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.
Permalink Reply by Viktoriya on MaRaw DoberVegan, I dont think that its because I'm not eating enough. I feel that I want to eat all the time because I'm so used to suppressing certain emotions through food. Fruit doesnt do it. It makes things come up to the surface. There is no hiding. Thats why I love it so much. I know what its like to be satisfied from food. I feel very satisfied when I eat my meals but I still just feel like I want to eat. Like I'm frantic or something. You know what I mean?
Permalink Reply by Nathan on This is a very good point. I experienced this also when I was first transitioning. I think it is a normal habit for SAD eaters to quell emotions through food, because eating heavy foods detracts from your nerve energy. But with fruit, the digestion requires so little energy that almost all of your nerve energy remains available.
This has actually been an amazing benefit to me , because I have started to learn to harness the "extra" nerve energy that I never had before, and use it for productive goals. But it also means that all of your emotions will essentially remain at the surface because the nerve energy that gives life to them is not getting sucked away.
Permalink Reply by Jon Fergus on Please bare with me on this!
That's what we're here for :D and we're not going anywhere. We want to see you thrive! Nothing else will do ;-)
Nearly every single long-term HCRVer has passed through the very difficult stage you're now in. The fact that we made it through might be encouragement enough in itself. The conflicting information of the world is one of the primary challenges of our age. We live in an age where information is prevalent and we're the first few generations to learn to cope with that. It makes for some difficulties, but the potential for growth as a human being is immense because of all this! :)
Just keep working steadily forwards, day in, day out. A journey is only ever composed of individual steps.
Permalink Reply by Viktoriya on Nearly every single long-term HCRVer has passed through the very difficult stage you're now in. The fact that we made it through might be encouragement enough in itself. The conflicting information of the world is one of the primary challenges of our age. We live in an age where information is prevalent and we're the first few generations to learn to cope with that. It makes for some difficulties, but the potential for growth as a human being is immense because of all this! :)
This is so great to hear! I sometimes think that there is something that I'm doing wrong thats causing me to flip flop like this. Its nice to hear that those who have been doing this a while also experienced. How long do you think it takes for that initial challenge phase to pass?
Permalink Reply by Jon Fergus on How long do you think it takes for that initial challenge phase to pass?
There's no timeline. Everything depends on ourselves, our environment, our current health (physically, mentally, emotionally), our motivation and will, our determination and courage, and a thousand other factors. The "flip flopping" stage - if we want to call it a stage - is, from the perspective of having passed beyond it, more of a 'place we get stuck'. It's sort of like that moment when you first stand on top of a high-diving board and you look down at the water below. Most of us pause, unsure. We step to the edge, look around, step back, look down again, wonder if we should climb back down the ladder instead, then step to edge again... and so on while we battle our hesitations and fears. How long we do this is really unique to each individual. But... of course, the answer is to just jump in :D
We're all rooting for you!
Permalink Reply by Viktoriya on Wow Jon, that is an amazing metaphor! I guess it really isnt a stage at all. Its more dipping my toes into the water but not fully going in. Thanks for the support :)
Permalink Reply by Jon Fergus on How long do you think it takes for that initial challenge phase to pass?
There's no timeline. Everything depends on ourselves, our environment, our current health (physically, mentally, emotionally), our motivation and will, our determination and courage, and a thousand other factors. The "flip flopping" stage - if we want to call it a stage - is, from the perspective of having passed beyond it, more of a 'place we get stuck'. It's sort of like that moment when you first stand on top of a high-diving board and you look down at the water below. Most of us pause, unsure. We step to the edge, look around, step back, look down again, wonder if we should climb back down the ladder instead, then step to edge again... and so on while we battle our hesitations and fears. How long we do this is really unique to each individual. But... of course, the answer is to just jump in :D
We're all rooting for you!
Permalink Reply by Viktoriya on I think youre right DJ Sarver, I feel like there is definitely something that is preventing me from fully diving in. I think a big part of that is fear of what other people around me might say or thing or maybe even just fear of missing out on life which I am realizing more and more is kind of ridiculous. Why do we think that in order to fully live we need to eat cooked food? I hate the way it makes me feel and I dont even think it tastes that good. I dont want to live a life that centers around food. I love your approach though saying that I can have the cooked food but Id rather have the fruit. Its been working for me lately :)
Permalink Reply by Sunshine on Ayurveda is so outdated and debunked by actual science. so easy to dismiss.
wrong and right thinking fails in that it doesn't address the needs we all share as life.
this may go deeper into the issue : http://www.scribd.com/doc/72099926/Restorative-Justice-Rosenberg-Be...
Permalink Reply by MaRaw DoberVegan on Thank you Sunshine! I keep being reminded from different places about nonviolent communication. Maybe it's a sign I need to look into it! :)
Permalink Reply by Nathan on Just go by logic. There is so much conflicting information out there, and so many different beliefs and methodologies, that there is no way to judge which one is correct. The only basic means of determining the correct diet is logic. If you accept that we should eat according the the body's physiological design, then it is an obvious conclusion that we are frugivores.
Look at the design of the body, the acidity of the stomach acid, the chemical make up of the saliva, the length of the intestines, the tooth structure, the jaw structure, the shape of the fingers and hands, the facial structure, and all the rest, and compare it to animals that we know to thrive on certain diets. It is almost blatantly obvious, at least from my perspective, that we are meant to consume mainly fruits. But you should consider it for yourself, because that is the only way you will really feel satisfied with your choice. Taking other people's advice does not produce the same level of certainty and resolution.
Furthermore, I contend that if you cannot express an idea concisely, in terms that a child could understand, then you do not fully comprehend the idea yourself. Could you say that any of the mainstream nutritional information out there is expressible to a child? It is a spider web of studies about this nutrient and that, held together by a frail glue of nutritionists picking out one singular study and associating it with another. It is a clear sign, to me, that no one understands the whole picture. It is a bunch of people trying to make sense of sporadic findings that have no underlying logical basis because they are done with isolated compounds, always in relation to a typical SAD, which is a terrible reference for optimal bodily functioning.
Permalink Reply by Viktoriya on That is so on point Nathan. Thank you for laying it out in such a clear way. If I think back, what has caused me to fail on this diet has really been the "nutrition Information" that I'm being bombarded with constantly. yet, I keep coming back to fruit. It makes most sense to me and makes me feel my best. I need to learn to stop listening to that which others say. Not a single time when I have had this acupuncturist tell me that I need to eat have I ever been able to feel like that is the right thing to do. I just really cannot bring myself to do it. Anyway, I am going to stick to my guns from now on! its my choice!
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