To some, the raw vegan lifestyle appears to be too complicated: Do I get enough protein? How much fat should I eat? Which kinds of fat and fatty acids to I need? How can I be sure to get all the vitamins and other micronutrients my body needs? What am I allowed to eat, is this “really raw”, how do I combine my food properly?
I blogged about all of these and many more (mainly in german, up to now – sorry 😉 ) – but: it does not really matter!
How complicated is the raw vegan diet?
Did you ever doubt the standard cooked diet because it is “too complicated“?
Sure, you don’t have to think at all when following that diet. Just eat whatever comes along your way. Everybody else is doing it, so it can’t be wrong, can it? (Hint: yes, it can!)
As soon as you start to look closer, to inform yourself, to take care for what is good for you and what isn’t – then cooking can become really complicated! There are so many denominations, such a lot of recommendations. They recommend to heat your food carefully, steaming instead of cooking, or baking instead of frying (why not skip it totally then?), to have at least 3 to 5 portions of fruit and vegetables per day (so why not eat fruit and vegetables ALL day?), to use oils, but only some specific ones, and to not heat them. Some swear by including cereals, others by cooking everything for hours. Asian kitchen is said to be healthy, or maybe better italian?
Yet, it can be that simple, not complicated at all:
We are a part of nature, and nature provides us with everything we really need!
The best way to eat, from the perspective of a natural diet, would be to eat exactly like that. Fruit, green leafs, roots, seaweed, a few nuts or seeds every now and then. Nature cannot be improved: what does not grow, does not belong on my plate.
And everything that is edible, can be eaten just the way it is. Blender, dehydrator, juicer don’t grow on trees, do they?
How exactly you have to design your diet from this abundance of choices, you will have to find out for yourself. It depends upon (and varies with) lifephases, climate, surrounding, every day demands, etc. Listen to your body, and give to him what it is asking for – that way you will get everything you need, without complicated theories and research!
Yet, there are many steps and variations on the road to your optimized diet. Tools like mixer & dehydrator definitely are not necessary but can you help you on your way. And can be helpful to convince your sceptical loved ones. Finally, isolated products like oils, salt, spices, storebought bars and chocolates don’t belong to a natural diet. And so does dried fruit either – only enjoy them as a treat, on special occasions. (How often would you be able to find dried fruit in nature?). Anyway, all of these can help you transition, and are better alternatives to the standard snacks and junkfood.
When craving cooked food, or when social events are challenging, raw recipes can be of great value. And some people appear to get along with raw gourmet food for quite a long time.
If you don’t feel great, despite of following a raw vegan lifestyle, it can be helpful to ask for others’ experiences and findings, or to find out some basics about your body’s metabolism, to optimize your personal diet. But, the one and only and final authority should always be your body, your well-being, your health!. Listen to your body, take care for your well-being, and only eat, what you need. Nothing else, not more, not less. It’s that simple!
Rohkost ziemlich lange gut zurecht.
Wenn trotz Rohkost das Wohlbefinden nicht optimal ist, können die Erkenntnisse & Erfahrungen anderer Menschen & etwas theoretisches Wissen über Stoffwechselvorgänge im Körper nützlich sein, um die eigene Ernährung zu optimieren. Die höchste & einzige Authorität jedoch sollte dein Körper, dein Wohlbefinden sein. Höre auf deinen eigenen Körper, achte darauf, dass es dir gut geht & iss das, was du brauchst. Nichts anderes, nicht mehr, nicht weniger. So einfach ist das!
(1. Fassung 13.3.2012, überarbeitet August 2019)
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I am full well with you and would recommend everyone upon starting just eat what they please of all raw foods. But: I have an illness and I genuinely needed professional support because stuff like Omegas and tomatoes, supplements and such were unbalanced and were causing a LOT of problems. I love Don Bennett’s books 1 – 2 – 3, Avoid Degenerative Disease, Q&A and What you know that isn’t true. And on his page health101.org he provides a long list of articles on specific subjects. Indispensable for me.
And yes, the problems were probably there too, when I was eating not raw but they were not “acute”. While the problems while on cooked food would probably have caused problems if continued to eat cooked when I got old in some severe illness, it’s true that the raw diet brings out problems to surface right away, clearly, visibly, and yes – prone to be dealt with immediately. Of course that’s way much better and also nessessary.
It would be wrong to say, that the raw diet doesn’t work because it is bringing these problems to surface and “bothering us with them”… If you don’t want to get serious degenerative diseases, that’s your chance to avoid them!
And yes: the raw lifestyle IS different in that it DOES require care and education and you can’t go on postponing everything and delaying and shifting your problems to old age or reduced lifespan.
For whoever thinks that their job or whatever keeps them from making this effort daily is worth it, should definitely think again.
thank you for your comment, Amy!
i do NOT recommend to eat “everything what they please” … but to eat “everything what your body pleases” … i. e., whatever feels good, does good … etc. (given a variety of raw vegan fresh natural organic unprocessed food to choose from). i recommend to always listen to your body, to stop eating the moment it does not taste great anymore. to not eat more than your body needs. … well, i said this before 😉
it might be pleasing to eat lots of dried fruit. or lots of nuts. or to combine them both.
it might be more pleasing to eat lots of sweet fruit than to eat greens.
it might be pleasing to eat all these amazing raw cakes.
but obviously, pleasing does not equal “good for your body”.
just to make this more clear … not sure if it was.
in cases of illness … everyone has to find their own way how to deal with it. some choose to take supplements etc, others choose not to. i am sure your way is what you need right now. just want to mention that there are people with serious illnesses who just followed their bodies, eating nothing but natural food, giving their body time to do its work. this, obviously, mostly meant, they did not eat a lot. they only ate very small amounts of fruit (not because someone advised them too, but because their body did not want more). they ate mostly (wild) greens. they moved their body (as possible). they trusted in nature …