[RawSeattle):can raw food diet cure depression\anxiety

[Guest guest]

I havent been raw for very long and am not 100 percent raw about 60 percent at

this point but anyhow im still learning about it. but what i wanted to know is

it true that it can cure depression and anxiety? ive had anxiety for years and

get seasonal depression and if being 100 percent raw would cure or at leadt help

that then id do it. my only problem is even though ive looked online and read a

few books being 100 percent raw seems hard in that most of the recipies are time

consuming and i dont have the money to spend hundreds of dallars on new kitchen

equiptment ie vitamix,dehydrator,food processor. so what i wanted to know is for

someone that isnt the best cook and doesnt have a kitchen full of equiptment how

can i be 100 percent raw and also do you know of any books i could check out

that would be for someone that isnt a cheg and doesnt have all the equiptment?

and about the anxiety and depression do people get cured with the raw diet?

thank you

sincerly

Ruth

 

 

 

How low will we go? Check out Messenger’s low PC-to-Phone call rates.

 

 

[Guest guest]

Ruth,

 

Thanks for your post. I've found raw food to be very balancing in terms

of moods, including irritability. I have noticed, over the years, that

foods can certainly contribute to nervousness and anxiety. It's my

belief that, of any type of diet, raw foods would be of the most help

of any diet (for any dis-ease). Raw foods are the most natural for us,

as cooking was only introduced very recently in evolutionary terms.

I've overcome migraines, high blood pressure, and gastritis, and even

stopped " catching " colds and flues. It is only when I don't eat as pure

a living food diet that I may get cold symptoms.

 

Regarding depression, Victoria Boutenko (long time raw foodist and

author), mentions depression as on symptom of low stomach acid (book:

" Green for Life " ). Increasing the consumption of greens (to approx.

45%) helps the body to increase stomach acid production and should help

reduce associated symptoms (not that the low acid is causing other

symptoms. I realize that the same deficiencies can manifest in many

different symptoms. Giving the body what it needs will help.)

 

No expensive equipment is required for raw foods. The equipment is

typically used for more gourmet foods. The ideal foods for the body

(IMO) are the simplest. It is easier for the body to digest a meal of

organic green leaf lettuce than a complicated raw casserole with lots

of nuts and seeds. Eating " mono " (one food per meal, like celery,

melon, or lettuce, etc.) frees up more energy in the body, and doesn't

require fancy equipment. I eat very simply much of the time and

occasionally eat more complicated foods. If you are content eating

simply, then you certainly have my support.

 

Perhaps there is someone on this list who has had first hand experience

with depression/anxiety.

 

Jeff

[Guest guest]

Hi Ruth,

 

Check out Audrey's story at www.rawhealing.com. She cured her

depression and anxiety with raw. I feel so much better when I eat

raw--and when I go back to cooked, I get irritable, anxious and

depressed.

 

I was very put off by all the equipment and recipes I read about

when I was first reading raw books, too. I never got into the

dehydrator or making too many recipes. Sometimes it has been fun to

try a raw " burger " at a potluck or eat complex raw food at our local

raw restaurant (Chaco Canyon Cafe). It can help if you're really

craving. But you can definitely eat raw without all of that. Just

eat lots of fruits, some tender greens, and maybe a few nuts and

seeds (yes, easier said than done :-)! I use my regular blender a

lot for smoothies, and sometimes my food processor for applesauce or

watermelon soup, or things like that.

 

Nora Lenz's web site (www.rawschool.com) is good and has an optimal

food chart. Dr. Doug Graham is great and has a new book coming out,

something like " The 80-10-10 Diet. " Frederic Patenaude has a good,

very simple recipe book, " Raw Sensations "

(www.fredericpatenaude.com).

 

Best wishes to you,

 

Laurie

 

RawSeattle , lucka belle <pinkvinyl30

wrote:

>

> I havent been raw for very long and am not 100 percent raw about

60 percent at this point but anyhow im still learning about it. but

what i wanted to know is it true that it can cure depression and

anxiety? ive had anxiety for years and get seasonal depression and

if being 100 percent raw would cure or at leadt help that then id do

it. my only problem is even though ive looked online and read a few

books being 100 percent raw seems hard in that most of the recipies

are time consuming and i dont have the money to spend hundreds of

dallars on new kitchen equiptment ie vitamix,dehydrator,food

processor. so what i wanted to know is for someone that isnt the

best cook and doesnt have a kitchen full of equiptment how can i be

100 percent raw and also do you know of any books i could check out

that would be for someone that isnt a cheg and doesnt have all the

equiptment? and about the anxiety and depression do people get cured

with the raw diet?

