A muse or two ... on raw food, running and stuff ...

 

 

I discovered the benefits of raw food back in Sept 2003.

I was on a seven day fasting retreat at Karuna with Shoshana & Dao (who is now at Suradetox) in an attempt to cure my various long term ailments (IBS, urticaria, psoriasis etc.) see my entry under September 2003 here .

During the fast I lost weight and expelled lots of toxic stuff stored in my body, but it's the knowledge I came away with, about the process of digestion, the bowel, the immune system and of course raw food that's had the greatest effect on me & my health going forwards.

 

We're all familiar with the UK government's 'drive' for us poor lemmings to eat 5 portions of fruit and veg a day (which oddly canned, pasteurised stuff counts), I recall this has since increased to 8 portions a day. I wonder if anyone in the mainstream/gov has ever considered what may (or may not) happen if you eat 10, 15, 20, 30+ pieces of fruit and veg a day?

Greater health or worse health?

An increased chance of chronic disease or a decreased one?

 

All I know is the more whole, ripe, organic fruit and greens you eat the less room/desire you have for the other 'crap' that's out there which tempts us daily and the better you feel.

 

Like most of us, I've got bad habits & old temptations which drag me off the raw food path, but at least I'm very aware of the likely consequences of those choices I make, and whenever those bad habits creep back in, I know what I need to do to counter-balance them.

 

Over the years, I know I've been the healthiest, fittest & happiest at around 95% raw vegain, cooked food being baked/steamed pumpkin/sweet-potatoes with the odd bit of alcohol (preferably wine). I've done 4.5 months of 100% low fat raw vegan (no booze) and it was tough (on those around me and myself, it can be lonely place sometimes), but as I say I'm at my happiest predominately raw (veg or vegan).

 

I've always been a fan of blending fruits (easy to hide 200g+ of spinach) but I never used to juice veg/fruit much as the stuff wasn't 'whole' (i.e. missing fibre and other stuff), but over time I've realised it's fine to do juices, esp. as these automatically adhere to the low fat approach which I think is the key to long term health.

I also see no problem in taking a B12 supplement if required, I also supplement my diet/smoothies regularly with vitamineralgreen powder). If you can't get enough daily sun, take a vitamin D supplement too (I don't).

 

To the raw food naysayers and 'where do you get your protein' non-thinkers or to those in fear of increasing the amount of raw fruit and veg in their diet, I say just give it a go without fretting about 'evidence/proof' and see the (often immediate) improvements in your health for yourself.

What's the worse that could happen eating a bit more fruit and veg?

 

As for doing high mileage and running on a predominately raw diet, it's definitely doable.

At the peak of my training and when 100% raw vegan I was clocking 85 miles a week.

The key is to eat enough calories!

 

To your raw health!

 

Rawrunner September 2012

 

 

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