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Alcohol & Raw?

Hi,

Just wondering what everyone's opinions are on drinking and "being raw". I know alcohol (except maybe wine?) is not raw, but there's no way I'm giving it up. My husband and have been easing into and just started our 30 day raw trial officially - check out our blog at www.rawfoodrealpeople.blogspot.com.

I don't usually drink beer, so that's not an issue, but we do regularly drink hard liquor. I've found that vodka & tonics are easy on my system, while whiskey or brandy just makes me want to eat pizza. We've been trying to keep it to just organic wine, sulfite-free if possible (but the only sulfite-free one I tried tasted like cr*p).

Any comments/suggestions appreciated!

K

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Comments

  • WinonaWinona Raw Newbie

    There's a variety of opinions on this topic. But speaking strictly from experience, i've been raw 1 year, and the alcohol that affects me the least is wine. If i drink beer or liquor, my stomach acts up. I limit my alcohol consumption to once a week at most, because i don't want to upset the tummy.

  • ladydaventryladydaventry Raw Newbie

    Up until recently I was still managing to drink beer but then something changed. After a few sips of a can at a party I felt instantly drunk (ha cheap date!) and then very ill. I spent the next day unable to get out of bed, I haven't touched a beer for seven weeks now. I have rekindled my love of red wine though which isn't ideal. I have been teetotal before and would like to be again. One step at a time though.

  • PamPam

    Hi Kelly. I would guess that at least half of raw foodies (or more) still do drink (but I could be wrong). I drink red wine but that has become less and less appealing to me. After my last Master Cleanse, I pretty much lost my taste for alcohol. I can drink one small glass over about three hours and I only do that every once in awhile. To be quite honest, the only reason I don't want to give it up is for social/dating reasons. And that's not a good reason at all. But I am not going to beat myself up about it. I'm also not going to try to sell myself on the "health" benefits of red wine. Hard liquor, on the other hand, I can't handle at all.

  • rawcanadianrawcanadian Raw Newbie

    Here is the link:

    http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20090224/alcohol_cancer_090223/20090225?hub=Health

    We all know it is bad for us, but we do it anyway.

    As for the wine drinkers, I agree that the public is being mislead.

    The wine companies should tell us that you can get the same benefits from drinking pure red grape juice or eating a bunch of red grapes.

    As for being good for your heart, i though alcohol thins the blood, so it would make it easier for your heart to pump, at the expense of your kidneys , liver, bladder, brain, etc. You just have to choose which organ is the most important.

    ;-)

  • Kelly J.,

    I make homemade mead (honey wine- I'm not a strict vegan obviously) and am getting ready to make my first batch of cranberry wine. How I make my mead, it is raw. I don't boil the honey water before adding the yeast, but some people do. I imagine it may be the same way with all wines.

    Myself, I tend to try at least to be pretty moderate in most things: I don't have a problem with moderate drinking, I try to be mostly raw, but do supplement my diet with cooked. So, I'm not a purist on stuff. If it's important for you to be 100% raw, than I would suggest making your own. (it's not that hard to do)

    For myself, I seem to be healthiest at "high raw" and being a purist tends to make me just give up and go the other way (unhealthy eating). But, for some people being 100% raw is very important- and if it works for them that's fine.

    I personally find (for myself) that becoming ridgid about diet (not allowing myself indulgences) doesn't last in the long run. Personally, I would continue to moderately/occasionally consume a drink I enjoy.

  • Hi Becky,

    I completely agree with your point of view - I'm really not one for strict rules either. I don't think I've ever had mead, what's it like and would you mind giving some beginner tips/recipes?

    Thanks,

    K

  • superfood2superfood2 Raw Newbie

    Organic Wineworks has good red wine; Natura has good chardonnay for organics.

    I like wine here and there, maybe 2 glasses every couple-three weeks. I don't crave it necessarily. I don't like to get dehydrated, either, so I usually drink water with it and drink it slow. No biggie.

  • Poison.

