Raw Food Diet - Day 29 (Blog)

[Steve Pavlina]

Use this thread to discuss the following entry from Steve Pavlina's blog:

Raw Food Diet - Day 29

[ami]

Are you measuring your body fat percent? Its interesting to see if you gained more muscle weight since you reported you're training with heavier weights. Maybe your total body weight hasn't changed much but the proportion of muscle to fat has improved.

After being mostly raw for the past 20 days, I ate some of my favorite vegan foods yesterday and the taste was great! I ate a very simple sandwich with hummus and it tasted like it did many years ago. The hummus is an ordinary supermarket kind - nothing special but maybe the raw diet changed my taste buds.

I hope you enjoy the next 30 day diet where you eat like in your lucid dreams.

[bwb]

Steve, have you tried some cyanoacrylate-based liquid antiseptic bandage (medical superglue) on that cut? They sell it at the drug store, an impossibly tiny bottle for a ridiculously high price. The brand I've had success with is 3M Nexcare; NuSkin has not worked so well for me. I use this whenever the cat lets me know I need to trim his nails, or I get a papercut or get too clumsy with a kitchen knife. It keeps the wound from reopening and keeps crud from getting into it.

[Jake Birkett]

youch, skin looks dry. I used to get skin like that a lot in the winter when I was a kid, especially if the air was dry a lot although it was more on the knuckles. I presume you use stuff like soap and detergent sparingly?

Hey have you ever tried a Dragon Fruit? I tried on yesterday for the first time:

http://www.passion4fruit.de/uploads/...agon-fruit.jpg

To be honest it didn't taste like much, kinda watery and like rice pudding with these little crunchy black seeds a bit like sesame seeds.

[Bruce Achterberg]

Originally Posted by Jake Birkett

Hey have you ever tried a Dragon Fruit? I tried on yesterday for the first time:

http://www.passion4fruit.de/uploads/...agon-fruit.jpg

To be honest it didn't taste like much, kinda watery and like rice pudding with these little crunchy black seeds a bit like sesame seeds.

I've tried dragon fruit. Not a fan. I prefer seedless fruits, or fruits that have seeds that can easily be isolated.

I actually like raspberries, but greatly dislike the seedy-ness of them. I'm not a big fan of how much they cost, either.

[CeciL]

My skin gets dry in the winter and usually need some sort of "intensive therapy" moisturizer after washing / showering. The mostly fruit based diet is probably exaggerating the problem. I have noticed on a fruit fast my skin dries REAL bad all over my body. I bet once you cut down on the fruit your skin will return to normal.

Looking forward to see how your new food trial idea turns out, sounds interesting.

[Bruce Achterberg]

I would personally find a 30 day "eat all the foods you enjoy" trial to be most interesting, especially in contrast to the 30 day raw trial.

Some things to keep in mind:

You may want to let your health return to what you'd define as "normal" (ie. no itchiness or dry skin).

Also, it may be wise to uncover any inaccurate beliefs before you start the trial, lest they get in the way of the enjoyment of eating the foods you like. Ie. I could say, "I enjoy ice cream, so eating it every night would definitely be something I enjoy", but the reality is that I don't like eating ice cream every night, even if I do enjoy it. Rather, I have it when I feel like some, which usually ends up being every few months or so. So I guess what I'm saying is to be aware of not only what you enjoy, but when, specifically, something you enjoy becomes "too much of a good thing".

Also, while I enjoy ice cream, if I had to spend 3 hours making it myself, I'd probably enjoy it a whole lot less since part of the enjoyment comes from the conveinience surrounding the food (at least for me). Flavour, texture, etc, is only one part of the entire "enjoyment package".

You may even need to define "enjoyment". Personally, I'd go with definitions that relate to present moment enjoyment, since going of any other definition could make it hard. Ie. You thought eating lots of fruit would be enjoyable, and it was for a time, but that desire was based on the experience of not eating excessive amounts of fruit, and so your desires evolved.

