Why are you (or interested in becoming) raw?

[andesuma]

Something Bigbwii said in a post awhile back that I find very true,

a lot of the only long term raw fooders, are those healing themselves

from illness and are doing raw foodism as a last resort.

 

So, I am very curious as to why everyone here is raw?

[Kon]

I wouldn't be considered raw, but it is something which I am interested in and may acquire in the future. For me, I was raised a vegetarian by my parents(and been a vegetarian my whole life), so this is a lifestyle which I am accustomed to, but only recently I have become curious about actual health and information related to food and such since growing up i hadnt put much thought towards it, so now I am trying to improve upon my lifestyle even more because I can, and why shouldn't I.

If I wasn't raised as a vegetarian but rather a meat-eater, it would be a whole other world for me, and I doubt I'd really be that in-tune with the health benefits of eating live foods.

I feel very lucky in this regard.

[Zack]

I was raw for a short time, due to interest in healing an illness, but i've discovered i'm healing with about an 80% raw diet, and that seems to work better for me.

[pfwgrendel]

I really want to eat raw because I want to live for a very long time and I want to be as healthy as I can be. I want to feel good and awake and not feel like there's a fog in my brain. I've also watched too many people die from cancer and friends suffer from poor, self inflicted heath.

 

When I was younger I felt chronically tired all the time and I couldn't figure out why so I went to a doctor and he said, "I'm not giving you any drugs! There's nothing wrong with you". That's the answer I got. That always bothered me. I couldn't figure it out. I tried multivitamins, exercise, ginko and nothing worked. So I continued to eat poorly, drink too much and ignore my body. I felt like I had a cloud in my brain and knew how forgetful I was. My girlfriend got me eating a lot better but yhen one day Brian from Velvet Acid Christ posted his experience with raw food, so I bought a book and tried it out. I lost about 20lbs of fat and muscle but I really felt good. I stopped eating so much raw because my girlfriend said I was getting too skinny. I also don't really think I did it correctly. That was over a year ago although I continued to eat about 25-35% raw. I LOVE huge salads with avacodo, tons of veggies and sprouts. I eat one at least every other night for dinner. I've been feeling run down and tired again which is my body telling me to eat better. I came across information about the Hunza people and really read up on them. So, all of that combined has helped me to want to eat raw.

[cubby2112]

one day Brian from Velvet Acid Christ posted his experience with raw food, so I bought a book and tried it out.

 

Woo! Another VAC fan! And I just noticed the Grendel in your name. I became interested in veganism partially due to some of the experiences I heard from some of Brian's postings. I have only read from him that he is a raw vegan, I haven't heard him post much about his experience with it. I am interested in raw food from him, because I first learned of it from him and I also want to live at the optimum level of health. I don't have the means to go raw now, but maybe by the fall of this year when I move into an apartment and get on my feet as far as work goes, I may be able to.

[kuramus]

When I was younger I felt chronically tired all the time and I couldn't figure out why so I went to a doctor and he said, "I'm not giving you any drugs! There's nothing wrong with you". That's the answer I got. That always bothered me. I couldn't figure it out. I tried multivitamins, exercise, ginko and nothing worked. So I continued to eat poorly, drink too much and ignore my body. I felt like I had a cloud in my brain and knew how forgetful I was.

That sums up my current situation and the main reasons for me to be interested in raw veganism.

 

It just doesn't seem right that people who are 30 are getting weak and saying they're too old for sports etc, and 60 being the average life span...

Although the quantity of years is not important to me, rather is the quality. I want to be running and weightlifting 'til my last years, not lie in a bed getting fed from tubes and not be able to go to the bathroom or so...

[Bigbwii]

I'll say I'm raw because my life depends on it!!!!

 

I can honestly say that going raw has definately saved my health and I'll even go as far as to say my life!!!!

 

It's a tough transition but you have to remember that most of it is all about undoing life long bad eating habits and the damage done by cooked foods.

 

[andesuma]

I'll say I'm raw because my life depends on it!!!!

 

I can honestly say that going raw has definately saved my health and I'll even go as far as to say my life!!!!

 

It's a tough transition but you have to remember that most of it is all about undoing life long bad eating habits and the damage done by cooked foods.

 

 

 

 

I agree..

