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Have any of you read The China Study by T. Colin Campbell? It will convince anyone who reads it that the people who live longer without disease eat primarily plant foods. This is long study with observations, not test tubes.
I cant wait to get the China Study Book…it looks groundbreaking! This is a great thread. Lets not forget that breast milk is only 10% protein and that level is used by rapidly growing babies! Thats all the info I needed to let go of the protein myth! Here is a site with a chart and some more info on protein and breast milk. I didnt read the whole site so I dont know what else hes saying but I agree with the less protein is better… http://www.bodyfatguide.com/NotGettingEnoughPro…
hia ambikalee was wondering where you’d got to, great to “see” you again!
zenpawn: Thank you for the site. I looked at it and realized in the first few pages that I don’t eat most of the “top” sources for vegetable protein.
chriscarlton: I have fasted before, the longest being 7 days, and was fine. But there was one day (I wasn’t fasting) a few years ago that I passed out while driving. When I went to the doctor, he said I needed to make sure I was getting enough protein. He couldn’t find any reason in my bloodwork. It hasn’t happened since then, but I always remember that incident and I never want it to happen again! Luckily, I was sitting at a stop light and only “bumped” the car in front of me when it happened.
So should I be eating more vegetables and less fruit if I want to get in enough protein?
Thanks again for all of the help!
Thought I would add my two cents. Ive been exercising and weight lifting for years and even when vegan fell into the protein trap. Many trainers and coaches told me to gain weight I needed 2 grams of protein per pound, some said only 1 per body pound. I gained more fat eating this way than muscle.
When I went raw my muscles have been more defined and feel stronger and bigger, and I only get about 50-75 (maybe a little more) grams of protein a day.
Hey Wanna b raw, I can’t help myself, I have to answer you! So you fasted for 7 days and were fine, you experienced living with no food, no protein, no nothing, and you were absolutely fine…and then a different day when you weren’t fasting you passed out.
Why did your doctor bring up protein as a cause when he found nothing in your blood to prove it? My dad and my brother are both doctors, I grew up with it…they often feel under pressure to know what’s going on and to offer explanations when really alot of the time, they don’t know what is wrong…maybe this is one of those cases.
Personally, from my own knowledge of biology I can’t see what role protein would play in fainting. Also protein deficiency of a dietary origin has never been diagnosed in human history, I got that from a film made by doctors, vegan ones.
Every vegan food you eat has protein in it, plently, even fruit. And if it is raw then it is perfect for your body to assimilate.
I know it must have been so scary to faint in a car, I can’t imagine how freaky that must’ve been for you… but that doctor, what he said just does not make any sense.
Hi- Jkd, I am amazed that your trainers told you to eat that much protein. That just sounds crazy to me. Unless you’re drinking protein shakes there isn’t any way to get that much protein without quite a bit of fat attached. It sounds like it wouldn’t be good for your kidneys. There’s probably info out there that shows that people who eat that much end up having health problems.
I think fainting could have to do with not eating enough potassium or severely limiting calories. The thing with this way of eating is that you probably need to eat more meals during the day particularily at first.
I hope you’re ok. Hopefully this can be a learning experience for you to really study and focus on what your body needs to be healthy. Keep snacks with you- that’s my advice.
writeeternity: Thanks for the advice. It’s funny you bring up eating more meals at first. I was wondering about this. I have been mostly raw for the past 4 days, eating only one cooked item (usually at dinner) each day. I have noticed that I am much hungrier. I keep eating and eating and eating. So this is normal?
write: I know. I used to get 200-250 grams of protein a day. Most from soy powdered protein. I think it had a negative effect, because although I looked bigger, a lot of it was fat more than muscle, but my muscle felt weaker too.
Hey wanna_B_raw,
I have some interesting news for you about hunger. The feeling of being full, that you couldn’t get while eating ‘Raw Food’ has nothing to do with hunger. Cooked food paralyzes your stomach. This is the satisfied feeling that we all know and love. It’s our stomach shutting down as a reaction to the poison.