It'd be a case of constantly coming into alignment with what you enjoy, without having too much of a fixed notion of what you "enjoy", in case it became inaccurate too quickly. Ie. Stocking up on 10 tubs of ice cream may sound good initially, but if your preferences change, it certainly won't be ideal (although I'm sure your kids wouldn't mind ).

I personally find that part of my "enjoyment package" is the fact that I don't always eat foods I enjoy. The contrast of other foods and the anticipation before eating my fav foods makes them more enjoyable when I do eat them.

You'd probably have to experiment to find a way you can eat things that satisfy your entire "enjoyment package", without having the work involved in acquiring/preparing the food taint the enjoyment you get out of the foods. Otherwise you could end up getting resistant to eating too much of one thing, like you seem to have done with so much fruit. And I think resistance (or rather, lack thereof) plays a big part in being able to eat what you want and still being able to experience good health. Or at least, that's what seems to be the case with people who miraculously heal themselves of serious ailments.

[Rosie]

On day thirty one it would be cool if you could blog about your first day back to cooked food. You could show pictures of what you ate, and tell us about how you feel about returning to cooked food.

[Rosie]

You should definitely go for the trial where you eat whatever you want!. It would be interesting to see the affect it would have on you. I can guarantee you'd have lots of interested readers!

[Bruce Achterberg]

Haha, Steve, I love how the image of your hand/dry, cracked fingers has the alt text, "Dinner". Intentional or not (I assume it was), it's pretty amusing.

Out of curiosity, do any omnivores out there find Steve's hand appetising?



Mmmm, hand.



(Relax, I jest. I get to because I'm vegan. )

[Hari.c]

Welcome to the last day of the trail steve. I think you are very exited today. All the best.

[Erin Pavlina]

Actually Bruce, Steve has been nibbling on my hand and arm and neck quite a bit during this trial. I have to remind him that I'm not food. He says, "But you're raw."

[Tarantoga]

Hi Steve,

This looks like a depletion of fatty acids. You won't find much of them in the raw fruits and vegetables, but theres plenty in raw seeds and nuts.

[Jaben]

I believe this is a good practice if you can become sensitive enough to know where the want is coming from. It is difficult to distinguish between a desire or craving telling you what is needed for long term health and wellness versus a physiological or emotional addiction.

Here is a related quote from Eckhart Tolle from his website | Eckhart Tolle

I recommend listening to the body. When you look at a food item (or imagine ingesting it) become still and alert. You will then feel the body either opening up (saying “yes”) or you may notice a slight contraction, which means the body is saying “no”. The body knows more about food than your mind ever will.

Wheat can have an opiate effect, see Gluten-free, casein-free diet - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Also, I've read that candida produce a toxin when starving that makes us feel bad. Supposedly if you eat foods that feed the candida, the toxin production stops and you feel better.

[Andrew Brunelle]

I think doing that trial where you create health from within would be interesting. You just eat whatever you want, believing that it will give you health. I suppose being grateful for the food will help a lot, and putting tons of positive energy into the goal should as well. At least it will be a much easier trial to partake in. Good luck to you and enjoy cooked food tomorrow.

[qborden]

Hi Steve,

I have enjoyed keeping up with your 30 day trial. Personally, I try to eat this way at least during the week, and then relax a little on the weekends. I also consume a LOT of green smoothies, usually 128 ounces per day. Bananas, romaine lettuce, and dates.

I wonder what your experience would be like if you continued to eat this way for just a few more days, but didn't worry about measuring and taking pictures of all of your food. I am sure those activities have made this trial more tedious than necessary, so it might be worthwhile to see what the diet is like when you do not have to concern yourself with all this recordkeeping. You may actually get to enjoy it!

Best regards,

Jim

[klaviergirl]

Hi Steve,

I've really enjoyed following this 30-day trial!

I'd be really interested to hear what you eat for the first few days after the trial and how that affects you mentally and physically...

Congrats for reaching the end!

[Joeschmoe]

Originally Posted by Tarantoga

Hi Steve,

This looks like a depletion of fatty acids. You won't find much of them in the raw fruits and vegetables, but theres plenty in raw seeds and nuts.

And you can tell this just by looking?

