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Anyone Have one of Gabriel Cousen's Books?

If you have one of the Gabriel Cousen’s books:
Rainbow Green Live-Food Cuisine or Conscious Eating

and are willing to part with it for a little while, I would exchange my 80/10/10 Diet book by Doug Graham with you so that I can get a picture of what he thinks is a healthy diet / lifestyle. I know already from looking at his web site and such that he uses excitotoxins and extremely fat foods, so I want to see why he thinks these are so healthy. Meanwhile if you haven’t read Doug’s book and would like to I will be happy to exchange until you have read the book and then return it. Please reply to this and we can make the arrangements.

Comments

  • Hi SocaL,

    Last week I bought Gabriel Cousens book Rainbow Green Live-Food Cuisine from a bookstore here in Holland. I haven’t fully read it yet. Your post is such a coincidence, because I myself am very much on the look out for the 80/10/10 book by Doug Graham. Unfortunately his book is not yet available
    in Holland. I would be interested in a temporary book-exchange.

  • Hi R.D.,
    That sounds just perfect. I was kind of hoping that I can exchange with someone in the US because the shipping will be less but I am willing to send my book to Holland! Please send me your address and name to my email:

    sotb (at) rocketmail (dot) com
    Put 80/10/10 in the subject please so I know not to put it in my junk file.

  • sweetpeasweetpea Raw Newbie

    Yes, it’s really interesting as the two Drs have such different approaches to eating raw. I was doing the doug diet when I first started raw and lost so much weight as I wasn’t getting enough protein and fat. Then I went the other direction and followed Cousens way. I got healthier but now after trying his way I need much less fat and protein. The thing about Cousens is he really studies the science and treats everyone as individual as we all have different body types and fat, protein and carb needs vary. Whereas, Doug seems to advocate that one diet fits all.

  • It’s probably not because you needed more fat and protein, or that you lost too much weight as Doug says, but because you are under-muscled. This is why I want to read Dr. Cousens’ book – it really makes no logical sense to me that people are individual, are horses, elephants, birds, bees, etc. individual? Does one bee of the hive need to eat milk but the rest need to eat honey? Do some horses eat meat and others eat grass? Do some need extra fat grass and others need low fat grass? That’s extremely silly if you ask me.

  • BluedolfinBluedolfin Raw Newbie

    At first I took pause Socal with what you said about animals. Then I started to see a few issues that make humans different than other animals.

    1. Humans are mobile. What I mean by this is that humans drastically change their environment quickly not allowing the body to evolve to the local availability of different foods. For that matter, humans “import” foods from other areas. Notice native peoples that are isolated from “modern ways” tend to be healthier.

    2. Humans create/use artificial “foods”. These artificial foods do not give the body the required nutrients and in most cases (if not all cases) robs the body of nutrients.

    3. Humans continue to do distructive things eventhough they know better, eg. eating non nutritional food, creating/exposing to toxins, etc. Humans are the only animals that wantonly destroy their own environment (to a point) and for the most part live through the experience.

    4. Other nonhuman animals die out if their nutritional needs are not met (survival of the fittest). Humans are able to keep humans alive even though they are not the “fittest”.

    (Some of these points have some overlap.)

    One can also see in other animals that animals in the same group get diseases while others don’t. I think this is an indication that some animals of the same group do have different nutritional needs, for whatever reasons, and they are just not able to meet them.

    Humans have introduced factors (evolved? ha!) that are not optimum to supporting a healthy life. Thus one diet does not fit all… Some more food for thought…

  • Obviously humans are different in many respects from other animals, but that doesn’t change the nutritional requirements. Thriving on this planet requires all of the environmental factors that caused humans to evolve. Life is opportunistic, if there is a situation that is right for a life form to exist it will usually find itself in that environment. Humans need more than just the right diet but the right diet for one is no different for the others. Eating poor quality food in the past doesn’t change the organs of the body so that these foods will be preferential to what should have been eaten in the first place. Healing and detox need to occur to get the body back to health but prescribing different diets is not indicated. Causing harm to the environment and ourselves doesn’t modify the body’s demand for nutrition, it just makes it harder for us to nurse ourselves back to health. We live in a world where everything comes instantly and we expect instant results from everything. This means that when we are too cold we push a button to turn on the heater and instantly we are warmed, if it is too hot we turn on the A/C and instantly it is cold. If we have a sore throat we pop a lozenge and instantly we feel relief. This is human expectation. If we want to live healthy we want to change diets and in one week voila – we are Hurcules. This is not the case, we need to give health some time and effort and if given these most people’s bodies will respond with positive results. Dealing with the detox symptoms and needing to increase exercise, strength, and even possibly moving to a warmer climate are avoided and are labeled as ‘differences’. They are not differences but people’s refusal to accept the truth – if you need to increase activity you should and not just sit back and say that you are individual and need to eat more fat and protein but at the same time sit on your butt and watch TV all day. This is just a cop out.

  • Different human groups evolved on different parts of the planet, requiring varying adaptations to climate, available foods, etc. Now that we’re mobile, we often do not live where our ancestors evolved and are therefore forced to adapt differently. Put an animal in a non-native environment and watch them try to eat something other than their native diet, or expose them to rapid environmental change in some other way.

