Hi Robin,

You must be reading my mind!  I'm currently having trouble with the starch
craving/binge/detox scenario- I've been trying to get it right for months now
without much success.  First I tried various breads with my salads,
result=indigestion, I've tried yams=yuk, and now favour tomatoes (supposedly
starchy when raw, not sure on the concentration- but alas can be v. acidic) and
also carrots (any starch there?).  I'm also binging on the likes of pasta, pizzas
and would quite like some chips/french fries to, occassionally I slip into
cake/bread mode!  But this is just while I get rid of the final stuff in my
cupboard and try to plot the course ahead.  So I would be v. interested in any
starchy fruit or veg that you can recommend.  The fruit and veg you suggest below
is, as identified, rather unpleasant to the taste and thus I don't want it at all
really.  I've added some of my comments below....

thanks,
J.C x

> THE STAFF OF LIFE
> by Edwin S. Douglas,
> Founder, American Living Foods Institute

> The Importance of starch in the human diet is greatly
> underestimated by many advocates of living food
> lifestyle.  Starch is definitely the staff of life.  In this
> article, we will present our reasons for reaching this
> conclusion, and contrast the difference in the effect on
> the human body of fruit foods (simple carbohydrates)
> and starch foods (complex carbohydrates).

> FRUIT FOODS (Simple Carbohydrates)

> Fruit foods are not able to provide sustainable energy.
> They are body cleansers, not body builders.  Vegetable
> foods are the body builders.  The human body is not
> ideally suited to a predominately fruit diet, despite some
> theories to the contrary.

This should be expanded upon.

> Too much reliance on fruit foods can result in
> moderate to severe mood swings, mental disorientation,
> physical coldness, constant cravings and abnormal
> weight loss.  Fruit foods temporarily elevate the blood
> sugar level and are easy to digest, they can provide the
> illusion of health and well being.  The blood-sugar
> highs produced  by excessive fruit consumption can
> become physiologically and psychologically addictive.

This has been my experience to.  Fruit and veg, about 50/50
or 40/50, might be closer to optimal.  However after a one
week diet of *dates only* I felt great, clean in body/mind,
digestion settled, no binge feelings.  Dates are a fruit right?
Unfortunately many of the cheaper ones are preserved in glucose,
which makes them hard to digest and the "fresh" ones are pricy.

> ________________________________________________
>               COMPLEX CARBOHYDRATES...FROM
>                    STARCH FOODS ARE LIKE
>              TIMED-RELEASE ENERGY CAPSULES.
> ________________________________________________
> Unfortunately, people who eat predominately  fruit
> diets often suffer from progressive nutritional
> deficiencies which may not become evident for months
> or years.  They also often experience severe cravings for
> pasta, bread, pastry or chips.  These cravings frequently
> lead to binges, followed by unpleasant periods of
> detoxification and withdrawal.  The body has a natural
> longing for starch foods, and to ignore this instinctive
> hunger is pure folly.

Yeah, according to my raw nutrition chart you have to eat
some veggies. The available fruits just do not have
everything B1, B2, K, copper, fluorine.
Perhaps there are some "lost fruits" (berries?) that we
used to have for these but have ignored at our peril.
Unfortunately all the starchy foods suggested are processed
and I've tried them, but find them indigestable.  However
the experiment is still ongoing. My current theory is to
have a very limited intake of those kinds of food.  I'm not
sure one has a "valid instinct" to eat processed foods as
instinct cannot be cultured and only applies to natural foods!?

> STARCH FOODS (Complex Carbohydrates)

> In ancient times the primary sources of starch were
> root vegetables and tubers such as raw yams and
> potatoes , and high-starch nuts such as acorns and
> chestnuts.  The importance of root vegetables was
> recognized by Dr. Norman Walker, the famous
> nutritionist, who emphasized that they are rich in
> essential minerals and vitamins.  In his book, "Diet and
> Salad", he recommended that we include raw potatoes,
> yams, parsnips, rutabagas and turnips in our diet by
> grinding, grating or chopping them and adding to salads.
> Most people don't find these raw starch foods appetizing.

Yuk- how can something that tastes bad be good to eat?  The
only root I like is carrot.  Beetroot is bearable.