The more raw I get, the longer I am raw, the more I realize how much

cooked food messed with my bodily functions.

 

 

I come from a family of strokes, mental illness, diabetics,

and were nearly everyone.. has died of cancer.

I am pretty much the only one left.

 

Before going raw vegan, I was hypoglycemic, diagnosed with

social anxiety disorder and bi-polar/manic depressive, I was on

a variety of medications because of this (starting with prozac, and ending

with lithium.), the more I poisoned myself, the worse my symptoms got.

Anyhow.. a lot of things happend, to say the least.

 

But I feel it was my aunts suicide (she was bi-polar, and stuggled with it

her entire adult years) that triggered something in me.

To know that my life didn't have to be like that...

To understand that cutting out all of the crap would heal me.

 

Very instinctual.

 

None the less though,

I am raw, and will remain raw for the rest of my life..

because my mental and emotional well-being depend on it.

[Bigbwii]

I'll say I'm raw because my life depends on it!!!!

 

I can honestly say that going raw has definately saved my health and I'll even go as far as to say my life!!!!

 

It's a tough transition but you have to remember that most of it is all about undoing life long bad eating habits and the damage done by cooked foods.

 

 

 

 

I agree..

The more raw I get, the longer I am raw, the more I realize how much

cooked food messed with my bodily functions.

 

 

I come from a family of strokes, mental illness, diabetics,

and were nearly everyone.. has died of cancer.

I am pretty much the only one left.

 

Before going raw vegan, I was hypoglycemic, diagnosed with

social anxiety disorder and bi-polar/manic depressive, I was on

a variety of medications because of this (starting with prozac, and ending

with lithium.), the more I poisoned myself, the worse my symptoms got.

Anyhow.. a lot of things happend, to say the least.

 

But I feel it was my aunts suicide (she was bi-polar, and stuggled with it

her entire adult years) that triggered something in me.

To know that my life didn't have to be like that...

To understand that cutting out all of the crap would heal me.

 

Very instinctual.

 

None the less though,

I am raw, and will remain raw for the rest of my life..

because my mental and emotional well-being depend on it.

 

I've seen it many times first hand how cooked food alters people and turns them into negative, less motivated, aggressive individuals, I saw this in myself too more times than I care to remember!

 

But people don't see the difference until they get off of it and very few people succeed at getting off of it!

 

Wow....

 

So do you think that the medication added to your symptoms?

 

I used to work with adults with learning dificulties, I think you call the retarded over here in the states and these guys had severe behavioural issues, so much so that they had to be kept in a home out of the way of the community anyway these guys were on some hardcore meds and it was clear that after a while these meds were totally ineffective once the body had adapted to them and all the docters would do is keep increasing the dosage!

 

That was always a scarey thought that never made much sense but that was the sum total of their lives just constantly drugged up and to make it worse, because people with learning difficulties are seen as less human the only food they ever had to eat was the cheapest junk food.

 

Anyway I wish you all the success....

[pfwgrendel]

I come from a family of strokes, mental illness, diabetics,

and were nearly everyone.. has died of cancer.

I am pretty much the only one left.

 

My father died of Lymphatic Leukemia which my grandma has been fighting for years now. She's been failing in health for years, we're amazed she's still alive although she's miserable. Both my grandfathers died from cancer and my mother is showing signs of Alzheimer's, chronic fatigue and she's really slow. She's only 60. There are only 3 people left in my family now and they don't take care of themselves. My other grandma lived to be 93 but she was a dietitian who enjoyed walking and ate some raw food every day. She was awesome.

[Bigbwii]

I come from a family of strokes, mental illness, diabetics,

and were nearly everyone.. has died of cancer.

I am pretty much the only one left.

 

My father died of Lymphatic Leukemia which my grandma has been fighting for years now. She's been failing in health for years, we're amazed she's still alive although she's miserable. Both my grandfathers died from cancer and my mother is showing signs of Alzheimer's, chronic fatigue and she's really slow. She's only 60. There are only 3 people left in my family now and they don't take care of themselves. My other grandma lived to be 93 but she was a dietitian who enjoyed walking and ate some raw food every day. She was awesome.

 

Yeah it's a shame we have to go out like that!!!

