Larabars, live food & long trips

[Guest guest]

Hi Nora,

Thanks for providing some perspective on the gradual transition as a person is

working from a cooked food diet to a live raw diet.

 

I am hoping you will share how you support your live raw diet when you are away

from stores and refrigerators for an extended period like a week or more.

 

Even apples don't last much more than 2 weeks at room temperature, and if a

person is having to carry their food with them, the water weight in apples

becomes a significant problem. It is much more weight efficient to carry a small

filter, and create a new batch of clean water every day or two, than it is to

carry enough fresh food (which is mostly water by weight) for all of the meals.

 

I'm thinking that for a few days, bringing enough apples so I can eat one fresh

apple a day would provide a spark of that raw live energy, but past that point,

unprocessed dried food looks like the best option.

 

I'm also drawing a very fine line that unprocessed dried food is a shade better

than the processed dried food in energy bars. However I'm still thinking that

some homemade energy bars would be useful for an occasional use because they are

ground up finer than they can be chewed, and will hydrate faster in the stomach,

and then provide energy faster than chewing up unprocessed whole dried food.

Ideally a person would sit down, slowly chew their dried food, and then give

their stomach a chance to start digesting it. In a pinch, when you can't do

this, an energy bar sounds like a reasonable compromise.

 

Having an occasional treat goes a long way to keep the moral up. One of my

favorite treats is putting carob powder into the soaked nut creme I pour over

diced fruit. The only way I can think of using carob powder as finger food is to

mix it into a homemade energy bar. I'm thinking of seeing what it is like if I

grind up raw organic almonds, dried figs, and carob powder together, and pack it

into miniature baggies to carry with me.

 

I've never tried soaking/sprouting almonds in a pack, but I'm considering this

(in spite of the fact it sounds like a mess) because that would remove some of

the tannin from the skin and they would become live in a way that dried fruit

won't if you soak it. I'm thinking of soaking a very small amount at any one

time to keep the weight down, and so they will soak and get eaten before they

spoil.

 

I would appreciate any comments or suggestions you (or anybody else) has about

dealing with supporting a live raw diet when away from stores and refrigeration.

 

May your day be filled with clarity, grace, progress, and warm laughter,

Roger

 

-

" Nora Lenz " <nmlenz

<RawSeattle >

Saturday, September 24, 2005 3:46 PM

Re: [RawSeattle] Larabars

 

 

> Hi All,

> I have a few thoughts about Larabars. Although they may

> not be ideal, I don't discourage new raw fooders from eating

> them. Nobody gets to an optimal raw diet overnight, and

> these kinds of foods can be very helpful in transition. If

> I ate Larabars now it would be painfully evident to me that

> they're not an optimal food, but that's not solely a

> testament to the unsuitability of the food (which has

> primarily to do with combining, processing and freshness

> issues), but also to my own increased sensitivity (a good

> thing!), which is a natural consequence of eating a very

> 'clean' diet for a few years. I'd have the same kind of

> reaction if I ate any of the 'bridge' foods I used to freely

> indulge in, commercial or home-made. I'd never have been

> able to stay raw without those foods, though. So while

> Larabars are definitely not optimal, they have my hearty

> endorsement as a transition food. Having said that,

> obviously people who want to acquire the highest level of

> health should always seek to gradually decrease consumption

> of these kinds of foods in favor of fresh, whole,

> biologically-appropriate foods.

> Hope this is helpful!

> Nora

> www.RawSchool.com

> Join my discussion list here:

> Rawschool/

>

>

>

 

[Guest guest]

Hi Roger,

You're welcome. The discussion on this list about

'preparedness' sparked a similar thread in my group so you

might be interested in reading some of the posts over there.

I don't think much about it but if disaster struck I'd

eat whatever I had on hand, which is usually 1-3 days'

supply of fresh fruit, plus a pound or so of nuts and a

pound of dried figs. That might last a week or so, if I

rationed myself. If food still wasn't available, I'd stop

eating until it was. If I was kept from eating for 6 weeks

or more, I'd likely starve to death. Short of that, I may

have to deal with periodic bouts of weakness but in the long

run I'd be a lot healthier for the experience.

As I mentioned on my list, if I lived in a place where

these things happen frequently, I'd take it a lot more

seriously, especially if I was a new raw fooder keen to stay

on track with my diet and not be tempted to eat the " food "

that is normally fed to disaster refugees. Some of the

things I'd have on hand are nuts (in and out of the shell),

dried fruits (Trader Joe's has a huge assortment), plenty of

water, lots of the commercially prepared treats (like

Larabars), and anything else that would qualify as

reasonably healthy, uncooked, shelf-stable food. Btw,

soaking dried fruit and nuts always makes them easier to

digest but wouldn't be necessary if it wasn't possible or

practical.

Best wishes,

Nora

www.RawSchool.com