Hi all,

I have been nearly 100% raw for 1 year now: nov 1996 to nov 1997, the only
exceptions were a few isolated cooked meals and some nuts or dried fruits
which have been heated above 104 F. My observations about being 100% raw are:

 1) For some time, although I didn't want to admit it, there was a sort of
pride of being able to eat 100% raw, "pure", not having cravings, etc. But
I realize now that you don't achieve anything in your life by eating 100%
raw. You don't become happier, don't achieve perfect health, don't become
more creative. Eating is just eating; it can helpl you feel better, improve
your health, but "100 % raw" is not a goal in itself.

 2) Even if I say I eat 100% raw, in practice I don't (isolated cooked
meals, dried nuts, etc). Thinking that cooked food is unhealthy is not a
sufficient reason for completely avoiding it: most people who usually don't
drink alcohol because they know it's bad for their health are however
"social drinkers" [which I was before going raw]. In a similar way, one
can perfectly be a "social cooked food eater".

 3) Because of the way I eat (sequential mono-eating), the amount of
vegetables, and especially of leafy greens, is too small. It had long been
a frustration for me that most of the vegetables on the produce shelf of
the grocery are inedible.
Whenever I happened to buy a cabbage, it could sit in the refrigerator for
more than 1 month, and I was unable to eat more than 1/4 leaf at a time
(otherwise, it would sting my tongue and then leave a yucky taste in my
mouth). I had hoped for some time that I would eventually appreciate it,
but the experience of long-time instinctos and my own (trying 1 year is
enough for me) seem to disprove that.

 4) Some people who eat 100% raw however take supplements, whether because
they are vegans (B12 supplements), or they calorie-restrict (so the
supplements help them eat less), or they consider that modern food is less
nutrient-rich than wild food, or believe that eating raw is not enough to
correct many years of poor nutrition, or simply that one can sometimes
improve nature. I find that the most "natural supplement" is... cooked food.

 5) I am a lazy person, and when I can avoid complications I do. Strictly
speaking, it is not *necessary* to eat cooked food (one can be very healthy
with 100% raw), but it's not necessary to go at great lengths avoiding
every tiny bit of slightly heat-denatured food. It is possible, when you
are invited to a restaurant, to snack before, bring an avo, order a raw
salad, etc, but it's more convenient to make an exception (and perhaps
choose the least unhealthy menu possible). Conversely, the advantage of
eating cooked food is so small that making complicated preparations is not
worth it.


 So, 10 days ago, I began adding some cooked cabbage. As I treat it as a
supplement, I only cooked on average 2 or 3 leaves/day, in water at
sub-boiling temperature (maybe 80-90 C), for 2 minutes. They were still
very crunchy afterwards, and, despite not stinging my tongue anymore, had
"stops": some days, they really tasted delightful (one has to be instincto
to appreciate simply boiled vegetables like that ;-) ), and some days, they
were so uninteresting that they finished in the trash.

 Incidentally, a skin problem near my left eyelid that I have had for
several months [I don't know the name; it's white, dry, a bit flaky and
slightly itchy; perhaps a fungus??] began to recede on the *first* day,
and has almost disappeared now. It may be a coincidence, but when I
replaced cabbage by kale for 2 days last week, it came back... It seems
plausible to me that after 1 year of more or less instinctive eating, my
body had become slightly deficient in something that is present in cabbage
and that my body can't metabolize in its raw form...

 I think I will continue to experiment, possibly with other vegetables that
I can't eat raw (kale, collards...?), as a kind of supplement (about 3% of
my diet).

Best wishes,

Jean-Louis
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