I've been concerned that I'm not getting enough minerals on my raw food diet because I simply hate the taste of almost every raw vegetable you can imagine. And I do mean that I hate them.
I use fresh herbs and pepper blends to coat my vegetables, and I try to use a limited amount of avocado (like one to three a week, because I realized that using a lot of avocados upsets my stomach a lot) and sometimes fruit dressings to hide vegetables. In every fruit smoothie I always hide a little kale or spinach or both.
Right now I'm drinking a coconut kefir I made that has two kale leaves and one chard leaf hidden inside, but the drink also has a handful of berries and two bananas. Not to mention the two cups of coconut kefir, some coconut juice and water. Clearly the ratio of fruit to vegetable there is not the best.
You see my dilemma. I do eat tons of lettuce, spinach and sunflower sprouts, since they're each so mild that I can use a tiny bit of something flavorful that I enjoy and manage to eat massive amounts of those three things.
But it doesn't work that way with broccoli (and many other things, such as cabbage, cauliflower, or bok choy). I can not cover up broccoli flavor with anything. I used to love eating it cooked... with tons of butter on top.
Anyway, I hate steamed vegetables more than I hate raw vegetables; always have. They just seem like limp versions of raw vegetables. They taste similar, only worse to me.
So... Last night I cooked some peas (something else I hate raw), and a handful of lima beans (which I find disgusting sprouted), and the head from a stalk of broccoli together with five cloves of garlic chopped up in the water.
It was about three cups of cooked food, maybe two and a half. I used a little (cold pressed organic) olive oil and salt to make it edible to me. I took an enzyme pill since I'm short on leafy greens in the fridge at the moment and knew I'd get an upset stomach if I didn't.
My stomach isn't upset, and I didn't get any real pain (there were minor gas pains, but I can get those from eating too much fruit or too much dehydrated food just as easily), but I was very bloated last night, and I'm still a little bloated now. My energy level is excellent, and I'm very alert, and my mood is fine. So all of those are fine.
I've developed two problems that concern me however. While everything else is getting better -- like I'm building muscle faster, fighting off colds like they're nothing, able to walk longer, less stomach irritations -- I do have two issues that continue to get worse despite me trying to vary many things.
I have circles under my eyes. I've been raw since September 3rd 2010. The circles started late November, and have been on and off, and now I've had them pretty consistently since Christmas. This is entirely new problem for me, something I have not experienced much throughout my life at all. Which is amazing, since the long laundry list of problems I used to have in regards to health is about a mile long.
The other problem is also fairly new. My hair is shedding. I have very long hair, and I know how much usually comes out in the brush every day. That amount is about 150% it's usual amount, and I also know I'm shedding because I keep getting hair on my hands when I'm trying to work on things. I'll be drawing or preparing food and suddenly have a hair in the way. This is highly unusual for me. Usually after a good brush I don't shed like that at all.
I've looked up what's good for hair, and notice that nuts is on the list. I have stopped eating the amount of nuts I was eating because I realized that the more nuts I ate, the more bloated I was, and also, I noticed that combining them with sugar was ruinous on my body overall.
And get a load of this...: I don't like plain nuts.
The only way I like nuts with vegetables in almond butter on celery. I suppose I could grind them up really tiny and sprinkle on a salad... Hrm.
Also, is it true that you can soak walnuts (or pecans) and then rinse them and dehydrate them and that they are better for you that way? I've heard (from several sources) that doing this will release the enzyme inhibitors from the nuts during soaking, and then you can dehydrate them to bring the crispness back. I had a walnut that this had been done to at a potluck and it tasted great, and I generally am not a huge fan of walnuts. It tasted almost like it came fresh from the shell.
How many nuts is a reasonable amount in a day? How else can I try eating nuts?
I've read that hot peppers, in large quantity, can really irritate the immune system and digestion and be hard on the body in a way similar to caffeine. I've started eating more of them than I ever have before in my life to try and cover up the taste of the large amount of vegetables I'm trying to consume. Because I never ate much hot stuff in the past, a little goes a long way for me. Is it stressing on the system to have some spicy food every day, but only a small amount?
Okay, that's a lot of questions, so I'm going to line them up at the end of this message.
I really appreciate you taking the time to read this, and I'd appreciate your thoughts even more.
1. Is eating some cooked vegetables a good idea? (If I'm cooking them until they are soft, does that make it a bad idea, as opposed to steaming them? Because I'd rather force them down raw than steamed anyway.)
2. How many cooked vegetables are okay? (I'm currently under the impression that one to two cups of cooked vegetables a week may be okay for me, but I'm uncertain since I'm almost always bloated afterward.)
3. Has anyone else experienced circles under their eyes on the raw diet?
4. What mineral losses cause circles under the eyes?
5. Are any particular vegetables particularly good for hair? What about particular fruits?
6. What is a health number of nuts to eat daily?
7. Any ideas for creative ways to consume nuts without combining them with fruit?
8. Is combining a very, very small amount of nuts with fruits still a bad idea (to do on a regular basis)? (Like a spoonful of nut butter or two-three nuts in an entire smoothie.)
9. Is it stressing on the system to have some spicy food every day, but only a small amount?
10. Is it true that you can soak walnuts (or pecans) and then rinse them and dehydrate them and that they are better for you that way?
