Raw Challenges?

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Bob on February 12, 2009 at 6:14pm

Hi Gail,
Do you eat nuts? cacao included? It sounds like a liver heat issue or an acid blood condition, nothing to worry about, just a busy liver that's having a workout:) At the beginning of raw a LOT of acid waste can start to seep into the bloodstream as a result of the cleansing process. The liver's working it little socks off trying to deal with it. The process can last anywhere from a few months to several years often accompanied with symptoms such as irritability, itchy and inflamed skin conditions to mention a few. For me the process lasted three and a half years and then it just suddenly stopped, alkaline bliss:) Acid foods like nuts, grains, some seeds and even some fruit, veg', excess sugar etc can aggravate the liver more by giving it even more to do or adding to the blood acid levels. That's why green juices and eating a LOT of greens are usually emphasised at the beginning of raw, its basically to alkalise the bloods increased acid level. If you are breast feeding this acidity could be getting transferred to the baby as well.

PS: with regards to cacao consumption, if you really need it:) I find avoiding it any later than 2.30pm doesn't affect my sleep but if I have it later than 3pm it does!

Bob

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Gail on February 13, 2009 at 6:09am

Hi Bob, Yes we do eat some nuts and seeds. Mainly sunflower & pumpkin seeds and some flax & hemp. We eat almonds also and have just started eating pine nuts/walnuts occassionally. Nuts are something I've tried to slowly introduce due to allergies. I was told not to add nuts into Ella's diet until she was over 3 but felt that she needed something else in her diet plus I'm not necessarily sure that cutting nuts out of her diet will help..infact it may make her more likely to be allergic later on according to some research! I eat alot of greens though I find that my rotation is a bit boring at the moment since organic supplies in shops leave us with not much choice. I haven't gotten into sprouting yet due to lack of space in our tiny flat..though I do sprout seeds before we eat them. We have green smoothies every morning for breakfast..they are very green but also very fruity ;) This morning it was a mixture of various greens, bananas, pomegranate and apple with hemp added. The thing is, we eat this with extra apple, more like a pudding, as it's the only way I can get smoothies into Ella. I've come to enjoy them more like this also. I haven't started green juices yet..this is something I will start soon. We don't eat grains at the moment although we occassionally have sprouted lentils. Interestingly, although I have been concerned about my craving for fruit recently, I decided to go with the flow on Wednesday and go along with my green smoothie craving. I felt good all day and my hands didn't itch atall. The next day I tried my hand at making a raw carrot cake using almonds/walnuts and after eating it felt kinda low..which is weird as it was nice when I was eating it ;) So I now see how some things are affecting me emotionally. I had pesto last night made with sunflower seeds and a little more cake and my hands were very swollen in the night and sore today. I'm not sure if any of this is in relation to the nuts or just that maybe I need to consume more water when I eat nuts/seeds? Or like you say..is it because they are acid forming and I'm detoxing?

With regard to Cacao, I haven't had any since the last potluck and wasn't having it on a regular basis..maybe at most 3 times in a week. Nice tip on the sleep though..next time I'm tempted I'll try that!

Gail.x.

ps...if I am transfering acids to Ella is there anyway to deminish the detox process since I can't do a flush...I don't fancy another 3.5 yrs of dealing with Ella's eczema! ;) or mine for that matter! ;)

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Bob on February 13, 2009 at 11:11am

Hi Gail,
Are you 100% raw? If so, some cooked food would slow down the elimination, you would need to play around with the % and listen to your body. Some people will use more fat as a means to stay 100% raw. If your fat consumption is roughly less than 20% and you feel quite balanced overall then that's good, if it's higher, it could be an indicator of there being too much detox' and a sign of going too high raw too soon. I would certainly suspect the use of the nuts, even in small amounts, to be a contribution to the skin issue. The fact you felt low after the carrot cake would confirm it. It is essential that some fats are included in the diet as they also act as acid buffers and help neutralise acid in the blood but it is down to using the right ones and in the right amounts. If you feel the need to consume more water after eating nuts and seeds it sounds like you are literally trying to flush out the acid effects of these foods. Emotions are also a really good indicator of what is working and what is not and are so easily dismissed. Everything else you mentioned about how you are eating sounds good, maybe just experiment with the seed and nut thing for a while and try taking a break off them for a few days or a week and substitute with avocados and coconut oil.

Bob

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Gail on February 13, 2009 at 1:47pm

I'm never sure how to calculate percentages of rawness ;) We are not 100% but I would say we are high raw. Ella occasionally has some wheat free pasta, but it's so infrequent that it isn't a big factor in her diet. We do have some tamari and humous sometimes ...but appart from that we eat Raw. Again, with percentages, I have no idea how much fat we are consuming? Maybe I should keep a log of what we eat for a week or so? I really don't want to add in any cooked food at this point as I feel that it would be too much of a step backwards. At this point it is much easier to transition Ella..although she does sometimes ask for chips!!!! Argh! Also, once you learn something it is much harder to unlearn it if you know what I mean ;) (Speaking from my perspective). Maybe I'll have a try at cutting the almonds out for a while and see what happens? Bit worried about cutting out seeds also as I can't always get Ella to eat Avocado's...even hidden ;) and dunno how I would add in coconut oil to all her everyday food?