> thank you

> sincerly

> Ruth

>

>

>

> How low will we go? Check out Messenger's low PC-to-Phone

call rates.

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Ruth,

 

I went 100% raw for two months. It was mentally easier for me to

commit when I could think of it as short term than thinking of it as

forever, but now I know it's definitely worth doing for the long

haul. I would not consider myself anxious or depressed, but those

two months corresponded with a very difficult time in my life and I

can tell you that I never felt better mentally or physically.

 

I strayed pretty far from raw over the last couple of months and a

lot of old familiar " negative self talk " came back. First thing I

did when I realized what was happening was to get back to the raw

food and stop drinking alcohol (I don't drink much as it is). I

truly believe that diet is the most important contributor to our

mental health. I did not know it was possible to love the world as

much as I do now.

 

So there's my plug for raw food. As far as what to make, when I

first started out, I drank a lot of smoothies and ate a lot of

pates. If you have a food processor, there are a lot of great

things you can make in just a few minutes with easy clean-up. I

really like " Living on Live Foods " by Alissa Cohen. There is an

accompanying dvd that she has which is what inspired me to really

try raw because it showed me how easy it is. After about 3 weeks, I

didn't really need the fancy stuff anymore and was happy to eat a

salad or much on some plain old veggies.

 

Hope this helps.

 

-Diana

 

 

RawSeattle , lucka belle <pinkvinyl30

wrote:

>

> I havent been raw for very long and am not 100 percent raw about

60 percent at this point but anyhow im still learning about it. but

what i wanted to know is it true that it can cure depression and

anxiety? ive had anxiety for years and get seasonal depression and

if being 100 percent raw would cure or at leadt help that then id do

it. my only problem is even though ive looked online and read a few

books being 100 percent raw seems hard in that most of the recipies

are time consuming and i dont have the money to spend hundreds of

dallars on new kitchen equiptment ie vitamix,dehydrator,food

processor. so what i wanted to know is for someone that isnt the

best cook and doesnt have a kitchen full of equiptment how can i be

100 percent raw and also do you know of any books i could check out

that would be for someone that isnt a cheg and doesnt have all the

equiptment? and about the anxiety and depression do people get cured

with the raw diet?

> thank you

> sincerly

> Ruth

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Lucka,

Depression is an energy-saving device of the body, when all its available

resources are needed just for survival. Almost everyone experiences some level

of depression when they overwork their bodies by eating the wrong foods and

failing to meet the other requirements of health. Chronic depression is a

physiological condition whose causes can also be traced primarily to unhealthy

eating habits. So, of course the answer to your question is ... yes. The raw

diet isn't just another alternative medical treatment, it is the way humans were

adapted to eat during our very long evolutionary history which was in place long

before we discovered the use of fire, never mind cookstoves. The extent that we

violate this biological reality, in addition to how much our parents and

grandparents violated it (which determines our inherited weaknesses, which

determines WHERE in our bodies disease will strike IF we indulge the causes)

determines how sick we'll be.

 

I have a long article that was written by Robert Rust that I could forward to

you if you'd like, which explains the causes of depression/anxiety and the

simple ways it can be resolved. Shortly after being diagnosed and beginning

medication for anxiety and depression 17 years ago, Robert went 100% raw and

permanently resolved his problems with depression. I'll post the first few

paragraphs of the article here.

 

Jeff's right about raw eating being simple, if you want it to be. The

complicated recipes represent an easy and gradual way for most people to go from

eating " normally " to eating optimally. For me, they were not a luxury.

Although I eat very simply now, it took me 3 years or so to give up eating

dehydrated and blended foods, and complex recipes. It is risky to attempt

simple eating too early, imo, because most people will reach a point where their

'cravings' for denser, more concentrated and complex foods overwhelms them and

they end up backsliding into cooked food. Going in and out of cooked food is

difficult psychologically AND physiologically (although certainly no worse than

staying on cooked food!). Whether a person will be successful at staying raw

will depend largely on his/her eating history, particular addictions, level of

commitment and many other factors. As others have mentioned, it's possible to

make some really great recipes using very simple kitchen accoutrements like a

food processor and normal blender. In the meantime you can save the money you'd

otherwise be spending on doctor visits, medications, health insurance, etc., to

purchase the more expensive equipment.

 

Best wishes,

Nora

www.RawSchool.com

 

 

Understanding Depression and Anxiety by Robert Rust

 

In considering depression and anxiety, its important to keep general, lest we

end up over-analyzing and complicating what can be a straightforward issue.

Depression at its simplest represents a lack of ability to formulate energy.

