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Whos' Raw? and who wants to tell me about it?


amawalke
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Are you a raw foodist? I keep hearing from all these raw foodists who say they feel amazing, but a lot of the time when I see their pics they look tired and kind of soft. I'm NOT saying this is how all the raw foodists look but I seem to be seeing more and more of that, which is why I was wondering if it was actually the "right" choice for me. I'm Your Man, from your profile pic you look fairly healthy so I was wondering what your take was!

 

You may be seeing many raw foodists in a state of detox. When I was detoxing, which took probably almost a year, I had an unhealthy color & felt bad.

 

If a person "see-saws" back & forth between raw foods & cooked foods, it is thought that they are continually detoxing & therefore are not experiencing optimal health benefits that they could be on the raw food diet.

 

They will most likely have a sallow complexion and a myriad of symptoms to boot.

 

I've been raw for almost 2 yrs. now, and feel absolutely fantastic now that the detoxing is done with. A person really has to experience it for themselves in order to understand what it is all about and how they can feel so good.

 

I can try and explain to a family member/friend how good I feel, but you can't really understand how sick you really are until you experience this level of health.

 

I encourage you to continue your research, peruse the raw food forums...there is nothing like it!

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If I ate like 80 percent raw would I be in a constant state of detox because I ate some cooked food during the day? I see and hear all these amazing things but maybe I am seeing how people are looking when they detox. Although I think Ani Phyo is gorgeous, it seems like she's not in the kind of shape I'm hoping to achieve (don't get me wrong she looks great! But maybe not enough muscle definition) and she's raw all the time. I haven't seen any women that are always raw that look like they're in the kind of shape I'm going for. Am I just misinformed? I was really excited about raw when I first heard about it, but now I'm not too sure.

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If I ate like 80 percent raw would I be in a constant state of detox because I ate some cooked food during the day?

 

No, not exactly. I should have clarified it more. What I was getting at is a person who might eat raw/hi raw for a day or so, then "fall off" the wagon & pig out on a lot of cooked foods/sugar foods, whatever they may be craving for a few days.

 

It is this type of going back & forth that makes the change to raw so hard to deal with, and also cause the body to detox hard.

 

I believe it also highly depends on what your motivation is for going raw, your mindset.

 

I was highly motivated after hearing a few radio shows on it & doing a bit of research, and I was determined in my mid to do it. I didn't look longingly at cooked foods/comfort foods which so many folks will continue to do, and that makes it additionally hard to break away from cooked.

 

If a person is a "comfort food" type that reminisces a lot about what they used to enjoy and misses those foods terribly, then I would say they are not ready yet, emotionally. The mind will play tricks on a person, and you have to be committed to it if you are going to do this.

 

BTW, I am not really trying to convince anyone to convert to raw, but simply sharing my own experiences/observances.

 

Ahhh detox doesn't exist!

I am not sure if you are being sarcastic...it is hard to determined in the two dimensional internet world...

 

But...it definitely does exist...I went through severe detox symptoms during that first year. Even when I went from animal foods to being vegan, I was detoxing severely. It was not a pretty time, I would not want to go through any of it again, as I was highly toxic.

 

To make matters worse, I really didn't understand it all fully at the time; I went completely "cold turkey" abruptly switching my diet, cutting out all foods I thought was bad, probably not replacing those foods with the proper nutrient dense foods that I should have, until I learned more.

 

I also got into juicing very heavily, which many of you may know has quite a flushing effect on the body. It was a learning experience, to say the least.

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You may be seeing many raw foodists in a state of detox. When I was detoxing, which took probably almost a year, I had an unhealthy color & felt bad.

 

When I went vegetarian and then vegan I didn't have to wait a year to feel better. People making other dietary changes haven't had that experience either.

 

 

If a person "see-saws" back & forth between raw foods & cooked foods, it is thought that they are continually detoxing & therefore are not experiencing optimal health benefits that they could be on the raw food diet.

