Thinking about doing a raw-food diet to cleanse my body-any advice?

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

I will match it with excercise. What supplementation will I need? Anything to avoid?

[aden_nak]

1. Set aside extra bathroom time.

[judge_smales]

5. And

keep the windows open. Also avoid open flames.

[pagerbear]

19. You got something against open flames?!

[KlatooBNikto]

2. Ketchup.According to the US , Ketchup is a vegetable.At least you

will make Teresa some more money instead of evil Dick and Don.

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

3. I've been lining her pockets for years

[Beware the Beast Man]

9. Wouldn't ketchup be a fruit, technically?

See, the gubment's wrong again!

[bloodyjack]

43. Ketchup also has natural mellowing agents

Honey, you need more ketchup!

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

55. Ketchup....ketchup....ketchup

[MsAnthropy]

4. Our bodies are built to be self-cleaning

stop putzing with the equipment

[GumboYaYa]

6. I do this about every six months.

The trick is to slowly build to a week of raw foods and then slowly ease out of it when you're done. Going too fast in either direction will not be a pleasant experience.

Start by cutting out all meat and processed foods for a few weeks. Get used to this before you go to raw foods. When you do raw foods, drink lots of fresh juices and lots of water. If you do not drink tons of water you will get massive headaches from the toxins that are released from your body. I usually get to the point where all I want is juice for a few days.

When you are done, you will feel great. Good luck!

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

7. Nice - sounds like a plan

any vitamins or minerals I should take?

[GumboYaYa]

10. You can take a multi-vitamin, but when you are getting all your

nutrients from fresh fruits and veggies, you take in a lot of vitamins and minerals naturally. The key really is to drink lots and lots of water. If you do not do that it is miserable.

[CO Liberal]

8. Stay Away From Raw Chicken

:-)

[XNASA]

11. Raw beer. And maybe some raw min noodles.

But that's as far as I'd go.

[realisticphish]

22. hey

thats a balenced college diet!

:hippie: The Incorrigible Democrat

[RandomKoolzip]

12. If you're going to eat raw food, you better cook it first.

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

16. Thanks Yogi

[donsu]

13. what makes you think raw food will cleanse your body?

what does your body need cleansing from that it won't naturally take care of?

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

17. satan

[jdots]

14. take time building into it

or it's potty time are you switching from a junk food diet to a raw food diet ?

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

20. Yeah - I am at the end of a meat-heavy fattening crap food phase

[elepet]

33. some more questions

Have you done this before? are you working with a health care practioner..(not an MD)? Have you read much on the subbject? what made you decide to do this? What's the weather like now where you live? Do you have access to plenty of fresh organic produce?

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

37. Ok

1 - I have gone vegetarian for an 8 month stretch thats as close as I've come.

2 - I am not working with a doc

3 - I haven't read much on the subject - a bit online. I have a friend who did it

4 - See 3

5 - Its getting cold - hovering at 40º and dropping

6 - I do have a very good healthfood/organic store in walking distance

[elepet]

53. In view of the weather where you live

You might want to start with lots and lots of vegetable soups, vegetable stews, steamed veggies. Be as creative as you can, so you don't get bored. try new vegetables. Raw avacado, nuts, sesame seeds etc.
I've been a vegetarian since 1971 and have done lots of cleansing and not so cleansing diets (including a ginger ice cream with chocolate one ) I just finished a three day water only fast. that was interesting.
As a result of all this, at age 73 I don't have any "age related" diseases,and am quite healthy generally.
If you want any more suggestions let me know.

[On the Road]

15. Make Sure You Get Enough Protein

Soybeans are the best source since they're have all the essential amino acids.

I'm not sure how to do this, however. Can you eat them raw? Is tofu raw? That would be ideal.
:shrug:

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

18. i do believe tofu is raw

[flvegan]

24. Actually just looked it up

From www.tofu.com

Here is how Tofu is made in a nutshell:
# Raw Tofu Grade Soy Beans are soaked in water overnight then drained.
# The beans are then pulverized as a small quantity of boiling water is being poured over them. The resultant mash will have the consistency of mashed potatoes.
# The mash is ladled into boiling water, like dumplings, and allowed to boil gently for about 10 minutes. This stage of the process is crucial as a certain enzyme in the bean is broken down during this time. If the enzyme is not destroyed, the Soy protein will not be humanly digestible.
# The resulting slurry is filtered. The liquid is Soy Milk, and the pulp is called Okara. Okara is good for mixing with flour to make bread or for feeding to the Pigs, or as a last resort, fertilizer.
# A small amount of either Calcium Sulfate or Magnesium Chloride is introduced to coagulate the Milk. The Chinese have used the Calcium salt for 2000 years, mined from mountain quarries, the salt is the pure form of gypsum. The Japanese traditionally used Sea Salt to coagulate the Milk, and it is the small quantity of Magnesium Chloride in Sea Salt that does the trick.
# After the coagulant is introduced, the Milk will separate into Curds and Whey. The Curds will float to the top and the resulting Whey should be clear.
# The Curds are gently scooped off the top of the Whey and ladled into a forming container lined with cheese cloth. The forming container has many small hole in it to allow leftover whey to drain. A lid is placed on the forming container.
# A small weight is placed on the lid of the container and allowed to sit for several hours. Empty the resulting block of tofu into a tub of cold water and allow to sit for another hour.
# Feed the Whey to the Pigs.
# Eat the Tofu!

