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super inspirational spring RAWnewal thread!

5K views 70 replies 21 participants last post by  calynde 
#1 ·
may this thread help us manifest rawnewed (sorry, i can't help myself!) enthusiasm for eating the best food ever!!!!!!


let's ride on the waves of this new, springtime energy!! let's eat more raw!

what are your goals? whatchya eatin'?

anyone? anyone?
 
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#2 ·
so inspired to start a new thread, mamas! where is everyone? my goal this week is to be raw 'til dinner (from now on!). I'm keeping it very simple...lots of fruit, greens, flax crackers (the kids like them) and simple puddings and such. Dinner is pretty much cooked gluten-free vegan and a lot of salad.

someone posted on the old thread about kale chips? any recipes to share?

anyone have a recipe book they love right now? i need some more ideas for the fam!
 
#4 ·
Hi, may I join in?
For almost 2 weeks now I've been almost completely raw.

The thing that keeps me from being 100% is not being able to get rid of my store bought salad dressings. I've tried several raw dressing recipes and just can't seem to like any of them. So I don't know what percentage raw I am if I have salad dressings on my dinner salad?lol It's pretty high raw I guess.


I'm doing this as a way to clear my mind and body in hopes of one day keeping a healthy way of eating for myself for the rest of my life. I don't know how long I'll keep raw, I do know I plan on trying to stay raw for as long as I can.

I do think if I ever go "less raw" it will be by only adding some cooked beans and lentils to be eaten for one meal, like with my dinner salad. But I know I'll always and forever be mostly raw.
So far as a big bonus to eating raw, no more headaches!!

I have to say, not needing ibuprofin or tylenol almost daily has been wonderful! It just didn't seem right to always need to be reaching for pain meds.

Another plus to being more healthy and feeling good mentally and physically like I am so far, I hope to get into a healthy weight range and not live the rest of my life overweight.
 
#5 ·
Awesome! I was snooping in the old raw thread..

I was able to go mostly raw (cooked dinners) for about five days, but I had a bad sugar/junk food binge. So I started over yesterday.

Right now I am doing mostly raw, working into fully raw. But I just need to get that feeling of being completely clear of "crap" foods, which are my weakness, to put it lightly.
 
#6 ·
welcome marlne!

I have the opposite problem as you...I can't stand ANY bottled salad dressings!!! haha What bottled types do you like? Maybe we can come up with a more raw-friendly version.
It sounds like you have found a wonderful path...no more headaches, awesome!!
Life is too short to be unhealthy!!

nj's mom: we need to get you into some healthier, raw style binge food.


I'm finding that I need lots more fruit than I ever could have imagined in order to feel really vibrant. I could eat raw all day long, every day with very few urges to eat otherwise. But since my family eats a lot of cooked, so do I...for the sake of convenience. But it's all whole, vegetarian, organic...at least! I feel tons better when the food is alive, though.
 
#7 ·
Thanks for the welcome Calynde.
Oh boy do I love how my headaches are gone! It's a wonderful feeling!

Hmmm what kind of salad dressings do I like? My favorite is the light sweet and spicy french. I also love dressings that taste like the sauce that Subway puts on their sweet onion terriyaki chicken sandwiches. ( I think that's the name of the sandwich?)
I guess I like sweet dressings but somethign that has a little tanginess and sometimes a little spice.

Nj's_mom~ Hi.
I find that if I am getting tempted for anything other than raw, it's because I haven't eaten enough during my day. So for me to make sure I don't cave like I know I'd love to, I eat lots of fruit all day and have a huge green smoothie with more fruit added to it. Then for dinner, I'm doing pretty well and can happily dig into my huge salad. If I'm making dinner and feel tempted to eat some of what I'm cooking for the family, I grab some more fruit because I probably didn't get enough in earlier. It tends to hold me over really well until the fam's food is finished and I have my salad all made and ready.
 
#8 ·
Hi all!

I love the weather lately!! I've been making a lot of a cayenne tahini dressing for soft green salads, and loving it. It's on Kristin Suzanne's blog. And lots of almond butter thai sauce, oh my. For some reason I've been wanting warming/hot spicy stuff.
Also having cooked quinoa on kale salad a lot lately too.

What else? Loving another recipe from Kristin Suzanne. (I know I keep bringing her up but I love her blog) Her Cacao Cookie Crumble is sooo yummy-almond/cashews/a little cacao powder/dates/pinch salt. Oh my goodness. My kids go nutty for it too, so I make it into cookie shapes.

Need to run. Congrats to other mamas feeling good on raw food! That's awesome! Mary
 
#9 ·
I'm here!! Trying for a raw green smoothie everyday and/or some raw carrot juice.

How do I get 3 yr dd to eat raw especially salad as she prefers and will eat a ton of steamed greens?

It must be our bodies naturally cleansing for spring- I am craving spicy food too. Cayenne powder on everything! Spicy garlicy quinoa so good! Not raw though. I tried raw sprouted quiona and it was pretty bad.
 
#10 ·
Mary! I'm so glad to see you here.
I'm definitely going to check out those recipes.


