Physical Symptoms- Cold + Raw?

Hi All you Lovely People!

I don't live in a climate even remotely as cold as any of you, but I have a question anyway.

I moved to Taiwan last Sept, and have been Raw on and off since Nov 2006. However, after a trip to Beijing where it was extremely cold, I returned to Taiwan and started to develop severe hip, thigh and abdominal pain and stiffness, and later also had lower back pain.

I wasn't even able to lie down comfortably for the first two weeks, and if I sat down, my thighs would start burning, and my abdominal pain was unbearable. I couldn't do yoga, and was so stiff in the morning I had to shuffle out of the bed sideways.
I am not into taking medications and after a while I just got used to the pain. There were good and bad days, and hot springs did help a little. The weird thing was I could walk without any pain.

My Chinese teachers who have lived in Yilan for years told me that a lot of people develop muscle aches in that climate (about 14-20C, but raining all the time, and damp enough to grow mildew everywhere) and that eating raw food was only making it worse (chinese concept of "cold"/ "damp" foods).

I was wondering what you all think. The symptoms have improved since (it's been 4 months) and I do think they improved a bit when I was in a warmer climate. I still have some residual symptoms now but not the stiffness.

Is it the food? Or did raw food make the problem worse? (Could have been a slipped disc). I'm hoping when I return there in a few weeks, the symptoms won't start up again.

Any advise would be most appreciated!
Peace and Love!