knots
New Member
Posts: 7
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Post by knots on Jan 15, 2008 18:53:44 GMT -5
Hey,
I've been trying to eat well for the past year or so. I follow a strict fruit only diet until dinner time, where I usually eat a big salad followed by a portion of what's for dinner (I don't eat meat).
I'm 17 years old and would like to become a raw foodist, or as close as I can to one. I weigh around 127 lbs and at 5'6'' I'm not overweight. I would just like to be leaner. I eat fine throughout the day until the late night comes, where I just eat whatever crap I find. It's frustrating, and as pathetic as it may seem, my situation adds a lot of unnecessary stress to my life.
My question for you folks is this; just how bad is bread? I feel that when I don't include bread with my meal, I digest things better. I only recently tried this (for a few days) and wanted to know if this was safe. I've read things saying that bread is hell for your digestive system. Will cutting out bread make me healthier?
I'm also athletic, and run anywhere from 5-7 miles a day on my track team, so I've always been a little worried that such a diet will make me tired (although I'm sure a raw diet provides plenty of energy)
Thanks
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Post by rawfoodgrandma on Jan 15, 2008 20:48:33 GMT -5
Hi there Knots,
If you are having evening cravings, it would mean that you haven't eaten enough calories through the day and your body is crying for more food.
If you want to be as raw as possible I'd suggest eating more fruit through the day. Fruit has more calories and energy giving powers than veggies, though we need our veggies too for the minerals they supply. Particularly the green leaves.
Bread has addictive 'ingredients' and if you go off it for say a month (or 21 days!) and then try it again you may find what a lot of people I know have found. Including me. One slice of bread and I'm just about dead on my feet, can't keep my eyes open and feel incredibly heavy and almost drugged. Maybe give it a break and see what you find.
Good luck with it!!!
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Post by Rae on Jan 16, 2008 8:32:00 GMT -5
You have answered just about all of your own questions! Yes, most bread is very bad for you. Especially bread made with bleached, enriched flour. Stay away from it! You can do a lot of research to see why this kind of flour is so bad. Off the top of my head, I think I remember hearing that there are traces of cyanide in it! Yikes! If you do want to eat bread, I suggest you make your own - if you still live with your parents see if they will buy you a dehydrator! There are a lot of recipes for raw bread (like sprouted grains, flax seeds, onions, etc.) Or, the next best thing is to buy Ezekiel 4:9 bread or Genesis 1:29 bread (or similar.) You will find that your athletics will improve! Check out the book by Douglas Graham called the "80/10/10 Diet" - it sounds like this is ideal for you!
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Post by sunshine on Jan 16, 2008 10:00:07 GMT -5
I first read about how bad grains are for you in Robert & Shelly Youngs, "PH Miracle" book...sorry I lent the book to my sister so I don't know the exact title of it. According to Dr Young, most grains, also potatoes are stored and become moldy. I've read in other places that grains are a good food to stay away from but sorry, I can't remember the particulars. But one of my 21 day challenges is to find a replacement for eating eggs & bread.
I have a ritual lately of coming home from work ( I work evening hours) and I am usually REALLY hungry. I end up eating scrambled eggs with toast. I want to stop that ritual & replace with healthier filling foods. I have been wanting to do this for some time. And then I read about Frederick's 21 day challenge and here I am.
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knots
New Member
Posts: 7
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Post by knots on Jan 16, 2008 10:07:17 GMT -5
I have that book. A lot of what he says is interesting, except he says to avoid fruit as well, because most fruit will lower your body's pH.
Last night for dinner my family had pasta while I ate a salad with raw cashews and walnuts. I guess nuts will have to replace bread for now.
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Post by Natural_Hygiene_Chick on Jan 16, 2008 11:30:13 GMT -5
I've also elimated bread, and have noticed an incredible difference in my energy levels. Eating bread would make me feel just as RawfoodGrandma mentioned: heavy & sluggish & bloated & blah!
There are some raw food books for athletes (I think one is called "Raw Power") that you could look into for some great advice & suggestions.
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cj9
Junior Member
Posts: 94
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Post by cj9 on Jan 16, 2008 14:49:35 GMT -5
I like Ezekial bread also, it is flourless. It is cooked, but it is not flour and water makes glue bread! There are raw breads out there, they are more like crackers or flat breads. You will find they nourish and energize you!! Glasier farms in miami has some. Yummy!! If you want some athletic inspiration, read about Brenden Brazier, the vegan marathon runner. I think reading about him will help to motivate your health habit. As for nightime snacking, try keeping different trail mixes around to munch on at night, that will help you get some of that stress off you. Good Luck!! Just don't get the ones full of nuts, they are too fatty for bedtime. Look for raw granola mixes. If you cannot find, I'll try to track some down.