[wulph]

Originally Posted by Joeschmoe

And you can tell this just by looking?

"Omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids are absolutely essential for human life and health, but they must be provided by our diet. They play particularly key roles in brain development and function.

"Various physical signs are associated with deficiencies in these essential fatty acids. These include excessive thirst, frequent urination, rough, dry or scaly skin, dry, dull or ‘lifeless’ hair, dandruff, and soft or brittle nails. Raised bumps on the skin are particularly characteristic. (This is called ‘follicular keratosis’ as it results from a build-up of hard, dry skin around the hair follicles)."

from Food and Behaviour Research: FAB Research Factsheet - Physical Signs of Fatty Acid Deficiency

[eternomi]

I’m curious what would happen if I stopped looking to food as a source of health and aimed to simply create health from within, regardless of what I ate.

I think you are onto something there.

I've just finished reading Candace Pert's book "Everything You Need To Know To Feel Go(o)d" and she has an interesting concept in the book. The idea is that the body is a multi-nodal network and the brain is one of the many nodes which include the rest of your organs, tissues, etc. It can both receive from and transmit into the network and so can all the other nodes.

What you eat surely has an effect on how you feel, your level of health, etc.. What you think does too. And so does what you put on your skin, and what you listen to with your ears, etc.. The nodes interact with each other and the result is the sum of all contributions. Therefore, just "healthy eating" or just "healthy thinking" will not result in health, but each node makes its own contribution. This makes sense if we are to accept that nothing is truly disconnected.

[Joeschmoe]

Originally Posted by wulph

"Omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids are absolutely essential for human life and health, but they must be provided by our diet. They play particularly key roles in brain development and function.

"Various physical signs are associated with deficiencies in these essential fatty acids. These include excessive thirst, frequent urination, rough, dry or scaly skin, dry, dull or ‘lifeless’ hair, dandruff, and soft or brittle nails. Raised bumps on the skin are particularly characteristic. (This is called ‘follicular keratosis’ as it results from a build-up of hard, dry skin around the hair follicles)."

from Food and Behaviour Research: FAB Research Factsheet - Physical Signs of Fatty Acid Deficiency

My point was that you can't possible diagnose this kind of defeciency just by looking at crack on Steve's skin. BTW all fruit and some of the overt fats have EFAs in them and they come in the naturally correct balance, about 1 to 1.

[Tarantoga]

Originally Posted by Joeschmoe

My point was that you can't possible diagnose this kind of defeciency just by looking at crack on Steve's skin.

Knowing Steve's diet it's the best explanation.

Originally Posted by Joeschmoe

BTW all fruit and some of the overt fats have EFAs in them and they come in the naturally correct balance, about 1 to 1.

And you can of course give us some numbers and references.

[Joeschmoe]

Take a look at Bananas

Mango

kale

The Omega 3 and 6 are at the bottom.

Now let's look at the staples of the high fat vegan diet

Coconut
-no measurable omega 3


Tahini closer to 10:1

These are just a couple of examples. If you ate mostly overt fats you would be not be getting lose to 1 to 1.

Here is some info on the ratio they say 1:1 to 4:1. Think of all the flax seed you'd have to down, or you could just eat a lot of plants that have much closer to the correct balance.

So on his last day steve had a ratio of 2.3:1 (by nutritiondata.com) And 1.3 grams of omega 3 (I left out the juice) and the daily value is b/w 1.1 and 1.6. On a day that is up to 10% calories from fats i would wager that he is over this by quite a bit. This day was only at 5%. So I would also wager a guess that he is not deficient in EFAs.

Also this is all uncooked, so I'd also bet that more of it is available. Now I would like one of the people who thinks he is deficient to back up their claims.

Edited to add

Symptoms of Omega 3 deficiency

Symptoms of an omega-3 deficiency include fatigue, dry and/or itchy skin, brittle hair and nails, constipation, depression, frequent colds, poor concentration, lack of physical endurance and joint pain.

He has one of the symptoms. I'm not a doctor, but I wouldn't think you could diagnose on one syptom when all other symptoms are counter-indicative.