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I have followed this site for a while--it was invaluable during my recent raw food trial! Now however, I am soliciting your help, thoughts, and comments about the raw food movement for a research project I am currently conducting. I'm a student at Kansas State University in Anthropology, Biology, Microbiology, and PreMed and this semester I have been looking into the raw food movement, identity, and body politics for a class called Language and Ecology. So I have a few questions if you have the time.
1.) Why do you eat raw?
2.) What are your thoughts about cooked food?
3.) How does eating raw shape your identity?
4.) Does eating raw change your thoughts regarding your body?
5.) How much does what you put into your body affect you and the world around you?
If you have the time to help with any of these questions I would greatly appreciate it. Also, any advice you might have regarding research material would be wonderful as well. Thanks in advance for your help and support with my project.
Much Love,
Lindsay
Comments
Hi Lindsay,
I agree this site is terrific, I couldn't have gotten where I am healthwise without everyone here.
1) I eat raw for health reasons. My naturalist highly recommended it and it has helped me tremendously
2)I'll probably never give up cooked foods completely
3)My identity is not shaped by my diet
4)No, I've always had great respect for the gift of life and the miracle the human body
5)What I put in my body greatly affects the way I feel physically and emotionally and therefore affects my attitude toward the world around me. However, it does not make me who I am nor does it change my beliefs.
Hope it goes well for you.
Hi Lindsay,
1. I eat raw because I finally woke up to the fact that I have a choice. The way almost everyone eats is due to habit and being happily unaware there is another way. Thank goodness for those spreading the word :) It is the most uplifting and intelligent choice for me because it is making me healthier everyday.
2. Cooked food smells and tastes wonderful but does damage to people and animals. Good thing we are fairly tough or are we?
3. In all honesty, another habit I have yet to shed is naming myself. (mom, daughter, good, bad, rich, poor, smart, dumb, fit, fat, vegan, raw) Because I am so new to raw I think MY identity is shaped by this. Maybe if I can get to where it's second nature to me I will be more able to let go.
4. Yes, somehow I have a kinder attitude toward my body now. I think it's so miraculously cool and amazing. lol
5. I'll tell you right now (prob. the question I most wanted to answer) my attitude and demeanor have improved a bunch since embracing raw. My 17 yr old came home Sat. evening and asked why I was being so nice. lol Well, I was making a green smoothie. Maybe my vitamix is giving off happy vapor. Seriously, what could affect us more then what we PUT IN OUR BODIES multiple time every day of our lives?
Gosh I hope this helps ~m
1.) Why do you eat raw?
To be healthy. I have spent years of my life eating SAD and decided it was time for a change. I love it.
2.) What are your thoughts about cooked food?
I still eat them a few times a week. Mainly for convenience, and fellowship with friends. I do tend to keep it healthy though and, always vegetarian or vegan.
3.) How does eating raw shape your identity?
It doesn't. I am not a "raw foodist" I am a person who just happens to eat a lot of raw foods.
4.) Does eating raw change your thoughts regarding your body?
Yes. I feel better when I am eating raw. I have notice, especially in the beginning stages when I still wasn't being too healthy that when I do eat unhealthy my body really feels it and doesn't like it and I feel lots better when I eat raw or healthy cooked foods.
5.) How much does what you put into your body affect you and the world around you?
I am sure it has some bearing, but overall not much. There are bigger tings influencing that.
Great questions! I hope you get a lot of response for your research.
1) I stumbled into raw. I was fighting severe IBS and had purchased some books off of amazon, amazon recommended to me "green for life" by Victoria Boutenko. I bought it and got hooked on green smoothies. It was still a slowish transition to raw but 4 years later, Im 60 lbs lighter, free of IBS and many other health tweaks (like sinus infections) that have plagued me my whole life.
2) I still eat some cooked food, although i dont feel as energized by it and find a lot of it to sit very heavy. While i dont think that all cooked food is toxic, its just not really optimal for energy.
3) Im not sure if my identity is shaped by food. Some people make a big deal about it when i choose to not partake in the goodies at a party or other events. Maybe they feel bad about their own choices, and well, - misery loves company. I just choose to not be miserable anymore.
4) eating raw has helped me become so much more in tune with my body. I never thought about how often i got sick before or how fogged down i was. It has also awakened a more athletic side of me, Im running my first half-marathon this spring.
5) I think what we put into our bodies affects so much. By being vegan were really reducing our impact on the environment. I think our bodies and minds change too. One of the high-ups at the company I work for, looked at me on a very stressful day and said, "how are you always so calm? I wish i could just bottle you" Thats the power of raw.
good luck with your research!
Sara
1.) Why do you eat raw?
Health and well being, keeps my cholesterol low, energy levels up, mind clear.
2.) What are your thoughts about cooked food?
Damaging yet addicting, sometimes can be soothing.
3.) How does eating raw shape your identity?
I find my identity is shaped/defined by what I believe and how I live as a whole, not just how I eat.
4.) Does eating raw change your thoughts regarding your body?
I guess I approach the answer by reversing the question. Taking care of my body is why I incorporate as much raw as possible. I feel my body is a temple and if I treat it as such, it gets rewarded.
