Lucia,

Thanks for posting this message! I have the same concerns because I am
travelling, in 3 weeks, to Mexico City for a week to visit a lady
friend
(also named Lucia!). I have not figured out my strategy; I would
prefer to
continue my 80% raw diet as I am now. It appears that eating all the
cooked
food did not work for you, and I'm concerned, given my intolerance for
even
a single large dish of cooked greens, about eating a week of almost
all
cooked. But they have the same warnings about not eating raw veggies,
etc.,
in Mexico City. Lucia, although she has no big health problems, is not
really up on natural, raw foods, but of course I want to teach
her...if it
is true you really can't safely eat raw veggies in these cities it is
truly
a tragedy. I would love to just shop the farm-stands and do my usual
plain
diet... I really have no desire for the 'tasty' rich Mexican foods at
all!

I had visited back in 1994, and although it was my 'pre-diet-change'
days, I
recall all the melted cheeses in the Mexican foods making me feel
lousy even
back then, and that was before I developed my chronic fatigue problem.
Right
now my overall health is regenerated to about where it was in 1994 -
but
that is health I now only enjoy on the vastly-healthier diet I eat
now. I
guess the only thing for certain, if I'm eating in restaurants, is to
keep
repeating 'no queso, por favor' :)

In the big picture, I suppose it is only 1/52'd of the year, so I
would say
going off my optimal diet to some extent for a short time is unlikely
to
cause much permanent setback, at least if I stay away from the
packaged
junk, breads and sugars which I definitely will...

Paul