Michele Deradune writes--
>Any dedicated raw fooders out there who, like me, are very sensitive to
>sugars ? If so, I would much appreciate hearing the things you usually eat for
>morning, mid-day and evening!

>This past week I got so low on energy, from eating too much fruit.  I love
>grapes and sweet pineapple, but they do me in so that I get VERY low on energy
>and it's terrible!  In fact, I think I am someone who needs to eat very, very
>little fruit in my diet.

Hi Michele, I currently eat about 60/40 or 70/30 raw, and I'm very
sensitive to sugars as well. It was brought on by a dozen years of
extremely heavy Dr. Pepper (hi-sugar and caffeine) consumption--half a
gallon a day, perhaps--in the late 1970s and 1980s before I got into a
healthier raw-food-type diet, with the last several years of that under
high-stress deadlines in the advertising business (typesetting). The end
result for me was severe hours-long panic attacks, and apparently
burned-out adrenal glands. I managed to conquer the panic attacks by giving
up the caffeine/sugar soft-drink addiction, plus getting back into regular
aerobic exercise again (distance running) which helps in processing
carbohydrates and sugars. A few long fasts have also helped re-regulate my
blood-sugar processing somewhat, but the results have been limited--NOT a
cure-all by any means.

Even after having taken these steps and experienced definite improvement,
however, I'm still sensitive to sugars even in fruits, and can bring on
early-warning symptoms of pre-panic-attack precursors if I overdo, so I
have to be careful. Here's what I do to maintain an even keel:

1. I have pitched any food-combining rules regarding fruits. If I eat
fruits alone as the rules say, unless I eat very minimal amounts I am
almost sure to bring on an episode of low-blood sugar afterwards. It is
just too much straight sugar for my body to handle. But I've found that
combining fruits with proteins and or fats (or both) works well. (I've not
experienced any digestive problems whatsoever from having done this.) The
fruit gives me an initial blood-sugar lift, and then the energy from the
proteins/fats begins to kick in which is a lot longer-lasting, preventing
the usual let-down if I eat the fruits by themselves.

Combos I use: Sometimes I cook grains for breakfast and eat dates or grapes
or apples with them. Trail mix also works well for me as a snack. Oranges
with nuts is another good one. Avocadoes with fruit works well. Yogurt with
fruit also does nicely. Another tasty meal that really hits the spot is
very lightly poached eggs combined with 1- or 2-day buckwheat sprouts and
either cherries or grapes. Another strategy is to mix celery with fruits
which I've found will more evenly meter the rate of sugar absorption into
the bloodstream--although this does not work as well as the other mixes for
me.

2. I try to eat most of my fruit consumption early in the day and minimize
it past early afternoon. I find that if I have gone a fairly long period of
time without food like in the morning after one has not eaten all night, my
body is more receptive to handling sugars. At that time, I can often eat
medium-sugar fruits like apples alone and be alright, but trying to eat a
very high-sugar fruit like watermelon alone would send me into a tailspin.
(Watermelon and avocadoes are a VERY tasty combo I've found--try it!)

Similarly after heavy exercise, my body will handle sugars better than
otherwise, when it is asking for them. (Interesting aside: On one of the
distance running email lists, it turned out that Fig Newtons were a favored
carbohydrate re-loading food, and purely coincidentally, I had found that
mixing dates with mochi [cooked brown rice patties] worked wonderfully in
reloading after particularly hard distance workouts--essentially a more
"natural" Fig Newton.)

But it seems as my "sugar quota" for the day has been reached, as the day
wears on, in general I have to switch over to more starches if I feel the
need for carbohydrates, or else I'll get a low-blood-sugar reaction.
Usually, before my early evening workout, I'll have some type of
grain--sprouted essene bread like what you can buy in the health-food
store, for instance, and/or some type of sandwich using some other type of
sprouted grain mixed with liberal globs of mashed avocado spread and/or
goat cheese. Again, this amounts to a protein/fat/carbo mix which helps
sustain me a lot better. (Also, personally, although this may not be true
for all runners, I have empirically found starches a much better fuel for
me as a distance runner than fruits alone, the latter of which can cause me
to "bonk" halfway through a run if fruit is all I've had for fuel in the
preceding hours.)

However, I've found that even the starches can also bring on symptoms of
low-blood sugar if I eat beyond a certain amount. So if that is seeming to
be a problem, then I turn to fairly high-protein foods like trail mix with
lots of nuts in them, or--and I know this won't be popular with most
here--other higher-protein animal foods, such as eggs or fish mixed with
some kind of fruit. I've found mixing fruits with proteins like these
allows me to indulge in more fruit (which I very much like) than I
otherwise would be able to. But this may be somewhat unique to me as I have
a digestive system which ripsnorts through heavier proteins very, very
fast. My body seems to like and thrive on very concentrated foods like
nuts, fish, eggs, heavy essene breads, etc., so I find one way for me to
sustain my energy levels through the day is to eat smaller meals more
frequently of concentrated foods. That way I don't overload my digestive
system yet I can still take in large numbers of calories that way as fuel.
Again, however, I have a very high metabolism, and this may not work for
everyone.

3. I notice I do not sleep as well if my blood sugar is low. Sometimes I
feel the need for something with a bit of sugar in it, though not too much,
to bring it back up a bit before bedtime. So if have any kind of fruit
before bedtime, I have gotten into the habit of mixing it with yogurt so as
not bring on any panic-attack-like nervousness and anxiety when I am trying
to sleep. Also, for some reason, bananas don't seem to bother my blood
sugar too much at night and help with sleep, so if I wake up in the middle
of the night hungry (which sometimes happens after a lengthy distance run
of 6-8 miles or more earlier in the evening) a banana often works well
getting me back to sleep.

In summary, the three things I've noticed that help are that: (a)
Sugar-processing sensitivity is tied into circadian rhythms and/or the
amount of time since your last high-sugar meal; (b) Aerobic exercise can
help your sugar-processing abilities out a lot. The more you do, the more
fruits you'll be able to eat without trouble. (c) You can mix sugars like
in fruits with fats and proteins to slow down the rate it hits your
bloodstream.

One other thing I'd note is that there have been a few individuals in the
Natural Hygiene M2M who used to be heavy consumers of fruit live to regret
their past excesses who also compromised to some degree their body's
ability process sugar well.

Peter (Brandt), I know you've said you've had trouble with blood sugar
yourself in the M2M, but you were nevertheless able to eat as much as 50%
fruit recently. Can you give us any insight as to how you were able to do
that successfully? It would be interesting for me, at least, as I have come
by the answers the hard way, and would like to know if other people have
different strategies I've not stumbled across yet.

--Ward Nicholson <[log in to unmask]> Wichita, KS