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Post by justine on Jan 17, 2008 20:59:31 GMT -5
what is Ezekial bread and Genesis 1:29 bread I live in Australia & havn't heard of this.
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tyraw
New Member
Posts: 16
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Post by tyraw on Jan 18, 2008 1:00:37 GMT -5
It's the gluten in bread that really bothers me and alot of people. I crave bread too but am being satisfied eating raw dehydrated crackers with amazing raw almond butter. In fact I just had a late night snack of it now. My daughter is 18 years old and is trying to be raw and vegan. She snacks alot on goji berries. There's a great raw food recipe book out there called Eating without Heating By Sergi and Valya Boutenko. They are a popular raw food family. Best wishes to you in the challenge. Way to go for being 17 years old and already learning about raw foods.
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Post by mathman on Jan 18, 2008 14:09:31 GMT -5
Knots,
I will probably be the odd-man out on this one. I dont think the best way to think about bread is "bad." It is true that any white bread and bread made with bleached "enriched" flour is to be avoided; but whole grain breads can be wonderful, and consuming them will help ease the "being different" at the table as well as some cravings for things other than fruit and vegetables. You are young and athletic, so I seriously doubt that a piece or two of wholegrain bread is going to stop you in your efforts at being healthy and fit. I would suggest making it yourself if you have a bread maker. They are easy to use and you will know exactly what you are putting in it. Try a simple whole wheat bread. You can eat it just as it is, or you can load it up with lettuce, sprouts and tomatoes. Tim
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Post by ossiorava on Jan 18, 2008 17:21:14 GMT -5
Hi there, Eating bread is not what I recommend, but rather something else to think about. I happen to live on a boreal zone in an old natural sanitarium which collapsed in economical crisis during the first world war. Founder of the sanitarium, doctor Edward W. Lybeck followed principles of natural hygiene especially during the early 1910s. This is historical perspective from Dr. Lybeck's early writings: "Bread is basic food for our nation and it's nutritional quality has strongly decreased during the recent 20 years, driving now our children - the hope of future - to be malnourished as they can no longer eat home grown bread." (this was the situation 100 years ago!) I would therefore remind to be careful with "whole grain" products especially if it's not about lactofermented bread, which is a common indigenous method of bakery. This is about sour dough and lactobacillus bacteria as a "root". The dough is fermented for at least 10-14 hours before baking. The result is malty bread which has less starches and more maltose sugars compared to other types of bread - and as the enzymes also break down phytates during the fermentation process - there is also huge increase in available calcium, phosphorous, zinc and iron content of bread. Also complex proteins can be made into more simple form through fermentation. Not only this issue has to do with the quality of baking, but even the inner quality of grain itself! For me it was not interesting to cultivate grain, but after a vision quest for finding plants cultivated here 100 years ago I found myself turning soil upside down from depth of 40 cm from certain area (which I would normally absolutely not have done). For first it seemed like nothing special sprouted up - just ordinary wild plants (which I truly love to eat growing all around) - but then one single grass suddenly grew more than 1,7 meters tall and yielded 18 ears or cobs of rye grain. I was amazed. Commonly cultivated ryes today have only one ear in one short straw as they are bred for the industrial mono cropping. One individual which I grew from these seeds yielded 28 ears with 28 straws ... So that's a huge difference as a creature and therefore I decided to preserve this rye strain in cultivation even though my main focus is on perennial vegetables, berries, fruit, mushrooms and nuts. (it's like a living museum activity) That's not all! In traditional times the bread was not baked from pure grain as it's done commonly now days. The dough could have included a wide variety of fermented wild vegetables, especially greens and roots of wild plants combined with seeds of wild growing grasses and other plants. The cultivated grain combined these substances rather than being the dominating reagent. That's what I think is the core question about the quality of bread and have experimentally tested this method to be successfully with positive feedback from people for whom I've served such and also dogs love it (especially when stuffed with fermented wild greens). Personally I don't like to eat baked bread - preferring rather (if even considering to eat grain) sprouted grains which are gently fermented. Those can be further crushed and dehydrated into bread to be eaten with fermented mushroom salad mixed with sprouted seed cream, but that's something special you can eat sometimes - not recommending it as a staple food. I've noticed that juiced fermented rye sprouts with black currants can substitute bananas in green smoothies if it's about times of scarcity... and if it's about oats, I like to ferment them into yogurt and eat occasionally with berries if nothing else is available. For last but not least: traditionally bread was eaten alone and that's what old folk knew about it's digestion (and they survived quite long times with their bread and fat - working hard cutting down the forests) ... but please remember : "forest gardening" including water- and swamp ecosystems with predominantly native plants is highly more healthier, productive and sustainable cultural alternative for agriculture everywhere on this planet.