Marlne, I have a few links for French dressing, but I haven't tried them yet.

http://www.rawfreedomcommunity.info/...ead.php?t=2347
http://goneraw.com/node/5816
http://www.addictedtoveggies.com/201...alad-with.html

if you end up trying anything, let us know how it turns out!


bluebirdmama, I might try making a chopped salad using the raw greens...this works for my toddler, but I don't think he's typical.
His favorite food is raw cabbage slaw. haha Or maybe you could start by mixing a bit of raw with the steamed?

I like the sprouted quinoa tabouli in the Raw Food, Real World book. That's the only way I've tried it so far. We eat cooked quinoa mostly, though.
 
#11 ·
By Marimara via the other older thread:

"So I have another question for the experienced raw foodies out there:

I've been reading more and more about the possible calcium blocking effects of the oxalic acid in raw spinach and about the thyroid suppressing qualities of the raw crucifers (broccoli, cabbage, and kale). I'm worried because I eat raw spinach or kale in a green smoothie 7 days a week. I have a goiter and nodules on my thyroid but my levels have always been normal. I haven't had my thryoid levels checked recently but I feel so tired and I'm wondering if it's the cruciferous veggies.

Any input???

And any other ideas for good tasting green smoothies that don't have oxalic acid or thyroid suppressing qualities?

I've tried parsley and it was nasty. I've tried collards and it was nasty (I like collards cooked but it was gross in my raw smoothie). So far the only ones I like are kale and spinach. I still plan on adding them about 2x a week but I really like my smoothies in the morning. Maybe I'll just go all fruit in my smoothies 5 days a week.

I guess, bottom line is, I need to get more creative overall in my raw foods. I'm getting a new blender and food processor soon so maybe that will help things a bit. I'll admit, I've been relying on my green smoothie in the morning to "cover" my bases for green veggies."

____________________________________________

I honestly don't know a lot about the thyroid issue, but I think cutting back on cruciferous veg a little couldn't hurt, and might lead to a little more variety in the veg department.

As far as the oxalic acid...do you have Victoria Boutenko's books, either Green for Life or Green Smoothie Revolution? If not, maybe the library has one. I've found them helpful for such questions. I believe she does stress the importance of rotating greens, at least one different one for every day of the week or something like that. I personally wouldn't do spinach and kale more than once a week each. I think if you like the taste of kale smoothies, you should like some other greens, too...cause Kale is strong tasting if you ask me!
Have you tried swiss chard? You could throw in a few mint leaves with it if you like. I can't believe you hated the parsley! that's like my all time favorite! haha Or maybe try the tender lettuces? I also like mache if you can get your hands on that.

How do you do with high fruit?

I could live on green smoothies. I even like spicy watercress in there. yum!


hth!
 
#12 ·
Thanks Calynde!!! I didn't even see this one for some reason.

I have read Green for life, and she did mention rotating greens. Which I am going to start doing immediately. I live in such a small town, the only greens I can find are:

spinach (organic and baby)
kale
parsely
mint
beet greens (?) probably though I've never looked.

I guess next time I go grocery shopping I will look around and try something new. I can do all fruit smoothies but can't do more than one meal that way, my blood sugar goes up and down too much. Thanks for moving my thread!!!

Glad this thread is here!!!
 
#13 ·
Calynde~ Thanks bunches for the links of recipes! If you happen to come across that don't use oils, can you pass those along as well?

Marimara~ Awww, I had a whole long post written out and lost it. Ugh..
I doubt I'll remember all I wrote.lol
I too have hypothyroidism, nodules and a goiter. I was never told to avoid any foods unfortunately, so I may have to cut out the baby spinach I have almost every day in my green smoothies.
I think it could be a good idea to get your thyroid levels checked. I know I'm overdue myself. I too would wonder if all the goitrogenic greens you are consuming are affecting your thyroid.
I read recently somewhere about zinc becoming low and giving you the tired feeling.
I wish I saved because I can't find it now, nor do I remember all of it.lol
Maybe getting your zinc and iodine levels checked as well can be helpful?
I heard that if we boost our iodine, it can better help us when we consume the goitrogenic greens. I think I should give myself an iodine boost in fact too.

I do like having romaine in my smoothies. It's got a bit of a stronger flavor but is actually pretty refreshing. I'm sure there have got to be other greens that can be good. I'll have to do some research on that.

So far I've found these to be okay for those of us with the thyroid issues, unfortunately I'm not familar with most of them but I do love the romaine.
romaine
chicory
endive
escarole
dandelion
chard
beets
 
#15 ·
marimara, I also started to wonder about my spinach smoothies and how it might be affecting my thyroid. I started taking iodine last year and it really helped me. But perhaps I'm undoing some of that because I rely on my spinach smoothie for my daily greens. I also do green juice with cabbage, celery, green pepper, cucumber, cilantro, parsley and zucchini. Perhaps I could use romaine instead of the cabbage and that would be better. Any other greens that juice well?
 