Depression is commonly seen as referring to low mental outlook, and feelings of

hopelessness. This indicates a overburdening of our brain cells, or nerves,

whereby they've lost their ability to function optimally and efficiently to

create and organize energy production throughout the body, the brain included.

However, because the body is a whole, other parts of the body are necessarily

involved, particularly the glandular organs, such as the adrenals, thyroid,

hypothalamus, and pineal, which are important in prompting increased energy

production throughout the entire body. The body by way of its various glands,

produces hormones to regulate brain, glandular, and muscular activity.

 

In our modern day lifestyles, and especially in our eating habits, we all drive

our bodies beyond their normal capacities without realizing it. We have gotten

ourselves into a habit of excessive stimulation in order to overcome prior

feelings of tiredness, or enervation. The tiredness originates in previous

excesses of activities, of which eating poor foods is the worst energy usurper.

Since most people are unaware of and remain untaught of the harmful energy

depleting ways of their unhealthy habits, they begin to fall victim to an

endless search for ways to keep their energy high, such as eating when feeling

down, entertaining themselves with television, movies, drugs, and other

excessive activities when bored, lonely, or otherwise fatigued. This habitual

pattern of stimulative behavior, which is not respectful of the body's need for

rest and recuperation after activity, leads to the excessive stimulation of

those glands and tissues in our bodies that are responsible for creating energy.

 

 

 

So for example, the adrenal glands, instead of being able to rest when a person

is feeling down or tired, are forced to work overtime again as the person

indulges in a slice of pizza. Not only do the adrenals tire out, but also the

thyroid which creates hormones to stimulate the adrenals, and the hypothalamus

which creates hormones to stimulate the thyroid. In this process,

neurotransmitters are used by the brain to relay messages, and eventually the

neurotransmitters themselves become short in supply as the glands and nerve

cells that are forced to produce the various transmitters tire out and wear

down. When our bodies lose their ability to produce normal levels of hormones,

transmitters, and other important chemicals for bodily processes, we experience

depression -- a lack of ability to function energetically.

 

Concurrent with the development of depression throughout the body, and

particularly in the brain, is anxiety. Anxiety is really an internal recognition

by the body of a threat to its existence. It is a feeling of insecurity that is

the result of excess burden put on the body, burden that is starting to go

beyond the body's ability to resolve. People call this stress, but it is really

over-stress. Stress is a good thing, overstress is a bad thing. Over-stress

occurs when we eat foods not of our biological adaptations, when we

over-exercise, or over-do anything. In response to stress, our brain will

activate itself and the entire body to correct the situation, but when the brain

is continually forced to do this, its very ability to do this is lessened, since

it can never rest enough to regenerate and restore its functions. We end up

having feelings of stress build up due to following excessive habits, but after

the brief stimulative period, we are not able to develop enough hormones,

neuro-transmitters, and other chemicals to resolve within us the stressed state

of our cells. So we continue to feel this tensive state for unusually extended

periods of time. A person who is anxious has little ability in that moment to

handle more tasks and will avoid situations that even only slightly stress them.

 

To the extent that a person abuses their organs, brain cells, and body in

general with excessive stimulation, and in conjunction with their predisposed

various strengths in glands and organs, will the person experience the severity

of anxiety and depression in their life. Depression and anxiety slowly build up

over decades, even right from birth if energy usurping practices are followed.

The individual who manages to overcome these problems by incorporating truly

healthful practices into their life in the greatest degree will come to see how

in their former lives their depressive and anxious symptoms slowly increased, as

they remained oblivious and ignorant of the consequences of their harmful

actions.

 

A return to raw food eating provides the body with an immensely reduced

digestive load while providing vast quantities of energy. It will take a period

of time for the body to heal its glands, nerves, digestive faculties and other

tissues, but as it does so, its strong function will return and symptoms of

depression and anxiety will fade and disappear. It usually does not happen

overnight, as a person who is depressed and anxious has much lessened ability to

create energy, which is required for healing. However, depending on the person

and the intensity of the depression, recovery can sometimes be very fast.

Sometimes just simple little activities like eating too late are all that are

preventing the body from being able to re-generate adequate nerve energy

reserves over night and thus causing it to experience depression.

