As you've read from the title, I am COMPLETELY new to raw food. My diet now consists of mainly junk foods, and I eat out about twice everyday.
I've read somewhere that you should ease onto it instead of jumping on it overnight to avoid problems (particularly digestive)
my questions:
1. does any one know if this is true? will it really be bad if i go on it overnight?
2. Does it really make you more hungry more often?
3. If so, does it go away after a while?
4. Ive read different places that you can use heat up to 100 and something degrees, ive read 112, 116, 120, even 160. does anyone know what is the RIGHT temp?
THANKS in advance! :D
Comments
I'm new to the program as well. I went on it 'cold turkey' today and this is what I've experienced: I'm fuller all day long than when I ate all the other so-called normal and junk food. I bought a Montel Williams machine which I will swear by is sooo much better than a juicer. His machine will heat up the raw foods to 'just right' temps w/o destroying any of the nutrients. If you recall, he was diagnosed w/MS and 10 years down the road, he's stronger than ever by using his own machine. I have health problems galore and I'm already feeling better.
As far as jumping into it with both feet, I think you're going to have to try it for a couple of days and see. A warning though: you will be putting healthy foods over top of garbage and you're going to experience a bit of a war at first until the raw really take over. I imagine any digestive probs you experience will just be your body trying to rid itself of all the bad. If after a few days, you still are going through some probs, I would examine your diet and see if you can narrow it down through process of elimination. Individuality is a huge facet of this part. Just as not everyone is lactose intolerant, neither can anyone but you tell you what your stomach can handle or not.
If you've listened to all the Drs and nutritionists and health practitioners out there, you will notice some trends in what they say. Switch to whole grains, you'll feel fuller longer. Switch to whole fruits and veggies, they will fill you up w/o all the calories. When you eat raw, you actually have to chew your foods longer, too. Even smoothies are truly filling. This causes the enzymes to meld w/your saliva which is packed w/digestive enzymes which all helps in better digestion and helps to fill you up. Your stomach empties roughly every 4 hrs. It takes your stomach 20 min to tell your brain you're full. So if you're chewing thoroughly, eating slowly and eating raw foods, it will all add up to enhanced health because your food nutrients know exactly where they need to go to make you better. It will lead to better digestion and fuller feeling faster and longer. Either you can eat faster and overfill and not want to eat for 4 hrs or you can eat slower and basically nibble all day long like a rabbit. Again, I believe it's preference. If your afraid you're hungry more often, pack small snacks to fit into your purse like carrots and celery. Drink a TBSP of apple cider vinegar in a tall glass of water throughout the day. It will eat your fat and suppress your appetite. Even if you eat and eat and eat raw, the caloric intake compared to what you're ingesting now is significantly less. So if you have to get your body adjusted, you're still not going to meet your calories you have now.
Bottom line, do what you feel is right for you. Don't worry about getting to where every other raw person is at. You'll get there naturally if you just do what feels right for you and your body. The more raw you ingest, the closer you get to supreme health. If that takes you the next year, than take it. Take one day at a time because they are your days, not someone else's. Live your life, not the model of what you want it to be. Leave that as your goal. You're taking the 1st step of many, so pace.
I'm sure that you've likely made the plunge into raw by now but incase anyone else is reading this that might have the same questions: I jumped into about 80% raw from eating a lot of junky food a couple of months ago. For the first two days I felt GREAT! I had tonnes of energy, I only needed about 4-5 hours of sleep at night and I was barely hungry at all. All of a sudden on the 3rd day I started going through horrible detox symptoms. My body ached as if I had a fever and my ribs hurt so much that I could only take shallow breaths. I was very emotional and cried a lot. I had a really bad head ache and absolutely NO energy. It was so bad at one point that I had to call my Mom to drive over (she lives an hour away from me) because I didn't have the energy to dress my 2 girls. I gave up on raw as I run a home day care and I just couldn't handle the detox symptoms. I tried to go back to just having green smoothies and cooked food a week later and mild detox symptoms started again so I stopped immediately. Since then I have very slowly started eating a mix of raw food and healthy cooked food. I'm hoping to be 80% raw by the end of Feb. So to make a long story short, it you're body is used to junk food and restaurant food, do NOT jump right into 100% raw unless you have a few days to sit around doing nothing but cry and be in pain.
My Mom jumped right into 90% raw and had very mild detox symptoms but she ate very healthy before that. I read a few websites regarding your hunger question and I talked to my Mom who has been raw for about 6 months now. Most people aren't very hungry for the first week or two because your body is getting all of the nutrients that it needs so it isn't asking for a lot of food. It's important to keep eating even if you feel full for the first little while so you get enough calories. Then after a couple of weeks when your body gets used to the diet you get more hungry for a while and might even crave your favourite cooked foods/junk foods.
I hope this helps!