Raw Food for Mental Health

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Comment by SoulSparkled on June 1, 2012 at 6:16pm

I have noticed a few people in this forum comment on 'eating disorders'. Whether it's that they worry about falling back into negative past eating behaviours, feel like they suffer with an eating disorder such as bulimia, over-eating or anorexia, or simply feel that they are eating in a disordered way...

So I felt it was relevant to bring this topic up.

Many people are attracted to finding that right way of eating.. thinking it will be the answer to EVERYTHING! There is always a learning curve when being involved in life and love... and food is so much more than survival and yet so controversial in our modern world. It is no longer the garden of eden that we live in - though we can choose to surround ourselves in nature - it's not always 'easy'.

While 'diet' is such a massive influence there are many other facets of our wellbeing that require attention and care. Food is a fuel to live a better life though it makes sense that many people can become fixated and confused with it.

So many people have been caught in the clutches of a difficult relationship with food and there are some brilliant books dedicated to this topic. To mention a few about emotions and food... relevant also to eating disorders here are just a few top ones that I have read and can say I found very insightful... 

- Mirror Mirror by Dianne Wilson

- Women, food and God by Ganeen Roth

- Life without Ed by Jenni Shaeffer

-www.dailystrength.org

Some of you might have some more thoughts or suggestions on this topic that can be helpful for those struggling with balancing their eating and struggling with the emotional facet of 'diet'...

Comment by SoulSparkled on May 30, 2012 at 9:32pm

Niacin is also known as B3!!!

Dietary Sources of  Foods with Niacin Include:

Food - Niacin (mg)

Peanuts, 1/2 cup - 10.5
Mushrooms, raw, 1/2 cup - 1.7
Corn, yellow, 1/2 cup - 1.3
Mango, 1 medium - 1.5
Lentils, 1/2 cup - 1.4
Sweet potatoes 1/2 - 1.2
Peach, raw, medium - .9
Carrot, raw, medium - .7
Almonds, 1/2 cup - 1.4
Potato - 3.3

Comment by Cowgirlfrommars on May 30, 2012 at 12:44am

I've seen Food Matters, but the mention of Niacin didn't stay with me.  I focus on Magnesium, Omega 3, Folate, Taurine and natural glutamate blockers like leucine, isoleucine and lysine.  They're all helpful in different ways.

Comment by SoulSparkled on May 29, 2012 at 9:44pm

I recently watched the documentary 'food matters' which challenges a lot of the 'drug industry' and health industry. It had some raw food based ideas on depression which had me intrigued - the suggestion was to eat 2 handfuls of nuts such as cashews each day and ensure a high intake of vitamin C and Niacin. It was a helpful reminder that when experiencing/living a stressful lifestyle I am burning up my vitamin C pretty quickly and need to increase my intake.

I do find of course eating more raw foods that my intake of vitamin C is naturally boosted and that is fantastic. I'm wondering where Niacin comes from though... will be looking to venture into this one a bit more... 

Comment by Chris on May 3, 2012 at 4:02pm

Jan. 19, Paul said,

"He thinks I'm obsessed because I want to be healthy, educate myself on these topics and do some exercise. He says that I'm not going to live forever and I should just enjoy life instead of spending my free time reading about nutrition..."

Paul, did he really use the word, "should"? That power word is not generally advised for experienced counselors. He may have just questioned how much time you're spending reading about nutrition, no? Regardless, it is a common misnomer even among conventional mental health workers who have no experience with raw vegan diets to assume you'd be enjoying life more by consuming conventional diets. 

I don't think I'm really carrying it to unhealthy extremes

The traditional rates of CHD, cancer, constipation, congestion, anxiety, depression associated with meat intake are true unhealthy extremes, not the passion for exclusionary dieting after developing a taste of the detox benefits. Although heart disease and cancer are popular, the are the more preventable extremes than a passion to learn experientially through exclusionary dieting.

Comment by Danielle on April 17, 2012 at 1:24am

Thanks for sharing, Kimberly. Inspiring!

Comment by kimberley pineapple princess on April 16, 2012 at 11:25pm

I was depressed to the point that it crippled every muscle in my body, i could barely dress my self. raw foods opened my mind giving my cells strength and energy. Im like a new person in my mind, although i still have problems with my joints being born with a defect in the connective tissues around every joint, my joints hyper extend creating damage and strain pain. But I feel blessed to just have joint pain now, as the depression pain that riddled me, from my suffering mentality left me feeling so empty i felt like i was dead inside and prayed it would  happen. Now i see how important it is to feed the cells of the brain/body other wise we arent getting our needs fulfilled creating malfunctions. Which is weakening more generations to come. So i read constantly to improve the strength of my mind and life to help my self and others live to their best possible potential. love this page. "for an extraordinary life we need an extraordinary mind and for this we need extraordinary fuel  = fruits and greens. I really feel honoured to have been shown this path of love and light from the foods that light us up x

Comment by SoulSparkled on February 10, 2012 at 8:09pm

I wish you the best on your transitional journey. Remembering that it's not DIET ALONE, in and of itself that the healing is found.

Be kind to yourself, listen to your body, and take your time.

I gave myself a year to transition off the anti-depressant medications I was taking a while back and then reached a point when I knew it was time and the dizzy spells etc. had almost gone entirely. This being said I adopted counselling, gym, and other things that enriched me.

These meds do pass the blood-brain barrier so we are very sensitive to them and don't want to jolt our bodies too much.

Ultimately Enjoy your food, Enjoy and learn from your emotions. If you have someone to consult such as a nutritionist and/or doctor and counsellor this might be helpful during this time of change for you.

All the very best LauraAnne!

Comment by LauraAnne on February 5, 2012 at 12:48pm

thank you for this idea...i am getting off effexor as i start this raw food life...it is hard (a bunch of brain zaps and dizzy spells), but i am sure (truly i know) that with teh rightdiet I wont need any of those drugs....

Comment by SoulSparkled on January 23, 2012 at 8:02pm

Here's a catchy thing to try in your day

S.E.E.E.D.S;

Ask yourself how am I going to look after myself today..

Socially

Emotionally

Educationally

Exercise

Diet

Sleep

An easy way to remember different foundational areas of self care! I'd love to hear feedback on this one and any other ideas around self care - for instance what do you do to remind yourself to take a moment and look after you?

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