 

We spend so many years thinking that cooked food is totally harmless and that eating healthy is just for the hippies and health freaks.

 

We all need to recognise that we are not getting away with it and we all will pay the price some time!

[Zack]

I don't think a small portion of cooked food is the worst thing in the world. It is juicing that has really helped heal me...the benefits of any fresh juice are amazing, i'm sure you know this with your oj Big, personally I've been doing mostly carrot/beet juice and i've cleared out my clogged lymph system, and hopefully allowed my swollen spleen to shrink. This was with tons of juice, and a small bit of cooked, but 80%+ raw foods, with nearly no grains.

[Bigbwii]

I don't think a small portion of cooked food is the worst thing in the world. It is juicing that has really helped heal me...the benefits of any fresh juice are amazing, i'm sure you know this with your oj Big, personally I've been doing mostly carrot/beet juice and i've cleared out my clogged lymph system, and hopefully allowed my swollen spleen to shrink. This was with tons of juice, and a small bit of cooked, but 80%+ raw foods, with nearly no grains.

 

Why do you get so defensive about your little bit of cooked food?

 

You seem to feel like you have to step in and defend your position because you eat cooked food.....when there's really no need to, just do what you do and be happy with it.

 

[Zack]

I don't think a small portion of cooked food is the worst thing in the world. It is juicing that has really helped heal me...the benefits of any fresh juice are amazing, i'm sure you know this with your oj Big, personally I've been doing mostly carrot/beet juice and i've cleared out my clogged lymph system, and hopefully allowed my swollen spleen to shrink. This was with tons of juice, and a small bit of cooked, but 80%+ raw foods, with nearly no grains.

 

Why do you get so defensive about your little bit of cooked food?

 

You seem to feel like you have to step in and defend your position because you eat cooked food.....when there's really no need to, just do what you do and be happy with it.

 

 

I'm not defending anything, i'm talking about what works for me, just like your raw diet works for you. It's a discussion, i'm discussing.

[andesuma]

So do you think that the medication added to your symptoms?

 

 

 

Absolutely, without a doubt.

 

I spent my early adolescence in a deep depression..

I would say I knew nothing other than depression for a good

5+ years of my life.

Granted I was in a toxic environment, and the removal of that

is one thing that helped enormously.(which came later)

 

 

I was originally diagnosed with general depression, the prozac started...

I didn't really want to spend time with anyone, or go into public places..

Like gigantic grocery stores(aka.Wal-Mart), or stadiums, this prompted

social anxiety disorder diagnosis, and more meds for that..

I was probably filtered thru about everything on the market,

even to the point of beta blockers and lithium.

 

 

Now that I am healthy, balanced, and emotionally very stable, med free.

I notice the extraordinary link between my symptoms manifestations,

and the more meds they would put me on.

All of this mixed with adolenscent changes and hormonal surges,

was just an awful combination.

 

(Even though I was raised with a very healthy diet, veggie, and vegan

since 10 yrs. of age, I believe the main culprits for my emotional

turmoil were a: starches/cooked foods b: artificial sweetners/diet coke

c: sugar)

 

 

...

But I decided to heal myself, I knew that my body was the most

profound healer I will ever have the chance to meet in my lifetime.

 

Even being whole foods vegan for a number of years didn't completely

heal me, it is the raw food, and only raw food; that keeps me stable.

That keeps me geniunely, HAPPY.

 

I cannot even imagine any level of depression touching me again.

I have been nothing but happy, and dare I say.. euphoric, since

being raw (nearly 4 years now)..

And the changes are just better and more profound the deeper I go.

[andesuma]

My father died of Lymphatic Leukemia which my grandma has been fighting for years now. She's been failing in health for years, we're amazed she's still alive although she's miserable. Both my grandfathers died from cancer and my mother is showing signs of Alzheimer's, chronic fatigue and she's really slow. She's only 60. There are only 3 people left in my family now and they don't take care of themselves. My other grandma lived to be 93 but she was a dietitian who enjoyed walking and ate some raw food every day. She was awesome.

 

 

My grandmother was diabetic (but still consumed a chocolate malt

shake nearly everyday...), and battled ovarian cancer for a number of

years before she died after her, yet another, battle with chemo & cancer.

She was 65 & she lost two battles.

