Detox Diaires Day 6 - The raw foodies!
May 11th, 2008 by Jim & EmWell GO! Smell the flowers we can hardly believe that it is day 6 of our detox – only 2 more days and we are allowed food! We are craving fish & chips, chocolate and bacon sandwiches and we’ve already been warned that the food we break our fast with will have to be raw so that our system will not be shocked by processed ‘poison’ as the spa puts it to avoid any ’shocks to the system’.
So with this philosophy in mind (please keep an open one as you read) GO! Smell the flowers would like to introduce two raw food experts we met here at the Spa Koh Chang.
There is much to be said for including raw foods in our diet but we wanted to know more so welcome Matt Monarch, motivational speaker and author of Raw Spirit and Raw Success and Angela Stokes author of RawReform.
“I read the book Become Younger by Dr. Norman Walker and changed my diet over night. Everything in the book made perfect sense that I realised eating up to 6 Double Doubles (bigger than the MacDonalds Big Macs) was not going to do me any favours” Said Matt, aged 33.
“Although I wouldn’t recommend anyone do the switch over night! I had withdrawals from all the junk I was eating and got sick. Introduce a raw diet slowly and look at the other stuff you are eating. Processed sugars and starches are the most harmful to our bodies, so if these are cut out and a percentage of your diet is raw, then this can be a very healthy diet.”
“There is no other animal in nature that eats cooked or processed food. Raw food is the ultimate and healthy way to nourish the body.” Says Angela 29. “For so long I used food as an emotional crutch and now I realise what abuse I was doing to my body.”
They are both now Flower Smellers in every sense of the word and have both changed careers to follow a path that they are truly passionate about. A path that is a now way of life and an example to everyone as to how you can follow what you truly believe in.
So, how does a raw food lifestyle grab you? It suits a rare few to GO! 100% raw but we ask you- what raw food do you enjoy at mealtime, if at all any? We’d love your thoughts & insights on their story, raw food lifestyle and any other raw food experiences you wish to share! Do tell - All comments welcomed.
The raw food movement is too extreme for me. While I believe in getting as much raw organic produce as possible into our diets it is costly and in some locations not easily done. So I eat well choosing organic locally grown produce as much as possible and am picky about my protein and lipid choices as well. I supplement my diet each day with Uri International’s “The Feast” which helps me get the benefits of a raw food diet in a powdered supplement each day. You can get a sample of “The Feast” at http://www.urilife.com/realfoodforlife/products.html Keep up the good work on your fast and detox….it’s almost over and soon you should be whistling dixie from the rear.
Grace and Peace,
Ed
Ed’s last blog post..Movin’ on up
Cheers Ed and welcome to GO! Smell the flowers…
We’ll work on the whistling!
So I see in my absence you have been talking total and utter shite - literally.
I hope UP and Angry have been poo pooing your factless diatribes of unproven psuedo hogwash.
Food is food, some is eaten raw, some is cooked, so what. I eat a balanced diet and very little junk food, however I do enjoy the odd bit of rubbish - glad to see these are as well qualified as most of the witch doctor gurus you are constantly touting. So, one stopped being a bloater and the other decided to grow his hair and I’m supposed to buy into this?
I suppose you’ve also got the 10 pound of undigested meat ‘fact’ in the last few weeks posts somwhere as well as many other pointless, groundless and ridiculous facts.’
Glad I was away really.
By the way honeymoon was great.
Cheers Gareth,
Welcome back to the garden and congrats on the wedding n honeymoon.
Fancy a shot of Wheat grass?
I think variety and moderation are the key in everything. Our Ayurvedic doctor at the spa where I work told me that as a Pitta who lives in a hot windy water bound climate I need to try to eat fewer raw foods and that cooked foods, including veggies, were preferable for my constitution. And you know something? Now that I eat less salad and more steamed veggies I feel much better–less bloat, less gas. So I believe that we need to look at who we are and where we live and work for moderation in that scenario. I do support you on this fast and have been avidly following your posts!
Lynda Lippin’s last blog post..Briggs & Riley Luggage
Cheers Lynda and thanks for your support!
When you mentioned PITTA in your comment we thought of PITTA bread, right away!
