Raw Vegan? Why?

[knucklebrain]

Well I choose to make it disgusting because it doesn't bother me really. I don't see what could possibly make a green smoothie with collard greens taste good to the point where I'd want to sip it. I chug it down and I'm pretty full tonight. Not thoughts of meat. I agree that raw can made to be half decent tasting. I've seen some of the recipes folks make with dehydrators and such. I can't stand cooking and don't have the patience for finding all the bizarre ingredients required to make that stuff.

For folks that know what they are doing, great, but it took me a week just to find tumeric. I've never heard of rainbow chard before to. Took trips to 3 stores to find that. I also eat a lot of nuts too which are alright and dates fix my sweet tooth. Never had one in my life and I love them. I like apples and certain fruits. But as far as something that is going to fill me up it's big huge glasses of green smoothies.

That's not all I drink. I drink about 3 8 oz. glasses of carrot juice per day with apple in it as well. I just don't find most vegetables tasty unless cooked with garlic and lemon. Cooking is out, so as far as I'm concerned, food is no longer tasty. People can lie to themselves as much as they want but raw is not as tasty as cooked. Now if raw is all I ever knew, porterhouse steak would seem disgusting. So the transition is gradual, but a must. I don't want to die of a debilitating old-man disease because of all the crap I ate in my youth.

Porterhouse steak IMO marinated properly is tasty, but I'm tired of the guilt associated with eating an animal that's been killed in an inhumane manner. We all know what these poor animals go through. I need not go there. I'm at the point in my life where I can't even kill a bug in the house. I ran over a frog in my driveway the other week. Frog would come out at night and chill in the cool damp grass and hang with me while I sat on the front steps and now it's dead. I was literally lifeless myself for several hours after I witnessed its squashed body.

As far as I'm concerned, everything is a life. What a sap ha?

[melody]

Hello Knucklebrain,

I personally find raw food very delicious. I thoroughly enjoyed may green smoothie today. It was kale with soaked flax and grapes. It tasted great! Greens need a good serving of either fresh or dried (soaked) fruit to make it taste quite unlike what you might imagine.

Just try it!

[melody]

I drink about 3 8 oz. glasses of carrot juice per day with apple in it as well. I just don't find most vegetables tasty unless cooked with garlic and lemon.

Hello Knucklebrain,

I invite you to try a celery & cucumber juice. You can juice a couple of cloves of garlic into it as well, and then squeeze lemon generously into it.

Celery and cucumber juice is especially great on a hot day, since it is excellent at quenching thirst.

To find more about juice combinations, get yourself a book by Dr. Norman W. Walker "Fresh Vegetable and Fruit Juices", which was originally called "Raw Vegetable Juices". It gives various juice combinations for specific physical ailments.

You can read more about Dr. N.W. Walker at this website:
http://www.earthportals.com/walker.html

[melody]

I make my own juice with organic carrots and a greepower (low RPM) masticating juicer. ...

Right now I do carrot juice and kale/spinach/collard greens with shot of wheatgrass in it. I make 8oz glasses of this and fill to the rim in ball jars and it keeps close to a week @ bright orange before it starts to oxidize.

Hello Knucklebrain,

With your type of juicer, which has magnetic parts in it, they say the juice can be kept relatively fresh for only up to 24- 32 hours. It is not only the problem of oxidation, but also of the juice loosing it's specific structure - they say it is a liquid crystal structure when the juice is inside the fruit or vegetable. This special structure is what makes it easy to absorb. Otherwise, the body needs to use extra energy to restructure those liquids anew.

It is the best to drink freshly squeezed juices. I drink mine right away. Even if I had your type of juicer, I'd still drink only freshly squeezed juices.

One 8 oz. glass of juice per day might not be enough. Dr. Walker advises to drink at least 1 pint, or even 1-2 quarts per day.

Victoria Boutenko advises to consume 1 quart of green smoothies per day.