One from the cancer, and the other from the chemicals trying to

kill her AND the cancer..

 

That was when I was 10 years old.

That is when I went vegan.

When I woke up....

 

 

But my Great grandmother, she was amazing! I remember walking to

the grocery store with her when I would visit, and buy healthy foods.

She would always eat the produce and not pay for it. hah

 

She lived to 110 years of age, she also gave herself regular enemas,

and ate very healthfully.

The only ailment she had was arthitis.. thats it.

 

She out lived all of her children, and most of her childrens children.

[Zack]

 

 

She lived to 110 years of age, she also gave herself regular enemas,

and ate very healthfully.

The only ailment she had was arthitis.. thats it.

 

Was she raw? What was her diet like?

[princessbee]

you hear about people who smoke like chimneys, drink like fish and eat like pigs and who still live to be 90 - 100+ with few health ailments... but those people are freaks of nature!

 

amazing story, andesuma, I'm pleased raw has been such a new lease on life for you... truly inspirational. of course, your story wouldn't help the phameceutical companies make their billion smackers. you can't bottle healthy eating. I have only ever heard bad things about zoloft and prozac, people who seem to get worse the longer they are on this medication that's meant to help them!

 

I am now commencing my third week of raw... well, in the beginning I admit I thought it was too extremist! But the more I read about it the more intrigued I became. All of the really wonderful stories where people had huge turnarounds in their lives... to their health... I dont' have any major health concerns but I still wanted a better quality of life for myself... to be stronger, fitter, more healthy on the inside. and now, the more I think about it the less sense it makes to eat foods with preservatives or that are modified. Not to say I don't still feel that cooked food temptation/addiction, though it has lessened, but it is feeling more and more unnatural to me. I want to continue being raw, taking each day as it comes, and hopefully years will pass and I will still be raw! It is a diet unlike any other I have tried and it feels cleaner... and fresher and better. today I saw friends I haven't seen for a couple of weeks and they asked if I'd had my teeth cleaned... I felt a bit confused... and they said your teeth are white and sparkling... a small change like that bears well for things to come!!

being raw is great, even when today it was hard, being at a pub surrounded by fried food and alcohol, i got to come home to a raw vegetable feast and i'm glad i didn't give in to the rubbish.

 

now, just from me talking about it, both my parents are interested in it.... my father has diabetes and my mum is a bit overweight and both are over 55... i am hoping they will give it a dedicated go and reap the rewards!!!

[bighead]

uh-oh! someone double posted!

 

so what you're both saying about big pharma...

*rant mode on*

capitalism and a free market create a profit motive for big pharma to manufacture pills that make people sick. if they made pills that healed people, those people would be healthy and stop buying big pharma goods. so if they make things that hurt people, then those people need new things to fix the problems that the first things created. plus, it's a pharma-medico-insurance complex. they can keep consumers spinning in a cycle that feeds all three industries. and they make sure that western style medicine is seen as the only real way to go. you can't blame people for not knowing any better when the system is built to keep them from knowing.

*rant mode off*

Absolutely, without a doubt.

.....

.....

I cannot even imagine any level of depression touching me again.

I have been nothing but happy, and dare I say.. euphoric, since

being raw (nearly 4 years now)..

And the changes are just better and more profound the deeper I go.

 

you know i think you're awesome, so don't warry about the way i ask this. i'm just being direct. how much of this do you think might just be that you found something to focus on? i mean, raw lifestyle the way you live it takes a lot of effort. granted, i also believe that raw can really be a tremendous boon to individual health and happiness. but i wonder if a lot of it has to do with the effort...?

[belleadonna]

Yeah, and now the pharma companies have a new potential money maker. In Texas, the governer, in all of his wisdom, has decided to make it mandatory for all girls 9 and above to take the shot for papilloma virus. Mandatory mind you. And what a shocker, the governer just got a huge donation from Merck the company that produces the vaccine.

[andesuma]

 

you know i think you're awesome, so don't warry about the way i ask this. i'm just being direct. how much of this do you think might just be that you found something to focus on? i mean, raw lifestyle the way you live it takes a lot of effort. granted, i also believe that raw can really be a tremendous boon to individual health and happiness. but i wonder if a lot of it has to do with the effort...?