  • WinonaWinona Raw Newbie

    Oh PLEASE, kevin. That comment was not useful, it did not contain any information helpful to the person making the decision. It's just a scare tactic that no one likes to read.

  • rawcanadianrawcanadian Raw Newbie

    "I was really dismayed at the news day b4 yesterday. After all the info given us saying that a certain amount of alcohol is good for us - the results are in and women are way more prone to many cancers drinking even one drink a day. The summary of the report was that no amount of alcohol is beneficial and no amount is safe. This is after I had three glasses of a lovely red the previous evening. I am so sick of all the things "they" tell us are good for us and then ten years later those things are bad for us."

    I posted the link in this thread to that article in case anybody wants to read it.

  • rawcanadianrawcanadian Raw Newbie

    "Organic Wineworks has good red wine; Natura has good chardonnay for organics.

    I like wine here and there, maybe 2 glasses every couple-three weeks. I don't crave it necessarily. I don't like to get dehydrated, either, so I usually drink water with it and drink it slow. No biggie."

    If you would have read the article from 2 days ago, it said that 1 glass of any alcohol a day may increase certain types of cancers.

    So basically you have decide if less heart disease is better than a higher chance of getting cancer.

    However, you should be able to get the same benefits without drinking that red wine, by eating red grapes or drinking red grape juice.

    Good luck!!!

  • CarnapCarnap Raw Newbie

    On a different note, now that I am raw I am straight edge as they come. I would never, ever touch alcohol, cigarette or pot again.

    I feel sooooo good I have no reason to alter my state of conciousness whatsoever. A mild buzz would make me feel like a fool and bring me down from the great mood I am now always in!!!

  • gratefultobegratefultobe Raw Newbie

    Alcohol is like a candy bar in every way. Pleasant? sure, addictive? possibly, food value? only in an extreme case, immediately alter your blood sugar levels? bad plan, poison? well, yeah.

    BUT I'm not mad at anyone who chooses either of those *treats* 'cept me since I know how they leave me feeling.

  • rawcanadianrawcanadian Raw Newbie

    Hey Carnap , I feel the same way. (although I will have one drink now and again)

    Even if I have one drink , I can feel the difference in the morning now, like it interferes with my sleep and alertness and physically drains me. I feel I am much more in touch with my body when consuming no alcohol, and if I need a buzz I can just eat a couple of pounds of grapes.

    ;-)

  • superfood2superfood2 Raw Newbie

    Thank you so much, but I didn't ask what you thought about my personal eating and drinking habits. Contrary to your seeming belief, not everyone cares what you think of them and what they consume.

    I don't drink or not drink based on cancer risk; thanks, though!

    This is to - who else - but rawcanadian would be so rude to try to make a comment about what I do. I tried to quote it but it didn't work.

  • rawcanadianrawcanadian Raw Newbie

    This is what people do when they are addicted to a substance, they defend what they are doing.

    You are probably in the denial stage.

    Sorry to try to help, good luck!!!

  • I think the difference between fresh grape juice or just grapes would be the fermentation. I figure if Jesus drank wine, I should drink wine! Okay, TOTALLY kidding on that one. But I'm not giving up my wine.

    I remember when I used to medical transcribe for this doc and I would type up all the social information for every patient. I didn't do raw at that time, but I was vegetarian and decided to give up hydrogenated oils and cheese because the state of health people were in by the time they were onlly 50-60 was apalling. The list of drugs these people were on were so long, it was unreal to me. Their list of health problems was scary.

    But in that whole time, there were only two people in their 70s who had NO list of meds or health problems. Of course these piqued my interest, and what I thought was hilarious was only these two folks, one a male, one a female said in their social that they had been having their one nightcap for the past 20 years. One was scotch. I can't remember what the other one was. I remember Scotch because I can't stand it and I thought I don't think I could drink that.

    So enjoy your night caps! lol. =D

  • superfood2superfood2 Raw Newbie

    Good luck to you, too, in your endeavor to dislike yourself so much that you feel the need to comment upon other people's dietary habits or preferences.

