is raw theory based on monkey diet?

Comments

• rawmumma

  My thoughts would be that it is not so much based exclusively on monkeys but just the fact that NO other animals cook their. food. Obviously there is more to it than that, and you know the monkeys really do have it right, B12 is found in insects. Not so into bug munching myself though! Also I looked at your links and they are all based on little monkeys which as far as I know are not that similar to humans. Any diet we would be looking at would be based on the great apes like chimps who we share almost 95% of the same DNA with. Gorillas and orangutans do not eat meat, chimps do but not all that often and chimps are just kinda crazier in general. My heroes are Diane Fossey (gorillas), Biruti Galdikas (orangutans) and Jane Goodall (chimps). They are all woman who have spent their entire lives studying these amazing creatures and writing fascinating books for us all to enjoy. I highly recommend reading some of their stuff. Also Victoria Boutenko makes some valid points about the raw diet and chimps in her books Greens For Life.
• locustgirl Raw Newbie

  yeah, i just read about the crazy chimps! from this it seems like they were big meat eaters! http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/goodall/print/re…

  i can’t remember for sure, but aren’t we closer to chimps than gorillas? (i wouldn’t be surprised. feel a little crazy myself…!!)

  so if there is no bug munching about, how do you all supplement b12? i hear that it’s not very absorbable in it’s isolated state, i personally wouldn’t want to take something in a non-whole food form. i did have some fried bugs in thailand that were not bad, but i don’t think i would ever be brave enough to go raw bug.
• winsome

  I just have to add this because I love gorilla’s so much! (i even married one.. haha j/k! sorry stevie!)

  Has anyone else seen the documentary on the gorilla that was hand raised and learned sign language. And her keeper gave her a kitten…and instead of killing the little kitten like you might assume a gorilla would, it took it in it’s arms and stroked it like a baby. And when the kitten died, the gorilla cried for days. And when they bought a new kitten, it knew it wasn’t the same, and loved it, but never as much!! It just shows how much more there is to the animal kingdom, and the possibilities for truely bonding with them.

  If anyone knows the name of the gorilla/documentary – please let me know!! I only happened upon it flicking through the TV and never got the name. Its probably the most touching thing I even chanced to see and I’d love to show it to everyone.
• locustgirl Raw Newbie

  oh yeah! i did see a bit of that myself. pretty sweet and amazing indeed.

  here’s a link to the film:

  http://www.koko.org/friends/kokomart_bkvid.koko…

  if you google it i’m sure there’s more.
• Raw_Chocoholic Raw Newbie

  Apparently we’re closest to bonobos and they follow a diet rich in raw vegetables as well. I don’t remember a lot of the details but you can read about it in “green for life”.
• gwenz3

  I think the gorilla’s name was coco.
• germin8 Raw Master

  Totally off topic, by my diet is based on:
• winsome

  thanks locustgirl! Thats the one! :-)
• Terra Love

  Germin8 have you read the lost gospels? Check it out here >> Gospel of Peace
• locustgirl Raw Newbie

  i’ve heard that a lot of cultures have a tradition of fasting/cleansing for a short time in spring, but i’ve never heard throughout the year. didn’t jesus also feed everyone fish? still looking for that B12.
• Madness

  Locustgirl – I started eating raw because I had crazy bad digestive problems. I was looking for anything to help. Turns out I my gallbladder was infected and had to be removed a few months ago. But I noticed some great changes on raw food. My sense of smell was so much more acute! And I had lots of energy. So no matter what the original theory that made people start eating raw, the results are what keep people around.

