[Raw Food]Thoughts on diet, was Belittling Others & Condescension -The Under

[Guest guest]

Caron,

 

I share your thoughts completely! Great post!!!!

 

Janet

 

rawfood , " Caron " <carongroups wrote:

 

 

- Erica You are right - one diet is

best for all. But just because Doug Graham thinks it's " fruit and

tender greens " , doesn't mean that he is the authority on the issue.

Here is a man afraid to even get his B12 tested. I agree there is one

diet for all, but it simply your opinion that that diet should be 80%

fruit. Experience proves otherwise for many. One week is hardly

indicative of a great long-term diet. I can water fast for a week and

feel great, but obviously that doesn't mean water alone is the ideal

food for me. That's all I'm saying. :-) Erica I don't think it's the

optimal diet just because Doug Graham, Elchanan, or anyone else, says

it is. I was sceptical at first too - after all, every food on the

list was one of my favourites, surely it can't be good for me, right?

 

But then I started thinking, well, what would I eat if I knew

absolutely nothing about nutrition, science, studies and so on (ie, if

I was off in a jungle or on a deserted island)? I'd go for things

that A: taste good; B:

are easy to digest (no blender in the jungle); C: sit well in the

belly, and D: without causing any adverse affects after eating.

Lettuce tastes good, is juicy and sweet, and is easy to eat. Kale,

spinach, bok choy, and others, don't taste so good, are hard to chew,

and don't sit easily in the belly.

Fruit tastes great and sweet, and are something I'd want to eat a lot

of the time; lettuce, cucumbers and similar, are less sweet, and good

for a change of taste, and also very refreshing. I probably also

wouldn't eat anything that resulted in sweating (thus wasting water),

or unhuman smells (risking attracting predators), or anything else

that might put survival at risk.

 

I've also watched my boy - when he was first born, it was apparent to

me that, in my family at least, he was the closest thing I'd ever see

to health. He was as free from contaminants as one could be, born to

a meat'n'veg eating mother who'd been pumped full of drugs that did

absolutely nothing beneficial. He reacted to soap, and other

toiletries (eg disposable wipes) so I washed him with water, and he

didn't end up with the severe exzema that most of the other babies

had. He was ill when I started him on solids, even 2 months after the

recommended age, so I took him off solids until he was ready, then

took him off them again because he was losing weight. Then spent a

year and a half wondering what the problem was because he still wasn't

thriving (by 18 months, I was starting to get the " how cruel you are "

comments from those who knew he wasn't on solids). The fact that he

showed dramatic improvement within 3 days of going raw - 80-10-10,

said a lot too.

 

Children, being relatively healthy to start with, show rather more

severe reactions to contaminants that adults, who have come to believe

that their state of being is " normal " or " healthy " . Their reactions

are many and varied, ranging from skin problems (exzema, diaper/nappy

rash, spots, etc), to behavioural issues (add/adhd etc) to other

things such as increased urine output (bedwetting to age 7, 8 or

beyond), sleep issues, chronic illnesses, and so on. These things are

seen to be " normal " , but really, they're not. My son, since going

raw, has not been ill all year, where usually he has a " cold " every

other week, until I started eating wheat again. Now he has a runny

nose and sniffles, and a rash, and has wet the bed 3 times in a week.

Completely my bad, but a good reminder that diet is so important.

 

So, I trust my son's choices in foods, too - even though he's seen us

(his family adults) eating junky foods, he will choose fruit every

time. Some fruits he won't eat (acid fruits like oranges;

strawberries, and similar), but he will lick them, and ask me to eat

them. He also asks me to eat lettuce at times. After initially

thinking he was just being bossy (I am, afterall, a product of my own

childhood), it occured to me that he was getting me to fill in the

gaps, as most of his nutrition still comes from breastmilk. I've been

asked to eat lettuce and snowpeas out of the garden, mulberries off

the tree, oranges, mandarines, strawberries etc out of the fridge. He

eats the bananas, apples, grapes, melons, and other sweet fruits.

He's never asked me to eat herbs though, even when we had a garden

full of them. He's never asked me to eat coffee, or wine, or

chocolate, or garlic, even when we've been sick.

 

So, I've come to trust Elchanan's knowledge, not because I think he's

some wise guru, but because I've seen the truth of his words in my own

life, and in my son. I have no idea if we'll develop deficiencies

down the track, we've only been at this for a few months. I'm

inclined to trust in Doug's and Elchanan's health though, and take it

day by day for myself and my son.

I have my theories as to why others eating this way develop

deficiencies - maybe they have a disinfecting thing, maybe they use

airconditioning, maybe they just don't stick to the way of life as

much as they think they do.

Besides diet, there are some 30-odd other major factors of health,

that a lot of people seem to forget about in all the debate over diet.

 

Mostly though, if your reason for eating herbs etc is a medicinal

thing (I keep hearing about how healing they are), then they can't be

a dietary staple. If all you're doing is treating symptoms, then

you're no better off than if you're doing it under a doctor - you're

still reliant on medications and drugs to hide the symptoms. I'd far

rather remove the cause altogether, even if it means fasting for a

year (I'm gearing up for a week, hehe).

 

I apologise for the rambling nature of this post, it's been a few days

in the writing, in between running round the yard, gardening,

swimming, playing ball, and all the other things the boy thinks he

needs to do with his health ;o)