 

It is important to note that, at their roots, all depression and anxiety are

physiological problems and all physiological problems are chemical problems, or

chemical imbalance. Depression and anxiety are said to be mental and emotional

problems, but it must be noted that our mental and emotional processes are

undertaken by our nerves that make up our brains and which extend everywhere

throughout our bodies. Our nerves are supported by all other tissues in the

body, including our glands, muscles, blood vessels, lymph vessels, and mucous

membranes, even as our nerves serve these various tissues. It's a whole,

interconnected, interdependent system, all for one, one for all. All of these

organs, including nerve cells, are constructed of and are creating billions of

interacting chemicals all of the time which we experience as the process of

life. It is through our nervous system that we are consciously aware of this

life process, due to the electrical currents thusly created in nerve cells.

 

This infinitely complex system of chemical, then cellular, then glandular, and

finally nerve reactions occurring in our bodies is always automatically striving

to maintain that state of balance that we describe as total well being, or

health. It is a system that is dependent upon wholeness of action. This means

that it is also dependent on getting whole foods into it, foods which are also

biologically and physiologically correct for it. When all its needs are met

correctly, the body in its whole will function optimally. To the extent its

whole needs are not met, it will suffer dis-comfort, or dis-ease, or chemical

imbalance. Depression and anxiety are two of these symptoms of imbalance.

 

So anyone who has regularly abused themselves in the past with unhealthy habits

will undoubtedly have suffered some extent of anxiety or depression, no matter

how light. Who suffers more or who suffers less is determined by the extent of

the bad habits and the particular strengths and weaknesses of various organs (a

person's diathesis, as is said, or their constitution, or tendencies, or

inheritance, or genetic makeup, etc). Were a person not to indulge in bad

habits, then their diathesis would be irrelevant. Some people will experience

depression or anxiety since, say, their dopamine producing cells get overworked

first, while others will experience asthma as their lung cells get overworked.

Those who continually indulge in poor health practices all suffer various levels

of the innumerable ailments of modern life, but it is only when the ailments

become severely aggravated that we tend to recognize them and call them

particular dis-eases.

 

snip...

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

HI Ruth,

 

I don't have much time to write as I am busy with

school right now but the answer is a resounding yes!!!

I have read many, many testamonies of a raw vegan diet

healing both depression and anxiety.

 

I had both depression and anxiety for years. I was on

anti-depressants and had panic attacks. I was afraid

to drive on the freeway because I was so afraid of

panic attacks. Since going raw I no longer have ANY

depression or anxiety. I drive to Tacoma from Seattle

to go to school with no anxiety whatsover, that alone

is amazing to me.

 

My life used to be so limited and now I am free. I am

so much more upbeat and positive and certain that

things will be wonderful. I have a sense of pervasive

comfort and calm that I've never felt before. I wake

up looking forward to the day and what it might bring.

I have more energy and enthusiasm than I have time. I

find myself so interested in so many things that I

have to be careful not to overextend myself. :-) There

are so many things that I'm excited about now. It is

amazing! I am also much more spiritually connected and

in tune that I was before.

 

Read the quote on the home page of

www.rawfoodexplained.com. It is great.

 

You can read more of my story at www.rawhealing.com

 

Blessings,

 

Audrey

 

--- lucka belle <pinkvinyl30 wrote:

 

> I havent been raw for very long and am not 100

> percent raw about 60 percent at this point but

> anyhow im still learning about it. but what i wanted

> to know is it true that it can cure depression and

> anxiety? ive had anxiety for years and get seasonal

> depression and if being 100 percent raw would cure

> or at leadt help that then id do it. my only problem

> is even though ive looked online and read a few

> books being 100 percent raw seems hard in that most

> of the recipies are time consuming and i dont have

> the money to spend hundreds of dallars on new

> kitchen equiptment ie vitamix,dehydrator,food

> processor. so what i wanted to know is for someone

> that isnt the best cook and doesnt have a kitchen

> full of equiptment how can i be 100 percent raw and

> also do you know of any books i could check out that

> would be for someone that isnt a cheg and doesnt

> have all the equiptment? and about the anxiety and

> depression do people get cured with the raw diet?

> thank you

> sincerly

> Ruth

>

>

>

> How low will we go? Check out Messenger’s low

> PC-to-Phone call rates.

>

> [Non-text portions of this message have been

> removed]

>

>

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Hi Ruth,

 

Good for you for starting down the raw path. Dr Gabriel Cousens (100% raw

for 20 years) has a book called Depression-Free For Life: A Physician's

All-Natural, 5-Step Plan. Check it out. There are also several books out now

that deal specifically with simple, quick & easy raw meals.