  Oh yeah, B12! I did take a supplement when I was 100% raw because I was paranoid. But I also ate a lot of nutritional yeast which has B12 but is not ‘officially’ raw. Now I’m no longer 100% raw vegan – I find that 75% raw works best for me with raw diary as well. The cooked foods I added are mostly whole grains and eggs (and some veggies that I never did enjoy raw – pumpkins, eggplants, sweet potatoes). Some sources saw seaweed has a lot of B12 while others don’t. I never liked seaweed, so I didn’t look into it much!
• locustgirl Raw Newbie

  what i have been able to find on bonobos so far is that they are omnivorous but eat mostly fruit. female dominated and very frisky! i like it. looks like a great argument for a bisexual polyamorous society if we are deemed most like them. don’t think i would want to do a lot of fruit myself though. i’m already thin and lean towards damp and cold. i hear edema can be a big problem with fruitarian. anyway, so far it looks like the primate world is just as diverse as the human one in regards to diet.
• rawmumma

  On the B12 note, I don’t worry about at all, the bloodwork I had done when I was pregnant showed that my levels were fine so I just don’t even think about it. But a good source of B12 is dirt so just grow your own veggies in great, compost enhanced soil and then don’t wash them before eating. Also the whole monkeys eating meat thing seems more like a social behavior than an actual dietary need from what I’ve read.
• shgadwa Raw Newbie

  Though maybe a little off topic, I should say that me eating raw has nothing to do with my religion. (By that I mean that I am a born again believer, a Christian). I have studied a lot about this.

  Genesis 1:29 was the original diet God gave to man. This was just after he created man. Then, after the flood, God says that Man is allowed to eat meat (before it was forbidden). Some say (like the people from hacres.com) that it was a temporary thing. That God said they could eat flesh because they otherwise would not have much food because plants would take a little while to grown. I simply do not believe this to be true because, there would have at least been some wild edibles, and they also had a little (not much) food left. Also, food grows quickly. Even though, at this time, eating meat would have been ideal. God allowed it. But man continued to eat meat because God continued to allow it (meaning that it was not temporary).

  The bible does say a lot about health though. I have not studied enough of it. What a lot of people tell me often is that the bible says I can eat meat. I tell them that the bible does not command me to eat meat and it does not command me to not eat meat. It is a choice I believe God lets us make.

  In the new testament, in Romans chapter 14, It says not to judge he who eats meat and not to condemn he who does not eat meat. It says that if you eat only herbs you are weak in the faith (spiritually). I believe and many others feel the same (both vegetarians and not) that this means that if you are a vegetarian because you think God wants you to be or that Jesus was a vegetarian, you are weak in the faith.

  Furthermore, as we read all throughout the bible, God is more interested in your heart than what you eat. God cares MUCH more about your soul and whether you want to serve him or not than he does what you eat. This goes for all of us.

  Anything that has become more important than God, according to my bible, is Idolatry. In which I used to be like that and did not even realize it. God hates idolatry. Idols are not just cows mad out of Gold that people worship. And idol is a person, place or thing that people put in their heart as being more important than God. So, anything can be an Idol. Your wife, your husband, your boy friend, your care, your tree, you book, your food and your life as well as your body.

  Now, do not get me wrong, God loves us all and cares about us all. And he wants us to be healthy. He wants us to have happy life’s but this is all not so important as much as getting our hearts right with him.

  So, as to why I am a raw vegan. Because raw vegan foods and the lifestyle I live makes me feel much better, I do not get sick as often if ever (I have not been living 80-100% raw very long now). I believe that God gives me a free will as to eat the way i want to eat and I try hard not to condemn others who do not eat like that but if they ask and are open to hear, I will tell them what they can do to be healthy.

  About the hidden Gospels, I have not looked into all of them. Some of them MIGHT be true. As for the Gospels of peace, i read some of it and I TRIED to compare it to scripture. It does not compare. See, the bible is such that it answers itself. If you want to know more about what was said in one passage, look the same topic up somewhere else, or that word. it all agrees with itself. This is proof that the word of God is truth. However, the Gospel of peace sounds weird. Jesus said to take no thought what you eat or drink. However, in the Gospels of peace, Jesus said not to cook your food. To make bread and cook it in sun as to not cook it but keep it living. Because God is a God of the living, not dead. He also says that you should not let the frost freeze your food for it kills it. So, we know from reading this that Jesus is a Vegetarian, right? Well, in the bible, he ate lamb at the passover and he at broiled fish after he was raised from the dead. If the bible does not agree with other books, then that means that it is not the word of God. Furthermore, it sounds stupid. Can you imagine someone talking in the tone of voice that this so called Jesus talked in?

  Well, that is what I have to say. I welcome your agreements and anything you might disagree with it.

