Raw Food Diet

[revenant]

Has anybody tried recovering with a raw food diet? I heard some talk about digestive enzymes being helpful, and it's what the raw food diet is all about. The body uses less energy to digest the food and devotes more to healing.

[GlutenFreeManna]

I picked up some raw food cookbooks once to see if there were good suggestions for gluten free things. I found a few things I like, but to be honest, I can't do the raw food diet. My body just can't digest that much raw stuff. If I eat raw veggies for most of my diet I'll be in pain after only a couple days. Kudos to those that can do it though. It's a healthy way of eating for people without sensitive digestive systems.

[cassP]

i would LOVE to start incorporating SOME of the raw diet into mine- it's extremely healthy.

1st of all, like above poster- i canNOT do everything raw- i would be doubled over in pain... BUT im starting to think that its just for certain vegtables like broccoli & asparagus. there's some that i can do raw just fine- like zucchini- and probably some more high enzyme herbs,etc.

2nd- i HAVE TO HAVE MY MEAT!!!!

all that said- i would like to eventually make my diet 30% raw.. there's a gluten-free blogger recipe girl- her stuff looks delish- one day soon, id like to get the proper kitchen equipment- and this recipe looks DELISH:

Open Original Shared Link

[Skylark]

I have a friend who got rid of chronic shoulder pain by eating raw foods. She ate a completely vegan, raw diet for about five years. Recently she has been able to reintroduce a little cooked food and dairy and is still pain-free as long as she stays about 50% raw. I have no idea what the "magic" is in the diet for her.

[thleensd]

I see this is quite a few months old, but have you had any luck? When I was first diagnosed, I couldn't digest most raw foods... I still have some trouble, but I've been juicing (whole juice, actually)... just throw it in the blender and chug. It's much easier than trying to chew a salad.

I'm still trying to gain weight, and I do love me some juicy steak, but I've been re-thinking some things and am going to try some raw uncooking. I've been to a couple raw restaurants, and the last one was amazing... it's what has started me really looking.

It seems to be quite a learning curve when you get into dehydrating, sprouting, etc, but by incorporating more of this into my diet, I'm feeling a bit better (although it could still be a coincidence at this point) =) I still have fairly debilitating fatigue.

The thing I haven't figured out is how to have TIME to do it all! There are some wonderful looking crackers and wraps that I think many Celiacs would love to eat. I think I need someone to tell me/show me HOW to do all of this within a schedule. (I mean..I've just now started to master making food that can be used as decent left overs!)

I flipped through this book today ....

wow...I just tried to post and it says the company spammed this forum. Mkay, I hope it was the retailer, not the author. Ani's Raw Food Essentials was the title. It had some wonderful looking food. Just not sure I'm ready for that much work. But I'll start with a few things =)

Please share if you have any success!

[celiac-mommy]

Short term success, yes. Long term-no. It was a really quick way for me to lose weight. I didn't find it appealing. I prefer my meals to be warm

[revenant]

Hello..

I tried the raw food diet for one month, and it has been the only period of time that I felt energetic, happy, focused, and almost completely without my anxiety and depression.

The detoxification is difficult to get through, and can be mistaken for how it feels to be on a raw food diet. Once you get over the hump, life is beautiful. I think the raw food diet is successful because it cleanses your body of excess bacteria that could be similar to slighter symptoms of gluten intolerance, (fatigue, anxiety, lack of concentration, etc) along with the proper digestion with digestive enzymes.

It is important for us celiacs/gluten intolerants to first get bloodwork to see if we are deficient in anything, so if you try the raw food diet you may need to supplement.

It has helped me immensely and is worth looking into only if you are ready to take an extreme approach for you well-being.

[sb2178]

Ha. With how much snow on the ground outside? I also picked up a cookbook from the library to review "bread" options and found some that look good. Haven't made any yet, as grocery shopping has been less coordinated than usual recently. Seems like it might be good for some lunches though. Or when it's over 85 degrees outside.

