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Do you love dates? I do, but be careful with your teeth!

Dates tend to be dried a little so they will really stick to your tooth enamel. It’s best to soak them first, or have them in smoothies. I do still eat them as they come, but I try to get through them in one go rather than snack on them over an hour or two. Then once I’ve got through them I brush my teeth really well. It’s not good enough just to eat something like a carrot or few pieces of lettuce afterwards. You need to ensure that no bits of dates are sticking to your teeth, especially near the gum line. The reason I say all this is that I did have teeth problems, this was more due to poor habits such as snacking, eating late, and not brushing after eating. I’ve taken measures to address these poor habits and to improve my diet further. Now most of the time my teeth feel like they’ve been polished at the dentist!

Improvements in my skin health

Keeping off fat and eating LOADS of greens has made my skin feel amazing. Dandruff hasn’t bothered me for a long time either. If you want to use a moisturiser cream then ensure that it is edible! Whatever you put on your skin soaks in and becomes part of you. I recommend virgin coconut oil.

I only occasionally use the coconut oil on my hands if they became chapped due to doing DIY type of work. It’s usually my hands coming into contact with some chemicals (eg treated wood, or some form of cleaner) that means I need to take extra care. One of my rain coats is treated with something. If my hands are wet and come into contact with the waterproofing material then my hands get really sore – coconut oil sorts them out though. Pollutants and chemicals can and do dry out your skin, including chorine in tap water.

Soap and the squirty stuff you get for washing hands is a big burden on the skin. I recommend trying not to use soap, bubble bath, washing up liquid, shampoo, or any other chemicals that may come into contact with your skin. Most personal care products do absolutely nothing for your health, in fact the majority are a burden on your health.
 
Drinking enough water is essential. Some people may get away without drinking much, I can as well if I’m eating mainly things like oranges and watermelons. However I need to drink plenty of water most of the time. If I don’t, then mental fog and fatigue can creep back in. If you eat cooked food, fat food (eg seeds/nuts), or dried food then you need to drink more water. I drink 1.5 to 2 litres a day and I have loads of fruit and greens. On the odd occasion when I deviate from my diet, then I make an effort the drink more water.

Some improvements in my skin are as follows:

• I used to be forever washing my face because it used to feel dirty and my skin felt clogged up - Not anymore.
• Acne is gone. It bothered me all my adult life until I made the diet and lifestyle changes.
• I used to get very painful cracked skin on one of my toes - that is gone.
• I also used to really itch in various places and tried several creams and ointments over the years. Itchiness is gone.
• I occasionally used to get skin infections on my face (a bit like a large gooey spot). I don’t get these either.

All these improvements in skin health I put down to:

1. Not exposing myself to the chemicals in personal care products, domestic cleaners, and so on.
2. Eating a mainly low fat raw vegan diet with large amounts of greens in the form of juice, smoothies and salads.

Eat More Raw – Banana Boats!

Eat More Raw - Banana Boat

If you’re off to a party and fancy taking along a plate of nibbles, then I guarantee that this very simple ‘Banana Boat’ recipe will go down very well!

I recently held an ‘Eat More Raw’ day in a local primary school, it was great! We had 5 ‘Eat More Raw’ food preparation and tasting activities. Incredibly some of the children had never even tried fruit and salads. It was so encouraging to see all of the children eating healthy things that they’ve not tried before. About 95% of the ingredients were fresh fruit and salads. During one of the activities, I made wraps with the top half of Chinese-leaf-lettuce leaves. After the event I was wondering what to do with the leftover bottom half, so I set to doing a bit of experimenting, that’s where the ‘Banana Boats’ idea came from.

Take the bottom half of a leaf and trim it so that it fits into your mouth! Take a banana and cut it lengthways. Place the banana with the cut gooey side facing up onto the leaf. Sprinkle a small amount of ground almonds on top and a tiny drizzle honey (or use date paste – blended date & water if you want to keep it vegan). That’s all there is to it! If you combine this with a salad or fruit, then it’s still low fat. This is because you only need a small sprinkling of freshly ground almonds or other nuts.

with kind regards, Stuart

Fat Free Orange Dip

Fat Free Orange Dip

Using a high powered blender with tamper, blend up the following.

* 2 medium sweet potatoes (peeled)

* 6 dates (destoned)

* 2 oranges (peeled)

To keep it thick, don’t use water!

