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I cant help much with the medical side, but I for one have certainly seen myself become healthier. I have dropped fat and gained muscle, my allergies have all but disappeared, and my sinuses are no longer clogged.
My mom, who is 49, went raw 2 years ago. She was overweight and had horrible reactions to foods. Her family history is also bad with cancer. 2 of her sisters died when they were 45 of cancer. So she was scared of that.
She went raw, her weight dropped, and she looked 10 years younger. She has outlived her two sisters on the vegan, and now raw diet. She hasnt had any scares with cancer and she swears by the lifestyle.
jkd—Just reading your encouraging words makes me feel like I am doing the right thing by giving it a try. Thanks a million, kiddo! :>
You go for it Bunny Girl. If it seems like a tall order to become raw right now, then it is just because you are on cooked and have these ailments which are depleating your energy which makes you think…how am i gonna do this?!! You wait, go raw for 3 weeks and you’ll be bouncing around like a rabbit! You will know that it is right because you’ll have the energy boost to help you go for it. The books I’d recomend are “12 steps to raw” and her other book “the raw family” by Victoria Boutenko. I have felt a complete change in how I fel emotionally, I feel high all the time, I am so happy people can’t stand it! I love it. I don’t believe age is a barrier, I have seen a lot of people over 50 on the internet go raw successfully.
Zoe! Thanks for the suggestions and the encouragement! I was reading about “12 Steps to Raw” on Amazon.com and ordered it immediately! I am very excited to begin! And yes, I agree that age is only a number (you should see my very healthy, energetic 80-year-old mother!!) and in essence, I am a very happy, positive person, but I have had 4 surgeries in the past 4 years and now, I’m just a “hurtin’ pup.” Boy, I miss dancing and I miss waking up feeling as energetic in my body as I am in my mind. ... So, a journey of a thousand miles starts with the first step, right? Wish me luck!!!
Hi, I am 26 and live in London, England. I have been making the transition into a raw lifestlye for 6 months now as well as finding the best natural products for my skin also. I Stumbled across this website and all you lovely guys, I would love to know if there are any other members from the uk!!
Hello everyone! I’m a 22 years old girl from Norway,I’ve been vegetarian and on and off vegan for about 3 1/2 years, and ever sinse I started to look into the raw food diet about 10 months ago, it felt very logical to me. I have included a lot more raw fruit and vegetables sinse (fruit for breakfast as good as everyday for the last 10 months), but doing the transition hasn’t been very easy – my cravings have ruled over me ( I don’t drink/smoke, so food is basically the only thing I have to “get away”), and then worries over the “food budget” have stopped me. I am now tired of going forth and back, and I can feel that it’s tearing on me mentally, eating what I know isn’t good for me. So, with my boyfriend on board, I have decided to go almost raw. What will still be in my diet which isn’t raw, is boiled potato, and I can’t get 100% raw nuts or cocoa in Norway (some of the nuts might be 100% raw, but after what I’ve read around on the internet, I doubt it), so that won’t be raw eighter, + I will be buying oatmilk to use in some of my smoothies. I feel a little bit scared thinking about going (almost) raw now, ‘cause I know I will have to put up with some major cravings. I just try to remind myself that this is the best time of year to do it with all the fresh fruits/vegetables and berries, and also I have found this web page which has really helped me in making this final (I hope!) decission, and I know I can just log on and get some inspiration when things are though.
Thank you all for being such a great inspiration!
Love and light, Malin.
Hello Tracy81 and satnam!! I am transitioning from eating & drinking just about everything (bad girl!) and it’s quite an experience!! David Klein’s book suggests a transition period as being the most sensible,although you two have a HUGE head start!! Quite commendable!! Tracy, I think ZOE is from UK;check her member profile. Satnam, some websites offer many suggestions for the food cravings. Even the “hard core raw foodies” admit they had a struggle with that. That 12 steps to Raw book has a few suggestions on that as well. I bought that book on amazon.com. There are tons of free websites and lots of extremely helpful people with excellent suggestions right here, though. Take a look!! It was their generous encouragement that has inspired me!! Best luck with your health goals. The best advice I got was “keep it simple”. Many blessings!
Hi Satnam, welcome to the raw world. Don’t worry about finding supplies, nuts etc…just go to ethnic stores. Are there immigrant communities in Norway? Do you live in a big city or a small town? I live in southern Italy, in Sicily a very poor place and its difficult to find organic, no goji berries, no cacao, etc…but I’ve managed. We have a large arab population here (Tunisia is nearby) I go to a tunisian store and get the most lovely dates…soft and fresh. Just take the plunge and do the best you can. I order things on the Internet for certain supplements, but I do not eat out anymore and that’s a huge savings…take care, :) dea
Thank you for your replies!