[knucklebrain]

Well, compared to what I was eating, I'm doing good. I don't have the time to make juice every single day. I'm sure the carrot juice I make is far better than the odewalla brown poor excuse for carrot juice I see everyone drinking. Not that I don't believe you, but I'd like to see the electron micrographs of the juice structure before and after. Until I see evidence, I'll just trust that since after 4 days my juice in o2 deprived ball jars is still bright orange, that it's still healthy. Perhaps it's lost some of its nutrients, but it's better than mountain dew 

Keep in mind, my all out "assault on my system" has not begun yet. This will occur in september after my baby girl is born. I'll be so busy, that's when I plan to quit smoking, narcotic pills and any dead food and other impurities. @ 36, feeling like 80, there's no excuse for that. Since I separated from my x-gf and have been without my daughter, I've been a druggie on opiate pills for the past 4 years. I only take a few on the weekend, but it takes me 2 days to recover. Time to stop that BS. I'm starting this with a juice fast as well to rid my body of all toxins. I just need to figure out what kind of juice I'm going to make and I'll have to make it daily. I don't want to do 100% carrot juice as it will throw my body off with all the sugar.

[melody]

Hello Knucklehead,

It is admirable that you want to change and heal your life. Bravo for taking the steps to be a better and healthier you, which is important both for yourself, your children, and the rest of your family!

I cannot provide you with the graphs and charts of the juice becoming less potent as it stands for several days in the fridge. However, it is a well known fact that a cut leave starts to loose it’s vital energy very quickly after being cut off, and the same happens with uprooted vegetables, and the juice made out of those leaves or vegetables. There were Kirlian photographs made documenting this, but I cannot find any appropriate ones right now on the web, and I don’t have time to search. Here’s more on Kirlian Photography; the clips overlap somewhat:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnJghb8yk6c&mode=related&search=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDOi1BLoN3U

Here is an interesting video on Living Water.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtNRapmL-h8&mode=related&search=

This gives an idea that at its source, the liquid is the most potent, and as it stands or runs away, it looses that potential in a short while. Mind you, the comparison between a spring water and a squeezed juice might be a bit streached, but it makes a lot of sense to me! 

As for your smoothies, here are a couple of ideas how to make it to taste good:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Xf8BNiiOggU&mode=related&search=

An improvises Green Soup to which you can add garlic and lemon juice

http://youtube.com/watch?v=pCF59cMQhIM

[will1123]

I've been slowly changing my diet over the past seven years.  I still have a LOOONG way to go before I get to the raw vegan stage. My thing is the good feelings I associate with food.  Barbecues, holidays, special occasions, etc, are always filled with food, especially meat and cheese. The good feelings I get eating loads of food are mainly psychological, I know. 

I just figure I have a ways to go. Slow and steady wins the race, right? I'm trying to focus on changing things a bit at a time until they stick, then move onto the next thing.  I'm done with most, not all, processed foods and most refined foods, so that's good.  And it's only a matter of time before I get back to eating the way we are all supposed to.  Wish me luck...uh, I mean, pass some positive energy my way!

[melody]

Hello Will1122,

Congratulations for wanting to change your diet to a more health one! Yes, indeed, it is not easy. One is so used to eat the traditional over processed and overcooked foods! But sometimes great changes can be accomplished one little step at the time!

Ye, I wish you luck and pass the positive vibrations to you and all those who dare to change the intake of nutrients to the better, and who actually care about optimal health of their body!

Try and see if there is a raw food cafe in your area. Eating there even once per week would greatly strengthen your resolve, and would make it easier to go on with the raw food alternatives.

As for family gatherings, you can bring a big dish of raw pasta, just as Juliano or Victoria Butene make them in their videos, and eat mostly your dish. You might be surprised that the members of your family would find this dish very tasty. And raw pasta is so easy to make!

Or you can also bring a raw pie. Those are also easy to make and are deliscious!