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Vitamin B12 and Eggs

I know of no vegan animal in the wild. Herbivores eat bugs, grubs, slugs, snails, spiders and other creepy crawlies as a bit of flavouring when carefully selecting the most scrumptious blades of grass, tender greens and fruit.

Primates will readily devour any grubs and bugs. They often grope around on the ground looking for any tender morsel – whether or not it is of a purely vegan source. Of course the vast majority of their diet is raw vegan but, very importantly, some of their diet is non vegan.

B12 comes from the bacteria found in many of the creepy crawlies that most animals inadvertently end up consuming. In the wild, primates have good levels of B12 in their body. After a couple of years in captivity though, after eating a vegan diet provided to them by man, their B12 levels drop. This plentiful food source is grown in a relatively sanitised environment. The food is often devoid of dirt, grubs, bugs and insects due to man’s wisdom, his farming methods and sanitisation practices.

Chickens also readily devour creepy crawlies. They go mad after worms, slugs, snails, in fact anything that crawls on the ground. The creepy crawlies are their most favourite food source. After that, they love raw vegan food! If you want to see chickens fly, then try regularly offering the pulp left overs after juicing!

Rather than eat the crubs, bugs, and other creepy crawlies to keep my B12 levels up, I’ve chosen to occasionally eat eggs from our own free range chickens! I’ve eaten eggs raw, and cooked. What surprised me is that I’ve had NO adverse side effects from eating raw or cooked eggs. Even more surprising is that I feel I’ve been given yet another dose of rocket fuel to boost up even further my energy levels.

When I first moved towards a low fat raw vegan diet and away from fat, supplements, spices, salt and all the other non 80-10-10 foods, my energy levels were off the charts. A year later though, after 6 months 100% low fat raw without cheating, my energy levels were not as high as they once were. Occasionally eating home grown eggs has put me into top gear again and my energy levels are pretty much like (or better than) when I first switched to the 80-10-10 way of eating. Perhaps B12 has something to do with it, I don’t know, but what I do know is that I feel pretty good… for the time being!

I don’t like labels like “vegan”, or “100% raw vegan”. These set up most people for failure, as few ever achieve it. I tried it and I think I achieved it without “cheating” for about 6 months in a row last year. However, I feel better by backing off a little and allowing an occasional non vegan food, or simple cooked food into my diet. On average this probably adds up to less one cooked meal a week. If you are the sort of person who likes to give labels or put people in boxes, then you can call me a “herbivore” because the vast magority of my diet consists of raw fruits and vegetables.

My diet is still very high raw (approx 95%) and I’m into this for health reasons, rather than other reasons such as being a pure vegan. My main thrust is to do things as naturally as possible. We were given some chickens by our neighbours, and I fancied trying out the eggs, especially since I read about the potential benefits. I can’t remember when I last had eggs before this, probably a couple of years at least.

Wow! They are the nicest eggs I have ever tasted – even when raw! On Friday I had an omelette. A week before that I had raw mushrooms chopped up and mixed with raw egg. I found it incredibly tasty. I was very pleasantly surprised at how my body just said YES in terms of how it responded. For example, in Church yesterday morning I had this urge to go and do some press-ups! (I didn’t do them I may add!). Later in the day, I had to go running because I had my ‘running legs’ back (even though I’ve not been running for a month).

Yesterday all I ate, was a 1.25 litres of green juice, a load of bananas in the middle of the day and then a small raw spring cabbage for dinner. I felt really satisfied. Then after a couple of hours I went for the run. I went faster than I’ve been in years and that is despite me not going running for 4 weeks. My legs don’t even ache today. I had no food after the run. Today I was expecting to be ravenous. I had 1.25 litres of greens juice, 1 apple, and a few pound of grapes. I did physical work outside on my allotment and didn’t crave food. My body just seems to be working more efficiently, I feel fantastic!

My Dad is very seriously ill in hospital and it is very difficult and breaks my heart for him (any prayers are much appreciated from anyone who reads this). Incredibly I’ve been able to be very joyful and positive.

I’ve had a bit of a health issue which developed whilst on low fat raw foods in the summer. I had to use the loo (for a wee) too often and quite often suddenly. I’m sure part of this is the water content of the shear volume of fruit I eat, another part may be a blood sugar issue. This need for the loo issue does seem to be a lot better recently.

I can’t deny that something is very positively different and the only different thing that I’ve been trying out is occassionaly eating home grown free range eggs from chickens that eat alot of raw vegan food!

Kind regards,
Stuart

Setting yourself free from addictive foods that control you

Alcohol for many people is ok. But for some, taking just one sip of it, leads them back down into a spiral of being controlled by it. Cooked and processed food is the same. Many many people, more so than with alcohol, are gripped by food addiction and compulsive over eating. I count myself in this category.

