Marjolein, > I think you're pointing into the right direction. The sprouts I've been >trying to eat were buckwheat, wheat, garbanzo, aduki, katjang (the small >green ones) etc. For me it's hard to tell which one causes the problem, If I were to guess, I'd say the garbanzos are a likely suspect. You can try eliminating them one by one to be sure. >because I almost always put several foods into one dish. Sometimes I even >think it's not any particular food that causes the gas, just the fact that I >am eating again with 2 or 3 hours. This gives me the idea I should wait >longer between meals. Regarding fasting I am a bit hesitant. I don't have >any knowledge about it. In the message before this one I already indicated I >am taking a lot of food supplements. Should I stop taking these as well >during fasting? How can you tell the fasting is successful? I am not that >good (yet) at 'listening' to my body. I'm no fasting expert, and the experts will probably disagree with this, but if you haven't done any extended periods of 100% raw foods and juices, I wouldn't jump into fasting (unless you are dealing with some serious condition). Otherwise there is a huge tendency to break the fast with less desirable foods. There are lots of people who eat junk and then try to compensate by doing a fast, then follow that with binging on more junk. This makes no sense, in my opinion. Raw foods and juices are very cleansing in themselves. I'd say get established on a good diet for a few months or even a couple of years before considering a fast of more than a day or two. And I would also recommend getting some experience with juice fasting before attempting a water fast. I don't take supplements consistently these days, but when I do I only take green powders like Dr. Schulze's Superfood, spirulina, powdered wheatgrass and barleygrass, etc. If I am going to put something into my body I want it to bear a close resemblance to food, not a laboratory creation. Read the labels on your vitamins and you will notice that most of them, even the so-called "natural" ones, do not tell you the source of the vitamins in any detail. I suspect there is a reason for that. I would definitely not take vitamins while fasting, because common sense tells me that these substances, if they are any good at all, should be taken as a supplement to the diet, not a replacement for it. Seems like it would mess up your body chemistry somehow. But that's just an uneducated layman's opinion (like all my other opinions). Dr. Gabriel Cousens once suggested I take an enzyme supplement for digestive/gas problems. He had me taking a product called Quadrazyme, I believe. As I recall, it worked pretty well. Some raw fooders think if you are eating any cooked food you should take enzyme supplements before eating it. >About food combinations: do you mean protein / carbohydrates combinations? >I'd say this wouldn't be that much of an issue with eating raw food, or >would it? Or do you mean food combinations in general, just finding out >which foods go easy and which ones do not? Yes, from what I have read, proteins and starches supposedly don't go together, and fruits should be eaten alone. I am not super strict about those rules because I seldom have digestive problems anymore, but if I did I would definitely minimize these combinations. I also think it's important to give your body a good long rest from food each night -- 12 hours minimum. Mark