Thank you Jean-Louis. I think that after the initial "high" I
got from being completely raw for 2 months, at the end of the day just
fruits, vegetables and nuts are not enough for me. I love food and I
love preparing it. With only raw I felt I was unhappy and depriving
myself of one of the most pleasurable parts of my life. I have
therefore decided to add various things to my diet and play with food to
find the most beneficial medium - one that will keep me happy and make
me healthy. Please share your personal thoughts and experiences with me
- I'd love to hear what other people are all about.
Thanks and kind regards,
Leah
-----Original Message-----
From: Jean-Louis Tu [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Thursday, March 25, 1999 2:26 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Food Combining
Leah,
> I think I'm doing pretty well with it, because I have
eliminated meat,
> dairy and eggs from my diet - so I pretty much can't go wrong
with
> anything I eat. My main concern at the moment are the
quantities - I'm
> finding that I am either hungry all the time or I am eating
too much...
It is very difficult to satisfy hunger with low-fat fruits and
vegetables only, unless one eats all the time. Higher quality is
not
the answer to all problems: I have tried fruits from Orkos
myself, and
observed other people eat these fruits. Obviously, people eat
much
more than "two handfuls at breakfast and nothing until dinner"
(I
guess it depends on what you mean by "handful"). High-quality
fruits
don't have magical properties (and are very expensive, as Alan
pointed
out). The only way I know which has some degree of success to be
raw
vegan is to eat a lot of avocados (3 or 4/day) or other fatty
plant
foods (like nuts). But aside from being quite boring (who wants
to eat
1200 avocados/year all his life?), such a diet can bring
deficiencies
after a few years. Another way (like you are doing) is to
include some
cooked starch in the diet.
> I'm looking for a happy medium, which will satisfy my pleasure
in eating
> and sustain my physiological nutritional needs. I thought
proper
> combining might be the answer - because I don't think it's
what I am
> eating at the moment but rather how I am eating it.
Proper combining can only solve digestive problems, but won't
increase
the nutritional quality of what you are eating.
> For instance, this morning I've had 2 bananas, a pear and a
small orange
> (I don't know what they are called in English) and I am
stuffed!!! I
> feel like I'm about to explode. I've tried cutting down to
like 1-2
> pieces of fruit in the morning, but then I find myself
starving hungry
> at 11am! Any advise???
Are you getting sufficient calories at dinner? Many people find
breakfast unnecessary, but dinner has to include a "dense" food
in
sufficient quantity.
> I am 30 years old and have only started this way of life about
6 months
> ago. So far so good, but I have had to start taking B12 pills
because 3
> months ago my levels went way below normal and they wanted to
give me
> shots.
Since humans usually have 3-5 years of B-12 reserves, I guess
Alan is
right when he says that your diet cannot posibly have caused
your B12
deficiency (i.e. you were probably already deficient 6 months
ago),
but regardless of the reason why your B12 level is below normal,
not
having adequate sources of B12 would be dangerous (like trying
to
drive a car with an empty tank), unless you want to take pills
for the
rest of your life. The only reliable sources of B12 are animal
(meat,
fish, eggs, dairy). Other sources (dirt, bacteria in your mouth,
etc)
can supply a little B12, but in your case, until your stores are
fully
replenished, relying on them is too risky.
--Jean-Louis Tu <[log in to unmask]>
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