Yum. Cheese n Tomato please - with a dash of chillie sauce
Well its good to see married life hasnt changed Gareth yet….
well not much he seems to mellowing into his new job…
I do happen to like raw veges, fuits, etc, nuts out of the shell…
I have been known most evenings to munch away on raw spuds, carrots, cauliflowers, broccoli etc….
although I still love my bangers and mash it can be a nice change…
we pick the peas open the pods and eat them, pick the carrots wash off the dirt and munch away….
why not… they taste great, full of vitamins and great for a quick snack…
You may consider Edamame beans AC - a great starter to Sushi!
We buy them frozen in Dubai.
erm more nonsense
There is no other animal in nature that eats cooked or processed food. Raw food is the ultimate and healthy way to nourish the body.” Says Angela 29. “For so long I used food as an emotional crutch and now I realise what abuse I was doing to my body.”
irrelevant
a dog will eat absolutely anything
the reason animals don’t eat processed foods is because they are too unintelligent to process them. also there is no animal that consistently has the life span humans have. so the arguement is flawed. if it was that bad why are we living longer?
and as for going into shock when you start eating again. no true is it? its pseudo science kids.
well there are several animals whos life spans equals humans and in some cases outlives us,
UP not all granted but there are several..
Cockatoos live for between 50-80 years
Some species of tortoise well over 100 years
there are some apes which live for up to 70 years
Crocodiles upto about 60years
and they are just I think of the top of my head…
as for not being intelligent enough….
well maybe or it couldbe be they have better things to do with their say than prepare and cook their meals.
some will even go and wash them if they are dirty, raccoons will wash certain foods in salty water if they like it…
dogs will eat almost anything and this is why we allowed to hang around our camps when we lived caves… they cleaned our crap and all the scraps…
maybe we should stop thinking of creatures as unintelligent beasts put on this planet to humour us, to eat or as problem to be solved and start thinking of them as a life as important to this planet and future generations as we are to ourselves….
As for living longer this is from advances in medicine yes this is true, the preservatives in our food my have something to do with it, but what of the increases in cancers, mental illnesses, bone diseases, blood disorders, genetic abnormalities, birth defects etc… with all good comes the bad… I dont see these illnesses arising in creatures whose lifespan is equal to that of humans….
If you have any scientific research to the contrary I would love to see…..
This is not to say I go along with all alternative medical practises, however you must look at all the facts on the table and your arguement in this case is floored… you really need to look at all the data….
AC
check out the WHO list of lifespans and only the galapagos turtle has an average life span that outlives us. and we are mammals so different in many ways.
and your point about them being more intelligent. all they do is eat, kill and reproduce. thats it.
animals are dumb. hence why we rule them not the other way round.
except for dancing bears who are quite clever if properly contained by chain and stick
hmmm I do like those bears
but I do have to wonder is it so dumb to spend your live eating, having sex, reproducing, eating some more and have the ability to lick your goolies… truly most people spend there entire life in the pursuit of this lifestyle by the time they acheive what animals do from day one, they are to old to enjoy it……….
so who is the dumb ones them who do what we try to acheive everyday or us for thinking we are better than they are…. after all we are but animals…
Although it seems appealing and interesting…..I’m not 100% convinced that I could follow through with a total raw food dietary lifestyle, not at this point in time anyways. But who knows stranger shifts in my lifestyle have occurred, so maybe in the near future this could be a improvement in my lifestyle i could incorporate.
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As we understand it raw food is the most difficult to digest…plenty of fibre and our goal is to add more into our diet as part of a balanced diet with the minimum amount of toxins that person to person struggles to digets…
Some can take yeast - others can’t.
Being in New York Mighty surely those Pizzas would be soooooooooo hard to give up on?
please can someone define ‘toxins’ for me here?
toxins = poison is my understanding
Buzzing with Ange’s last blog post..I Love You
gotcha
I want to know through what mechainsm these toxins operate!
Do tell - We’ve no idea.
More bollox
”Some raw advocates claim that their ability to digest raw starch increases when raw starches are a regular part of the diet. This assertion is based on close examination by the raw vegan of his/her stools (fecal matter; a topic of intense interest for some rawists). While there are reasons to believe that the human digestive system adapts, to a certain degree, to the diet eaten, it appears that there are no studies or experiments to quantify the degree of adaptation in comparisons of raw vs. cooked starch digestion. Furthermore, the limited qualitative anecdotal evidence available does not support a claim that the human digestive system can become 1.8 to as much as 12 times more effective in digesting raw starch–i.e., the magnitude of the effect seen from cooking of mung beans, as seen in the above-cited research”
Thanks for the insight Angry….