 

Good luck,

 

Tom

 

 

 

_____

 

RawSeattle [RawSeattle ] On

Behalf Of lucka belle

Monday, October 09, 2006 11:02 PM

RawSeattle

[RawSeattle] [RawSeattle):can raw food diet cure depression\anxiety

 

 

 

I havent been raw for very long and am not 100 percent raw about 60 percent

at this point but anyhow im still learning about it. but what i wanted to

know is it true that it can cure depression and anxiety? ive had anxiety for

years and get seasonal depression and if being 100 percent raw would cure or

at leadt help that then id do it. my only problem is even though ive looked

online and read a few books being 100 percent raw seems hard in that most of

the recipies are time consuming and i dont have the money to spend hundreds

of dallars on new kitchen equiptment ie vitamix,dehydrator,food processor.

so what i wanted to know is for someone that isnt the best cook and doesnt

have a kitchen full of equiptment how can i be 100 percent raw and also do

you know of any books i could check out that would be for someone that isnt

a cheg and doesnt have all the equiptment? and about the anxiety and

depression do people get cured with the raw diet?

thank you

sincerly

Ruth

 

 

 

How low will we go? Check out Messenger's low PC-to-Phone call rates.

 

 

[Guest guest]

i better get in quick with this reply, cos otherwise one of them raw

hippy chemical free freaks will get in and brainwash ya..

 

firstly, depression and anxiety is not food related. if anything, it

sounds like you need a good steak! outback steakhouse, 30 ounce!

protein, protein, protein!!

 

and my doctor gives me blue pills every second month and pink every

other. he says its the only way. and i believe him cos he went to

university and studied hard whilst these raw vegan bludgers travel

the world meeting healthy people and sleeping on beaches and

exercising and feasting on tropical fruits and one i knew got paid

to eat this stinky fruit called durian on thai national tv! what a

loser!

 

so get used to feeling down unless you take the big pharma pills,

cos then you feel a little better but ive put on 100 pounds and some

hippy reckons its water retention to dilute the pollution from the

meds...what crazy talk is that mr celery man!!

 

as if my doc would give me pills that would hurt me! see these raw

vegans spend so much time eating simple recipies like mono meals of

fruit, when you hungry till ya full. for breakfast and lunch, then a

nice tossed salad for dinner. and if you crave sweets at the end of

the meal, you didnt eat enough fruit.and to get sunshine, early to

bed, early to rise, yoga, and basic meditation and to ask the

question'what are you grateful for?' when things are getting real

dire..... what am i grateful for!!?? im grateful my 350 chev is

painted black and its gloss so when i knock these god damned 100%

raw hippys of them fancy carbon bicycles , the blood marks dont

show. im grateful i have tv to numb my brain when i realised i work

every day in a job i hate to buy crap i dont need. im grateful my

doctor treats my symptoms and not the cause. im grateful my

hunting , beer drinking mates share the same opinion

 

no one can live off fruits and greens but crazy hippys whom live

simple, cheap, healty and with massive vitality and abundance in

their lives..

 

im glad monsanto and g w bush are fighting the organic raw vegan

terrorism that this simple way of life damages people.

 

you need to eat complex food. you need to eat gourmet raw EVERY meal

of every day. and hardcore raw vegan athletes like mono meal dr doug

graham at www.foodnsport.com are actually just holograms. like the

one i get on my kids happy meal after his chemo session from the

same doc whom gives my meds. family medicine at its best.good bless

this cooked world..- In RawSeattle , lucka belle

<pinkvinyl30 wrote:

>

> I havent been raw for very long and am not 100 percent raw about

60 percent at this point but anyhow im still learning about it. but

what i wanted to know is it true that it can cure depression and

anxiety? ive had anxiety for years and get seasonal depression and

if being 100 percent raw would cure or at leadt help that then id do

it. my only problem is even though ive looked online and read a few

books being 100 percent raw seems hard in that most of the recipies

are time consuming and i dont have the money to spend hundreds of

dallars on new kitchen equiptment ie vitamix,dehydrator,food

processor. so what i wanted to know is for someone that isnt the

best cook and doesnt have a kitchen full of equiptment how can i be

100 percent raw and also do you know of any books i could check out

that would be for someone that isnt a cheg and doesnt have all the

equiptment? and about the anxiety and depression do people get cured

with the raw diet?

> thank you

> sincerly

> Ruth

>

>

>

> How low will we go? Check out Messenger's low PC-to-Phone

call rates.

>

>

[Guest guest]

To cure anything, you have to eliminate the cause. If the cause is an

imbalance in the body caused by eating certain cooked food, a raw diet

will help. If the cause is something other than diet, changing your diet

may not give you a complete cure, but you will certainly experience better

health.

Ron

 

RawSeattle , lucka belle <pinkvinyl30 wrote:

>

> and about the anxiety and depression do people get cured with the raw

diet?

> thank you

> sincerly

> Ruth