Raw Food Movement Rant
#308635 - 06/05/07 10:09 PM
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Tinkerbelle
Reged: 04/17/05
Posts: 231
Loc: Los Angeles, CA
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I live in Los Angeles and hang out with a lot of people who are involved in various holistic healing communities. Many people that follow a specific diet wholeheartedly believes it is the best possible diet for themselves and in turn for other individuals. One that is quite dominant these days is the raw food movement. Some of those involved in this movement, when I tell them I can't digest raw food, tell me that I am just "detoxing" and that my body will get used to it and that it will actually help my digestion. Also, they often talk about Candida, and doing a Candida cleanse that will totally change me and make me feel amazing.
I have a few things that happen inside me when I hear these kinds of things. First thing is that I can be highly impressionable sometimes, so I start to think that maybe this is true. I freak out thinking I have Candida and will have to spend money, time, and energy detoxing. Then I start thinking maybe if I "strengthened my digestion" I would be able to digest raw foods.
The other thing that goes through my mind is what i have learned from being exposed to Ayurveda and Chinese medicine.. which says that not everyone and every body type is meant to eat raw foods... and for my digestion I should be eating cooks foods, etc. Then I think about how Ayurveda and Chinese medicine have been around much longer than Raw Foodism, and how they may have more validity.
I just needed to get that all out. It's very confusing for me sometimes. Anyone else experienced any thoughts like these??
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All I can add is that for many years I was very influenced by the idea that eating lots of raw food was healthy. Also, I followed a strict anti-candida diet, with lots of expensive supplements, for years too - with no improvement to my digestion at all. I have felt so much better since eating only cooked foods and following the EFI diet strictly - I am good at this, as I was very rigid with my previous anti-candida regime! I think I persisted with all the salads and raw veg because, although they hurt me and upset my IBS badly, I also believed that my system would eventually get used to them and so ultimately I would feel better. One nutritionist told me to eat at least a pound of vegetables/salad daily, including lots of pulses - boy, was that hard, I was so bloated!
However,I wouldn't dream of suggesting that people should stop eating salads just because I can't tolerate them! I have IBS - they don't. I agree it is sooo annoying when people, especially 'professionals' on these TV shows - insist that raw is best for everybody.
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Wow! Thanks so much for your input... it's good to her testimony from someone who tried that lifestyle/diet out for longer than I did! As stated in my post, I sometimes wonder if I'm just not trying it for long enough and "detoxing" enough... but hearing that you tried it for awhile shows me to trust my intuition and that I KNOW MY BODY WELL.... I feel bloated and disgusting after eating like that ONCE, my body doesn't like it, I'm not "just detoxing"!
Thank you! 
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Great post. Just wanted to chime in on the perils of Western medicine in relation to IBS. It seems to me that Westerners, especially Americans, want a one size fits all pill or diet that will cure all health problems. The fact of the matter is that while groups may benefit from a specific drug/diet it is still necessary to pay attention to individual needs. I was also very impressionable before I started with the EFI diet. However, since I have had success with this diet I am no longer impressionable. I have found what works and doesn't work for me and I encourage people to do the same. Good luck and thanks for providing an outlet for me to vent.
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Boy, things never change, do they? I remember the early '70's--the macrobiotic diet and the beginnings of health food cooking. Let's see, tomatoes were bad, and eggplants POISON (too "yin"). I got genuinely malnourished from following that! Pregnant at the time and baby robbing every nutrient possible. After that, my teeth were shot.
And Health Food Cooking--70's and 80's. Used to take the kids to a health-fooder's kid's birthday party. My husband and I used to joke about the birthday cake: "whole wheat, no leavening, no egg, no milk, tons of oil, only honey, lots of raisins for sweetening." Like a lead brick in the stomach---deadly!
The line back then was: "When you start eating health foods, you'll find that you fart a lot. That's a sign that you've been eating too many refined foods and now your bowels are actually having to do some work. Will get better as body adjusts."
Not all of it is BS, though. It may work for some, and is probably healthier that the American Fast Food Diet. But we really have to make sense of this whole diet thing by getting as much information as possible, keeping an open mind, and above all, listening to what our own bodies are telling us.
C
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Yes, I agree with everyone else: Listen to your body!
I had some acquaintances who were part of the raw food movement and would hold workshops. For them, it became more than just a lifestyle but almost a religion. So it wasn't just a choice they made for themselves, but they believed it should be the only way that everyone ate. I'm sorry, but plenty of people live long and healthy lives following a variety of eating plans. I think the US has a pretty good average lifespan and most people aren't on some extreme health food diet. Moderation and variety are probably the keys to healthy eating, I think.
Personally, I'm wary of eating raw food only. With lupus and IBS, I want to be extra careful that I'm not going to get food poisoning which could then aggravate both illnesses.
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Thanks for the great input guys!!
I for sure think the raw food movement is a fad, just like any other new health food craze... I actually really like some of the macrobiotic principles, and find that most of my staple foods are macrobiotic friendly (fish, rice, lightly steamed veggies, etc)... In any case, in all areas of my life, I kind of listen to people's dogmatic rants and take what I enjoy from them and make a collage of beliefs for myself. It's funny that when it comes to eating, however, that I start feeling like I "should" eat one way and not another..
I think the key IS balance and listening to our own bodies. Try a little of this, a little of that, see how my body responds, see where my mind and anxiety level are that day.. because it's all so connected! Some days I can eat at a certain place, other days it kills my tum! So it's all about listening, and not getting too upset if I get sick or an upset tum, and trying something different the next day!
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That's a shame. I have been a raw foodist myself for years at a time and so many raw foodists are simply uninformed or misguided. No wonder the raw food movement is looked down upon. It frustrates me.
Any raw foodist with actual knowledge and experiance will tell you raw vegetables are unsafe to eat with IBS sysmptoms and be very careful. Fruit can be hit or miss also. Keep to bananas, mango, etc. If candida is an issue, keep the fat intake VERY LOW. Fat and the sugar combo of fruit is a problem and will worsen things. The other thing so many do is blame everything on detox or say "do a cleanse". Simply frustrating. Come back in a few years and see how many of these people are actually healthy and still raw. The few that are would probably be no matter what they ate 
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Thank You for your post on raw foods. I am new to this board and just learning to find my way around. I also tried just raw foods, followed Storm & Jinjee's GardenDiet for a long time, lost weight and felt great too. Then I had a severe attack to my system from a raw spinach salad in a restaurant a year ago August (just before the outbreak of contaminated spinach all across the US)and have never been well since then. I must say I do miss my salads and fresh fruits, but they no longer work for me. I hope to get stable as soon as my order arrives from Heather's store, in the interim it's just the SAFE soft foods for me. Thank you again for your post, I felt like I had become a traitor to the Raw Foods I once enjoyed.
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Oh my gosh, i go through exactly the same thoughts as you do. I get quite frustrated with myself sometimes because i'm so impressionable. My specialist has just found that i'm wheat intolerant. So, i start eating raw veg and stir-fry veg and more pulses (because i'm vegan) and my stomach has been going mental! I just wish that sometimes i'd have the strength of mind to stick to my convictions. Sorry, rant over!
One more thing, i am struggling though as i'm a wheat-free vegan and can't seem to tolerate fruit apart from pureed apples so feeling a little stuck as to what to eat!
Thanks for letting me cleanse my mind of the above. x
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Sarah
IBS-C
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