Nazariah- Anyone read this?

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Permalink Reply by Audrey on November 3, 2008 at 7:43am

Oh.. I met this guy once. He lives has a beautiful Essene community. Some people who live there are raw vegan, but they have goats and chickens for eggs and milk for those who are not. The kitchen had everything from regular ol' spaghetti to raw fruit :) I liked that their views on food did not exclude.

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Permalink Reply by RAW is the LAW on November 3, 2008 at 1:17pm

wow thats heavy, thanks for sharing that Debbie

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Permalink Reply by RAW is the LAW on November 3, 2008 at 4:27pm

they'd been fasting for a while and the guy was in terrible pain coz satan was in his guts so JC wafted some milk fumes in the guys face and the worm came out for feeding! and the guy was relieved of his burden!

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Permalink Reply by Rawphi Bird on November 3, 2008 at 9:40am

ifthe strory about gurus eating pizza is true, why don't they name the authors, why do they just allow these peple to continue to mislead others into health patterns that he claims are dangerous? Why not show the truth? This just makes people become suspicous of every raw food author now. More mind-control.

and again, Blue-Green Algaes contain traces of every known nutritional element, with plenty of b12 and protien. hmm algae

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Permalink Reply by Marc on November 3, 2008 at 11:56pm

LOL! Rice and beans are more guru-ish. That reminds me of an old joke I saw on TV about the fabric detergent Tide or something, "gets out blood stains,"" where the comedian says "if you've got all those blood stains, the laundry is the least of your concerns!" It's like who cares what the Guru eats, if he is calling himself a Guru, there are bigger issues. If I was a Guru, I would like to eat nachos if I wanted. I wouldn't simply because if I had gone for years without them, that would be a huge "DOH! WHAT WAS I THINKING!" after I ate 'em and felt like crap. Seriously, I hope this guy doesn't call himself a Guru.

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Permalink Reply by TreeOfLove on November 3, 2008 at 6:06pm

rawphire-b12 analogs are no bueno for our bodies, my friend. We can not absorb, and it tricks our body into thinking we have b12 so it will not sinthesyze it. I suggest to look up AFA a little more deeply

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Permalink Reply by Tierra on November 3, 2008 at 8:50pm

I don't know....this seems to make a lot of sense to me. I already eat raw organic cheese from local free-range family farms. Small amounts feel like they are doing good inside of me. I also occasionaly eat raw fish because it feels the best for me health-wise. Fish aren't my friends like other animals but I still have a lot of respect for the life I am taking and have to make my peace with it. I only eat ceviche (raw fish marinated in lime) caught by local fishermen. Local food sourced with consciousness is a bigger deal to me than avoiding animal products altogether. By supporting ethical suppliers of natural foods we invest in more conscious treatment of animals and business practices.

Anyway reading this article expanded ideas I've been having anyway, and it convinced me to eat 2 eggs which I poured boiling water over. Sometimes I think I go with 100% raw because the all or nothing mentality is easier for me. But I do believe that certain vegetables can be 'potentized' by heating slighty - such as broccoli, when lightly heated, which turns an intense green just by pouring hot water over them. I am going to study which vegetables work best with my body when heated or warmed, and incorporate them into my diet and see how I do. I do believe that a stong base diet of raw vegetables is crucial though. I can't see myself making dishes...just adding some steamed veg peices to my plate. Simplicity is key.

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Permalink Reply by Stephanie on November 3, 2008 at 9:43pm

Fascinating. I may as well add some more info and perhaps credibility to this argument: I am personal friends with an ex-vegan (still high-raw) back in Northern California. He's a younger Asian guy (mid-20s) and a very active yogi. He had been raw and vegan for about a year or two when he started to lose nerve function and strength in his extremities, namely his hands. He then added back in some dairy and eggs, and has since recovered his strength and nerve function. I also met a Swedish woman in Santa Cruz that had been raw for 13 years and became extraordinarily ill, had gone to her doctor, and was low on a number of nutrients, including B12. She has been eating mild amounts of meat and dairy for the past few years and said she was feeling much better.

On a personal note, I was 100% raw with raw salmon only about two-three times per week for 7 months, then when I went to last year's RSF, I decided to go 100% raw and vegetarian (I ate raw honey, so not vegan). I did that for 1 year. Honestly, I felt horrible after about 4 months. My hair and skin didn't feel good and wasn't looking good, I felt tired a lot, my regular Ashtanga practice was harder than usual, and I felt pretty lethargic. I thought "it's just detox" or stress. Now, here's something interesting. I wasn't under any extreme stress, and I was living in a beautiful part of Northern California, in between the forest and the ocean. I could literally walk across the street to the ocean and could hear it as I fell asleep at night. After a year of this, I started doing some serious research on the subject and decided to add back in raw fish.

It's made all the difference. I make sure to buy only sustainable, wild-caught fish from small fisherman in Northern California and Alaska. However, I am ethically opposed to eating animals and so I am torn between what my body thrives upon and my own ethics. If I can substitute local raw dairy (I've never had raw or fermented dairy) and/or eggs for fish, I would do it.

On a side note, I wonder if anyone else notices a certain waxy, shriveled look to the skin of many long-time raw fooders? At Raw Spirit last year and this year, I have met nearly every "raw guru" and speaker we have in our community, and most of them do not look very healthy to me. I've never expressed this before, except to my close friends in the community, but I have to think other people notice this.

Anyway, my intention for this post is not to discredit raw veganism. My conclusion is that a predominantly raw diet rich in fruit and greens, and lower in fat and raw/sustainable/humane animal products is a very suitable diet. There's nothing missing (except cooked food), and can always be tweaked according to an individual's particular situation and feeling.

My seven cents. ;)

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Permalink Reply by miin chan on November 3, 2008 at 11:18pm

I agree with you. I am vegan too but I do think that people who raise their own animals either as pets or specifically for food, and choose to eat eggs or even meat.. I think that is very very acceptable. Giving those animals a good, happy life and having a symbiotic, sharing relationship with them can be a beautiful thing I'm sure, whether it's bees, or chickens, or cows.

After I read "Animal Vegetable Miracle" by Barabara Kingsolver, I changed my views on ethical meat eating because she made some valid points about how certain breeds of turkey, for example, would be extinct if it wasn't for purposeful breeding of heirloom turkeys for local consumption.

Also, a lot of indigenous cultures ate meat but usually had some kind of deep spiritual communion with the animal they were going to kill, and respected it by using every part of it. Unfortunately, people's meat eating habits have changed a lot and we are at the extreme of factory farming, but supporting people who have small farms and raise their own food is definitely a step in the right direction. Not everyone is going to be vegan, so we have to be positive about a wide variety of lifestyle choices that at least work better on an environmental, ethical and spiritual level.

I am vegan because of my ethical, spiritual, moral, and health beliefs as well as due to concern for the environment so I would not be likely to go back to eating any kind of animal or sea creature, but I send love to everyone, no matter what they eat, as long as they are consciously realising what they are doing and making changes to protect our planet.

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Permalink Reply by miin chan on November 3, 2008 at 11:22pm

I haven't met enough raw vegans in person to see how it affects them physically (at least on a superficial appearance level)... but it's interesting to hear your experience about seeing them as not healthy. I have thought that myself when seeing photos or video of Gabriel Cousens, and often I have seen photos of older raw vegans who I think look older than their age! It is hard to gauge though because some people will age more than others no matter what their diet (e.g. Asian women tend to look a lot younger than their age! We're lucky)..

I am starting to think that eating steamed vegies now and then is not a bad idea and that 100% raw is not necessarily the best way to go for everyone. I felt great when I did it but it wasn't for years and years.. so I'm not sure what the long term effects would be.

I think it's important that we as raw foodies are honest, and don't feel like we'd be condemned for having such thoughts about raw gurus etc.. say what needs to be said and address what needs to be addressed.. otherwise it does become dogma and it does become very dangerous.

xo!

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Permalink Reply by Marc on November 4, 2008 at 12:15am

I wonder about going anything 100%. I am the total non-expert here, but it seems that balance is the key to things in this world. Balance of energy. I can see the moral dilemma with eating meat from fish, chickens, etc. You don't want to kill something for your benefit. I would say, however, that we are omnivorous. We have both grinding and cutting teeth. It's in our nature to eat both I think. If we are designed by nature to eat both, then our job is to do it in a balanced and harmonious way. Farming cows for Big Macs isn't harmonious or balanced, nor is breeding 5 million chickens and putting them in a 10x10' cage. On the other hand, if the body is missing out on something that is replenishable by eating a fish or egg or two, I don't think that's immoral. I agree with the missing piece of respecting the life that was given so that we can prosper. Taking a minute to thank the cow before you eat the Whopper isn't what I mean but at least it's a very miniscule start. The key is to make ourselves more aware. Because you are thinking about it, and care about the welfar of the living things, I believe you have already changed the equation. You wouldn't eat anything without being grateful, without thought. I admire your caring attitude, and I think the honesty with self is the key for all of us.

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Permalink Reply by miin chan on November 4, 2008 at 12:30am

thanks marc :)
i tend to be an extremist by nature (scorpio rooster, what can i say) so i do have to be careful sometimes in all areas of my life but being aware is the first step right! going 100% raw i think has its benefits for some people.. i understand about the omnivore thing but you know that in itself is arguable (i.e. there are so many theories against and for that.. so it's hard to say... and why i maintain that you have to be honest with yourself cos only YOU know what is best for your body and spirit). Balance is definitely important but everyone has a different "balance" depending on many many individual factors.

I have to say though that eating eggs and fish are two very different things. Fish have very complex neurological and pain systems, and they suffer a lot when you kill them, whereas eggs have life potential but are nowhere near as fully formed or able to sense pain as a fish. So there is a significant difference there, from an ethical viewpoint.

Actually the thing that freaks me out the most are people who KNOW that meat is not good for them and KNOW how meat is farmed, and may even feel sorry for the animals or guilty.. but they still continue to eat non organic/ free range meat or eggs or dairy, and come up with all sorts of excuses. (I am talking about this only from an ethical viewpoint, not health, which is a whole other topic!). That, to me, is the worst offense.. because you are aware and educated, yet you choose to continue to support something that you inherently know is wrong.

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