5.) How much does what you put into your body affect you and the world around you?
Since I eat raw for personal health reasons, it's less of a world-view for me. Although people close to me may see and be inspired to better their health by changing their eating habits.
1.) Why do you eat raw? Health, nicer skin, more energy, better digestion.
2.) What are your thoughts about cooked food? Even vegan cooked foods I think weigh you down and are hard to digest.
3.) How does eating raw shape your identity? I don't think it does at all, aside from part of who I am is taking care of my body.
4.) Does eating raw change your thoughts regarding your body? Not really, aside from liking my skin tone/appearance better.
5.) How much does what you put into your body affect you and the world around you? I don't know. That would be speculative for "world around me" and I don't think it affects me much since I lived a cruelty-free life (vegan) before raw.
Hi Lindsay, I have been RAW for 2 1/2 months and here are my answers:
1.) Why do you eat raw? I was having major hormone problems & going through Menopause & all it's lovely symptoms
2.) What are your thoughts about cooked food? It's there if I want it, but it appeals to me very little now
3.) How does eating raw shape your identity? It makes me feel like a young woman because it tames my symptoms, gives me energy, and helps me feel healthy again, which affects what I think about myself as a person
4.) Does eating raw change your thoughts regarding your body? Yes, I am trying to love my body & take care of it now instead of poisoning it. It felt like it was dying and now it feels rejuvenated. It makes me want to seek more health for it, such as exercising, and the little bit of weight I had on is slowly dropping off as I go along in my raw experience. I'm looking better on top of feeling better!
5.) How much does what you put into your body affect you and the world around you? It affects my children, husband, and grandchildren because I complain less, play more, and started composting and recycling also. My world is being changed and affected and everyone around me seems happier too, because I'm happier!
Take care,
Robbin
1. Health scare with a mean little disease that will go un-named. Everything I read leads me to believe that my body will have an easier time healing and staying healthy if I don't overload it with the toxicity that results from eating cooked food.
2. Cooked food creates a toxic body. It really is hard to believe something I've had such a fond relationship with in the past can be so problematic health-wise. I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't notice such dramatic changes in my health in such a short amount of time. While anecdotal evidence is not enough by it's self...paired with my own personal experience (and lacking any LARGE body of scientific evidence) it's remarkably convincing.
3. It helps to create a sense of empowerment. If I can find myself at Thanksgiving dinner, enveloped in the wonderful smells and feelings that I grown to love over 35 years and simply say, "no thanks." That's gratifying. To hear people say that they couldn't do what I'm doing is nice. It's not the end-all-be-all of this change in my life, but it sure does offer some nice reinforcement to me.
4. Absolutely. I feel better. I have more energy. I am losing weight...but most importantly I feel like my mind is thinking more clearly. It's more grounded and reasonable. I find myself much more accepting of others...and especially more accepting of myself physically. Before I went raw I had a pretty annoying habit. I would spend long stretches in the bathroom looking for the slightest pimple or ingrown hair. I would pop and pluck and pick anything I found. This included the previous spots I had picked that were trying to heal. I am not certain the reasoning for doing this, but I would guess that there was a certain amount of self loathing that came out this way. It was as if I was trying to remove the slightest imperfections, while creating more at the same time. It was a never ending cycle that gave me some sense of control. Now that I'm raw that compulsion is completely gone.
5. My previous answers I think help to answer this question. I've had profound physical and psychological benefits from eating raw food. To be clear...I don't believe that raw food has been responsible for my health improvements. I simply feel that eating raw has allowed my body and mind to equalize and heal themselves. Being more balanced and healthy has significant effects on my friends and family. When I'm happier my children are happier...so is my wife. All of our stress levels have dropped dramatically because I'm not such a prick to be around. I enjoy being around other people more and so I'm out with friends often and enjoying it immensely. I hope that as I continue to get healthier my parents, brother, and sister-in-law will see my example and make changes as well...Get healthier too....All of these things don't even touch on the impact my buying choices are making now. I am no longer giving money to cruel animal farms or large agro-business farms. My choices are local and organic. CSA's, farmer's markets, small produce co-ops, "mom and pop" grocers that care about the items they put on their shelves...they are all getting my money and hopefully grown a little because of it.
Thanks for asking these questions.
I really do hope that you come back and share your research project with us when you're done.
One thing is for certain...most of us Raw Foodies can not seem to satiate our desire for information about raw food.
Especially if that information is coming from an academic perspective like yours.
- twitch
Thank you 2plus2. I really appreciate your willingness to help.
You have been a wonderful help. Thank you.
Thank you Caleb!
Thank you Sara. Best of luck with the marathon.
Thank you Raw Curls. The way you define cooked food as damaging, addicting, and yet soothing at times is reminiscent of what I was expecting to see, and that is that more people would view cooked food as a drug. I appreciate your help.
Thank you Superfood2. You are definitely right about the better skin complexion with raw food.
Robin, Your answers were great. Thank you for your help.
Thanks twitch. Your help and comments are invaluable! I will see what I can do about posting my research progress.