  Shawn
• shgadwa Raw Newbie

  About monkies, most monkies are vegetarian that I know of. Raw veganism is not, as far as I know, based on monkeys. Except that it is supported with the fact that vegetarian animals have a vegetarian mount, and a long digestive system. They digest food slowly. While meat eating animals, usually have a meat eating mouth which is designed to rip flesh off of animals and they have a very short digestive tract. This is so that their food can digest fast (they have strong stomach acids) and therefore, any toxins in it, gets out before it causes harm.
• mandelicious

  we are closest to chimpanzees. they eat about 70% fruit, 25% leafy greens, and 5% meat/insects. most scientist believe chimps eat meat more for social/political reasons than for nutritional needs. they hunt small monkeys and also other chimps (which they then eat, but usually only one bite per animal)

  the termites are nutritionally significant for them, however as i said, they are less than 5% of the diet. we can get these kinds of nutrients from foods like spirulina, offering b12 and concentrated protein.

  however, the raw diet, or the vegan diet, is not necessarily based on the diet of a great ape.
• Chris S

  Well maybe mr dog or germin8 should start a post with the thoughts on food and religion and their thoughts on how it all ties together.
• runraw

  Ok. Ive taken a lot of primatology courses….currently taking primate behavior. SO. humans are equally related to both bonobos and chimpanzees (which are apes, not monkeys). humans, apes and bonobos share the same ancestor. Gorrillas and orangutans broke off the lineage before bonobos and chimps did, so we are not as closely related to them. Both chimpanzees and bonobos eat meat. They also eat leaves, fruit, nuts, bark, and insects. However, different populations of chimps and bonobos eat different things, depending on whats available in their environment. I am very skeptical of boutecenko’s (no idea how she spells her name) books, just as I am of david wolfe’s. Not scientifically based, some claims are just plain wrong.

  In our society, we have access to so fuch fat, sugar, and calories, that our health problems stem from getting too much of these things. In the wild, it is impossible to get too much fat or sugar. Chimps spend hours each day cracking nuts. Infants spend years learning how to do it. And female chimps and bonobos spend most of their adult lives pregnant or lactating, so they are absolutely dependent on nutrient/calorie rich foods simply to survive. Females eat a lot more fruit and fat then males do for that reason. And chimps don’t eat much meat. When they do hunt, the meat is shared…it’s more of a social/cooperative venture than a staple of their diet. It varies by season, too. If you want to take anything from our closest ancestors, take the fact that they eat 100 percent fresh food. They have to stay active just in order to survive. Chimps in the wild are never overweight, if anything, they are too thin because their habitat is being destroyed so rapidly that they cannot find food. (Many people do not know they are an endangered species). In my opinion, the more fresh fruit, veggies, and greens (supplemented w/ some nuts, seeds) the healthier you will be. As Michael Pollan said, “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” I would add to this, make sure its fresh, and get off your butt and get some excercise, OUTSIDE in the fresh air. haha. so probably more than you wanted to know. And if any of you are in college, primatology is fascinating!
• locustgirl Raw Newbie

  well, i’ve done some more hunting and i read that b12 deficiencies can take years to show up after eliminating animal products from one’s diet. i’m not so convinced that you can get it from plant sources or dirt yet. i read the indians (from india) got theirs from bug excrement from grain storage and insects on produce. since modern sterilization methods, this changed and caused health problems. i also read some monkeys that mostly ate fruit in captivity wouldn’t breed successfully until they realized what was missing introduced a little animal protein. at this point, it seems to me like even a small amount might be vitally necessary. maybe a few termites a day isn’t a bad idea. a little ground up bug powder added to a smoothie?

  but nevertheless, it sounds like some of you don’t think that the relationship to chimps is necessarily the root of raw came from, and some are doing it for religious reasons. any other sources on the roots for the raw diet you could share?
• Winona Raw Newbie

  I think it’s as simple as… a lot of people trying raw for health reasons, some writing about and telling others, and from then on it became a movement. We’ll never know how many people have tried it… we only know about those who have written the first books on the subject. Ann Wigmore, more recently Gabriel Cousens, Victoria Boutenko, and many others.