> In today's world our primary source of starch is grain,
> which we are conditioned by a lifetime of use to prefer.
> Grain is a relatively recent addition to the human diet,
> and in it's uncooked form is somewhat less ideal than
> raw roots and tubers.  However, when properly
> activated, germinated or sprouted, grain is a quite
> acceptable and convenient source of essential complex
> carbohydrates.

Yeah, I've met some "grain sprouting" raw food vegans.  May
try this idea next, thanks.  But did edible grains exist
pre-agriculture?

>
> Complex carbohydrates derived from starch foods are
> like time-release energy capsules.  They metabolize
> more slowly than fruits, providing energy to the body
> over a longer period of time and increasing physical
> endurance.  The slower rate of metabolism also reduces
> hunger.  Starch foods are satisfying and fulfilling
> precisely because they are an essential source of
> nutrition in the human diet.

Most of my excercise is planned and just a few hours, so
fruit is ideal. I don't do any sustained excercise as I
think it unnatural.  Humans are suited to run for shortish
distances fast and very long runs are a real stretch of our
bodies- most good distance running animals use hooves-
our feet/legs are poorly adapted to sustained running, apes
do not run for prolonged periods either. (just my HO)
The possible problem with refined/concentrated starches
in excess, is obesity and flatulence.  As for mood swings,
this has been said of starch to.  Guess this could be a
question of concentration or allergy..

> HISTORY OF STARCH CONSUMPTION
>
> Our ancestors, who were well known for their powers
> of physical endurance, instinctively chose starch foods
> as a predominant part of their diet.  For example,
> American Indians consumed a wide variety of starchy
> roots and tubers.  Among them were Sassafrass root,
> Wild Parsnip, Squaw-root, Salsify root, Day Lily
> tubers, Chufa tubers, Bugleroot tubers, Jerusalem
> Artichoke, Arrowhead tubers, Indian Cucumber tubers,
> Groundnut tubers and the roots of the Wild Potato Vine.

I've tried artichoke raw, not very tasty!

> Other plants with roots and tubers eaten by early
> native Americans include Miner's Lettuce, Alpine
> Bistort, Dandelion, Chicory, Thistle, Bullbriar, Great
> Bulrush and American Lotus.

> Objective research into the habits of our primordial
> ancestors indicates that roots, tubers and starchy nuts
> comprised the foundation of their diet, followed in
> descending order of importance by leafy greens, raw
> fruits and vegetables and finally high protein nuts and
> seeds

Well tradition, if that is what this is, is not rational.
They, maybe, had to eat what was available like we do now.
Do we know whether these peoples had good digestion and health?
So far the evidence I've seen (little) is that american natives had good
health until the descent of the white mans glop and of course his
war and profit obsessed culture.  But it's not detailed evidence.
Starchy nuts sounds interesting, but I found the protein rich nuts
are just deadly to my now very sensitive digestion.  For a little
protein boost I use sunflower seeds sparingly.

> STARCH AND GREENS
>
> Along with starch foods early humans included a
> significant quantity of leaves and green shoots in their
> diet.  These green vegetables are high in vitamins and
> minerals, which are lacking in other foods.  A few of
> the North American edible leaves and shoots which
> were eaten by the indigenous population are:
> Chickweed, Winter Cress, Peppergrass, Watercress,
> American Brookline, Miner's Lettuce, Purslaine,
> Cornsalad, Dandelion, Chicory, Lamb's Quarters and
> Pokeweed.

Yeah, I find watercress an excellent green.  Full of minerals.

> Starch foods combine extremely well with green
> salads and, if activated, germinated or sprouted, can
> be combined with protein foods from time to time.  For
> example, activated grain bread can be combined with
> a spread made from nutmeats or activated seeds.
> Allow a little longer time for digestion since this is a
> more complex food combination.

I've found starch foods don't generally work even with salads.
I will try to reduce fruit sometime to test the ideas here.

> IMPORTANCE OF VARIETY

> Dr. Herbert Shelton in his famous book, Superior
> Nutrition, states clearly that whole plants alone do not
> contain all the food factors required by man in correct
> correlations.  "Only by eating a variety of plant foods,
> so selected that the total diet of fruits, nuts, and
> vegetables can supply all the food factors required,
> can he be well and adequately nourished.  The mono-
> diet is a fallacy...so far as the higher animals and man
> are concerned.  Variety we need, but not the whole
> variety at any one meal."