I have tried quite some raw food recipes over the past few months, and when it comes to cravings for sweets, I don’t think I will have much of a problem – there are so many lovely raw sweet recipes out there! What I have struggled with before, is my craving for toasted whole rye bread and pizza with cheese. I’ve tried making raw dehydrated breads and crackers, but it hasn’t really seduced my taste buds ;-) I guess I’ll manage though. Resistance is like a muscle that hasn’t been used much, so it has to be trained to be fit and strong ;-)
I’ve found a few web sites with recipes, but this page is the best one so far! Thanks for shearing!
And Deasmiles, I live in a small town, but there are some asian markets here. The nuts are usually raw there? And about the cacao, I’ve been thinking about ordering from David Wolfe, but my budget is on low low low, so we’ll see. At least I’m able to get organic cacao :-)
Another thing that worries me a little, is all the transportation most of the fruit and some of the vegetables available here in Norway, has gone through. It’s a huge impact on the invornment, all this transporting…I guess I am born way to far up north food-wise. If I was to eat only local produced food, I would have to live on meat for months every year :-O Anyone else here have any thoughts about food and transportation when it comes to the impact of the invironment?
Dear Satnam,
That is a good point, environmental impact of items produced far away. I wonder, in the spring and summer can you get lettuce, tomatoes, kale, olive oil, lemons? Apples, pears, strawberries-I bet you have great strawberries in Norway…I would eat these types of things and then since the stuff at the asian markets is there anyway, I would buy stuff there too. You can make blended soups of spinach and avocado, I make a great orange soup of acorn squash, carrots, and sweet potato, I season it with curry and salt and black pepper and squeeze a bit of orange juice in it. It is so rich, creamy and satifying. I do not have any fancy equipment, I only have an immersion blender and then I strain everything….I make do…Kale is a staple, in absence of that, swiss chard or spinach. Buy good quality olive oil, cold pressed organic, I sometimes put seaweed granules in my salad, for iodine. I bless my food, and pray over it a little (in my own way) and it is geat. I got my raw cacao from shazzie, detoxyourworld.com, she is expensive, there are other raw food shops on line in the UK…go for it girl, hope some of my chit chat helps. Peace and blessings, dea.
Satnam,
sorry forgot to answer yr question re nuts. I do not know if they are raw or not. I buy my cashews in the UK, just got back from home (US) and I brought back a huge bag of cashews and almonds.
I would shop in europe on the internet for nuts, and make sure they are unroasted and unsalted.
Dear Deasmiles,
Yes, the strawberries are amazing up here! I think it is because they use so long to get ripe. My boyfriend told me today though, that he read in the newspaper that they’ve found e-coli on the strawberries, ‘cause people picking them hadn’t washed their hands after going to the toilet :-O I guess that’s a risk you gotta take when eating raw. Summertime and fall isn’t the difficult time getting more or less local produce though. It’s winter that’s difficult getting food produced in Norway.
Your “chit chat” is very appreciated ;-)
Love and light.
Hello! I have been transitioning to raw for several years but I have never made the jump and now I think I’m ready. As a child I always loved fruits and veggies and my mother always had so many around. I live in Houston and that is a tough city to be healthy. Houston has been named the fattest city in the US for many years and I can’t even find a juice bar here! Even the Whole Foods doesn’t have a juice bar, they have a Jamba Juice which we all know is not real juice. I would love to have raw food delivered to me but there is nothing like that here. Still, I find myself gravitating towards the raw way of life like it’s meant to be. I’ve been juicing regularly for about a year and I can really tell a huge difference in my skin and energy level. It’s especially obvious when I miss my juice for a day or two. Today was the first day that I ate completely raw and I don’t feel hungry at all. I can’t wait to learn more about this wonderful way of life.
Hi SHOWME!! In just one week, I see a huge difference in my energy level (love my kale smoothies; recipe on this site)and I still have a LONG, LONG way to go. I have been buying some stuff from various websites but I think the HighVibe.com stocks good things at reasonable prices and he shipped it overnight without huge shipping charges. Maybe you can check it out to see if that works for you. Good luck, kiddo!
