Hi Liza and all,

I'm back . . . thanks to Stefan. I returned to eating a lot more
cooked
foods during the past year, and I don't feel great.  Don't feel bad,
just
not as wonderful as w hen I do eat all raw.  However, still strying to
stick to foods that are processed as little as possible but with my
job now
(changed careers so I'm in technical work) I'm having a difficult time
getting enough raw.  Still avoiding grains and the like. Since leaving
I
have also written my book, which includes gobs of raw food recipes.

Agreed Liza, those grains put pounds on people.

Regards,
Roberta Leong

On Sun, 5 Nov 2000 01:52:30 -0500, Liza May <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>Dear Maynard,
>
>You said:
>> When I became a vegetarian while in the Harvard Divinity School,
>
>I am quite taken aback by this.  How is it that a person who has studied
theology, and at Harvard no less, could be so mean spirited and angry?
I
could understand if that someone were just starting out at school -
but how
is it that a person could spend all that time studying love,
forgiveness,
mercy, grace, charity, goodness, the uplifting of the human spirit  --
and
then come out of it after all those years still filled with sour,
acidic,
hateful vitriolic meaness? I don't understand.
>
>>    I migrated through lacto-lacto-ism (eating lots of ice cream)
>    towards veganism, and then towards raw foods and natural hygiene.
>    I lost lots of weight on that diet and had lots of energy --
>    which may have contributed to weight loss.
>
>
>Of course you have educated yourself by reading articles (and following
>links) from beyondveg.com .....  so you know that in the short term a diet
>of raw vegan foods will make a person lose weight - and - particularly if
>it is high in sugars - like a fruit-heavy diet would be - gives a feeling
>of energy....
>
>The problem is most often long-term adherence to such a diet, as you know.
>
>    I noticed that many Christian vegetarians whom I had met
>    had discovered natural hygiene, and there were even some
>    groups (by mail) for such folks.  I felt that such vegans may
>    have seen hygiene as a divine gift, since it had health benefits,
>
>I am assuming, Maynard, that since you were educated at Harvard, you are
>intelligent enough to have grasped by now that food and religion - or food
>and superstition - or food and ritual - food and zealotry - food as a
>symbol of adherence to a set of beliefs  --  is very much a pillar of human
>tradition, and as such is alive and well in our time.  So it is nothing
>new "under the sun" that the people you knew who stumbled upon NH would
>somehow reach the conclusion that this was a divine blessing and gift upon
>which they had stumbled....
>
>>    or that they had discovered this method as consistent with
>>   their Biblical responsibilities (or training or teaching) to
>>    care for our bodies.
>
>
>This is how the zealotry aspect comes into play  --  and it always does,
when people discover a diet they think has special powers to heal....
>
>
>> Then I became involved in local vegetarian groups and began
> >  to follow their mores.  Yow!  Oy ve!  Yikes!  Weight gain.
>
>
>My guess is that this had less to do with the cooked-versus-raw difference
between your diets, and more to do with the abundance of breads,
grains,
muffins, sweets, and other grain products, oils, and fattening foods
--
that are so often a part of vegetarian diets.  I think it's probably
misguided to assume it was the non-raw-ness of the foods that would
account
for your weight gain.
>
>
>Liza