Use a spoon with a long handle to get the concoction out of the blender and into a serving bowl. Then mix in something for a little surprise taste and texture, eg. chopped apple, sprouted quinoa, grated carrot, bananas, goji berries etc. In the picture above, I added a spiralised carrot and a slice of orange.

It was very very yummy for my tummy! If you try it out, or a variation of it, let me know what you think.

I mainly eat low fat meals

I’ve just had a look through my recipes on this blog, most of them so far have coconut in them. I actually follow a low fat raw diet and most of the time I just eat whole fruits and vegetables together with quite a few green smoothies and some green juices.

I don’t often add fat foods into my meals, although when I do, coconut is one of my favourites, followed by durian and avocado. Most of my meals just consist of rather large salads and bunches of fruit, which doesn’t give me much to write about. I’ll do some blog posts of my salads as well and ‘try’ to keep it interesting!

It’s not porridge for breakfast!

In the place of porridge, how about serving this to your children to start off the day. It has a similar consistency, is made from 100% raw ingrediants, it’s gluten and wheat free and is totally scrumptious!

I’ll add a picture when I make it next – I ate it this batch straight away!

1 iceberg lettuce,
10 dates de-stoned,
1/2 the meat from a mature coconut,
Blend the above in a high powered blender until smooth.
Serve with a glass of the coconut water.

I scoffed the lot, but I guess you might say that it serves two! …. Enjoy

Still struggling with candida symptoms?

This post is in response to a few questions that I’ve had about ongoing candida issues. Remember though, I’m not a doctor or a health professional but I can share some of my experiences which hopefully may help you.

[Warning if you are squirmish then stop reading here, as I'll be talking lots about poos, wees, farting and other such stuff!]

Candida thrives in a high sugar environment, if you are getting candida symptoms in other parts of your body then there’s a high chance that the candida is feeding off your high levels of blood sugar. In actual fact the candida is doing you a favour! Candida is natural and not to be feared, although it can make you feel so totally awful when it seems to be getting out of control.

Two things I know that cause high blood sugar (and fatigue, candida, and a host of other things) are:

a) too much fat (reduces effectiveness of insulin)
b) not enough insulin

There are several other things (eg worn out adrenals) that may contribute to it too. It may be worth getting tested for type 1 diabetes and some of the other things that cause fatigue and high blood sugar levels. I’ve seen a lot of stories online of type 2 diabetics totally recovering, and type 1 diebetics improving when adopting a raw diet.

I’ve also heard of candida suffers recovering by having amalgam fillings replaced using the correct protocol (ie rubber dam, removed in correct order, use bio-compatible composite white fillings etc). I still have my amalgam fillings. Using diet, I’ve been able to recover enough to get on with my life. If I was still struggling then I’d consider getting them replaced. I may well get them replaced when finances allow anyway.

Some people cut out the fruit and sugar foods (ie Gabriel Cousins approach), others cut out the fat and keep the fruit (ie Doug Graham approach). The thing to remember though is that fat and fruit don’t mix.

If you are still in and out of addictive foods and cooked foods, then please take a look through my blog postings and read one entitled ’setting yourself free from addictive foods that control you’ http://eatmoreraw.net/blog/?p=329
Certain foods will really feed candida, wheat is one of them. Have a think about how you can substitute one food for another healthier food and move towards a healthier diet.

I don’t totally follow the 80 10 10 diet, but I’ve embraced Doug’s teaching on keeping low fat levels to manage fatigue and candida issues. Just before I had success with 811, I was wretching (painfully) and couldn’t quite vomit fully, oh I wish I could have! I also had incredible wind and belching. Something was inside my digestive system and needed to be out. I fasted for a couple of days, and did 2 enema’s containing threelac probiotics. The belching and farting reduced massively after that.

If I cheat on my diet, then the farting sometimes comes back for a couple of weeks. I think it is because small amounts of undigested matter get stuck inside and ferment or putrefy. If the farts are smell free then it’s fermentation, eg from fruit that is backing up inside of the digestive system, typically caused by a previous heavy meal. Or if it stinks, the body is struggling to digest heavier protein type of foods. The odd cheat meal can litterally effect me for 2 or 3 weeks, or more! I really try and stick with my diet now, it’s just not worth it for the odd bit of comfort food. If anyone’s interested and not grossed out by now, it comes as a relief to know that I rarely fart or belch nowadays!

Before I had decent success with the low fat raw diet, what I ate came out in the loo! It was hardly digested, and I used to explode on the loo 6 times a day. I had terrible fatigue and often had depression.