My other issue is that cooking often destroys compounds that inhibit our bodies from absorbing nutrients or have other harmful effects. Cooking can also release beneficial compounds (lycopene, for example). Cooking does also destroy some vitamins, but it's relatively easy to just eat an extra piece of broccoli or tomato for a little more vitamin C.

So, yes, some raw food is almost definitely good for you but you can also do things like cause thyroid disease by eating raw brassicas or poison yourself by eating lots of alfalfa sprouts. I would also have a hard time getting calories here in the cold dark north where avodacos and coconuts come from very very far away and are quite pricey. I'd get bored of so many nuts fairly quickly. And, with all vegan diets, beware the nutrients iron, B-12, calcium, and vitamin D as they are more challenging to eat enough of.

[domesticactivist]

I have been reading and it seems the body does do more work to digest most raw food and that cooking is part of what allowed us to evolve to eat such a varried diet. Other diets claim to heal the gut as well... Have you considered GAPS? It starts out with broth and veggies cooked to a mush, adds raw egg yolks, then slowly introduces other foods and less cooked forms of food. I can't quite see myself being ok with the smushy food due to sensory issues but am considering it.

[thleensd]

Yeahhhh... I definitely wouldn't go all raw because I'm trying to gain weight and tend towards iron (and other vitamin/mineral) deficiency, not to mention my gut isn't digesting things as well as it should... but I have some veggie/vegan friends that seem to be doing pretty well. I guess we all have to find what works for us.

Living in San Diego, our winter is pretty short, and we more or less have avocados and pineapples year round. Of course, finding organic/local is a little tougher... but I seriously can't complain.

GAPS looks complicated. Of course, what we do looks complicated until you figure it out. =)

I bought a raw recipe book because they have some wonderful ideas for crusts and wraps. Many of them are dehydrated... but the pictures sure are pretty! I wonder if I can get them to look that nice.

Peace.

[WheatChef]

The Raw Food Diet is a scam (as nicely put as possible). Many nutrients actually increase in bioavailability during cooking and those "magical" enzymes are either destroyed almost entirely by your stomach or completely useless to a non-plant. That being said, variety is the spice of life and I personally eat about 10-20% of my meats and fish in raw format (extra vitamin C).

[pitou99]

I'm celiac for 11 years with many severe reactions to various foods (anything with lactose, beef, pork etc) , especially anything that is processed in any way (including rice) I tried to a eat gluten free diet but found that was very complicated as many items that claim to be gluten free still have 10 parts per million of gluten - yet they can be labeled as gluten-free. I get anaphylactic reaction to these types of foods so I can't trust any of the government approved packaging.

So I got desperate and decided to change my lifestyle and relationship with food entirely. Thats when I discovered the raw lifestyle in December of 2011 and never looked back. I read though the responses above and just want to say that there are varying degrees of raw. Most definitions are about being 75% raw so I continue once or twice a week to have hot meal that includes a soup using the raw recipes but I do heat them up a bit so I can get the warmth considering I live in the great white north ! I blend my juices and bring them to work in a big cooler in glass jars.. most people have something to say (drinking swamp water etc) but i just ignore them as I need to do this to survive. I got my life back and that’s what counts...I can now go back to my corporate job and travel ....and enjoy life.

All this to say , don't give up or lose hope .. the raw lifestyle can be very filling and fulfilling - just do it to a degree that you are comfortable with. I find this the best way to manage my celiac.

[dreacakes]

From what I've read, there are many, many problematic aspects to raw diets. They are lacking in essential nutrients, and hard to digest, especially for people with compromised digestive systems. Some things really should be cooked, and when you're recovering from being nutrient deficient you need to eat foods that are both easy to digest and very nutrient-dense.

There are many, many disconcerting stories of people who went on raw diets and had their health deteriorate that I've read.

I second GAPs as a great diet option. I do really well on a paleo diet. Best of luck to you!