Blessings, Ginny aka BunnyGirl
Whoo hoo! I’ve been mostly raw (ya know, 95%...) for about two months! My husband has joined me on the adventure and soon my doggy will too! The past couple years I’ve always been a bit of a health nut, the past year I’ve been eating unprocessed foods and no meat besides occasional deep sea fish. I started hearing about raw food about 6 months ago and studied it for quite some time and met a few people locally that helped me decide that it really would be good for me. My hubby was a little harder to convince but he’s totally on board now! Of course, I have to make sure to keep the yummy meals going and his veggie pack prepared for his trips but hey, he’s lookin great!
Thank you so much to those that have put together this website and to the members that are in the forums answering questions and those that are adding their recipes to the site. The Lasagna for one and creamy carrot cake and rawtella have been my favorites so far.
:D
Hi Everyone,
My name is Michelle. I’m 32, married, and we have one child, a daughter.
I’ve joined this site to learn more about the raw food diet and how to prepare raw foods. Currently, I eat mostly vegetarian with some eggs, dairy, and (occassionally) fish.
My short term goal is to begin preparing at least one raw food meal per day. My long-term goal is to eat at least 75% raw foods daily, maybe more. I’m certain that with the information and encouragement from the people on this site, I’ll be able to meet my goals and become proficient in preparing raw meals for myself and my family.
I stopped eating red meat, pork, and poultry at the beginning of 2007, and I’ve noticed many positive changes in my skin and body. I lost 13 pounds and the eczema that used to plague my hands is GONE!
Hello Everyone! I’m so excited to be back on the forum. This place is simply fantastic! Cheers! Chef Kristen Suzanne
hello everyone! my name is jessica, and I’ve been a veggie head for 7 years! Went vegan almost 3 years ago, and have finally gotten my head around living enzymes. I’ve wanted to be raw for about a year, just wasnt fully ready.. I work in a vitamin department at a health food store here in sunny sounthern california, and feel so lucky to such beautiful organic food. it is a true blessing. I feel so much better, and so uch more clear minded. Postitive enzymes= positive vibrations= happy emotions
Hello All, I’m a vegan living in the surprisingly densely vegan populated and vegan friendly city of Pittsburgh. The only downside is that I am constantly surrounded by veg heads who love vegan pierogies and vegan cupcakes (almost every bakery has a vegan version for sale.) Love the cruelty free awareness of Pittsburghers, not feeling really healthy indulging in the local vegan cuisine. Working on changing that and raising raw food awareness mostly by trying to make it acessible for my friends. I’ve started a blog to help. www.makeeverydayraw.blogspot.com. It is a recipe source of the yummy raw food creations I make everyday. Talk to you on the forums, Pea
Hello! I’m Suzy, from Florence, Kentucky, which is about 15 minutes south of Cincinnati, Ohio. I’m a widow with 2 teen daughters; the elder is an omnivore, the younger is an ovo-lacto vegetarian. I had dabbled in raw before, but have been about 90-95% raw since September 2006 (a daily pot of tea, an occasional coffee, the rare shot of bourbon, and the seductive smell of popcorn are my weaknesses). I’ve bookmarked a lot of raw web sites, but this is the one I keep coming back to; I’m glad to see that it’s so active, both in the forums and the recipe section!
As the only raw vegan in my family (my only exception—I do use raw honey occasionally), I get local support from a Cincinnati raw food Meetup group. Unfortunately, due to timing issues and distance, I can’t always attend (darn!). But if anyone is in the Cincy area and hasn’t already heard about the Meetup group, please check it out! We had about 20 people at the last one I attended!
Peace and Blessings, Suzy
Great idea to have intro’s! Hey ya, I am Amber from CHICO CA!! Anyone else out there lets get together. I cant remeber who wrote about always “knowing” that this was right for you but I was questioning meat eating as a young child and naturally gravitated towards vegetarianism, My family is Native American and I would get scoffed for being veggie. So I went back and forth alot. I cant see the ethics of it because I know that breathing kills millions of microorganisims let alone walking and bathing and that death is a part of life (Native Wisdom) but I definatly see the evolution of human conciousness as a move towards higher vibrations and raw vegan definatly gives you that. Also I recently read the China Study and if anyone is having a hard time giving up any animal products or dairy read this book it has blown my mind. I am totally vegan now and dont even think about animal products at all (except honey which is a safe medicinal food …for me anyway…local raw and nicly treated). I also am telling everyone i know to read this book and I dont care at all anymore if I am being “diffuclt” or differnt. I would love to be 100% raw but have a husband who is not interested and two small children who are picky. I am currently shooting for 75-90% raw. THANKS to everyone here its great to know that you are not the only one! Peace Love and light! Ambika
While in Costa Rica earlier this year, I discovered that I really can eat vegan and raw and not miss anything. So, since my return, I have spent tons of hours finding and trying raw recipes. My favorite so far is my raw chocolate recipe (only 3 ingredients!). So, I am slowly transitioning to raw and really enjoying it.