Tends to agree with the feeding patterns of chimps who, as I
understand, can eat as many as 1500 different plants in their
diet.  I think they eat the one after the other though, not
together.  The mono- diet (one thing only) is clearly crackpot,
yet some seem to survive.  Eating less things in one go or things
one at a time one after the other is good sense don't ya' think?

> He recommend that fruit be eaten as a separate
> meal, and that other meals consist of vegetables
> combined with either a starch or a protein.

Why?  What is the research/thinking. BTW I tend to agree...

> OUR INSTINCTIVE NATURE

> When the human body is purified of accumulated
> toxins it instinctively gravitates toward starch foods
> and green vegetables, as well as a modest amount of
> fruits, nuts and seeds.

Yep, I'm definately finding this, but getting frustrated as I don't
want the glop or refined/processed stuff either.

> Our wonderful body speaks to us if we but listen to
> it.  Empirical evidence, which is gathered from our
> own actual experience, is far more accurate than
> theories, no matter how much we'd like to believe in
> them.  We humans have an unusual tendency to try to
> force our theories to work, because we believe they
> should work, even when they don't.

Agreed.  But instincts cannot be trusted in a cultured society,
they betray us, take our cravings (instincts?) for salt & sugar & fat?

> Raw food and living food diets are often seriously
> deficient in starch foods.  This is one of the major
> reasons why very few individuals can sustain such a
> diet for long periods of time.  Our bodies instinctively
> crave starch foods, and if we don't consume them in
> their natural form, we will eventually gravitate to
> them in their cooked form.

Yep.  Are there any raw vegans out there secretly cultivating
a starch fruit/berry that is not too concentrated like banana is?
Banana suggestions also welcome.

> COOKED STARCHES

> Just as with all other natural foods, the cooking of
> starch foods converts them into inorganic and
> indigestible fillers.  They fill but do not nourish.  Their
> enzymes are denatured, thus depriving them of the key
> elements required for proper digestion and body
> maintenance.  Dr. Walker warns that cooking of
> starch foods reduces or eliminates the value of their
> vitamins and minerals.  Starch foods are not fattening
> when eaten in their natural, uncooked state.

But uncooked starch tastes bad and is usually inedible IMHO?
Bet those grain sprouts taste bad to.  This tells my instinct
to avoid them.  Ripe fruits _always_ taste good, however, as
is being said they do not fullfill the craving for startch.

> PSYCHOLOGICAL BENEFITS

> We should also consider the psychological benefits
> of access to healthy and delicious substitutes for bread
> and pastry products.  Having a piece of living banana
> bread, a slice of living pizza of a dish of living
> spaghetti can make the difference between a living
> food diet which provides a feeling of satisfaction,
> contentment and fulfillment, or one which precipitates
> swings between bingeing and detoxing.

Banana bread, maybe I'll try it.  But many people are wheat
intolerant.  A friend of mine with IBS is set off very bad
by brown bread.  I really don't think processed grains belong
in the body, but if they work for you then you have to accept
it.  Any flour suggestions here?

> Recognizing the major need for starch foods in
> human nutrition, the American Living Foods Institute
> has developed a variety of living breads, cereals,
> pastas, and pastries as well as starchy entrees and side
> dishes.  These fill a crucial physiological and
> psychological role in the ALFI New Paradigm
> Living Food System.

Interesting, seems like a contradiction! Living bread...
I'm quite willing to concede that raw fruit and vegerables
are alive (they could grow)- but bread is dead ? <G> Can
you/anyone explain this please?



> LIVING FOOD PYRAMID

> Based on our extensive research into the original
> human diet, we have developed a Living Food
> Pyramid which is illustrated below.
>
> We hope you will provide your body, as Dr. Shelton
> recommended, with a complete array of living plant
> foods so that you can enjoy the radiant health your
> body is designed to experience.

I think Shelton got protein digestion wrong.  Have
a look at Jan Dries new food combining book- this also
gets some stuff wrong!  In fact most of the raw food
stuff I've heard of contradicts other works or is just pure
crackpot.  But our baby is young yet, and merely takin' shape!!

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