dehydrators and 100% raw

[Guest guest]

Carolyn,

 

I have been following the comments on dehydrators and what is raw. At

the Tree of LIfe Cousens " teaches that you can start the dehydrator at

145 for two hours without killing the enzymes, then move it to 115. He

teaches that you start to kill enzymes at 118, some but not all. You

can do the higher temp for two hours because it is the internal temp of

the food that causes the enzymes to die not the air temp in the

dehydrator. I would take that to mean that the person with the Bosch

oven that goes as low as 40 and circulates the air could certainly use

their oven to dehydrate. Also, you can pour hot water over veggies

with raw miso(southrivermiso.com if you need a source) and make a

wonderful warm soup on a cold winter day. Put it in a bowl that you

have heated and it is very satisfying. If raw means that something has

never been heated then you would not consider the above raw, if it

means that you have not destroyed the enzymes and other nutrients, then

they are raw. For me it is retaining the food value that is important.

 

Regarding being 100% raw- the attitude at the Tree was that whatever

amount of raw you could work into your life style was what was best for

you. They say that some people take four years to go from SAD to 80%

raw. My reading is that 80% is considered high enough to reap most of

the health benefits, of course that doesn't mean that the other 20% is

beef ;-). In Spiritual Nutrition Cousens' talks about the spiritual

benefits of being 100% raw. Again, it is not something that you do

overnight.

 

If you are having trouble staying on a raw diet you might want to look

at Cousens' book Conscious Eating and explore what he says about type

of metabolism, oxidization styles and doshas. Even though it seems

complicated at first the bottomline is that each person need an

individualized diet. Our needs for protein, fats, and carbs vary with

our personal metabolism and with the seasons of the year. We have to

play around with it and experiment to find what is right for us. So,

Carolyn, don't give up. Maybe you could just decide to eat your

breakfast raw for a few weeks with a piece of fruit during the day and

a nice raw salad with dinner, the rest of your intake would be whatever

you normally eat. That would probably be 30-40% of your food for the

day and might be workable for you. It is definitely not an all or

nothing life style. Every little bit of raw you do will make you

healthier. Don't be surprised if you find yourself eating less once you

are able to eat some raw for awhile. Set your goals so that you can

achieve them by taking small steps that will get you there.

 

good luck and don't give up. The rewards are worth the work.

 

Tammy