 

There are a number of people on this board who are not 100% raw or "high raw". Brenda Davis RD, the author of "Becoming Raw" is not 100% raw either. I've met her and several raw foodists who are not 100% raw. They looked okay and claimed to have felt very good.

 

Maybe it isn't detox, but something else that is going on?

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I haven't seen any women that are always raw that look like they're in the kind of shape I'm going for.

 

I think asking the question "If ____ is so great, than why aren't you XY & Z ?" is a useful question.

 

Sometime the people you ask do not want the same results you do. It may also be a matter of _____ not being practical ( or working ).

 

Especially for reshaping your body, the ideal situation is to find someone who is knowledgeable, who has the kind of body you want and who achieved it going through issues similar to ones you will have to go through.

 

I'm not familiar with bikini contests.

 

What kind of bodies do the competitors go for? Slim and fit like aerobic competition or fitness competition competitors?

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I keep trying to find someone who's competed in the bikini category that's a vegan that has the look I'm going for, but I haven't found anyone (personally) who would be able to chat with me about it. I'd also like to minimize the amount of processed food I eat, just because eating too much tofu and luna bars etc can mess with my stomach. Sometimes I wonder if I'm being too picky....am I asking too much to want to look like a bikini competitor, eat a vegan diet with mostly unprocessed foods, and like the foods I'm eating? lol...I'm just trying to reach for the stars here! This is what competitors in the bikini division look like...they're mostly lean but very fit, not as much muscle as figure or fitness. And yes...there are certain "assets" these girls have that I'm sure I'll never have no matter how many vegetables I eat :P but aside from that...this is the look I'm going for...

http://webcast.bodybuilding.com/fitshow/2010olympia/?q=5

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I keep trying to find someone who's competed in the bikini category that's a vegan that has the look I'm going for, but I haven't found anyone (personally) who would be able to chat with me about it.

 

That just means you will be a pioneer .

 

I'd also like to minimize the amount of processed food I eat, just because eating too much tofu and luna bars etc can mess with my stomach.

 

Not a problem. Get some cookbooks. Focus your meals on freshly made legumes, whole grains, fresh vegetables, fruit and some nuts and seeds.

 

Combine that with a food, calorie and weight diary and you should be able to do a bikini competition.

 

Those women look just like ordinary tall women who are slender and who got ripped for the contest. You don't need a mountainous amounts of protein to do that. You should be able to get maximum nutrition per calorie with a whole foods vegan diet. Based on your earlier, my NON-EXPERT opinion is that your work would focus on losing fat while working on your musculature as much as you can within a limited amount of calories.

 

 

 

Sometimes I wonder if I'm being too picky....am I asking too much to want to look like a bikini competitor,

 

Bodybuilders and related fitness show competitors don't look like they do when you see them on stage. A few weeks before the contest the start brutal and unsustainable diets/regimes to get unnaturally lean ( "ripped"). They start gaining a lot of it back within days after the contest. This time of year is usually when they have their pictures taken and the live in baggy sweat suits the rest of the time.

 

These women do not look as ripped as bodybuilders, but their body fat does look a lot lower than what is natural for a female physique.

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Ahhh detox doesn't exist!
Ahahaha, I hope this is a joke. Who are you ? What do you think your body does on a daily basis with urine, feces, mucus, sweat, etc ? If you eat each day but don't go to the toilet for 3 months because of constipation or whatever, you'll be highly intoxicated, and your body will need to... detox... by going to the toilet to shit. If you drink too much beer (intoxication), perhaps then you will vomit (detoxication). And if you say detoxification does not exist, you mean intoxication does not exist either... Hmm. Maybe nothing in this world exist really, and the reality is just an illusion. But seriously, all diseases are the result of intoxication or "toxemia" (anything that enters your body, a poisonous substance, or invasion of a virus) and the only way to cure is detox (getting rid of the virus or whatever intoxicates the organs or bloodstream). Another poster once said intoxication does not exist, because of the LIVER! Well indeed the liver is a detox organ. When we are sick with the flue for instance, we do need to drink more liquids, to support the body in its detox process. On a cooked food diet which contain not only pure foods, the body is being intoxicated each day and in a constant detox mode. If a person eats only organic, fresh produce that are as poison-free as possible, this person is not intoxicating his body on a regular basis and therefore he/she can function normally and the body can focus on detoxifying completly.