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Bob on February 15, 2009 at 11:57am

Hi Gail,
I tend to work with numbers a lot every day so I have a tendency to see things in percentages! High raw would be enough to suggest you are using some cooked which would slow down things a bit. I do agree, once you've moved forward in the raw it's harder to go back and the preference is mainly onwards and upwards. Where fat is concerned, I would suggest keeping an eye on levels, or percentages, as too much or too little can cause issues. As a general guide I would have about 1 medium sized avocado per day and I find this suffices for me at my level of being raw. Although, when I initially went 100% raw I consumed a bit more, probably 2-3 avocados daily in equivalent of fat. You can see the difference in quantity when there is detox' going on, once the detox' slows right down the fat, for me, dropped to.
Chips! Mmm, a little gourmet food prep' sounds the order:) With reference to your last point, if you are relatively skilled in raw food prep' you can integrate and disguise foods very well that Ella would not notice what she was getting, such as in biscuits etc. We had trouble trying to get out pet rats to eat broccoli, but Sue found a way to make them want it:) Perhaps speaking to Sue or leaning the raw alchemy of food prep' might help with your daughter. If using seeds, try sticking to smaller amounts of sunflowers, pumpkins and sesames(unhulled and soaked overnight), they are less aggravating and avoid hemps.

Bob

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Gail on February 16, 2009 at 2:01pm

Ooh hemps! I've been putting hemp powder into our smoothies!

I also found at the beginning of going raw I was eating alot of avocados..it is way less now. Poss round the time my cooked food craving's deminished also?

Yes, I think I need a few more months of practice and a few more ideas for Ella. She's pretty good at eating most of the time but as is the deal with Kiddies, is going through a "NO WAY" phase! ;) I had been making crackers but felt that we were eating too many of these and had cut them out for a while. I'll keep scouting for child friendly recipes. I did buy Shazzie's Evie's Kitchen book which is good for ideas, but she uses so many superfoods that I have not included in our diet so far, so I just try to adapt them with what we have. I do worry about Ella's diet as I know she has different needs to me being so young, however, I did manage to hide some broccolli in "faked baked beans" tonight!!! ;)

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Bob on February 16, 2009 at 2:50pm

I think Ella is probably getting a lot more nutrition than most toddlers:) As with superfoods, a few basic ones are all that's needed, there's no need to go overboard with all the enlightening ones! There are cheaper ways to getting adequate minerals into the diet and collecting wild foods, completely free, is one way.
The only thing to keep an eye on would be health symptoms, as these can be indicative, like an arrow, pointing towards a possible food or lifestyle issue. It does take time to learn to understand what is going on in the body and how to adjust to compensate and correct any problems that may arise. Just recently, since Sunday, the rise in relative humidity has had some bearing on how we eat, as well as out rats, and the slight adjustment helps correct the imbalance.

Bob

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Gail on February 19, 2009 at 9:30am

It is hard sometimes to remember that other kids are eating sweets and cola most days! ;) Would love to collect wild foods but really haven't a clue where to start with that..especially living in the city! Plus the fact that I don't drive! Maybe need to do a search about for someone who may be able to show me some wild foods in Pollock Park! lol

Permalink Reply by Gail on February 11, 2009 at 9:40am

Oh forgot to ad..everything I'm reading says to flush the liver, but also that it's not advisable when breast feeding?

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Bob on February 11, 2009 at 1:34pm

Hi Gail,
Yes, it's best to leave the liver flushing until later as it can really shift some stuff! and the process can last anywhere from a few months to several years! It surprised me just what comes out of these flushes, so be prepared!
With regards to spots, there can be several reasons and things like past diet, lifestyle, constitution etc as well as the obvious detox during the early raw years all play a role to some degree. The liver is where it all happens, it's like the engine behind the process of elimination and sends its symptoms that "I'm busy" which appear on the skin:).

Bob

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Lucy Black on February 11, 2009 at 5:12pm

Hi Bob,

How would a person know when they were ready for a liver flush? I was always really icky about the thought of colonics and never ever wanted to do it. Then a few months raw I felt like it was the right thing to do so I did a course of them with no problems at all. But that seems more of an obvious thing to do than a liver flush. At the moment, I really don't think I could drink oil - ick ick! So if it seems so repulsive to me, how would I know when it's right - will I just feel it again? Or is there some sort of signal that your body gives you?

Lucy xx

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Bob on February 11, 2009 at 6:13pm

Hi Lucy,
There are several types of liver flushes, some use a lot of oil, others only 4oz mixed with juice. I'm not a big fan of the oily ones, so I opted for the least amount of oil and I actually enjoy them!
You would do a serious of flushes, as opposed to just one which would have very little impact, the norm' would be one per month, until you notice things clearing up. The average is 12 but as everyone is different it could be 6 or 36. When to start doing them? Well, for me I watched Sue do them and and then read the book and it started from there. I kept putting them off because I don't like oil but the one I do is actually quite pleasant and you hardly even notice the oil and ooooh boy do they work, I thought I was squeaky clean! Now, I'm down to doing one every 2 months as I progress. Allow your intuition to be your guide and if you feel moved to start them it's best to keep up the momentum until the gallbladder and liver are cleaned out.

Bob

▶ Reply to This

• First
• Previous
• Next
• Last