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

25. Long story short - not raw

thanks!

[On the Road]

28. Too Bad --

the article flvegan posted says that:

"The mash is ladled into boiling water, like dumplings, and allowed to boil gently for about 10 minutes. This stage of the process is crucial as a certain enzyme in the bean is broken down during this time. If the enzyme is not destroyed, the Soy protein will not be humanly digestible."

So I guess that other sources of vegetable proteins are needed. Bean and rice together form a complete protein, but they're generally cooked.

[flvegan]

31. Nuts, sunflower seeds, lentils, edamame

All good sources of protein.

[On the Road]

57. Ah, Edamame

Perfect way to eat raw soybeans. They are raw, right?

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

58. Actually no - they're boiled or steamed

[elepet]

26. tofu

is Not raw.
I've been on a modified raw food diet for about 6 months now. feel great...lost 20 pounds. I have a more or less record of what I did..not necessarily advice. pretty long. If you are interested i will send it to you(I"m rather new here..is there a way of sending private message thru DU?)
Unless this is going to last the rest of your life, wouldn't worry about protein.This is a much misunderstood subject.
Most important is your mind set.

[flvegan]

23. Edamame

Is a raw green soybean. Tofu usually spends time in boiling water before it's packaged/ready to be eaten. Don't know if that counts as raw, but I don't think so.

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

30. edamame is also either boiled or steamed. I don't think you can eat

raw soy

[Mizmoon]

21. I'm clensing myself with an all-Hershey diet, personally

Something about a Hershey's with almonds and Hershey's chocolate milk that makes me feel so ... refreshed!

[FuzzySlippers]

27. Oatmeal.

Rub it all over your body. It's an excellent exfoliant. You'll feel squeaky clean.

[skypilot]

29. Don't wear patchouli!!!

:)

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

32. I'll wear my Vera Wang instead

[tigereye]

45. vera wang - snicker

:silly:

my husband used to do this periodically. Eat a lot less and drink a lot of pear juice. Taking it gradually seems like good advice. I had a housemate who used to eat mostly raw food... and have colonics and such... never made complete sense to me and probably kind of hard on your system. See what nutritionists think.

[jukes]

34. invest extra cash

in Charmin produx...

:hi:

[matcom]

35. Falafel

wait. no. Loofa is raw i think

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

38. i ain't takin anybodys loofa into my body

:puke:

[otohara]

36. Drink Lots of Teas Like....Detox, Fasting Tea, Ginger

they all work to cleanse and help w/ weight loss....

Eating all raw veges is going to be a tad hard on your digestive system - might want to consider steaming, or micro-jiggle, juicing is best.. Ginger tea will help w/ digestion also

[bloodyjack]

39. What is there to cleanse your body of anyway?

Are you being subjected to a drug test? I think that drinking a lot of water should do the trick.

Or you can bathe in the light of God which is great if you're feeling REALLY loathsome about life :shrug:

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

40. just crappy eating habits over the last year which has got me feeling real

crappy

[bloodyjack]

41. do you eat meat?

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

42. at present yes

[bloodyjack]

47. you should stop eating meat

meat's the cause of most health problems

also I think you will discover that a vegetarian male's ejaculate is as sweet as the morning dew. well, you won't discover this by experience, or...I mean...er, just ask around! :D

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

50. I know Bob Marley ate a type of fruit which he said "Make ya cum taste

sweet"

[bloodyjack]

51. And let us not forget ASPARAGUS

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

52. I love it - but it makes your pee stinky

[flvegan]

54. Anyone needing proof of this

I'm happy to put my body on the line to prove it. All in the name of science, of course.

[bpcmxr]

44. Chavez - you should refrain from any heavy exercise during your cleanse,

especially weightlifting. Your bloodstream will be flooded with toxins on their way to be filtered by your liver & kidneys and then expelled. Working your muscles hard of course draws blood into the muscle tissue, and the toxins riding along can cause a lot of aches & pains. In addition, it will then take even longer to get that stuff out of your body.

Drink lots of water every day during the cleanse, (and every day anyway) and do some light yoga and stretching. Save any heavy stuff for a few days after you're completely out of your cleanse.

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

56. what about walking - can I go for some vigorous walks?

[Lydia Leftcoast]

46. The only way this will "cleanse your body" is to give you diarrhea

When cave people started cooking their food, it was considered an advancement. Since then, no culture in the world has ever lived entirely on raw foods.

As long as you are not over-cooking or eating a lot of processed crap, there's no difference nutritionally between steamed/stir-fried veggies and raw veggies. In fact, I can't remember the details, but evidently, some veggies release more nutrients when they're cooked a bit.

Cooking can also get rid of pathogens. That's why travelers in Third World countries are warned not to eat salads and to peel and/or cook all fruit consumed.

[Unstuck In Time]

60. Tomatoes are one example, I think, where cooking makes the nutrients...

... more easily taken up by the body.

Adding some olive oil, fresh garlic, oregano and a pinch of salt improves the deliciousness quotient, too. :)

[ArkDem]

48. Just take a shower.

[flvegan]

49. You know, you could

Try veganism before going completely raw. It's a lot easier, IMO. Going raw is better overall for cleansing the system, etc, but if you're just feeling crappy due to the garbage you're eating, going vegan will have many of the same effects (so long as you don't exist on vegan junk food, like tater tots and potato chips).

Not pushing an agenda, just offering an alternative.

[CrownPrinceBandar]

59. Beano...........................

trust me.