 

For your own sake I suggest you to read some of these articles http://www.soilandhealth.org/02/0201hyglibcat/hygienic.review.articles.htm

 

disease is remedial activity

what is a poison ?

Enervation - Toxemia

Vital action vs drug action

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Debunking The Detox Myth

 

A group of over 300 young UK scientists and engineers who investigated the evidence behind claims made for products and diets, have started a public awareness campaign by publishing a dossier that shows the word "detox" has no meaning outside of the clinical treatment of drug addiction and poisoning.

 

snip ....

 

The scientists involved in the research include physiologists, biochemists, doctors and pharmacists and they will be launching their own leaflet titled "Debunking Detox" outside high street shops in central London.

 

The leaflet explains how the human body already has a fantastic detox system, called the liver and the kidneys, and that there is no need to spend money on expensive treatments and products. Eating healthily and getting plenty of sleep is a better investment.

 

Tom Wells, a chemist and one of the investigators, told the BBC that:

 

"The minimum sellers of detox products should be able to offer is a clear understanding of what detox is and proof that their product actually works."

 

"The people we contacted could do neither," he said.

 

From

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/134385.php

 

Typing "the detox myth" into google will get many, many more articles for anyone who is interested.

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BeforeWisdom, who talked about the need to buy detox products ? No one except you, so I wonder why you post this thing.

 

ahahah, they say Detox is a myth, while saying "the human body already has a fantastic detox system, called the liver and the kidneys".

 

"and that there is no need to spend money on expensive treatments and products. Eating healthily and getting plenty of sleep is a better investment."

Well that's it, I never said we need to buy products to detox either... Its the body that is being intoxicated and then need to detox, when we let it the chance to. When we are in constant intoxication, on drugs or junk food, the body can never detox completly, as its being intoxicated one day after the other. That is when Toxemia and diseases arrive. One of the first things that can be damaged are those detox organs, so we need to do surgery to remove or replace those organs... When people are seriously intoxicated they need to stop intoxicating their body (so they do a Detox program, no need to buy products) and then the body will detox by itself.

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It is about the human body not needing special diets or anything else to "detox".....that the human body has loads of organs and systems to do remove toxins on its own.

 

If that is the case, how would you explain the fecal matter that we always hear about that becomes impacted in a person's colon? (the famous John Wayne story) kidney stones, gall bladder stones, etc...

 

or maybe you don't believe that occurs...

 

After doing the "Master Cleanse" for a period of time, I am convinced. I heave heard many stories, watched youtube vids & such of folks that have flushed their body of kidney stones, etc. from doing different "natural" cleanses - not store bought detox products.

 

I personally feel that an unhealthy diet can bring about conditions that may require cleanses/flushes over & above what the body can do on its' own through normal elimination actions...

 

I'd rather be safe than sorry though - would much rather prevent it from occurring in the first place than have to go through the pain of a detox for an extended period of time...not fun...

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Maybe it isn't detox, but something else that is going on?

 

Yep there is. They are under eating and they are 'detoxing' until they lose enough body mass and their metabolic rate slows enough to adjust to the reduced calories and lost the 'false body' and now feel better.

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It is about the human body not needing special diets or anything else to "detox".....that the human body has loads of organs and systems to do remove toxins on its own.

 

If that is the case, how would you explain the fecal matter that we always hear about that becomes impacted in a person's colon? (the famous John Wayne story)

 

I would say it is probably a myth. It isn't like people do not make up other stories about celebrities as well. People are still talking about Elvis and UFOs.

 

FWIW, a few years ago I decided to get a professional colonic. I've been eating cooked food for decades. Only 1 piece of feces, about a square half inch came out. According to the raw food authors I have read I should have been having pounds of the stuff coming out in a religious experience.