 

 

I agree to an extent that could have been part of it.

 

But I don't believe focus got rid of how I felt physically and emotionally

then, compared to how I feel now.

I think the cancellation of medications as well as removing myself

from a toxic situation in my life, in order to allow myself to heal,

to actually get in tune with what works best for me; was what

welded the most dramatic improvements.

Especially for me emotionally.

 

I have become a different, better, more creative person, every single

year I have been raw, I believe... I have gone thru enormous

transformations; really unfolding and building myself into who I want

to be. Obviously, I have been very focused on healing myself thru

out this time...

 

Eating raw food allows me to find my balance much easier than I could before. I am stable emotionally through out the day, as where when I

was eating cooked foods (whole foods vegan, and med free), I would

still have profound highs and lows.

[andesuma]

 

Was she raw? What was her diet like?

 

I don't know the specifics of her diet, I know she ate very healthy, and

was predominantly veggie.

[Bigbwii]

So do you think that the medication added to your symptoms?

 

 

 

Absolutely, without a doubt.

 

I spent my early adolescence in a deep depression..

I would say I knew nothing other than depression for a good

5+ years of my life.

Granted I was in a toxic environment, and the removal of that

is one thing that helped enormously.(which came later)

 

 

I was originally diagnosed with general depression, the prozac started...

I didn't really want to spend time with anyone, or go into public places..

Like gigantic grocery stores(aka.Wal-Mart), or stadiums, this prompted

social anxiety disorder diagnosis, and more meds for that..

I was probably filtered thru about everything on the market,

even to the point of beta blockers and lithium.

 

 

Now that I am healthy, balanced, and emotionally very stable, med free.

I notice the extraordinary link between my symptoms manifestations,

and the more meds they would put me on.

All of this mixed with adolenscent changes and hormonal surges,

was just an awful combination.

 

(Even though I was raised with a very healthy diet, veggie, and vegan

since 10 yrs. of age, I believe the main culprits for my emotional

turmoil were a: starches/cooked foods b: artificial sweetners/diet coke

c: sugar)

 

 

...

But I decided to heal myself, I knew that my body was the most

profound healer I will ever have the chance to meet in my lifetime.

 

Even being whole foods vegan for a number of years didn't completely

heal me, it is the raw food, and only raw food; that keeps me stable.

That keeps me geniunely, HAPPY.

 

I cannot even imagine any level of depression touching me again.

I have been nothing but happy, and dare I say.. euphoric, since

being raw (nearly 4 years now)..

And the changes are just better and more profound the deeper I go.

 

You have a very REAL and POWERFUL truth to refer to, I feel exactly the same way, my body has saved my life because my mind was addicted to cooked foods, so now for me there's no room for cooked foods at all because even the slightest amount keeps my mind addicted and enslaved and my body just will not tolerate it, I've seen and felt the effects way too many times.

 

Anyway you have over come a lot to get to where you are now so congrats and I wish you much more success!

 

[bighead]

interesting.

 

i just realized i've posted in this thread a bunch without saying what drew me to raw.

 

it's pretty simple. i'm allergic to soy and gluten. raw diet is a really simple way to eat well and avoid those things which have soy and gluten.

 

that and i met juliano about 6 years ago. it was before he had a restaurant or book. he just catered parties and special raw-ins. (if you don't know juliano, just go to rawrestaurant.com ... he's the 'hollywood raw guru' who feeds Woody, Demi and Pam, among other such raw celebs.) anyhow, he was pretty convincing at the time, and he was way against soy (escept nama shouyu, which is still a problem for me) so i listened to him and di a really slow transition (or i guess am currently doing the slow transition).

 

anyway, i eat a little different on the raw stuff that most of you on here. i eat a lot of sprouted buckwheat. and it sounds like i eat more nuts and seeds than most of you. but still... that's part of what i like about raw. it's not just one monolithic diet. it's more of a lifestyle within which diets are tailored to the individual.

 

i do still have a problem gaining weight, though. a lot of it is my body type. i'm tall and thin. but gains are much harder for me on raw. i think i need to use more sprouted legumes or something... haven't figured it out yet...

[andgbr]

for 'detox' reasons.. i have high interest in rawveganism ( even fruitarianism ) but i still have few obstacles to get there..