(Axel wrote in parts from two separate posts:) >basically i still eat raw vegan, but i am not balanced emotionally as >i want to be, so sometimes (not often, fortunately) i resort to >cooked food and junk food for comfort and pleasure (and maybe for >health reasons, as it will become clear as you read on). >i am really curious, besides the fact that it gives me the chuckles >just thinking about how incredibly dogmatic and rigid i have became >regarding food, to the point that i listen more to the (in this case) >meaningless theory instead of my wise physical body. >for a few days after i eat some junk, i regain the pre-natural >hygiene, pre all of this health stuff >normal-i-am-young-and-full-of-energy-all-the-time feeling i enjoyed >all of my previous life. >i was all raw vegan one hundred percent for almost three years and my >symptoms did not go away. more and more the last weeks i am feeling >that my body is DESPERATELY trying to tell me to give up the raw >vegan way. >at this point it seems that my body is almost ordering me to eat the >stuff, because the energy and strength benefits are simply needed. i >can lift weight better, have TONS of energy just like that, and as >soon as i go raw vegan again, this VANISHES mostly. (Jo sez:) From your recent posts, I get the impression that you're aware that something is not quite right, that you're not satisfied with the results from following natural hygiene or the raw vegan ideal. In my case, during the past 12-13 months, I respected that awareness and used it profitably to overcome the (ir)rational objections I carried towards cooked food, and more recently, animal products. So it's encouraging that you're coming to terms with the possible failure of the diet system you currently employ. Actually, it was a couple years ago that a friend of mine, a long-term hygienist (25+ years) who I deeply respect for his experience, mailed me the three part Ward Nicholson interviews from Chet Day's Health & Beyond newsletters. In his accompanying letter he explained that he had started to eat eggs, hard-boiled, in salads, no big deal, the mangoes are great this season, come on out to Molokai'i when you get the chance. My girlfriend and I, both trying to gravitate towards fruitarianism, were dismayed, to put it lightly. But those interviews stuck in my mind, disturbed me, especially part 3 which described my dilemma (and maybe yours) very, very accurately. Extremely thorough and easy to read, I highly recommend them for their sincerity: http://www.beyondveg.com/nicholson-w/hb/hb-interview1a.shtml I also found it helpful to ask myself why I had adopted one particular diet system and hung onto it for nearly 12 years. I believe it goes beyond "improving health" for some people, and the various issues surrounding this question, once brought to light, will dispel the need to identify the self with a particular dietary school. In my case, I was a natural hygienist, then a raw vegan (during which I was a periodical fruitarian) while at the same time my physical health recovered, stabilized, then slowly began to weaken over time. One other question that I considered during that period is, why do I sometimes binge on cooked starches (fall off the wagon) despite "knowing" that a raw vegan diet was adequate? Because I had eliminated the possibility that the hygienic diet might be lacking for me, I could only blame myself (poor implementation or imperfect me). That was a deadly trap, one from which I've been able to extricate myself over the past year. If you can say that your junk food binges aren't related to emotional / mental health issues, then your observation (that your body is instinctively demanding some nutrients unavailable in your current diet) seems highly plausible. Why not experiment? More greens, less fruits, more fats, steamed vegetables, raw eggs in blender drinks,etc. I think natural hygiene has a lot to offer but it seems not everything in its collection of dietary principles apply universally to everyone. If we can use them as ROUGH guidelines and then retain individual choices for the fine-tuning, maybe our results will better reflect the person on a case by case basis. Best wishes, Axel, on your renewed journey.