I've been doing a lot of reading on eating raw foods (I even tried for two days a while back and wasn't doing it right!) Anyway, from personal experiences what benefits have you found happened after you went raw? Any negatives?

Personally, the only negative for me was the whole detoxing part. Also, transitioning from cooked food to raw food made me feel hungry in the beginning so I was eating a lot of raw food until I got that full feeling.

One other negative could be that it's kind of expensive to make some of the meals (but it kinda balances out when you think about how much meat meals, etc, cost.) I live in a town where it's not all that easy to find good raw and hopefully organic produce. BUT that hasn't stopped me. The raw meals you can prepare are really just for those that are transitioning and need something "filling". They are also good for when you have company over or just feel like having a "meal" on a friday night.

The positives? Oh, boy. Where to begin. I'm experiencing a lot of positives already and I have only been at this a few weeks. So I know the positives will continue. So far I've already noticed that I have more energy. I don't feel bogged down after eating something raw like I would usually when I had something cooked. My complexion has gotten better; my hair seems healthier. I sleep easier now, as well. Just about straight through the night. And when I wake up in the morning, I don't drag myself out of bed - I just get right up. There's been some weight loss - I've noticed it and people around me have noticed it. I don't feel so much in a "funk" like I did with cooked food. I feel lighter in mind/body/spirit. I feel happier and the toxins that are cooped up from eating cooked food are going away. I like that I can eat whenever I feel hungry and I know that what I'm eating is good for me and I don't have to worry about it. I also had quite an addiction to soda and I thought I would never be able to give that up, but once I started drinking more water and eating raw I haven't wanted any soda at all.

I also noticed that the other day when I did have some cooked food, I was feeling it the next day. I was run down and sluggish and I didn't sleep well. My taste buds are changing, too. I'm enjoying fruits and vegetables that I never thought I would ever like.

I'm hoping to see some improvement with a few health problems that I have. A lot of correlates to being overweight but some of it doesn't. I'm looking forward to feeling/seeing the effects that this "diet" has for my health and wellbeing. It really is amazing to me the amount of food I used to eat cooked. I'd eat a good amount and would be full, but not satisfied. So a little later on I'd grab more to eat. You know how the cycle is. With raw food, though, now that my body is becoming accustomed to not eating cooked, I can eat a little and I'm satisfied. I don't necessarily have to be full, but I'm satisfied and that goes a long way. I'm learning to listen to my body more. I'm eating only when I'm hungry - not when I'm bored or it's lunchtime or dinner and others are already eating. There are days when my body wants more fruit than anything else, no nuts today but nuts on another day, veggies galore this time but not so much that time. With cooked food, the messages your body is sending you gets pretty much drowned out or it sends the wrong signals. With raw, I'm doing wonderfully.

The more people that I talk to and the more that I read, there aren't very many negative effects. Once you get over that detox hump, it's great from there. People start seeing changes within a few days on 100% raw. You can't always SEE the changes but you definitely FEEL the changes.

I turned to veganism back in January/February and from there I have gone raw. I wish I had been raw my entire life. It's been a real blessing to finally find this lifestyle. Ofcourse when I first started reading up on raw, some of it just seemed far-fetched (like what omni's think about veg*nism) but once I tried it, I wanted to kick myself for ever having had a doubt about raw food.

Do you have problems going out with people - for dinners, etc.?

Do you have problems going out with people - for dinners, etc.?


Where I live, it's hard enough to get a veg*n meal. There are some places that have fabulous raw food or even raw restaurants. I usually just have friends over to my house or I go over there. I went shopping with a friend the other day and took some fruits with me, just in case. She decided to get something from McDonalds, of all places, and I was feeling a little hungry, so I had a fruit or two to eat.

I haven't gone out to a restaurant since becoming raw, so I haven't yet asked them about their fruits and veggie bar stuff.

I've been raw for almost a year now. I've noticed lots of differences: my skin has more color and is not as pasty, my eyes are clearer, I have no acne ever, I've lost weight, I don't get that heavy feeling after eating, my memory is better.

One thing I would be cautious of is eating too many nuts and dried fruit. I didn this in the beginning in order to acheive the feeling of eating cooked food. Sometimes I ate more than a pound of dried fruit at a time with nut butters or nuts to overcome cravings and it ended up bloating me and giving me digestive difficulty. If you eat dried fruit, try to keep it to a couple pieces a day at the most and try to keep nuts to reasonable portions as well because they are very concentrated.

Also, try to eat a variety of foods. I tend to find one thing I like and eat that like crazy until I get tired of it. I still have to make an effort to try different things. Primates eat 25 different varieties of plants a week and 115 different varieties per year.

Don't leave out greens in your diet. They are very important to get all the minerals you need. Eat a hefty amount of greens every day. If you don't like them at first, try blending them with a couple pieces of fruit. I like to blend a couple apples with a couple handfuls of greens and a little bit of water. It's green, but it tastes like applesauce. You can also use mangos, pears, peaches, etc.

Finally, find good books and educate yourself by reading. This is the most important thing to keep you on track in my opinion.

Good luck! It's a fun experience and I love my raw food more than ever!