    At the extremes, you can compare someone from an equitorial climate to an Inuit. They have very, very different body types and very, very different dietary needs. Because our ancestors came from all over the planet, we all have varying degrees of these differences.

    This is just one possible explanation.

  • jenny2052jenny2052 Raw Newbie

    “This is why I want to read Dr. Cousens

  • debbietookdebbietook Raw Master

    I like Socal’s points. They make sense to me. I think I tend more towards Dr Doug Graham’s approach than Gabriel Coussens’ (to me) over-complicated approach. The only issue I have with Dr Graham is that I believe (please correct me if I’m wrong) he excludes grains. I believe raw, sprouted grain (which has a completely different effect on our bodies than cooked grain) is a good food for us. I have an instinct that we should be wary of any diet advisor that excludes a major group of plant foods.

  • Hi Debbie, Doug doesn’t recommend eating grains or legumes or any other similar foods but they can be eaten as part of a healthy diet. The thing about Doug’s diet is that he suggests the optimal foods for optimal digestion and health. Most people who are serious enough to go on Doug’s diet and who used to eat sprouted grains will eventually stop eating them because they can tell the difference between eating a fruit meal and a grain meal. If I imagine a plate of sprouted grains next to a plate of sweet ripe mango, I know which one I will consume first (or even at all). If your instinct is correct about being wary of advisors who exclude a major group of plant foods then you will be more wary of Cousens or Clement than Graham as they all exclude a bigger more important group of food called fruit.

  • BluedolfinBluedolfin Raw Newbie

    SocaL~ We can see your passion about and commitment to Graham’s work. Have you studied with him? I’m curious about your background around his work. :)

  • I didn’t study with him. It’s just that his philosophy just makes perfect logical sense and the others just don’t. Almost every health advocate tells us to reduce the amount of fat in our diet, to limit or even exclude salt and spices, then these raw food book writers come along and tell us to forget all this and eat all the fat you want as long as it is raw, eat all the salty and spicy dishes you want as long as they are raw. There is nothing magic about raw fats that allows people to eat as much as they want, fat is fat is fat, it might not be trans fats but it still performs the same function in the body as cooked fat does. A 90 day trial of eating the 811 way will probably convince most sceptics, once you stop the toxic foods your body will warn you if the food is toxic, while eating them regularly you could be eating cyanide and would not even know it.

  • Like Joyce, I’m reading a lot right now a lot about diet and am still figuring out what’s best for me. Personally, I don’t do well with grains, and really seem to thrive on lots of raw veg and fruit. I think SoCal brings up a good point. When I first became raw and began looking at some of the literature and recipes, the “eat as much fat as you want” didn’t make any sense to me either. I don’t do well with a lot of fat either,and have drastically changed a lot of the recipes I’ve used. I’m very encouraged to keep educating myself about different view points as I continue on this journey.

  • I had an eating disorder brought on by severely impacted bowels (x ray) for many years and have come to the conclusion that whatever brings your body back to alkaline is what works for you. Alkalizing thoughts about what you are eating is also important. If you are going to beat yourself up for eating____than for you it is not a food you should be consuming. Stress makes you sick.

  • MarichiesaMarichiesa Raw Newbie

    Socal,

    There are things that I have trouble with regarding Doug Grahams approach to eating at its strictest. What if you are an individual who cannot exercise as much as is’optimal’? I have a tricky disc problem in my back and while eating a raw diet and weight loss have helped tremendously I am unable to exercise the way I used too. ( i was an avid runner/walker/free weights/yoga )Frankly, I’m okay with that at the moment. Its better than risking incontinence/pain. When I gave the 80/10/10 program a shot over the summer the excessive fruit sugars that I ingested ( bananas etc… no durian fyi) and did not exercise away contributed to weight gain and now excessive candida throughout my body.( oh and I always have and still do eat a TON of greens and my bod was quite “clean” as they say before embarking on Doug’s approach. I was not a toxic wasteland.
    And I didn’t/don’t eat a lot of fat, nuts seeds, avos etc…

    Your thoughts?

  • elizabethhelizabethh Raw Newbie

    I spent a month eating at least 80% of my diet from fruit, and felt awful…very edgy and almost a little sick all of the time. I think that was because I was only exercising for about 45 minutes a day, because that is all my schedule allows.
    I believe fruit is extremely beneficial, and that the 80/10/10 approach very well may be ideally “natural”, but in our natural situation we would be exercising pretty much all of the time…not sitting in school for hours and hours and then at home studying for hours and hours.
    I adapted my diet to my current situation. I don’t have more than half an hour to 45 mins to exercise, and therefore I cannot work off all the fruit I’d be eating on 80/10/10. So I eat a LOT of greens and low glycemic fruit, as well as some raw fat and protein, to keep my energy levels stable.
    I think its important, in our modern world, to adapt our diet not only to our region, but also our lifestyle. Living in accordance with a truly “natural” diet is great, but only if you have the time and resources to live a truly “natural” lifestyle.
    Anyway, thats my opinion…the raw diet is still working like a charm for me, with a moderate amount of fat, greens, fruit, and protein.