I only eat some of the vege, all fruits and salmon (as in Sushi) in the raw state, others must be cooked..
Nur Sarah Lam’s last blog post..The Story of Stuff
One take on it is the more we cook the more nutrients are removed from the once raw food.
It is true but then there are some food must be cooked to kill of the bacterias or else are we going to eat the meat raw as in raw beef, raw mutton, etc..
Nur Sarah Lam’s last blog post..The Story of Stuff
I suppose if one is eating unhealthy(lots of junk food, fried stuff, processed foods etc) then they have to go to the opposite extreme and do this (I think it probably helps reeducate the body). I find it too extreme for me and have to agree with Lynda that moderation is key.
aussiecynic, I LOVE eating peas fresh from the pod but I am finding them less and less in the stores here in the usa (seems too old fashioned so the stores stopped selling them) although I can find them occasionally at the local farmers market.
jafabrit’s last blog post..Grumpy Potato’s and Found Art
oops I forgot to answer your question, “what raw food do you enjoy at mealtime”?
On a daily basis I always have a salad (maybe with sunflower seeds sprinkled on top), fresh fruit, and for snacks munch on veggies.
Never eat fast food, rarely eat fried food (although I do like my bacon buttie once in a while), don’t eat much pasta, rice or bread (moderate amounts), and I am finding myself eating less and less meat as I get older.
jafabrit’s last blog post..Grumpy Potato’s and Found Art
Cheers jafabrit and welcome to GO! Smell the flowers…
We’re are STILL craving a bacon and mushroom sandwich right now!
NEVER THOUGHT you’d meet david koresh
but y0ou appear to be sooooooooooo into this cult nonsense now I don’t know why I am surprised. truly I don’t.
oh and for ‘motivational speaker’ read totally unqualified self obsessed ego who has the arrogane to believe he’s a step ahead of us all
only he isn’t
is he?
CULTISM KIDS
Why is a community of people a cult?
Raw foodists
Football fans
Rugby fans
CAMRA appreciation of real ale
Life coaching
Wife swappers
Seriously - why the cult accusation Urban?
Hi Jim - ‘cult’ is very emotive word and usually brings a response which in this case it did. Did the word cult come from culture?
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Not sure…
URBAN? Where are thou on this cult issue?
Trouble is that’s even more different meal prep when you’ve a family and they all eat different things anyway - probably saves on having to clean the oven though so it gets my vote!
We do eat raw salad and carrots etc but thats about it. Is milk raw? if its unpasteurised?.
Purple13’s last blog post..Problems getting your image to upload - try these tips
‘raw salad’
as opposed to what?
isn’t all salad raw?
Hm..you have a good point..
Nur Sarah Lam’s last blog post..The Story of Stuff
Hi Urban and Nur’ - I was just trying to feel good about myself by stating that i do eat salads and i do consider them raw which they are of course, unless you cook them (or pickle them?????) then they’re not. If i put dressings on my salad, does that make it processed and what about the mac-salad - is that unprocessed???? if Mac’s have had their hand in it i think not. (call it a hunch).
We used to pick peas off the garden and just pop the pods and eat there and then - handful of corn rubbed from he stalk in the fields before all he sprays and chemicals - as kids - luvly stuff.
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Peas..I used to like it but I don’t know why I am beginning to shun away from it..Maybe I should have embrace it..
Nur Sarah Lam’s last blog post..The Story of Stuff
no animal lives in a house, has insurance, uses toilet paper, gets married, drives, wears clothes, uses an ipod, blogs, wears a condom, goes to church, reads, writes, uses a pillow, uses a fridge, travels business class, etc etc. Shall we stop doing all those things too along with eating cooked food ?
So those day to day modern day human things mean we eat on the hop?