As a person who overate most of my life for emotional reasons, one of the hardest things for me going raw, was living without that full feeling. You can get used to not having this feeling, I promise.
I could write pages on this whole subject. Hunger, Satisfaction, Trigers, Fasting, Food Combining, Mono Diet, etc. But I’ll just give you one quick experiment to demonstrate one of the natural ways our body tells us when we have had enough.
Cut a large whole pineapple into chunks and put into a bowl. Eat the chunks of pineapple one at a time. At some point the taste of the chunks will change, usually before the end of the bowl. All of a sudden the pineapple doesn’t taste as good. This is your body saying to you that you have had enough. Unfortunately this only works when we eat un-combined, food otherwise known as Mono-Dieting.
When we mix our foods together and make recipes. We lose many of our natural signals. This is why the feeling of fullness is the only signal that many of us have ever known. When you are eating ‘Raw’ you will have to trust that you are getting enough food. If you eat even a fraction of the ammount of cooked food you ate, you will be getting more than enough nutrition.
Raw Food, It’s NOT Wrong, It’s Right!
Lovebows, Chris
chriscarlton: Thanks for the info! I have noticed that I eat less at one sitting when I eat raw. But does my body metabolize it faster? Or maybe I just THINK I am hungry when my stomach doesn’t feel “full”?
Please, Please, please, anyone, everyone that has read up on the whole protein myth by whoever, can you please take a lucky guess at how much a pregnant woman needs? My last son was 9.24 lbs, and I was told to eat 75-95 grams a day. Now I think you are all right about too much. But what is the number? I am having a rough time trusting my body because I have every SAD craving in the book. I also have cancer and it is time for raw...I have made up my mind. I am still seeking a naturopath too, but I am experiencing a real lack of knowledge...I am not to common of a combination I guess. Anyone, please take a stab at it.
As far as farmed seaweed goes. I live in Hawaii, on Oahu, and would never eat a Oahu seaweed - the Navy was yet again caught crapping in the reef and they just found dumped weapons from... decades ago. The Big Island is about 200 miles away and the Superferry, which went to Maui, just finally got pulled out. I go to selected beaches to do cleansing dips and (did) snorkeling. The farm is in the ocean water....I don't really see the difference.
But I do agree with some posters about seaweed. We need to eat these superfoods and I believe going raw is building an amazing immune system and body to combat all the pollution on Earth, even when we eat it in plants. Even if you couldn't eat organic raw and ate local, I think you would still be saving yourself. I don't know all the factors that are making us ill, but raw seaweed? Well, it is worth paying attention to in the future, but I wouldn't stop eating it yet.
Don't worry. Childbirth was around long before there was even a word for protein, much less a way to test for it. Forget the numbers and go eat some more fresh raw food, it can't hurt you.
btw. There is much evidence published about the connection between stress/worry and cancer.
ofek where can I get stinging nettles and how would I use them in a green smoothie or any other way. The name kind of scares me.
As far as protein I may be wrong but. Aren't amino acids the building blocks of protein? If plants have amino acids wont our bodies make protein out of them? I have also heard our bodies are only like 13% protein so we do not need much of it and too much is noo good for your (kidneys?) I have also heard that too much protein is a cause of fatigue most educated nutritionists will have you reduce protein if you are fatigued or lethargic. What I am pretty sure about is that when someone eats animal protein we have to break down that protein chain because it is not compatible with our body. We take what we can use to form a protein compatible with our bodies and the rest is not compatible. What this leftover stuff does is cause neurological diseases, acne, and BO among other things.
If anyone knows for sure if I am correct or incorrect about the amino acids forming protiens please let me know, thanks!
I'm not going to get into the whole protein myth discussion- to each her or his own. I personally do find that sometimes I feel a need for "something else" because I seem hungry, etc. For me, avocadoes, chickpeas and using olive oils on my salads seem to help with that.