Even since having digestive success, eating any fat would make my poo look like a washed out beige colour. Nowadays though, fat doesn’t bother me like it used to, so I think a degree of healing must have taken place.

When I first had some success in the low fat raw vegan diet my digestion was still poor. If I ate lots of greens then my poo would be green too! Nowadays my poo is pretty much always brown. I think part of this is that my body is MUCH more alkaline. I read recently that part of your digestion (fat digestion) only occurs efficiently when your body has a higher pH. If I wee on pH paper nowadays, or if I spit on it, it doesn’t matter what time of day it is, then the pH paper turns green (ie pH 7 or above). When I had fatigue very badly, the pH of my wee was always less than 6.

To increase the body’s pH: eat greens, greens and more greens!!! and make the rest of your diet raw and low (ideally free from) grain, low fat and no processed or cooked food.

A higher body pH will also help digestion. In order to have good acid levels in your stomach to aid digestion, then your stomach lining needs to be alkaline, otherwise the acid will just burn through your stomach. With a poor stomach lining, to protect you the acid needs to become weaker, hence poor digestion. Eating more greens will gradually help improve your stomach lining, acid levels will improve and so will digestion. If at first you can’t digest greens very well, then have them in smoothies. Cabbage and broccoli may be too strong though and may make you explode on the loo. Eat celery, lettuce, pakchoy etc, and no strong flavoured greens. Have half in a smoothie and half in a salad. Try and work up to eating 1 to 2 pounds of greens a day.

If your body can’t cope with the volume, then please keep eating cooked food, but move towards the healthier options, and gradually increase the amount of greens in your diet.

Teeth.
I’m trying not to eat betweens meals, as my teeth seem to have deteriated a little. I think that’s because I was eating a lot of dates straight out of the packet and honey. Both of these stick to your teeth. I am now trying to eat food just once or twice a day. I do eat alot! I’m trying not to eat outside these meals and I’ve started brushing my teeth with baking soda after food as well. I’m not entirely happy with my teeth, I’m still watching how they repsond to my recent dietary changes. The food hasn’t changed, it’s more when I eat that’s changed and I’m brushing & flossing more often.

Many raw fooders have problems with teeth. I think that is probably partly due to our mineral defficient diet (modern agriculture), and partly due to constant grazing on food (like I was doing). Also if saliva is acidic then that will cause decay too. That’s another reason to increase the pH of the body.

Anti fungals and probiotics:
Be careful! Anti-fungals can make you feel absolutely terrible – It’s no joke. If you do use them, then don’t rush any dosage. Even things like wheatgrass juice help alkalise the body and kill off candida, but can really make you feel so awfull, as can coconut oil. Antifungals address the symptoms, rather than the cause.

My personal preference was to go totally fat free for 3 months. ie. no oil, seeds, avocados, durian etc for three whole months. I ate lots of lettuce, celery, pak choy, salads and fruit – lots of it!

I also drank plenty of water. Dehydration is a huge cause of depression and fatigue. You’ll need more water especially if blood sugar levels are high. Check out the watercure video on my main website links page. They recommend salt with the water but I don’t use it. Maybe I should?! Dr D. Graham says we don’t need it. I seem fine without it, but my teeth could be better.

Acne.
What gets rid of acne for me are ZERO fat foods, a 100% raw diet and ZERO spicy foods. In experimenting with my recent menus, I’ve used more fat foods (coconut, seeds etc) and more spicy foods to flavour things up (eg onion, garlic, indian spices etc). I have had a couple of spots, but nothing serious. My skin is totally amazing though, especially when I just eat fruit and salads without trying to do anything fancy. My skin was awful as I was growing up. Also, my psoriasis, joint pain, back pain, itching, fungal skin infections, athletes foot, and cracked skin have totally gone, and quite a few other things have either vanished or greatly improved with improved my diet.

If you find that fasting helps you, then all is not lost. That’s what I used to find, but as soon as I started eating then my old symptoms would come back. What I’d suggest is learn how your body responds to food. Write down everything that you consume, and see how it effects you in the next couple of days. Use the information learned to help you with your diet.

Do you have a desperate hunger? Then if you feed that hunger you are not feeding yourself!!! Feed your body what it needs and learn to ignore any cries for unhealthy food. If your body cries for healthy food though, then go for it!

I hope that helps!