~ Raederle
I use fresh herbs and pepper blends to coat my vegetables, and I try to use a limited amount of avocado (like one to three a week, because I realized that using a lot of avocados upsets my stomach a lot) and sometimes fruit dressings to hide vegetables. In every fruit smoothie I always hide a little kale or spinach or both.
Right now I'm drinking a coconut kefir I made that has two kale leaves and one chard leaf hidden inside, but the drink also has a handful of berries and two bananas. Not to mention the two cups of coconut kefir, some coconut juice and water. Clearly the ratio of fruit to vegetable there is not the best.
You see my dilemma. I do eat tons of lettuce, spinach and sunflower sprouts, since they're each so mild that I can use a tiny bit of something flavorful that I enjoy and manage to eat massive amounts of those three things.
But it doesn't work that way with broccoli (and many other things, such as cabbage, cauliflower, or bok choy). I can not cover up broccoli flavor with anything. I used to love eating it cooked... with tons of butter on top.
Anyway, I hate steamed vegetables more than I hate raw vegetables; always have. They just seem like limp versions of raw vegetables. They taste similar, only worse to me.
So... Last night I cooked some peas (something else I hate raw), and a handful of lima beans (which I find disgusting sprouted), and the head from a stalk of broccoli together with five cloves of garlic chopped up in the water.
It was about three cups of cooked food, maybe two and a half. I used a little (cold pressed organic) olive oil and salt to make it edible to me. I took an enzyme pill since I'm short on leafy greens in the fridge at the moment and knew I'd get an upset stomach if I didn't.
My stomach isn't upset, and I didn't get any real pain (there were minor gas pains, but I can get those from eating too much fruit or too much dehydrated food just as easily), but I was very bloated last night, and I'm still a little bloated now. My energy level is excellent, and I'm very alert, and my mood is fine. So all of those are fine.
I've developed two problems that concern me however. While everything else is getting better -- like I'm building muscle faster, fighting off colds like they're nothing, able to walk longer, less stomach irritations -- I do have two issues that continue to get worse despite me trying to vary many things.
I have circles under my eyes. I've been raw since September 3rd 2010. The circles started late November, and have been on and off, and now I've had them pretty consistently since Christmas. This is entirely new problem for me, something I have not experienced much throughout my life at all. Which is amazing, since the long laundry list of problems I used to have in regards to health is about a mile long.
The other problem is also fairly new. My hair is shedding. I have very long hair, and I know how much usually comes out in the brush every day. That amount is about 150% it's usual amount, and I also know I'm shedding because I keep getting hair on my hands when I'm trying to work on things. I'll be drawing or preparing food and suddenly have a hair in the way. This is highly unusual for me. Usually after a good brush I don't shed like that at all.
I've looked up what's good for hair, and notice that nuts is on the list. I have stopped eating the amount of nuts I was eating because I realized that the more nuts I ate, the more bloated I was, and also, I noticed that combining them with sugar was ruinous on my body overall.
And get a load of this...: I don't like plain nuts.
The only way I like nuts with vegetables in almond butter on celery. I suppose I could grind them up really tiny and sprinkle on a salad... Hrm.
Also, is it true that you can soak walnuts (or pecans) and then rinse them and dehydrate them and that they are better for you that way? I've heard (from several sources) that doing this will release the enzyme inhibitors from the nuts during soaking, and then you can dehydrate them to bring the crispness back. I had a walnut that this had been done to at a potluck and it tasted great, and I generally am not a huge fan of walnuts. It tasted almost like it came fresh from the shell.
How many nuts is a reasonable amount in a day? How else can I try eating nuts?
I've read that hot peppers, in large quantity, can really irritate the immune system and digestion and be hard on the body in a way similar to caffeine. I've started eating more of them than I ever have before in my life to try and cover up the taste of the large amount of vegetables I'm trying to consume. Because I never ate much hot stuff in the past, a little goes a long way for me. Is it stressing on the system to have some spicy food every day, but only a small amount?
Okay, that's a lot of questions, so I'm going to line them up at the end of this message.
I really appreciate you taking the time to read this, and I'd appreciate your thoughts even more.
1. Is eating some cooked vegetables a good idea? (If I'm cooking them until they are soft, does that make it a bad idea, as opposed to steaming them? Because I'd rather force them down raw than steamed anyway.)
2. How many cooked vegetables are okay? (I'm currently under the impression that one to two cups of cooked vegetables a week may be okay for me, but I'm uncertain since I'm almost always bloated afterward.)
3. Has anyone else experienced circles under their eyes on the raw diet?
4. What mineral losses cause circles under the eyes?
5. Are any particular vegetables particularly good for hair? What about particular fruits?
6. What is a health number of nuts to eat daily?
7. Any ideas for creative ways to consume nuts without combining them with fruit?
8. Is combining a very, very small amount of nuts with fruits still a bad idea (to do on a regular basis)? (Like a spoonful of nut butter or two-three nuts in an entire smoothie.)
9. Is it stressing on the system to have some spicy food every day, but only a small amount?
10. Is it true that you can soak walnuts (or pecans) and then rinse them and dehydrate them and that they are better for you that way?
~ Raederle
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