#16 ·
Another good smoothie green is sunflower sprouts, which have long, skinny stems and little leaves at the top. If you can't find them at the store, they are easy enough to grow on a windowsill for super cheap!
I sometimes put chopped cuke and celery in my smoothies, too!

marlne:
i do have recipes for dressings without oil, but aren't the ones you get bottled full of oil?
Are you looking for only no oil, or also no fat, as in...no seeds, nuts etc. I'll try to hook you up!
 
#17 ·
Ok, so upon further research, this is what I came up with (anyone feel free to chime in if this information doesn't sound solid, I dont' have references because I basically scoured the web for a few hours yesterday and this is what I remember).

The Brassica Family: cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, and brussel sprouts are what suppress thyroid function. You can lightly steam them to make this problem go away mostly. They have what are called goitregens (sp?). I already have a goiter that I don't want to have removed so it can't grow!

Spinach (and others) have oxalic acids. Oxalic acids bind to calcium in your body making it harder to absorb. BUT I read somewhere that spinach counteracts the effects of the Brassicas because it's high in Iodine. So here's where the alternating greens comes from. You can tell if you have too much oxalic acids if you have gritty poo (sorry TMI!).

So, my conclusion is alternating greens is excellent. If you are hypothyroid, borderline hypo, have goiters or other growing things on your thyroid (like my nodules that keep growing), it's best not to have too many Raw Brassicas. It's also a good idea to increase Iodine and/or kelp to counteract the thyroid suppressing effects of the Brassicas.

So I am going to look into a Kelp supplement for me (I have a friend who naturally heals her thyroid with it). I will only eat raw Brassicas (incl. kale in smoothies) not more than 2x a week. I will balance that w/Iodine rich foods (like spinach, swiss chard). I will make sure I'm using Iodized salt ( I had recently switched to Celtic Sea Salt but it's not iodized so I will switch back).

Now for the Oxalic acid issue, obviously rotating greens will help alot. I would think if I was an older lady or knew I had calcium issues like breastfeeding, osteoporosis, etc. I would not have the raw spinach that often (1-2x a week). Maybe steam it first. I read somewhere, that if you include a source of calcium in your smoothie the oxalic acid w/bind to that in your gut instead of taking other calcium from your system. So adding an extra calcium supplement on the mornings I drink a raw spinach smoothie may help. But for me, I will just rotate out, I'm more concerned w/the thyroid stuff than then oxalic acid.
 
#18 ·
Interesting info Calynde, thanks for posting it!
As for my dressings.. The ones I buy are usually fat free but I admit I am hooked on the french. Thankfully it's light and only has 2 grams of fat per serving. That's about the only "extra" fat I consume aside from what comes from my raw foods. Right now in my diet, I'm also staying away from nuts and seeds.
 
#21 ·
So do you guys worry about eating too much fruit?? When I try for almost-fully-raw, I end up eating a TON of fruit, and feeling great, but I was always told that eating a ton of fruit is no good, because the sugar in fruit is sugar nontheless?
 
#24 ·
We all need iodine and most americans are deficient in it. Adding in seaweeds to you daily diet is a great idea. We have seaweed in everything here.

I am not concerned with goitregens (sp?) as we do rotate everything. We try to make sure we do not repeat the same food everyday. And as for oxalates, I feel it is not that big of a deal unless you are oxalate sensitive. My son is, but that is slowly fading as he had lyme and that has been taken care of. Now when we eat spinach, he is fine. Before he had classic oxalate symptoms.

For whomever mentioned blood sugar and smoothies, I had issues with smoothies and blood sugar, but now I don't. I add chia seeds to smoothies now and that stabilizes sugar. We also add a handful of soaked nuts or seeds and brewers yeast. That makes smoothies a more complete meal.
 
#25 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by nj's_mom View Post
So do you guys worry about eating too much fruit?? When I try for almost-fully-raw, I end up eating a TON of fruit, and feeling great, but I was always told that eating a ton of fruit is no good, because the sugar in fruit is sugar nontheless?
You could get carried away and eat nothing but fruit and that I think could be an issue. But balancing it is good. On a hot summer day, nothing but fruit feel so good and cleansing.

And about chard in smoothies, that is one of our favorites! (just not the stems though)
 
#26 ·
I have a green smoothie and salad every day at least, and may try raw soon here. It is the ideal time of year if I ever were to try it. I have also tried all the other whole foods diets (TF, SCD, anti-candida, etc) for my gut with no luck (and am *gasp* going the allopathic route at the moment) but haven't yet tried raw.

My Dad healed from something like undiagnosed (had no medical insurance) ulcerative colitis several years ago by following the Hallelujah Diet for just 3 months. He has still had digestive issues off and on but said he felt 100% well for a few years after the diet.

As far as the fruit thing, it sounds crazy to me dealing with intestinal yeast overgrowth, but some fruitarians claim yeast overgrowth is caused by too much fat, not too much sugar from fruit. Also, Self Healing for Colitis and Crohns is a fruitarian diet. The author claims 100% of his couple thousand patients have recovered on it! That was enough to get myself thinking about it, and I am coming from a TF background.

Either way, I am a green-smoothie devotee for life!
 
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