If for example I eat toast, then I always want more, and more, and more. If I am presented with some sort of dessert, like cheesecake, sticky toffee pudding, in fact any dessert(!), then NO AMOUNT satisfies me. Even when I am full, I still want to eat more. It’s the same with many other foods, like pizza, chocolates, crisps. Pretty much any processed food, and many cooked foods don’t satisfy me, and that is irrespective of the amount eaten.

To help rid yourself of foods that seem to control you, you could try a few simple tricks.

Decide one day that a particular type of food is no longer part of your diet, and substitute it for something healthier. For example, do this for wheat. Instead of wheat, eat whole grain brown rice. Brown rice doesn’t have gluten in it and is much more wholesome. It is nowhere near as addictive as wheat based products. This may mean having to be pre-prepared so that you always have some ready. Another option is, you could eat lentils instead of wheat.

I currently eat neither cooked rice or nor cooked lentils, but they will be much better for you than cooked wheat, and they could help you transition to healthier alternatives still.

Just make one decision at a time. And learn how to eat without consuming that offending food for a few weeks before you try and eliminate or substitute another food. Keep chipping away at it, and eventually you’ll be on a healthier diet.

Make sure that you eat enough. If you used to eat a lot of bread, then you may need to eat a lot of rice or lentils instead. In the example, the important thing is to keep off the wheat based products – that includes bread (however healthy), biscuits, cakes, biscuit bases in desserts and so on.

There may be occasions when a social gathering brings you into temptation to eat that food again. Or it may be expected that you’ll eat it when served as part of a meal. This is something that helps me out:

People who matter don’t mind, people who mind don’t matter!
(That’s part of a quote I saw on the internet somewhere. It helps me keep on raw food!).

If however, you feel that you have to give in and eat what others are eating due to social expectations, then go for it and enjoy it!!! Make a decision that whenever you are in control of your food then your diet will consist of abc and not xyz.

If you really can’t completely let go of a food then another possible method is to have a designated cheat day in the week (eg. Saturday). For the rest of the week be totally strict with yourself.

The food substitutions and non-cheat days can really help your body get used to eating a healthier lifestyle. Have a practice at turning down food, or taking your own food to social occasions. Most of any awkwardness comes from within, and not from the other person. I now tell friends that most cooked foods make me ill (which they do), so I try not to eat them. This is almost always understood by the host. I try and explain beforehand so that there is no sudden embarrassment, and I may even take my own food. It’s very easy to cater for me though. A bunch of ripe bananas and a whole lettuce would make me more than delighted!

Here are some possible food and drink substitutions that may help you on the way to eating yourself into a healthier lifestyle. The first option is the offending food, the second option may help you let go of the first option. You may for example be able to let go of coffee if you have tea instead. Eventually you’ll break the grip that coffee had on you. When you have set yourself free from coffee, then try setting yourself free from tea, by drinking green tea instead. Then drink hot water and lemon instead of green tea, and so on. Eventually set yourself free from all the foods that control you.

Example food substitutions:
red meat > chicken
chicken > fish
bread products (eg pizza) > jacket potatoes
potatoes > rice or lentils
rice or lentils > several pieces of fruit with a large salad
cows milk > soya milk
coffee > tea
tea > green tea
chocolate > dates
sugar > honey
oil dressing > lemon or vinegar dressing
cooked dessert > fruit dessert
cooked veg > large salad

The other transition method that some people go for is to make a straight swap and never eat the old way again! If you are ill then you may be determined enough to go for this option, but it does take some will power!

I have now progressed onto a diet that is at least 95% raw. The past couple of months, apart from a couple of mouthfuls, I’ve eaten 100% raw. I think it is difficult to call yourself 100% raw though, because an occasional food will invariably slip through the net. This only leads to disappointment if you give yourself a label. There may well be an odd meal in the future when I eat cooked food as well. I do however aim to eat as near as possible to 100% raw food.

Stop Eating Cooked Or Fatty Food!

I’ve still been feeling great for most of the time. The exceptions occur when I cheat on my diet and have too much cooked food or too much fatty food. I’ve noticed also that if I don’t drink enough water then that knocks the edge off me too.

Last week I struggled for the whole week with some fatigue and a little depression, this was after breaking my diet for 3 days in a row. Normally if I deviate from my diet it’s only for an odd meal, but this time we had guests round for meals over those days, I was trying to be relaxed about what I do. It may have helped me to appear ‘normal’, but I suffered as a result. Also I have a cooked food family where hearty slices of homemade banana cake were on offer!

A short fast and a pro-biotic enema got me back on track again. Within a few hours of eating again I was feeling AWESOME!