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If you think the liver and kidneys clean everything instantly what do you guys believe are the causes of most diseases and especially degenerative diseases, and why are people eating an unhealthy diet (which doesn't look like what we can call a "detox diet") look sick -and are sick- in comparision to people eating an healthier diet (or if we want, a "Detox Diet"), they have better skin, etc...

 

 

It is about the human body not needing special diets or anything else to "detox"

Really ? Then why do they say "Eating healthily" ? That's the special detox diet. "eating healthily may mean to eat less junk food, cooked food, fried stuff, etc, it may mean to eat a raw detoxifying diet. They are SO STUPID that they don't even understand what they are saying. They "investigated the evidence behind claims made for products and diets " yet they are saying we need to be "Eating healthily".

 

For your information, the kidneys and the liver cannot filter and get rid of everything. You're crazy. Many substances never existed until less than 50 years ago, way before those organs and our human body was created. Stuff like DDT (and yes, people still have ddt in their body eventhough this product is banned since twenty years) may enter the bloodstream and remain in human tissues all your life. Some stuff in drugs that people take daily may be flushed in the toilet but some of it stays in the body, because our body is not always able to deal with all substances. There are thousands of toxic substance in food today, especially industrial food, with gmo's, etc, mercury, glutamate monosodium hiding everywhere behind terms such as natural and artificial flavours, and bht added to package material - and then going in the food. The pollution we breathe outside and the toxic cleaning products we breathe in buildings and our own house.

 

You say "that the human body has loads of organs and systems to do remove toxins on its own" . Of course, so let's all eat only junk food then, why not ? The kidneys and the liver will save us... It is obvious that people need to eat an healthy diet, or a diet that will allow the body to detox all the time without being poisoned. Most people are eating badly and taking drugs so that they are intoxicating their system more than it can detox, they are exceeding the capacity of kidneys, liver, etc...

 

They are under eating and they are 'detoxing' until they lose enough body mass and their metabolic rate slows enough to adjust to the reduced calories and lost the 'false body' and now feel better.
Watch the doc "Homo Toxicus". Everybody got toxic petroleum products in his bloodstream and heavy metals stored in their bodyfat. Or maybe you think that we are pure beings 100% clean inside. There's only two ways to get rid of those products that the body has not been able yet with common detox actions from the "kidneys and liver ". One is by breastfeeding to the baby (not very good for the baby, of course), and the other one is by losing weight, especially bodyfat. Then those toxic products may enter the bloodstream again (causing headaches, etc) and hopefully this time our body will excrete and expel it. Because we know that for some substances our liver is able to get rid of only 50% of it, the rest continue in the bloodstream and is stored in bodyfat, cells, etc, may cause tumors, or who knows maybe Parkinson, Alzheimer, etc...
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I would say it is probably a myth. It isn't like people do not make up other stories about celebrities as well. People are still talking about Elvis and UFOs.

 

FWIW, a few years ago I decided to get a professional colonic. I've been eating cooked food for decades. Only 1 piece of feces, about a square half inch came out. According to the raw food authors I have read I should have been having pounds of the stuff coming out in a religious experience.

Even DV - you remember that forum member who had the same opinion as you about detox, liver and kidneys - once posted a webpage with photos of all kinds of excrements resulting of enemas and colon therapy, with stuff of different size, shape and colours, all types of parasites, small animals, creatures and monsters that the body has not been able to get rid of.

 

http://curezone.com/diseases/parasites/

"It is estimated that pinworms infect more than 400,000,000 people throughout the world (10% of humans), and in many areas of the world (e.g., North America and Europe) it is the most common nematode parasite of humans.On a world-wide basis, however, Ascaris lumbricoides ranks #1 infecting more than 1,000,000,000 people (25% of humans).