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cj9
Junior Member
Posts: 94
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Post by cj9 on Jan 18, 2008 20:27:20 GMT -5
To find out more of ezekial, go to foodforlife.com. I think the sprouted also. HOW DO YOU MAKE SPROUTED SEED CREAM?? HOW DO YOU FERMENT YOUR GRAINS WITH GOOD BACTERIA?I AM SO INTERESTED IN THESE KINDS OF FOODS FOR MY FAMILY. THANK YOU!!
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Post by photon on Jan 21, 2008 7:04:58 GMT -5
ossiorava,
That was fascinating, what you shared.
I am content at 100% raw, but it is a fascinating piece of cultural history.
Can you recommend resources about Forest Farming? Wild plants are so high in vitamins and minerals, and they will NEVER be gmo'd. Plus, they are free. They are potentially very freeing.
Many Blessings, Photon
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Post by The Food Warrior on Jan 21, 2008 17:05:31 GMT -5
I want to Honor you for stepping up at such a young age, to start taking care of yourself. I found that the mind, body and soul all work in conjunction with each other. You can not be Healthy if you are not Fit just as you are not Fit if you are not Center . By you being assertive you are nurturing yourself.
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Post by ossiorava on Jan 28, 2008 22:45:45 GMT -5
Some links for food foresters to start with: Plants for a Future: www.pfaf.orgProject started by Ken Fern, an author of book "Plants for a Future: Edible and Useful plants for a healthier world" with incredibly well done database with lots of info about perennial greens and rare fruits for northern climates. "How, When and Why Forest Farming Resource Centre": hwwff.cce.cornell.edu/index.phpWell compiled information resources including gourmet mushroom farming and if you are interested on that check out "Mycelium Running" by Paul Stamets <http://www.fungi.com/books/stamets.html> Ecology Action: www.growbiointensive.org/Project started by John Jeavons, an author of book "How to Grow More Vegetables (and Fruits, Nuts, Berries, Grains, and Other Crops): than you ever thought possible on less land than you can imagine" Growing Diversity -project archives: www.grain.org/gd/Project by Genetic Resources Action International focusing on diversity of alternative human cultures beyond industrial agriculture existing on our planet. Excellent archives! www.mininova.org/search/?search=permacultureExcellent archive of down-loadable permaculture movies (as torrents) including good in introduction like "In Grave Danger of Falling food with Bill Mollison" and more detailed educational and documentary movies. Permaculture information Web: permaculture.infoA collaborative wiki on Permaculture - continuously growing project to provide a comprehensive resource of permaculture related information.... World Agroforestry Center (ICRAF): www.worldagroforestrycentre.org/Project for 'agroforestry transformation' in the developing world resulting in a massive increase in the use of working trees on working landscapes by smallholder rural households that helps ensure security in food, nutrition, income, health, shelter and energy and a regenerated environment. Lots of information and high quality Agroforestree database. Agroforestry Information Resources: www.agroforestry.org/Seems to be for Pacific Islands -climate (I have not studied further) Agroforestry Research Trust: www.agroforestry.co.uk/This is more non-profit networking on temperate agroforestry and into all aspects of plant cropping and uses, with a focus on tree, shrub and perennial crops. Free permaculture book: www.holocene.net/dissertation.htm"A Pattern Language of Sustainability -- Ecological Design and Permaculture book by Joanne Tippett, April 1994 Topsoil and Civilization book available from Soil And Health library: www.soilandhealth.org/copyform.aspx?bookcode=010113A true out of print classic by Carter and Dale from University of Oklahoma Press, 1955. Remarkable survey of world history, showing that everwhere that civilization developed, it collapsed within 1,000 to 1,500 years, inevitably due to soil erosion in its watershed. The only civilizations so far impervious to this were Nile and Ganges valley, and China. Anastasia movement: www.spaceoflove.com/Lovely series of poetical russian books (belles-lettres) about forest dwelling wild woman and her visions for future world, available as high quality english translations through "the ringing cedars press" www.ringingcedars.com - these books have resulted an huge ecovillage movement in Russia ! If you're into studying articles on permaculture, check world's oldest still functioning permaculture mailing list archives at lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/permaculture(From there you can find more answers and questions ... but try to find people involved with forest gardening or food forests - they hide everywhere - not only deep in the jungle, but even in the suburbs of cities! People CAN turn even wasted industrial sites into healthy gardens, even though it takes an hard effort - but aren't we taking the challenge Or are you a student? Check www.gaiauniversity.org/english/for linking your ideals with self-directed practical experience, you act as a world changer, by working for local and global sustainability and regeneration, justice and peace. ... and still searching for native seeds in USA? I suggest asking tribals as they share lots of traditional wisdom: www.nativeseednetwork.org/ --- happy happy rest of our lives challenge !
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