In talking with many people that have tried to transition to raw, much research and personal experience I've found a central theme around why many people don't successfully transition to a raw diet.

And that theme is Fruit.

Many that try eating more fruit stop because it causes an upset stomach or digestive tract. Some stop because they get hungry right away and don't feel full.

Interestingly enough, the reasons for these difficulties are not related to eating fruit, but most often a different reason. They think it's fruit because it's usually the last item they ate.

Many transitioning to a raw diet consume a large amount of fat from nuts and oils to get that feeling of satisfaction. A high fat diet combined with fruit is a recipe for failure and one of the reasons for digestive difficulties.

Eating fruit and not feeling filled up is many times because not enough of the fruit (calorie wise) was eaten. Additionally, once you start eating larger amounts of fruits regularly, you will begin to lose the feelings of hunger shortly after eating them.

I've found that after a few months of eating mainly fruits throughout the day, my cravings and hunger have gone away. When I am hungry, it's subtle and peaceful. The important thing is to eat a good amount of fruit throughout the day, not just one or two servings.

Frederic Patenaude discusses this at length in The Raw Secrets and cleared up some questions about hunger, fats and how to choose the best selection of foods on a daily basis.

All the best for your health!

Mark
The Vegan Raw Diet

One of the ways I've found to save on your grocery bill (next to shopping at your local farmers market) is to grow your own garden. As I show in this video, you don't need a lot of space to grow just about anything you enjoy. You can dig up a small garden, or use the square foot garden method to grow just about anywhere around your house. You can also use containers as I do if you're short on gardening space. All it takes is getting some compost locally (I found some at my local Whole Foods) and seeds. Here's an update on our home garden:

Read more...

Being a regular customer at Whole Foods for some time, I've had a chance to notice what they sell and who normally shops there.

After a recent visit I've come to the conclusion that contrary to popular belief, Whole Foods IS NOT a health food store in my opinion.

Why?

Read more...

Recently, the only co-op in the Phoenix area, Gentle Strength, and a leader in locally grown, organic produce, went out of business.

Why?

Bottom line... not enough shoppers.

Sure there were probably a few other reasons, but the main one was lack of business.

It's funny, though, everyone I talk to in the area is disappointed and saddened by the closing (as I was). However, I believe there was too much talk and not enough action.

If we want to have better, fresher, organic and locally grown choices, we have to support those organizations. Support them with our shopping dollars and with our help in letting others know about the organizations.

Personally, I'll miss the co-op and the friends I've made there. They were the -only- central place to get fresh, locally grown greens and other produce. All the produce sold was organic and as much as possible was sourced locally. The only choices now are the national chains including Whole Foods and Wild Oats (now owned by Whole Foods), a few smaller chains and some traditional grocery chains that now carry some organic produce. I'm happy that they're all carrying more organic foods, although little, if any, is locally grown. Whole Foods advertises 'local' although a quick walk through shows just a few locally grown out of over 200 produce items.

Alternative sources include farmers markets and visiting farms directly. I've found a few farms and frequent farmers markets on weekends and can find some of the same items. Although not as convenient, it's a solution for now.

Find the local co-ops in your area and support them. It's a fact, traditional companies will continue to market non-organic products and source all over the world unless we 'vote' with our dollars. Using as much locally grown organic produce not only supports your community and the environment, the food is also more nutritious and benefits your health.

We can make a difference.. just do it!

To your best health!

Mark

Here are some pictures of delicious raw dishes I've prepared over the last few months. Recipes and more pictures to come. Enjoy!

Create your mini album at ShowMyPics.com

To your best health!

Mark
Vegan Raw Diet

Let's get a good start by defining what "vegan" is.... by definition, it's a person that eats a plant-based diet. That means they don't eat meat, fish, dairy, egg, honey and all foods made with these ingredients. I prefer to concentrate on the positive aspect of what vegan's choose to eat rather than what they avoid though.

There are additional aspects to being vegan that some adopt, including respect for life (environment, human and animal) , ethical treatment of animals, electing to purchase non-animal based products among others. In this forum, I will focus primarily on the health aspects of the vegan lifestyle and the benefits I believe it offers.

Related links for more information:

http://www.vegan.com
http://www.vegweb.com
http://www.vegan.org/going_vegan
http://www.vegsource.com

Peace.

I've just returned from a 9 day vacation with my daughter... a road trip from Arizona to the mid west and back. It was her first driving trip and we both had a ball enjoying the scenery, time together and visiting family.

I noticed much about our society along the way as well as how easy it is to eat a healthy diet on the road while traveling.

First I noticed how unhealthy most people we ran across looked. It's no wonder with the type of food available at highway stops... fast foods like hot dogs, hamburgers, pizza, tacos, ice cream and the like. In fact we joked (kindly) that many people looked just like the fast food they were eating (think big and super-sized). We made good use of McDonalds and Taco Bell's along the way... they had clean and mostly empty restrooms! While visiting a McDonalds for a restroom break we decided to walk into the restaurant to see the highway below (a great view) and noticed most folks eating there overweight and weren't very happy. Interesting.

We decided to stop at Whole Foods before leaving and packing a large cooler with freezer packs and food for 2-3 days of meals. My daughter does eat some cooked food and we brought some pre-made soups for quick meals for her along with plenty of organic fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds. I brought my Vita-Mix blender (won't leave home without it!) and we started each day with a fresh blended fruit smoothie, more fruit throughout the day, a soup for my daughter and a larger salad for me and a smoothie for dessert.

There were 2 Whole Foods Markets along the way not far from the highways we were traveling on, and we stopped at both on the way there and back to stock up and sit down for a fresh and healthy meal. We noticed each store had different locally grown fruits and vegetables and made sure to try them all.

We both felt great throughout our trip, had nice picnics in scenic areas off the highway and thoroughly enjoyed our fresh and organic meals. Fun!

I believe one of the important parts of getting back to a natural diet and lifestyle is to spend time with our children, families and loved ones. Away from televisions and many of the modern technologies we have grown accustomed to in our society today. Time in nature, noticing the flowers, mountains, creeks, fresh breeze and beautiful sunsets. We experienced all that and more on this trip, and it was priceless.