Raw Food Fast

Bridgette · 04-15-2008, 08:13 AM

My instructor had talked to us about raw food fasting and it sounded like a great way to detoxify the body for spring (seeing spring alas has finally graced us in Wisconsin. The past month has brought a lot of unseasonably cold weather, record snowfalls, and some pretty fed-up robins). After my breakfast of locally grown tomatoes and carrot sticks, I began to understand, I have no idea how to execute a raw food fast.

So I find myself here, pleading to the masses for advice. I'm I limited to just fruits and veggies (I'm vegetarian), Or what kinda of fun options do I have available to me?

Andy R · 04-15-2008, 09:50 AM

You might take a look at this site for some menu examples. We Like It Raw - Raw Food Goodness: Sample Raw Food Menu Plan

Pandara · 04-15-2008, 11:26 PM

Hi Bridgette,

Try making you own smoothies with different combinations of fruit or even vegetables. I make a vegetable smoothie of carrots, celery and spinach which I love. Add water to thin it out a bit. Sometimes I add some oat bran especially with breakfast just to make the smoothie last longer. I usually include some honey as well just to add something sweet. I call it my "spring clean" and do it at the beginning of spring in SA (we are on our way to winter now).

**Nichole** · 04-16-2008, 12:12 PM

Happy spring Bridgette!
Being a native of Michigan--your neck of the woods--I remember how magical it is when spring finally breaks through those long winters.

I use raw foods as an adjunct support for the cleanses that I use myself--the Arise and Shine 7-day is that cleanse if anyone is curious. There are 3 "cook" books that I like: Bridgette Mars, Rawsome!; Christine Dreher, The Cleanse Cookbook; Jennifer Cornbleet, Raw Food Made Easy For 1 or 2 People.

I wanted to offer this to you, and to the others who read this and may be also be interested in fasting or cleansing (there is a difference), make sure oils are part of this shift into a raw-foods diet. Using organics, and the best quality of everything consumed during your cleanse or fast, will not only help the body metabolize and eliminate more efficiently, but you will also experience less of the negative cleansing reactions like headaches, mood swings, nausea, etc. Adding oils such as flax, Udo's brand blended oils, olive and ghee (depending on the cleanse/fast since it is an animal product), in the highest-quality available, is essential in pacifying vata when introducing/increasing raw foods because of the cold and dry qualities of much of this diet. Oils should never be cooked with, instead add them to your salad as a dressing and toss them with lightly-steamed veggies after steaming.

Honey, in Ayurveda, is considered to have scraping and heating qualities to it. This might be what you are looking for and need, but you may need instead maple syrup, which is sattvic or neutral as part of your cleanse/fast. This component makes me think of another book to recommend to you, Jennifer Workman, The Balanced Approach. Jennifer was a teacher at RMIYA where I first studied Ayurveda and her book is great too.

Be well,

Bridgette · 04-19-2008, 12:22 PM

I never really classified honey as a raw food for some reason. I was getting sick of feeling guilty about putting honey in my tea on a daily basis. Thanks for the great tips.

Pandara · 04-19-2008, 11:09 PM

Hi Bridgette,

I am trying to understand your guilt about eating honey, can you explain a bit more, please.

CelestialSphere · 04-20-2008, 07:35 AM

Welcome to SimplyRaw!

I am in Canada and this is a web site I visit sometimes.
Under 'raw lifestyle' there is a few recipes.

Bridgette · 04-22-2008, 05:58 PM

Guilt purely from thinking of excess calories. I feel less guilty about it now that I think about it as a raw food.

Pandara · 04-23-2008, 11:58 AM

I undertsand, but if you eat a little honey in moderation, then I am sure you have nothing to feel guilty about, always remember guilt is just a another form of desire and if we want to be free we need to free ourselves from our desires which cause us so much suffering.

Enjoy and rather give praise and thanks that you can enjoy the sweetness of the Divine through something as pure as especially organic honey.

Loretha Kennedy · 04-24-2008, 05:24 AM

one teaspoon of honey is the life work of twelve bees and the love work of a million flowers

mandamayhem · 07-08-2008, 11:55 AM

oooo! i've been wanting to try the raw foods thing, but i find it so hard in the summer, what with all the grilling of hot dogs and burgers and shrimp and anything else. i was a vegetarian for many years and then started eating meat about two or three years ago, cuz i missed it. i am wondering if i should incorporate raw foods into my diet slowly or just go cold turkey. i want it to stick.

Happy Warrior · 07-08-2008, 08:00 PM

My favorite raw book is Natalia Rose's The Raw Food Detox Diet.

I did it faithfully for approximately 8 months last year and started to reach optimal health on diet alone. I desperately want to get back to it full swing and the mind set I have been developing with my yoga practice is finally bringing me back to that place.

Rose's book offers sound advice on ways we pollute our cells from bad food choices and how to improve our choices through avoiding/encouraging certain food combinations as well.

She offers delicious recipes, a solid plan, I continue to use as my guidance to this day and also healthy ways to have a detox fast.