 

"Ascaris Lumbricoides has a world-wide distribution and is most prevalent in tropical areas. 25% of the world population harbors the parasite. "

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going to go as raw as possible over the next week and see how it feels. Since I don't eat too junky I think I should be able to avoid any real or imagined "detoxing" I think whether everyone believes in detox or not we all agree that eating fruits and veggies is a good thing! And of course we agree being a vegan rocks! And umm...not sure what else we agree on but I'm sure we can all be friends? (Amanda tries desperately to moderate semi-argumentative thread that's been going on lol..)

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  • 2 weeks later...

 

Maybe it isn't detox, but something else that is going on?

Sure, because everything is possible, except detox; detox is the only thing that is impossible on this planet. Just like the poeple who say good food combining is useless, they will put the blame on everything else, stomach burns, slow and sluggish digestion, bloating

happening because of magic, etc; while all this can be the results of bad food combining. They will say that eating something too cold, too hot, eating too quickly or eating too much, too spicy, too sugary or fatty, et cetera, all this can create problem, but eating a certain food combined with another food is the only thing that does not matter...

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The raw foodists I have talked have told me that they spend $100 a week, per person, on food. It is definately not a diet for the masses.
That's because many raw foodists buy ridiculously expensive gourmet prepared "raw" dehydrated foods. I've seen tiny energy balls or bars for almost 10 dollars each, or a small snack of nuts for the same price. But raw food diet doesn't have to be that expensive. Also, because what's inexpensive per calorie in major grocerie stores is chips, cookies, and in fast food joints its 99 cents burgers, 50 cents hot-dogs, etc. So that's what people buy. While a salad meal in restaurant is 10 bucks... But it needs to change. Law of supply and demand.

When people know when and where to buy their raw food its pretty cheap. I've bought 10 pounds of carrots for 0,99$, 10 pounds of potatoes for 0,99$, 10 pounds of onions for 0,99$, 5 pounds of apples for 2,50$, all locally grown. Organic bananas 0,39$, organic avocados 3 for 2,50$, organic watermelon 0,49$; all those are cheaper than non-organic in large grocery stores.

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The raw foodists I have talked have told me that they spend $100 a week, per person, on food. It is definately not a diet for the masses.
That's because many raw foodists buy ridiculously expensive gourmet prepared "raw" dehydrated foods.

 

That isn't the case with the individuals I've talked to. They claim it is because they buy exclusively organic and that they eat a lot of fruit. How much do you spend on food a week?

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How much do you spend on food a week?
I don't know... and I'm not a raw foodist. But less than 100$.

 

do you feel cold in the winter eating raw? And do you drink hot tea? I'm living in Colorado and wonder if I could stay warm in the winter if I ate lots of raw food? I guess I could just dress more warmly :P
Hot tea is great ! Drinks and water are best at room/body temperature for optimum digestion, or warm; but cold is the worse. The purpose of eating raw is to keep the nutrients intact, boiling water you don't destroy anything except if there's some germs or parasites in the water ! and boiling tea its not a big deal. Eventhough it is superior to do sun infusion... but anyway the tea leaves have already been boiled, steamed, dry roasted etc during preparation, so its never raw. Unless you make or buy Kombucha, which is fermented tea and fermented cane sugar, it is very very good. I wouldn't eat only green salads and tropical fruits in Winter, that's for sure! Its very cold in Quebec. Eating 100% raw in Winter, I would include more avocados, nuts, buttersquash soup, hemp seeds, Ruth's Chia cereals than in summer, those I find are yang food.

everything is about equilibrium, so to balance the cold (Yin) winter with a raw diet you need to include foods that are more Yang. And Summer is Yang so eat more Yin food. It depends also if you're Yin person then eat more Yang, and vice-versa. Otherwise if you're Yin and eat only Yin food then you'll be way too much Yin... Opposites heal. If you're a Vata person (light person), you need to eat heavy and nourrishing food to ground you. Kapha people are usually heavier and slow, they need light food to come out of their lethargy. Find balance in elements. Pitta people are Fire element, they are warm, so they need a raw diet (especially during Summer, Pitta season) to cool them. Vata people are Air and they need Water. Kapha are Earth and Water, they need Fire and Air.

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