Is that your point RYK?
i think RYK’s point is that just because an animal does something doesn’t make it the best thing to do
and I agree
one bit the nature is best brigade miss out when comparing us to animals is that animals routinely kill each other as a matter of nature. should we?
and I don’t mean a war situation animals routinely kill to impose male status
I generally eat quite healthy but when I don’t I really feel sluggish and my energy changes. Last year for a couple months I tried a raw diet… I felt wonderful once my body settled into it. Because of a new relationship, I strayed off the raw diet. Well, I’m ready to start it up again, just waiting for our fruits & veggies to be more in season to make starting it easier.
Blessings,
~Tania
Tania’s last blog post..Bye my friends?
Welcome to GO! Smell the flowers Tania and thanks for sharing your experience with us!
I tried to go for all organic food but the choice quite limited here and the price way beyond what I can afford..
Nur Sarah Lam’s last blog post..The Story of Stuff
Jimenem
Serious question.
Would you like to buy some magic beans?
Oh you mean black Soy beans?
http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/b/2007/02/28/are-black-soy-beans-really-magic-beans.htm
Maybe in a balti when we’re in the UK.
Black soy beans? I prefer the white ones and then we have soy drinks.. and soy bean curd as dessert..hm..wonderful..
Nur Sarah Lam’s last blog post..The Story of Stuff
Ever tried LEMON CURD…
On toast…
Yum.
Lemon curd? Well, that is definitely one I must find out..hahaha..
Nur Sarah Lam’s last blog post..The Story of Stuff
Hello. This is my first time finding your website and I enjoyed reading this post. I consider myself to be a raw foodist and have been so for about 3 years. I have eaten cooked foods, however maintain a really high percentage of raw foods, smoothies and juices in my diet. I did this because of a number of life long health challenges, and I’ve found it has really resonated with me personally. Obviously, this is not a diet or lifestyle that seems appealing to the masses. I just wanted to give you kudos for your posting and I’ll look forward to ready more in the future!
Warmly.
Penni in Tulsa
Penni’s last blog post..Momma Mia - Day 72
Cheers Penni and welcome to GO! Smell the flowers!
”I realised eating up to 6 Double Doubles (bigger than the MacDonalds Big Macs) was not going to do me any favours” Said Matt, aged 33” - now there’s something that i didn’t think about!
”Processed sugars and starches are the most harmful to our bodies, so if these are cut out and a percentage of your diet is raw, then this can be a very healthy diet.” - so he’s advocating a balanced diet - mindblowing stuff
”She then went to a 75% raw diet for 2 years while her system adjusted. She has lost 160 pounds in a year” - easy if you’re a lard arse to start with
Eat a balanced diet and exercise and you won’t have to fork out money for useless colonic irrigations or expensive health-food supplements touted by unqualified quacks
Hi everyone
Wow, thanks for sharing this article, Jim and Em and thanks too for all the repsonses and interactions.
Sending you all best wishes for vibrant health, happiness and enjoyment
All blessings,
Angela. xxx
Cheers Angela…
There still coming!
Here’s some free advice
”So, after years of deliberation, neurotic research and trying various diets, I’m finally in a position to tell you how to eat a good, healthy diet.
The secret is this: if it came out of the ground or the ocean, grew on a bush or a tree and doesn’t come wrapped in plastic, it’s probably pretty good for you. You know, stuff like vegetables, bread and fruit that don’t have PR teams working for them.
It’s boring, I realize and maybe it won’t sell but therein lies the rub, as Michael Pollan of the New York Times observed:
“If you’re concerned about your health, you should probably avoid food products that make health claims. Why? Because a health claim on a food product is a good indication that it’s not really food, and food is what you want to eat.”
Ultimately, the whole cult of nutrition serves 3 groups: the people who produce the packaged food, the nutritionists who get consulted and, ah, the people who get paid to write about it all.”
Are we simply more educated about food now then say 30 years ago? I was at secondary school but I can’t honestly remember being worried about ‘this is good for you, that isn’t’ ( we were more concerned about world war 3 i think)….one girl in our class had moved out of London and honestly didn’t know what a combine harvestor was and that peas didn’t grow in plastic bags - ready frozen.
Nowadays we all seem to be so caught up in health warnings, health scares, this is bad, that’s now good etc is it any wonder people are turning to raw ‘as it came out of the ground’ foods. Perhaps Vegans will have the last laugh - I think if you worry about what you eat, then its the worry that causes the ill-health. Surely its better to eat what you enjoy and stop worrying so? Obviously not to excess - I think we’ve all learnt the lesson of too much fast food and snacks, but in moderation - why not?