I am a total newbie to the raw food idea. It sounds wonderful, but it has been a slow transition. Mostly it’s hard to get my husband to buy into the idea of giving up the meat and cheese, etc. Plus I don’t quite know the best way to begin. For myself I’ve just started by trying to make sure I get 5 to 7 servings of raw fruits and veggies per day. And I want to eliminate all meat and all dairy soon. But it’s been hard to break the habit of just reaching for some cottage cheese and crackers, or something else in a box, when hungry. Plus I’m pregnant and on WIC and they keep pushing the milk and cheese…hardcore! If they really cared about moms and kids, they would be giving assistance to buy vegetables…but they don’t. I want to grow a lot of my own food in a garden, but I’ve never done that before and it seems daunting to get started. Especially with a preschooler, a toddler, and a new baby on the way.
Hi there everyone from all the way in Soran, Kurdistan, North Iraq!! My name’s Joanne and I’ve been a off-and-on raw fooder for over 2 years. I started my raw journey in Myrtle Creek, OR. with the help of my aunt and uncle.. Who happen to be close friends of the Boutenkos. I got the chance to meet them and attend several of their classes. I went back to Sacramento, CA. a changed woman (you can read the beginning of my raw adventure in Victoria’s book “Green for Life” in the testimonials – “Wheelchair for Sale”) I was amazed at how great it felt to be raw, but under the pressures of being the only one eating raw in my household I gave up after a few months. In Dec. of 2005 I left the USA to start my new life here in Iraq. I’m now happily married and expecting our second baby in Oct. (after we lost our son due to complications last Oct.) I’m trying to get back to being totally raw especially after our daughter’s born. Since I started raw foods I’ve lost about 225lbs. I am so happy and grateful that I found this site because I’ve met alot of wonderful people and gotten great advices and recipes since I joined. I think that those who are willing to go raw (no matter how much you go) are courageous and awesome people.. It’s not always easy to make a change like this but it’s so nice to meet so many who are doing it with you. I’m also grateful for this site because I’ve gotten my mom to recently join and I’m hoping that with all the great support and help she will get here that she can start her own health to recover. Thanks for reading my story (long-winded as it may be) welcome to everyone and good health! K-Mom
hi! I am new here. My name is Ann. I am starting out and need advice. Anyone know of any good books out there. I have some books but because I am doing this all on my own I need some good simple books or websights or videos about starting out. I am 34 and in MPLS in case anyone on here is in MN too. No one I know is RAW here. Thank you Ann
Hi, I am Yanyan and 24 years old. I was inspired by the positive effects of a raw lifestyle(youth, energy, health, natural beauty, positive mind….the list goes on endless:) ), and took up 100% raw in March 2007, many good things have since happened in the past five months_ It is the best decision I have ever made in my life, and, I am going to stick to it unconditionally.
Hi!!!, I am malena from peru but currently studying in Madrid, Spain. I came across this site about one month ago and have been raw for about 2 weeks. I have some health problems, not really serious but I want to try this because it makes sense to me and have already lost some weight. Right now I have the flu, maybe it is detox or maybe not but I am willing to go through this to be healthier. Thanks for all the information and the recipes!!!
Wow, so many new people! Welcome, everyone!
Wow, this site is amazing! Thanks to everyone who puts all the work into it.
My name is Kimberly. I just started eating raw about a week ago, and I’ve already seen incredible results. Over the past couple years, I’ve been trying to figure out why I struggle so terribly with fatigue, and I’m amazed at the energy I have while eating raw. I find I don’t even need as much sleep at night. It’s fantastic!
I really look forward to spending time on this site and learning – there is just SO much to learn! I’m glad there are people who can help those of us just beginning.
This is the best site ever!! I’m so glad its here and thank you.
My name is Lisa and I live in Dallas Texas. I’ve been raw for about a year and half now and 100% raw on and off. I truly believe this is the best way for me to eat and it’s so nice to interact with others of like mind. I’m a big fan of trying to do my part for the planet and this is a great way to help it along as well as my body. I’ve never digested well, always had fatigue, weight problems, issues with my heath, so I’ve always eating fairly healthy but never seen results like I have eating raw. I’ve even put my cat on a raw meat diet, they still won’t eat strictly veggies. LOL.
Since I not involved with a lot of people in my area, and even if I was, this is the prefect place to discuss raw, share recipes, and get support!!!
What a great site! Thank you again.