Wanna B raw- I eat more often now that I'm eating mostly raw fruits and vegetables. (I'm high raw, not 100%)
My co workers think it's a bit strange (well, a few of them) because I will usually have something every few hours (even if it's simply a banana or apple). But, I'm not sitting down and eating a slab of ribs and pile of french fries- that tends to stay with you a lot longer I think (what those that think my frequent eating is weird eat for dinner). Well, I've been vegetarian for almost a decade (that sounds so weird, like I'm ancient)- so it would be a veggie burger and fries instead. But, you get my point.
But, I feel better eating what I'm eating. I also don't think it's good to load up so heavy like that. Eating more often works good for me. Makes me less gassy too (strange)?
"You
Good iron source: spinach, broccoli, parsley, grapes, strawberries, raspberries, cherries, watermelon, garbanzo beans, oats, and quinoa.
without getting into the protein debate: I really enjoy sunfood raw prot. powder for an extra boost.. I usually throw a little fruit and a scoop of that in the blender in the morning and it keeps me good till lunch
For the average person yes!! But for a bodybuilder or a construction worker or anybody else trying to build muscles i don't think 10% protein is enough.
As far as grains are concerned, if nobody ate them and how many people would die?? 100 million, or 1 billion, i sure don't know, but most people on this planet eat grains, and those populations seem to live the longest (see Mediterranean and Okinawa diets).
So basically without grains people would starve to death since they can't afford to buy all the expensive foods of the raw diet.
You want extra protein try 4-5 tablespoons of hemp seed in a smoothie. You want iron eat oatmeal. You want more protein also try beans mixed with rice.
The china study indicates that high amounts of animal protein is bad, not COOKED food, and not high amounts of protein from plants.
I'm not sure the massive study that dr.graham has done with grains, but how many cultures don't eat them?? BTW grains are not the SAD diet.
Good luck!!!
In response to Chris Carlson: Let me shed some light on the sense that eating foods other than raw makes. We are diverse in our biological make-up and we have evolved eating different diets. What's good for you might not be good for me. Also, the changes in the food (GE, environmental toxins, natural toxins, allergies, genetics...) make it unlikely that everyone does well eating an identical diet, whether cooked, vegan, vegetarian or raw. It makes more sense to me to get the right combination of foods with good health as the goal.
I know that many people believe that "we are all different" and I do a little. I understand how that Native Americans lived here for a long time before we showed up and 'introduced them' to Alcohol. They as a group had a slightly different path, that many now believe makes them less tolerant to Alcohol. I also understand about the Inuits and how they live almost exclusively on meat. They too as a group evolved separately for a long time and the process of natural selection has had a chance to favor those who do better on such a diet. Over and Over nature has made this choice.
All that being said I don't think as Westerners that our true dietary requirements could possibly be that different. There is no reason for it since we do not come from an isolated culture and our ethnic lifestyles are not all that different. The fact that people respond differently is an indicator of their different levels of health and different lifestyles at the time they start Raw. Given time I have not met anyone who doesn't do well eating fresh Raw food. I know many who have given up without ever trying. Many who never got past living on 'raw' 50% nuts (that were actually cooked) All the recipes are just for transition back to our natural way of eating. You have to stay with it for more than 6 months though. It took me nearly 4 years to get Raw right and for my non-raw cravings to go away.
I feel so lucky that no one convinced me of this "not for everyone" crap. I may have given up and never reached the amazing level of health I enjoy now. And my diet and health are still evolving. I keep looking and feeling younger and it's been almost 8 years since I started changing. I am ready for another 8 years of progress! I don't miss any old foods and love what I eat everyday. I use no supplements or superfoods and I don't buy all organic. I don't even have a dehydrator right now, not for the last 3 months. It's not hard, restrictive or boring. It's the opposite. I love every meal I eat.