    Wow, I hope you don't tell people you're a raw foodist when you meet them because everyone hasn't been exposed to many of us, and a lot of us are accepting of other people's choices (not addictions, and even if it were, that's none of your business), don't give our opinion where it isn't warranted or relevant, and don't ASSume that others actually care what we have to say.

    I'm sure you'll have another reply in your endless battle to get the last word and be the healthiest, cancer-free person on earth. Good luck!!!

  • superfood2superfood2 Raw Newbie

    If somehow I die from drinking wine here and there, I'll die a lot happier than the people who hate themselves so much that they spew non-relevant opinions all over the place about other people.....seriously, get a hobby of some sort. You gave your opinion that you don't want to drink, why come back to the thread? The OP didn't say, "Hey, you, come on here and tell everyone what you think of us." SHe asked what YOU thought of alcohol consumption for YOURSELF. Move on with it. My brain, albeit with wine glasses a few times, seems to comprehend the question and the post a lot better than some of the non-alcohol drinkers. I'm glad for my reading comprehension.

    Cheers.

  • A little poison never killed anyone but still poison is, I used to drink moderately just because of social reasons, to follow the group, cultural reasons etc. but I no longer feel the need and I am absolutely fine.

  • I bought this amazing book called Everyday Raw by Matthew Kenney and he says.... that wine and sake are raw. He has some super yummy cocktails in there... you'd think you're drinking a vodka mixed drink with the flavor some of these have... YUMMM! I have a couple of his books and they are great.

    BTW... your personal blog is hilarious! I enjoyed reading it.

  • Kelly J.,

    A good site to begin with if you are considering making mead is "got mead" at http://www.gotmead.com/

    If some reason it doesn't work just type "got mead" into your search engine of choice. Of course, this won't work if you don't use honey- then you may want to try some sites about making wine at home (really, much of the imformation is about the same) and you could just use a good fruit juice and forgo the honey.

    As far as the taste: Mead (well, at least mine) tastes faintly beer like. My husband tells me that it would probably be more appropriate to say it reminds him a bit of a pilsner taste. (I guess what I consider beer is actually a pilsner?)

    I know beer like sounds strange for a wine. Possibly it's just my brewing. It is the one wine my husband will drink (if that is a compliment? I'm taking it that way at least). And, it's not sweet tasting. Of course, like most wine, you can make a dry or sweet wine. Good quality, raw unfiltered honey is expensive though.

    If you decide on a fruit wine, if you have a juicer you can make juice that you know is raw (if that is important to you) instead of buying it. Either way, you can also control how natural versus chemical your wine or mead is.

    I'm not trying to talk you into drinking wine, etc. It is of course your decision if you feel the benefits outweigh the cons (or even if the cons are small enough that you feel the enjoyment of wine is worth it). I also have a few relatives that can not drink moderately- it's all of nothing. And, or course there can be religious concerns for some. And, only YOU know how an occassional drink makes you feel.

    If you do decide to tip the wine glass occassionally- I would strongly encourage you to give making your own brew a shot. It gives you control of what goes into it. I'm not an expert at it- my first batch went bad and picked up an after taste. It's drinkable, but disappointing. I didn't have the carboy (what I was fermenting the mead in, it's a big 5 gallon glass jug) in a safe enough place and the bubbler on top got knocked out and I didn't realize it for several days.

    Since then I've had three successful batches. It really isn't as complicated as it sounds. You just have to try it.

    My suggestions if you do decide to make your own mead or fruit wine: Keep a brew diary. Write down the recipes you use, date your entries, and basically log in what you do. Even if you flub up a batch (and it's heart breaking I can tell you) you will have written proof of what NOT to do. And when the batch works, you can retrace what you did right.

    Also- keep your brewing in a safe place where critters or small children can't pull out the bubbler (that's what keeps air out, but lets the escaping gasses out). My dog bumped mine.