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no, I remember very well doing nutrition classes in high school in London in the late 60’s. I think people seem less educated in that they seem to think it is okay to stuff their gobs with food all day long (I remember very clearly children were not encouraged to eat between meals and if they had a snack fruit was highly encouraged), and drink soda in cups that are bigger than a bucket.
jafabrit’s last blog post..Grumpy Potato’s and Found Art
Food is changing..food is being unorganic and with all the chemicals, we are feeding off chemicals rather than ‘food’..The worst is when you have food shortage which is no good but that is what happen now..food shortage, food price hike..I wonder what else would happen after this..
Nur Sarah Lam’s last blog post..The Story of Stuff
I think everything in moderation and you can’t go wrong… I love my food too much
Buzzing with Ange’s last blog post..I Love You
bottom line is this
vegans don’t get the full complement of amino acids in their diets
its true kids
I think they’re all one carrot short of a bunch
Wow, this discussion has generated lots of replies. I think that the point that many vegans don’t get enough amino acids to support their protein requirements can very well be true. As a raw vegan, I take a good bit of spirulina, which is 65% protein. Leafy greens are also anywhere from 30-60% protein. I also take a B12/folic acid supplement. I make sure I get this daily, or over time, my levels might be compromised somewhat. The good news about plant based proteins is that they are much more easy for the body to assimilate than cooked meat.
I also think there are radical folks anywhere you go. There are people out of balance in all different areas of life. Everyone has to pick the path that seems to be the most beneficial for them.
Penni’s last blog post..Momma Mia - Day 72
ok a few points if I may penni
you may get 60% or 30% of your protein
BUT it doesn’t mean your getting your essentila amino acids. trust me from veg you aren’t
as fo veg protein being more easliy assimilable……………. hmmmmmmmmmmm depends on how you judge it but if you go on biological valence then whey protein or rather whey isolate is streets ahead and its an animal protein
bottom line you can’t get the full compliment of essential aminos from veg protein.
Urban….I am not here to get into a debate or offend anyone’s position. I speak for myself and I have multiple food allergies and the diet I have come to eat now has corrected my life long battle with irritable bowel syndrome, chronic fatigue, allergies, eczema, and obesity. I also get annual extensive blood testing done that shows me to be quite satisfactory in all my levels. My doctors keep a close watch on me because of my medical history and my diet. So far so good (for 3 years now). The protein available in hemp and chia have been two that I have found I tolerate really well, as I become extremely ill with the addition of whey or any dairy sourced protein.
Penni’s last blog post..Momma Mia - Day 72
We’re learning so much from this thread and that’s the idea….what is a thread without challenge and question?
*Urban - What forms of Aminos do you recommend in a well balanced diet?
** Penni - Thanks for sharing your case with us.
‘Each to their own’ springs to mind…
Emma is blood group and apparently has a natural tendancy towrds eating red meat - which works for here.
I can appreciate that you are on a particular diet due to circumstances, but to campaign raw food blanket superiority over cooked food, as some others have done here, is not advisable. Raw food eliminates a vast spectrum of food that can only be consumed post cooking, and thus if raw food culture were to grow we will find that we have moved very quickly to an unsustainable planet. Ditto with Organic. With the world’s population situation and rising living standards, we need to harness all the food we can get our hands on and not promote Utopian ideals of raw and organic foods, which are completely unnecessary anyway from a pure calorie perspective. Growing consumption of raw and organic food by the elite will 1st impact the poor negatively as vast tracts of land will be utilized for this inefficient produce, causing pressure on other crops, forcing their prices up. This has already happened in countries like Holland, where the irrational “organic” craze led to inefficient production and drove up prices; now many growers are switching back to modern methods.
Thankd for the clarification RYK…
food for thought, for sure.
When I took a nutrition class I was told some veggies, like broccoli, should be cooked because we can’t break down the cell walls very well and miss the vitamins we could have gotten.
I do looove raw veggies though for fiber.
WOOT for your de-tox journey. I bet your faces are glowing and your tummies are flat.
Hugs, JJ
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