I feel torn. I've been seeing a Traditional Chinese Medicine specialist and he keeps insisting that I need to be eating cooked food because I have a lot of deficiencies. I believe in TCM and in Ayurvedic Medicine (Indian Medicine) and they are both thousands and thousands of years old medical systems. They both say that eating raw food is very hard on digestion and should not be eaten exclusively.
I love the idea of eating raw with fruit at the basis and low fat. Something about cracking open a watermelon and sitting out in the sunshine! It just feels so right. I havent really been able to stick with this lifestyle for longer than a couple of weeks so I dont know how it makes me feel in the long run. The first few days I feel amazing and then I start getting diarrhea and feeling light headed and out of balance. The Chinese Medicine specialist told me that it is because the my body is unable to extract the nutrients from the raw food. So this morning I couldnt figure out what to eat! I really wanted watermelon but the words of this alternative medicine doctor kept ringing in my ear. He was very adamant that I eat cooked food and even suggests strongly that I eat meat. What gives? I dont know who to listen to.
What are your opinions on this? Is there anyone here that is also interested in alternative medical systems like TCM and Ayurveda that would like to comment? I just want to hear other opinions on these matters from people that have been doing the raw lifestyle for a while. One of the reasons why I feel I keep flip flopping between raw and cooked is because I really want to eat raw but then when I eat raw I wonder if I am harming myself by not listening to these thousand year old medical systems.
Just be as raw as you can. If you slip every two weeks or so, don't beat yourself up!
As for the advice about raw food being bad for digestion, that couldn't be more wrong. In fact, that's stupid!!!!
Permalink Reply by Peter Csere on Oh yeah, and it'll take a while for your poop to be normal. And if you're going back and forth between cooked and raw, it'll take a WHILE. Hang in there!
Permalink Reply by Agnes on I think that you should definitely stay vegan, The china study proved that to me. I dont think that cooked food is bad, its just not the best. Potatoes and rice is great but if you have fruit, pick that over the cooked stuff. Plus to me fruit tastes better on its own than plain potatoes or rice, so to me its a no brainer ;). I think the deficiencies can be corrected with fruit, fruit has everything you need ! get your pound of greens in everyday! I think whatever you choose, you just have to be convinced and go with it completely. If its cooked or raw, you will still get the results you desire by staying low fat vegan.
Permalink Reply by MaRaw DoberVegan on Some ideas..I am also interested in Ayurvedic medicine. Although I am a Pitta-dominant temperament, so raw, juicy cooling fruit is perfect for me, I still wonder if there is a possibility to have "grounding" foods through this raw diet. Possibly dried fruit??
Although, ayurvedic medicine could be only as old as cooked food! What if everyone ate fruit before that? Maybe this medicine was only necessary because cooked foods are different in digestion for everyone.
I have also struggled with feeling "too light" while on this diet- however, I believe that this is honestly because I am not eating enough calories. How many calories do you eat per day?
I would say never eat meat. There are many ways to cover deficiencies through plant foods. Meat is just a bad idea, probably the most acidic, toxic thing you could put in your body is another dead body, ayurvedic-approved or not, organic or not. Don't do it.
Permalink Reply by Peter Csere on 
Permalink Reply by GeoVegan on I'm not familiar with Ayurvedic Medicine or TCM. As far as cooking goes, I've heard the mantra, "fresh is best." It's been proven that cooking does destroy nutrition in food. I think the upper limit for heat is 118 degrees farenheit.
Anyway, try juicing. For me it's been a good way to replace, replenish & renew. Kale, spinach, tomatos, carrots, ginger, apples, all kinds of good things. Kale and spinach are especially good since they are nutrient dense. And unlike cooking, the vitamins, minerals and anti-oxidants stay in the juice and don't get leached out.
Permalink Reply by Asher on One does not need medicine, if what goes into ones system in the first place is 100%.
Medicine is to fix the issues created by a toxic modern society, living on cooked foods.
Permalink Reply by sascha dragaschnig on very true and simple said :)
Permalink Reply by Jon Fergus on They both say that eating raw food is very hard on digestion and should not be eaten exclusively.
Well, that certainly lowers my willingness to accept TCM and Ayurveda. If that's what they teach, then they've certainly got at least one thing wrong.
What gives?
What gives is that you're getting bad advice from someone with the label of being a "professional". If some random Joe on the street walked up to you and told you all of that, would you listen? Heck no. The only reason you're listening now is because you think they're an authority. You're overriding your own mind with the concepts of another - never a good idea. It could be totally possible that that average Joe knows much more than the one labeled "professional"; heck, it's possible you know more than them. Point is, you don't actually know who's got the answers. And how can you know who's right? Only by gaining the knowledge yourself. Only through learning and experimenting and trial and error. Only by verifying for yourself the truth or untruth of any idea. Otherwise, you're stuck struggling with who to blindly believe.
One of the reasons why I feel I keep flip flopping between raw and cooked is because I really want to eat raw but then when I eat raw I wonder if I am harming myself by not listening to these thousand year old medical systems.
These systems may be thousands of years old, and may even be founded on aspects of wisdom and knowledge, but that doesn't mean that they're infallible. There's really no two ways around this... you're going to have to just make a decision and go with it. Standing with one foot in the raw foods door and the other foot in the TCM door isn't going to get you anywhere. Pick one and commit to it for 3 years. After that much time, review your progress and check every aspect of your health.
Until you've lived one or the other fully, for a long enough stretch, you'll remain confused and bewildered by the ten thousand conflicting ideas about diet, nutrition and lifestyle.
So... pick one. Live it. Find out for yourself. And when you pick, go with the one you feel intuitively drawn to. What I mean is: pick with your heart.
Permalink Reply by evchen on Very true and very well said, I just had a similar struggle and came to the same conclusion. Thanks!!
Permalink Reply by sascha dragaschnig on viktoriya pls do yourself a big favor and hear what your body and spirit tells u.
u so know that is right to eat fruits and vegetables raw. u feel it in your body and u know it in your spirit.
and although old real medicine might be beneficial and of course can really help not like not like the modern doctor with some nice pills, one codenamed red death ;(
but it is still your decision and only because their knowledge is old, doesn't mean they know all and are right.
and in case of absorption i rly question where these healers got their information, as it is widely known and scientifically proven, that fruit (especialy high water fruit) is the easiest and fastest absorbed. i mean u know how fast a watermelon goes through u and how much energy u get out of it and how it does not bring u down. so pls go on this road for yourself and for all of us.
and in case of the diarrhea i would suggest superchew all u eat and go on a high water monofruit fast, eg grapefast or maybe watermelon, but hey just what i would do.
so hang in there i know u can do it and go through this. love and awareness
Permalink Reply by Craig Plunkett on I advise reading books. It seems like the indecisiveness is a result of being pandered to by what different parties are saying to you, in a sort of crude tug-of-war way. Reading promotes goal-seeking and self-actualisation. Thinking for yourself is the greatest convenience in life.
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