"I feel so lucky that no one convinced me of this "not for everyone" crap. I may have given up and never reached the amazing level of health I enjoy now. And my diet and health are still evolving. I keep looking and feeling younger and it's been almost 8 years since I started changing. I am ready for another 8 years of progress! I don't miss any old foods and love what I eat everyday. I use no supplements or superfoods and I don't buy all organic. I don't even have a dehydrator right now, not for the last 3 months. It's not hard, restrictive or boring. It's the opposite. I love every meal I eat."
Yes, definitely the raw diet is not for everybody. Do you think people from poor countries can afford this diet, or people on assistance in the US or Canada can afford this diet. Even if I were just to eat bananas, i need 3500-4000 cals per day. So that would be roughly 40 medium bananas which equals around $14 non-organic. So in one month that would be $420 just for me. Add in a wife and a couple of kids and that number grows to just over $1000 per month.
The two cheapest fruits with the highest cals for me would be bananas and grapes (1lbs grapes equals 300 cals for a buck).
So I am not saying the Raw Diet is not good, just that for most families it is not feasible.
And even though the SAD diet is sooooo bad, Americans are living longer and longer. Nobody ever mentions that on this site either.
http://www.nia.nih.gov/NewsAndEvents/PressReleases/PR20080327OlderAmericans.htm
Want to live longer without changing your diet, try exercising (mind and body), buy a dog, get some sun, and have sex 3 times a day ;-)
Good luck!!!!
Ya know Chris,
It get's old when you keep getting pestered for being a positive, encouraging advocate for raw food. This quoting a paragraph and then going on to say the same old baloney over and over is getting irritating to some of us. What a bunch of dumb arguments. Anyone can afford to go raw. This world is full of people wasting money. Pick your poison - restaurant meals, Starbucks, cars, vacations, cell phones, clothes, shoes, bars, cigarettes, gym memberships, cable, porn...
We must all make our choices. And I say if you choose to eat healthy to the exclusion of some other luxuries (I do) it doesnt mean youre rich it means youre smart.
Anyone doing it 3 times a day should get off assistance and having kids and get more work. Dont even get me started on being entitled to a pet. Ever watch Animal Planet?
If you want to say how much better you feel and encourage us to work through the challenges of going raw in this world, I say thank you.
I ate a varied, exclusively raw diet for over 4 years. My hypothyroid symptoms were raging and my blood tested too alkaline following that regimen. I used to be anti-supplements as well. But I needed more EFAs than produce could provide so I started taking EFA Sirt-Supreme (made from anchovies). I also need more tyrosine and lisine (amino acids) than I was able to assimilate from raw produce. Eating some raw foods that contain those ingredients also contain cellulose and they aren't digestible. I still eat a large part of my diet raw but I have ammended my dogmatic ways to eat other foods that my body needs. I've had lots of testing done to show my deficiencies and it would make no sense to go on with a plan that I know is causing me to be unhealthy. I'm glad that your diet makes you feel good. I eat to feel good too. I had hoped that an exclusively raw diet would be the grail but it isn't in my case.
Had no intention of sharing this but my labs just came back very low in iron. So. You deal with it. It would be silly considering my gender and age to discard my raw diet due to this news. Wont be indulging in a big ol steak daily now that I know either. But some people (who care about me) would want me to. I dont think anyone sensible who has embraced this lifestyle would consider it a grail. Just an improvement.
I'm very sensible and desperate to heal from a debilitating disease when I started eating raw. It did help me for awhile but I needed some nutrients that I was not able to obtain eating exclusively green. Eating some cooked food or animal products does not mean that those foods are junk. They have a place in human diets for some of us too. There is no rule that a person has to be 100% raw.
Who said that? (junk or 100%) There is this weird defending of what is not being attacked. Not just on this thread either. I truly wish you the best of life. =)
Grateful, Not every sentence in a post that I made refers to things that you've said. I don't feel as though I'm defending anything. I'm just expressing a different point of view.