    And keep it simple at first. Don't run out and buy tons of stuff you don't need (unless your rich and can afford to do that:-)

    Whatever you choose to do: drink moderately or abstain, make your own brew or buy it (hey, not everyone enjoys brewing and that's okay)- be happy and enjoy (whether it ends up being mead or just a steaming cup of mint tea:-)

  • Ps- Something RawCanadian said in his post reminded me of something I wanted to mention. The drinking of water along with wine (or mead). I have definately noticed the tend for dehydration more with mead than say beer. Well, at least for me. If you do make your own mead I would strongly encourage having at least one glass of water around the same time as a glass of mead. That is probably a good idea for any drink as RawCanadian mentioned. But, I have noticed that with my mead specifically. It might be the alcohol content? I use high tolerance to alcohol type of yeast. Anyways- drink water too.

  • CarnapCarnap Raw Newbie

    Oh my gosh! No one is judging you. I did not see one rude comment. We were all truthfully saying the reasons we don't drink : we feel better without it. We don't get dehydrated or foggy. We like life as is.

    I only heard positive comments. We all said you have a choice to do what you want. No need to be so defensive!!

  • sv3sv3 Raw Newbie

    As someone who is high raw, I do drink, but have found that the longer I've been eating this way, the less I can deal with the side effects. I tend to have a glass or two of red wine every week but I find it so dehydrating and have to drink loads of water with it. I have also found that my stomach is upset next morning and my blood sugar levels are all over the place. I know that this is not a good sign and I am getting to the point where I think 'why bother?'. Having said that, I know that certain social situations are so tempting and like aviatrix79 pointed out, we're only human so not going to beat myself up over the odd drink here and there.

  • JoyceHJoyceH Raw Newbie

    A few decent vegan/organic wines that I like are Frey (the red table wine and their cabernet) and Our Daily Red. Our Daily Red is also very well priced at $8/bottle. Don't let that scare you as it's a lovely ,simple and enjoyable red wine. Frey's cabernet is also nice and that runs around $16/bottle.

    I love my red wine and locally brewed beers and ales. For me personally, these are a few of my weekend 'treats'. I don't drink during the weekdays much at all. But I love a glass of wine on a Friday night with the hubby. I love wine with a nice raw candle lit dinner on Saturday nights after I've spent a few hours in the kitchen making my raw yummies. I sometimes like to have a local microbrew after a good ski on Sunday afternoons. Nothing too crazy :-)

    As I continue on my raw journey, who knows, I may end up drinking less and less wine and beer. Right now I'm just taking one day or one weekend at a time and trying to enjoy my life as much as possible. No pressure or worries and that always works best for me personally. Lastly, I just want to say that I totally respect those who do not drink alcohol. Maybe someday I'll be there too, maybe not. I never do a very good job of predicting my future ;-)

    Cheers and Happy Friday!!!!

    Joyce

     

  • http://www.theorganicwinecompany.com/vegan.php

    they carry organic, vegan wines

  • Vegans do not consume any animal products. That's why it is important for a wine to be Vegan to a Vegan. It's not just a health issue for a Vegan.

  • i'm a person just like you, but I've got better things to do...

  • JoyceHJoyceH Raw Newbie

    Thorne, thank you so much for the website and your posts! For me I try to find vegan wines as I'm now a vegan and would prefer not to consume a wine with animal products.

    Thorne - do you have any favorite wines from this website? Please do tell :-)

    One last thing, everyone is so different and we all have our reasons for drinking or not drinking alcohol. I am a big believer in the mind-body connection in that our thoughts dictate how our body functions. It's like someone once said, 'all your cells are listening to your thoughts'. If I were to think about my glass of wine as a substance that will clog my liver and destroy the value of my food...well then, I suppose it probably will do just that ;-)

    I do know a 94 year old super healthy, sharp-as-a-tack woman who still drives, cooks and lives a normal happy life. She is someone I admire most in my life. She's sweet, kind, non-judgmental and has the best sense of humor. She has also enjoyed a glass of wine or a 'nip' on a daily basis. I'm not saying we should all have a daily glass of wine. But I do think her positive attidude and happy thoughts have overcome all the adverse effects *some* studies suggest.

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