04-15-2008, 11:26 PM	#3
Pandara pañcashata Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Pretoria, South Africa Posts: 593	Hi Bridgette, Try making you own smoothies with different combinations of fruit or even vegetables. I make a vegetable smoothie of carrots, celery and spinach which I love. Add water to thin it out a bit. Sometimes I add some oat bran especially with breakfast just to make the smoothie last longer. I usually include some honey as well just to add something sweet. I call it my "spring clean" and do it at the beginning of spring in SA (we are on our way to winter now). __________________ Blessings & Om's Pandara _____________________________________________ Serve, Love, Give, Purify, Meditate, Realise. - Swami Sivanada

04-16-2008, 12:12 PM	#4
Nichole SYT Moderator Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Boulder, Colorado Posts: 780	Happy spring Bridgette! Being a native of Michigan--your neck of the woods--I remember how magical it is when spring finally breaks through those long winters. I use raw foods as an adjunct support for the cleanses that I use myself--the Arise and Shine 7-day is that cleanse if anyone is curious. There are 3 "cook" books that I like: Bridgette Mars, Rawsome!; Christine Dreher, The Cleanse Cookbook; Jennifer Cornbleet, Raw Food Made Easy For 1 or 2 People. I wanted to offer this to you, and to the others who read this and may be also be interested in fasting or cleansing (there is a difference), make sure oils are part of this shift into a raw-foods diet. Using organics, and the best quality of everything consumed during your cleanse or fast, will not only help the body metabolize and eliminate more efficiently, but you will also experience less of the negative cleansing reactions like headaches, mood swings, nausea, etc. Adding oils such as flax, Udo's brand blended oils, olive and ghee (depending on the cleanse/fast since it is an animal product), in the highest-quality available, is essential in pacifying vata when introducing/increasing raw foods because of the cold and dry qualities of much of this diet. Oils should never be cooked with, instead add them to your salad as a dressing and toss them with lightly-steamed veggies after steaming. Honey, in Ayurveda, is considered to have scraping and heating qualities to it. This might be what you are looking for and need, but you may need instead maple syrup, which is sattvic or neutral as part of your cleanse/fast. This component makes me think of another book to recommend to you, Jennifer Workman, The Balanced Approach. Jennifer was a teacher at RMIYA where I first studied Ayurveda and her book is great too. Be well, __________________ Nichole Nurenberg-Miller Structural and Ayurvedic Yoga Therapist • RYT500 www.FiveKoshaYogaTherapy.com Last edited by Nichole; 04-16-2008 at 12:21 PM.

04-19-2008, 11:09 PM	#6
Pandara pañcashata Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Pretoria, South Africa Posts: 593	Hi Bridgette, I am trying to understand your guilt about eating honey, can you explain a bit more, please. __________________ Blessings & Om's Pandara _____________________________________________ Serve, Love, Give, Purify, Meditate, Realise. - Swami Sivanada

04-23-2008, 11:58 AM	#9
Pandara pañcashata Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Pretoria, South Africa Posts: 593	I undertsand, but if you eat a little honey in moderation, then I am sure you have nothing to feel guilty about, always remember guilt is just a another form of desire and if we want to be free we need to free ourselves from our desires which cause us so much suffering. Enjoy and rather give praise and thanks that you can enjoy the sweetness of the Divine through something as pure as especially organic honey. __________________ Blessings & Om's Pandara _____________________________________________ Serve, Love, Give, Purify, Meditate, Realise. - Swami Sivanada

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04-15-2008, 08:13 AM	#1
Bridgette Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 60	My instructor had talked to us about raw food fasting and it sounded like a great way to detoxify the body for spring (seeing spring alas has finally graced us in Wisconsin. The past month has brought a lot of unseasonably cold weather, record snowfalls, and some pretty fed-up robins). After my breakfast of locally grown tomatoes and carrot sticks, I began to understand, I have no idea how to execute a raw food fast. So I find myself here, pleading to the masses for advice. I'm I limited to just fruits and veggies (I'm vegetarian), Or what kinda of fun options do I have available to me?

04-15-2008, 09:50 AM	#2
Andy R Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 274	You might take a look at this site for some menu examples. We Like It Raw - Raw Food Goodness: Sample Raw Food Menu Plan

04-19-2008, 12:22 PM	#5
Bridgette Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 60	I never really classified honey as a raw food for some reason. I was getting sick of feeling guilty about putting honey in my tea on a daily basis. Thanks for the great tips.

04-20-2008, 07:35 AM	#7
CelestialSphere Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Canada Posts: 10	Welcome to SimplyRaw! I am in Canada and this is a web site I visit sometimes. Under 'raw lifestyle' there is a few recipes.

04-22-2008, 05:58 PM	#8
Bridgette Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 60	Guilt purely from thinking of excess calories. I feel less guilty about it now that I think about it as a raw food.

04-24-2008, 05:24 AM	#10
Loretha Kennedy Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: South Africa Posts: 6	one teaspoon of honey is the life work of twelve bees and the love work of a million flowers

07-08-2008, 11:55 AM	#11
mandamayhem Junior Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Philadelphia, PA Posts: 4	oooo! i've been wanting to try the raw foods thing, but i find it so hard in the summer, what with all the grilling of hot dogs and burgers and shrimp and anything else. i was a vegetarian for many years and then started eating meat about two or three years ago, cuz i missed it. i am wondering if i should incorporate raw foods into my diet slowly or just go cold turkey. i want it to stick.

07-08-2008, 08:00 PM	#12
Happy Warrior Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Saint Charles, IL Posts: 35	My favorite raw book is Natalia Rose's The Raw Food Detox Diet. I did it faithfully for approximately 8 months last year and started to reach optimal health on diet alone. I desperately want to get back to it full swing and the mind set I have been developing with my yoga practice is finally bringing me back to that place. Rose's book offers sound advice on ways we pollute our cells from bad food choices and how to improve our choices through avoiding/encouraging certain food combinations as well. She offers delicious recipes, a solid plan, I continue to use as my guidance to this day and also healthy ways to have a detox fast.