Eat More Raw at The Slug and Lettuce

I was eating eating out with the allotment club last night at the aptly named ‘Slug and Lettuce’ restaurant. Everyone else had their usual festive meal, but I asked for a raw meal instead.

A few days before, I dropped off a note to the Chef explaining;

‘By changing my diet in the past couple of years, I’ve been able to recover from several problematic health conditions. I now eat a very simple diet based on fresh whole raw fruit and vegetables.’

I also gave simple examples of a starter, main course and dessert.

Wow! The Staff at The Slug and Lettuce in Durham certainly responded well to the challenge!

For a starter I had a gorgeous raw green soup that contained chopped fresh tomatoes. It was topped with sunflower and sesame seeds, and chopped fresh herbs. Awesome! I was told that many of the staff had a try of it too! Could this be a new menu item?!!! The hearty salad had loads of variety in it, including some exotic fruit that made it even more scrumptious. The dessert was the most refreshing delicious fruit salad ever with lots of variety as well.

Thank you to all the kind staff at The Slug and Lettuce in Durham! You prepared 3 beautiful courses that were all delicious. 10 out of 10!

http://www.slugandlettuce.co.uk/

*******************

Here’s the suggested meal examples that I gave in my letter:

Starter :
Raw soup:
Blended spinach & bananas,
Add chopped orange &/or tomato.
Possibly dress it with chopped basil or parsley and/or seeds such as hemp or hulled sunflower.

Main course example:
Large mixed salad with fruit. eg with any of the following:
Lettuce, rocket, pakchoy, celery,
cucumber, tomatoes, radish,
bananas, mangoes, grapes, apple, etc.
If you make a dressing, then no vinegar please! Blended orange and tomato makes a lovely dressing, as does just freshly squeezed lemon juice.
I often eat just a bunch of bananas and a whole lettuce for a meal, so it doesn’t have to be complicated! Anything fresh and raw is really appreciated.

Dessert example:
Fruit salad (any fresh fruit – but not tinned fruit please), or

If you have a high powered blender, this one is totally delicious, why not try it out in the restaurant! Blend up oranges, fresh coconut meat and dates.
You can see it here http://eatmoreraw.net/blog/?p=392

Thank you very much for your kind assistance.

The Gorilla Diet

Anatomically we are very similar to the apes and monkeys. Look at any groups
of anatomically similar species and they all tend to eat more or less the
same type of diet, other than humans of course!

If we fed the monkeys at the zoo our diet, then they’d get depressed,
stressed, aggressive and be more susceptible to disease. They’d over eat and
get overweight. They’d get grey hair, go bald and look old. They would cease
to be athletes in the jungle. In fact they would start to get degenerative
diseases and require numerous visits to the vets and become a burden on the
zoo.

Warning – do not feed the animals…. otherwise they may become as ill as we
are!

We should raid the gorilla’s diet and model our diet on theirs! …. I do!!!

Not Cauliflower Cheese

Not Cauliflower Cheese

My wife made cauliflower cheese for the family dinner and it smelled delicious! Not wanting to feel deprived I quickly set to making my own raw equivalent concoction.

I’m still experimenting with coconut, and wherever fat (or fat foods) are used in traditional cooked recipes, it seems that fat needs to be used to create a substitute raw alternative. Healthy coconut is one of my favourite foods at the moment as it can be used to make some very appetising raw recipes. I took a couple of glasses of another coconut recipe, the “Ultimate Green Smoothie”, to my neighbours today and they absolutely loved it! Make sure you try it out. Read earlier in my blog for the details.

… getting back to the cauliflower cheese… or not, because I’d rather not eat cooked things or cheese.

I decided to put raw cauliflower on my plate. Then I just blended 2 bananas and 1/3 of the meat from a coconut. Nothing else was added. My trusty blender did a stirling job of making a lovely creamy thick sauce out of it. I think that you can forget having a creamy sauce unless you have a high powered blender. I guess you could put the coconut through a juicer to crush it first, that is if the juicer is man enough, please don’t blame me if you brake it though!

The only problem with the recipe is that it lacks a little colour. However shut your eyes and take a taste of the cauliflower covered in the sauce and you will be in heaven! WOW WOW WOW!!!

In case you need the full ingrediants list, here it is!:
* 1/2 a cauliflower
* 2 bananas
* 1/3 of meat from a mature coconut.

Just in case you were wondering, the other things on the plate are
… well I think you can work that one out!

YUMMY FACTOR 10/10