  • Hmmm….I like Gabriel Cousens book for all the information and science. But, when I finally read Doug Grahams book it was just like a light bulb going off. Just made perfect sense. Unfortunately, I’m not there yet to the 80/10/10, but that is my ultimate goal. Busy schedule, feeding children, and outside pressure are my biggest ‘excuses’. Oh, and the severe lack of ORGANIC un-irradiated, fresh fruit! I wish I could move back to Costa Rica where you can get your fruit right off the truck fresh picked!

  • Marichiesa, I beleive you need to take a close look at exactly what your diet intake was at the time and your other inputs such as exercise, amount of sleep, rest, sunshine, mood, and support systems. I see many people who think they are on Doug’s diet but they claim to be eating 2 avocados a day and a cup of soaked sunflower seeds. If they add this up in percent of their calories they will find that they are much higher than the 10% recommended. Most likely as high as 30-40% if they consumed up to 3000 calories a day. You are the only one who knows your intake so do a calculation and see if you were consuming too much fat. You don’t need to be a super athlete to succeed on his program, all you need to do is regular moderate exercise, you can do whatever is comfortable for you. I only go to the gym 3 days a week for only 45-60 minutes and it is working for me. My job is in front of a computer for 8 hours a day so I get no exercise in the day. I really find it difficult to believe that someone can gain substantial weight on an 80/10/10 diet as the food is so full of water that you will be full way before you have overeaten (unless you are not eating the right foods). My problem is getting enough calories and not too much. The reason for exercising is not to keep your weight down but to keep your muscles built up and to ‘earn’ your food, which means to build up an appetite. If anyone is serious about trying Doug’s diet he is available for questions at his forum, he answers most authentic inquiries himself, or others will chime in with their recommendations.

  • I just recently started out on an 80/10/10 diet, which I plan to keep for 30 days to see how I feel at the end of it. I agree with SocaL and, like raw_mama, I found that when I read Graham’s book it was like: Well, of course!! I don’t see how there can be significant differences in humans’ diet whereas with other animals there are no significant differences. For instance, one dog may love watermelon (I know my does) and may actually need it for whatever reason, but another dog would love spinach—or both choose whichever food based on needs at a certain time. A person’s needs for food changes, but I do not think the changes are as vast as needing fruit and veggies mostly and then all of a sudden they’ll need a ton of nuts, or meat, or dairy, or even lots of grains. Maybe they’ll need more greens today, and maybe tomorrow a whole avocado sounds good, but the next day its lots of citrus fruit… but I’d have to say that, overall, it definitely makes sense to me that people should consume primarily the same diet. I was actually taught differently, that “everyone is individual” and thus their diets would also be individual… but I just can’t bring myself to believe it.

    Also, for some resources… this man did an 80/10/10 RV trial for 30 days throughout January 2008. Here’s the link: http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2008/01/raw-fo…

    Marichiesa, I was thinking about your problem on the 80/10/10 diet, and I wonder if you weren’t eating too many calories? I just read Dr. Graham’s book and he says something like a sedentary, 120 lbs woman needs 1200 calories, roughly… and the more you move the more you need. Someone correct me if I’m wrong, I don’t have the book in front of me. I find it really difficult to even hit that number currently (although I did just start out, and sadly my bananas aren’t ripe enough to eat), and I’m working out more-so than I usually do.

  • I don’t believe Cousen’s approach is healthy at all. He emphasizes fat and more fat, nuts and more nuts. Graham, on the other hand, emphasizes fruits with some greens. Frankly, I think the best approach is to keep a food journal so you can see what works for you and what does not. I find that when I eat too many sweet fruits, I feel very ill. When I consume too many nuts and seeds (not difficult to do!), I feel extremely unwell. Thus, I believe that a diet with very minimal dehydrated and fatty foods, primarily consisting of salads and greens, fresh fruits both acidic and sweet, and vegetables is ideal. I have approximately 15 raw food and fasting and juicing books by about 15 different authors, and frankly, I have found that no one author has an ideal approach. I do like Shazzie and Boutenko’s books (her green smoothies). Boutenko emphasizes consuming more greens. Shazzie’s approach is also very natural without all the excess nuts and seeds, oils and salts, or sugary and salty condiments which are so unnatural. Graham does, in my opinion, also hit the nail on the head by making it clear the damage a high fatty diet can cause. This is very important. Although his diet is high in fruit, he has some good points, as do each of these authors. I say take a little from each approach, try and keep meals simple and clean and natural as possible. Still, whole and unadulterated fresh and living foods is always the best. I also recommend stearing clear of mucous-forming grains and foods. I like a handful of spiced nuts now and then, or sweet flavored mixed nuts. A pate now and then. But nuts and seeds can never replace white bread, starchy potatoes, cheese, meat, cooked beans, soy burgers. It’s not the same thing. Mimicry is not often the best policy, and substituting nuts and seeds for everything (pie crusts, pates, cheeses, etc etc etc) is detrimental to our well-being, period.

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