fructose.

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Not a all chum, likewise, i do not mean undermine your knowledge:)

 

Indeed i have experienced serious health issues, one of my kidneys doesn't function properly, at 24 i'd a stroke, and i found out this year i've a slight irregular heart beat. But none of which were caused by toxin levels. I switched from being a vegetarian to a vegan at the beginning of this year, never felt better, and no loss of size or strength.

 

The point of my comparison, is that our eating habits allowed us to develop bigger brains over time, and thus accomplish more from that.

 

I agree with your opinion regarding modern day research, with the Harvard study, i'll try and find it, i read it on another forum, i differently remember it mentioning fruit being bad for us.

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I watched the video, it was very interesting. There seems to be a medium in which we have not yet discovered between the foods that give us energy and the ones that digest and keep us more full. I'm still trying to find out more information. I may purchase a book by David Wolfe, have you heard of him? He is a raw food expert as well as overall nutritionist. I still don't know what I'll do about a raw food diet but oh well, I have time

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Oh yes, i've heard of David Wolfe, he does actually give out a lot of free advice on his sites, and he does have a masters degree in Nutrition, so he is someone would have time for.

 

You mentioned you've added 15lbs of lean tissue to your frame in the last 18 moths, that's very good, what is your current eating plan like?

 

Ive actually had great success over the last few years with intermittent fasting, its another great way of allowing the body to detoxify, and better recover, i recently switched back to using a vegan version of Ori Hofmekler's warrior diet, have you heard of Ori or the warrior diet? He is not a qualified nutritionist, however he seen by many as an expert of ancestral eating habits, he introduced some very interesting concepts about fasting and how it relates to our physiology. He recommends fasting or under-eating through the day, and feasting/over-eating at night based on how are nervous system is set up, the warrior diet site has a lot of free info from Ori.

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Well actually my current eating plan is not vegan. I'm on this website to try and make the transition to raw foods using a vegan lifestyle (if I do make the change to raw foods). I used to consume 300g of protein a day (typical newbie haha) but then when I learned you don't need as much I slowly made my way down to 180g of protein per day but now I am probably going to be eating 140g a day (almost .8g per pound of body weight) to try and not kill my kidneys. I eat 30% of my calories from healthy fats and the rest in carbs.

 

I've tried intermittent fast and the warrior diet (the four hour window). I loved it in the way that my body wouldn't get tired due to processing food in my stomach so I was much more alert at school but I didn't like the fact that I couldn't eat with my friends or feel like a part of the group. I also didn't like the crash I got after stuffing my face because my body would use so much energy to proceeds 2300-3000 calories in such a short amount of time. I feel more natural eating throughout the day

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LOL, i used to consume 300 grams a day too, i haven't used supplements in over 12 years, but back in the mid 90s one of my main protein sources was this thick lumpy goop called mega mass 4000, and cybergenics 3000, they were in vogue at the time. I think the main thing now is the quality, ive experimented over the years for months at a time, with as i mentioned, as much as 300grams a day, and as little as 80grams a day (while at a body weight of 240lbs), there didn't appear to be any difference in gains. For me the most positive changes happened with fasting, proper food combining and meal timing.

 

I hear what your saying with regards to the social aspect of fasting, when am at work, i go out into the car park and sit in my car, have a black coffee and maybe a tablespoon or two of coconut oil or a small handful of mixed nuts and listen to the radio or take a power nap, its not as easy when your younger though. Of course there is longer feeding window fasting methods like Martian Berkhams leangains, i think he recommends an 8hr feeding window. Indeed the post feast crash, for me its good though, it helps me relax and sleep better, i hate going to bed hungry, which is how i felt when i was eating little and often.

 

Anyho, wont do ya no harm to experiment over the up and coming years ahead of ya:)

Best of luck

Rob

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I watched the video, it was very interesting. There seems to be a medium in which we have not yet discovered between the foods that give us energy and the ones that digest and keep us more full. I'm still trying to find out more information. I may purchase a book by David Wolfe, have you heard of him? He is a raw food expert as well as overall nutritionist. I still don't know what I'll do about a raw food diet but oh well, I have time
I watched the video, it was very interesting. There seems to be a medium in which we have not yet discovered between the foods that give us energy and the ones that digest and keep us more full. I'm still trying to find out more information. I may purchase a book by David Wolfe, have you heard of him? He is a raw food expert as well as overall nutritionist. I still don't know what I'll do about a raw food diet but oh well, I have time

 

David Wolfe is a Charlatan, that is only interested in selling you, ridiculously expensive supplements which he justifies with Myths and Legends... Ormus is a perfect example of this.

He also isn't vegan, Ants, Deer Placenta and Colostrum are all part of his world.

There are plenty of Vegan Dieticians out there, Jack Norris for example, who give excellent advice

Personally I think it is a lot of hard work to get enough protein on a raw diet, unless you consume a lot of nuts and Spirulina etc, but from the posts you have above, it sounds like you are pretty into the whole raw idea.

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Have you seen the documentary Hungry For Change? In that movie he was more a supplement than an actual key figure. He didn't link any of his websites or movies or anything so he wasn't trying to sell anything there. I'm using most of my information off that

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As far as the issue of not cooking food goes, I recently have stopped cooking my food unless I absolutely need to. The only thing I cook now is quinoa. I haven't noticed any weight loss but all my life I've generally been on the light side compared to your average person. Lately I've turned to eating all my food towards the morning from 9 or 10am and finishing around 4 or 5pm, or sooner. I don't like the idea of being full when I go to sleep because your sleep is designed to detox and fast.

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as when food is cooked, the body uses a considerable less amount of energy digesting it

blatantly false.

 

First off cup cake, my advise wasn't to you, secondly that advise was given to me by a Special forces survival expert, and thirdly, if you watch the research in the documentary i posted you'll see its blatantly true!

Edited by HIT Rob
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As far as the issue of not cooking food goes, I recently have stopped cooking my food unless I absolutely need to. The only thing I cook now is quinoa. I haven't noticed any weight loss but all my life I've generally been on the light side compared to your average person. Lately I've turned to eating all my food towards the morning from 9 or 10am and finishing around 4 or 5pm, or sooner. I don't like the idea of being full when I go to sleep because your sleep is designed to detox and fast.

 

Hi Kon,

 

Sound goods,

 

On reading Ori Hofmekler's warrior diet book, he explains that are nervous system is set-up for eating the bulk of are calories at night (contrary to popular belief), he explain's (and backs it up with considerable research), that we evolved as nocturnal feeders, we hunted and gathered through the day, and feed at night, this is still true with most of the true hunter gatherer societies that still exist today. Ori explains, When your fasting, you body operates on its sympathetic nervous system, a fight or flight reaction to stress, which promotes alertness, and resistance to fatigue, however, when we feed the body switches to the para-sympathetic nervous system, which makes you feel relaxed and sleepy.

That said Kon, your doing still doing a good thing, ie your given your body sufficient time to detox.

Edited by HIT Rob
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Thanks Jub,

 

Redsox is a good thinker at a young age, logic and reason is a the forefront of his thinking. Unlike another individual on this thread that blabs out one or two words like Tarzan to make their point.

 

Its a good documentary Jub, its very interesting.

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as when food is cooked, the body uses a considerable less amount of energy digesting it

blatantly false.

Not so fast. It's pretty much agreed that the TEF of raw food is higher than that of cooked. The cooking process does a bit of the digestion for you, breaking down complex carbs and proteins. The question is one of magnitude, which varies depending on the food and the type of cooking.

 

Raw foodies can make some nutty claims, but this one is pretty solid.

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