Anyone tried a raw food diet. I am going to a special dinner on Monday night. I am excited. Not planning on switching but, realizing that even going 50% would be a huge change for our diet. That is what I am gonna go for.
Posted by Need Lots of Help (Member # 18603) on :
Ugh, I tried.
Do you mean raw food as in raw, never cooked? Or just food from nature?? I mean some people take the raw food thing and are pretty crazy with it, like eating raw chicken...ugh.
I did go through two completely different diets before I knew I had lyme just trying to make myself feel better.
The first was the Atkins type diet, protien.
The second was all organic vegetarian. I tried raw, but after the first day of eating raw squash, I realized that it was just not for me.
So, I would have fruits, vegetables, rice and beans (but, I cooked them). Every once in a while, I would have breads, but I kept it to maybe once or twice a week.
I lots tons of weight on each diet, and my skin cleared up on the vegetarian diet, but it never helped with the fatigue, which is what I needed help with. That is why I was trying the diets.
So, now that I am getting treatment, I just don't know what to do. It is so hard to really know what is right for ME. Because I think everyone needs their own way of eating to make them feel the best.
Shalome
Posted by kgarrett (Member # 17420) on :
Ugh - not raw chicken.
I think some people will use raw eggs and some cured meats but, most people who eat the raw food diet are vegans.
Most people on it say it really helps their immune system - they not longer get really sick and some have even had auto-immune diseases clear up.
Just wondered if anyone here had actually tried it and how they felt on it.
Posted by Ocean (Member # 3496) on :
Yup,
A raw vegan diet is what brought me back from the dead in 1998. It was a last ditch effort to 'cure' my so called Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (found out last fall, it's really Lyme).
I did raw again in 2005 after getting terrible anxiety again in 2003, I figured it was the only thing I could do after reading tons of books on anxiety/buying costly programs, ect.
In 2005, I did clay baths, lots of juicing raw carrots, apples, ect. I did one or 2 short juice fasts.
It brought me back from the dead again. I just started it again 1.5 weeks ago (I had started before Christmas and went off b/c of all the holiday treats).
It is very hard to do, the first day isn't bad, I always get a headache the first day.
I'm doing a lot of raw garlic right now too.
I can't say for sure if it will help you, but it has been a lifesaver in the past for me.
Also, just a vegetarian diet won't do it. I've stayed vegetarian since 1998 and I've had relapses, due to too much refined sugar probably
And I personally think it's vitally important to get a good juicer (Champion is good, check for cheap deals on Craigslist.org), and to juice 2-3 times per day! don't get a centifugal juicer, they heat up too much and kill the enzymes.
It didn't happen overnight, but I went in 4 months from being terrified constantly to going 2000 miles with my family to California and interviewing at Stanford Hospital, another one in San Jose and one in San Fran for a job (which I got offers and chose San Jose cause it was sooooo pretty there).
I think that most people that try raw do it for a week or 2 and say it doesn't work. You could do the same thing with antibiotics. Anything you try is going to take time, trust me.
I would say it took about 4 months for me to notice a huge difference. After about 3 weeks I just craved raw foods, my husband is a type one diabetic (meaning he got it as a skinny kid and his pancreas don't work) and he got down to 20 units of insulin per day (he isn't on it now and is taking about 60), so that's pretty amazing.
Anyhow, I'll hop off of my soapbox now...if you are willing to invest your time/energy/money, it can make a substantial difference, most people aren't willing to try/invest in it though.
I forgot to mention that I actually gained weight on raw in 2005. I needed to gain weight though. I've read if you need to lose it you will, if you need to gain, you will. Hubby gained weight too (he's a skinny thing too though, so it was a good thing).
Good luck!
Ocean
Posted by sonee123 (Member # 18632) on :
Ocean,
What are some of the veggies that you ate raw?
I drink carrot and apple juice which i think gives me a lot of energy and i feel good afterwards.
Posted by Ocean (Member # 3496) on :
Hi Sonee,
I ate 1-2 HUGE raw salads everyday with anything from cucumbers, carrots, broccoli, sunflower seeds, clementines, red peppers and then sometimes I cheated and ate Annie's Goddess dressing on it plus barlean's cold pressed organic flax oil and then 1/2 to 1 whole avocado.
I also have a recipe for spinach salad that is really good.
I made these raw dessert things with medjool dates, unsweetened organic coconut and ground dates that was really good. We took them to a hockey game once.
I also ate bananas with raw almond butter when I was craving cooked food. And sometimes I did have cooked food, but made everything from scratch, no canned anything, organic if possible, mostly like black bean soup or something with brown rice.
Are you making your juice yourself? When I couldn't find my juicer last fall (we'd moved) I bought carrot/apple juice and it was good and did provide energy, but it just didn't hold a candle to the stuff you can make. If you buy organic carrots, you just scrub them, you don't have to peel them which is a huge plus!