The Raw Food Diet

So I've been thinking about doing this to cleanse my gut flora for a while because of all the issues I've had with my digestion and food sensitivities. It just seems to be getting worse and the list of foods I am able to eat just keeps getting smaller.

So I'm going to give this raw diet a try. I'm not afraid to go vegan as well mostly because Im allergic to dairy and I can prolly live without eggs in my life.

Just wondering if anyone else has done this due to digestion/ candida issues and if they found it helped them.

:daisy:

 

It can help but the main thing is what types of raw foods you are eating... the important thing for those issues is to cut out ALL SUGAR. Including fruit. Consume apple cider vinegar. Don't eat yogurt at all. Kefir is okay.

 

Make sure the apple cider vinegar is organic/raw. Otherwise its pretty useless to consume. Bragg has a great recipe but its a little pricey.

 

I dont eat yogurt cause it's dairy and I'm really allergic to it. I'm not a fan of sugar either... only sugar i eat is in fruit. I don't eat white sugar at all.

 

Yep. I shoulda added that. "From the Mother"... Bragg is the kind I get by the case via hubby's employee co-up. I follow the recipe on the acv bottle... except I don't add any sweetener. Just ACV and water.

Yea... I was thinking that w the yogurt as I wrote it that you said you're allergic to dairy. My bad.
Yea, one serving of fruit- or more if it's berries is okay but if it's to rid body of candida or change digestion then it's good to temporarily not even eat fruit-maybe a serving/day esp berries.
And I'm sure you know all about wheat/gluten/beans/etc.

 

Nice! ACV unsweetened can have a bitter punch to it, but a sweet after taste. It definitely kick starts the metabolism when you first start taking it.

 

Yep. Lol... I had my husband try a drink of it (ACV+h2o) and he couldn't stand the taste. Went out and added way too much sugar to it, imo. I don't think it tastes that bad... actually once I got used to it 3x a day for a while I started to think it was nice and refreshing. lol.

 

Yeah it is refreshing, though I don't think I would do it 3x daily haha thats intense. I mix it in a short tumbler and pretty much shoot it. Not something I want to savor You can add it to veggie/fruit juice too, as well as other recipes like sautéed veggies, homemade salad dressing, sauces...

 

Yep... use it for salad dressing. The only types of salad dressing I ever use (well, almost ever) is ACV and olive oil. Or olive oil and lemon.

I only mix it with a few ounces of water and drink it pretty fast... like a shot that takes three sips or so.

 

agree with cutting out sugar, fruit

adding vinegar sounds good

imho, fresh lightly cooked whole foods would be better

 

Why is that, e7m8? I know you mentioned that in the thread where we were talking about arthritis (which I have).... I mean in general cooking food like veggies destroys the beneficial ingredients of food... but I will say I heard something recently about ppl developing probs from eating too much kale-raw kale that is... the solutions I heard were to lightly sauté it, and/or if eating it raw in a salad (which is what I do) to eat it w other greens (which is what I also already do).

 

Im trying the raw idea because I'm trying to cleanse my gut as naturally as possible. I've been reading that it's ok to heat up some things a lil bit. Would you recommend certain vegetables to be a bit warm when eating for maximum absorption of nutrients?

I should say that I have had a BIG problem absorbing Iron and Vitamin B12 most of my life. If anyone has any advice on how to help that with the raw diet I'd very much appreciate any help.

 

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/10/18/ask-well-does-boiling-or-baking-vegetables-destroy-their-vitamins/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0

This article from the NY times discusses this topic! Read it

 

I'm saying this as a serious answer- supplementation.

It's almost impossible to get all the nutrition we need per day through food alone.

 

YouFreeMe's article makes some good points about cooking methods and nutrients.

My perspective is coming primarily from traditional chinese medicine. The tcm view is that foods need to be fresh, lightly cooked, and thoroughly chewed to get the most benefit from them. While nutrient content is relevant, from the tcm perspective, making foods digestible is also important.

The book "The Tao of Healthy Eating" has more information on the subject.

http://books.google.com/books/about/The_Tao_of_Healthy_Eating.html?id=hJZ3xLAISfMC

page 12 discusses cooked vs raw

Of particular interest to the OP, page 43 discusses Candidiasis

 

Speaking of candida.... has anyone seen the ad on youtube? The American Parasite, blah blah blah....
obviously the ad is a tactic to sell certain probiotics (a scare tactic that is)...

But I do come from a belief myself that candida is to blame for A LOT of issues... from anything from depression, anxiety, weight gain, to MS, cancer, etc.
Not for everyone, but a lot of people.

It's hard as shit to get rid of also. I have done it but I'm sure sure I stuck to the no sugar long enough.

 

I'm not a fan of sugar myself like I said, except in fruits. I don't think I can stop eating fruits. I have been told my candida overgrowth may be causing my anxiety, stomach pains, hives etc...

I read the article and I thought it had some interesting facts. I guess it depends on the specific food whether the nutrients are best preserved cooking or raw. My biggest concern is my ability to absorb the nutrients. I'm looking into sprouting right now and maybe that will help settle things down in there too.

 

ehh, I did no sugar for awhile but that was not useful for me. I did a high-fat raw diet and it really didn't do much for me. I was pretty sick.

Eating a high percentage of fruit, while eating a low percentage of fat was what really improved my health.

I had the idea that my problem was always absorption and I did the Bragg's ACV everyday thing for awhile and again, it really did nothing for me. More than likely no one's advice is going to do it for you. Try different things see what works for you.

I've been apart of a large community of people who ended up eating the high fruit, low-fat thing after typically trying everything else and not having success with that. It isn't very smart to eliminate all sugar from the diet, we have a sweet tooth for a reason. Most people will find a way to get the sugar they try to deny themselves, rather they end up eating fruit, sneaking in desserts or drinking alcohol.

Your body will give you cravings and symptoms to make up for what it's not getting. Good luck. Do some google searching, there's a ton of information out there, just be smart about the decisions you make, who you decide to trust and how committed you are to continuing a diet that doesn't give you the results you want...for instance years of detox is a major marketing tool in the online health movement.

 

well, I don't know if you really know that

Yep. The proof's in the pudding.

I don't think you're right about that one. The tcm perspective is that a little bit a sugar/sweetner can be good for you. Whether a thing is good or bad for a person, and to what degree, really depends on the individual and their condition. For many people, no sugar is a good idea, imho. Cutting back on sugar can be tough though.

 

I don't really crave sugars except for fruit so I don't think that is too bad if eaten in moderation.
I have tried so many things and like I said I was told to try this for a month to see if it changes things for me. After the month if I feel better then I'm prolly going to stay vegan but allow myself to eat cooked foods.

I'm really hoping this will help. It just feels like this battle with my gut has been going on forever. Getting sick of food making me sick.

Thanks to everyone who has responded, you all have helped me out.

:daisy: