Raw vegan adapted

spring · Post by **spring** » Mon 25 Feb 2008 06:30

I am starting a raw vegan diet for a few reasons:

* more variety: not only raw fruits, nuts and seeds but also raw veggies, beans, legumes and grains; many cookbooks with raw vegan recipes, none really with Wai's diet

* I can prepare meals that resemble and taste similar to the cooked version - helps with transitioning, and helps me keep to the diet long term

I understand and believe Wai's diet is the best but I need to make raw vegan dishes every now and then and especially when I've gone back on Wai's diet (raw animal foods, fruit and oil and nuts) or trying to follow a bastardized version of it -- what I'm trying to do is amalgamate raw vegan and Wai to try and utilize the best aspects of these diets (best for me personally, not everyone will agree).

I only wish there were raw eggs in the recipes because I don't like to eat raw egg yolks on their own or in juice.

Perhaps I'll rustle up a raw vegetarian version (i.e. including egg yolks) or a raw vegetarian + raw fish version - nearly all of the raw recipe books I've come across are raw vegan.

So far so good: I've made Spanish scramble (from Ani Phyo's book), and made unchocolate cake, generic cake, hummus, Sergei's crackers, marinated mushrooms, borscht and I've dehydrated tomatoes and mushrooms and will make raw pizza next (all from Raw Food book by Sergei and Valya Boutenko).

I've adapted the recipes to suit my taste: borscht - less cabbage; hummus - more garlic, unchocolate cake - no topping and I've served some of the meals with yoghurt eg. the unchocolate cake with yoghurt. I am allowing yoghurt on my diet.

The finished versions look wonderful - I should have taken pictures and they are mostly easy to make!

I've had 2 poached eggs a day (I can't eat them raw) and had ceviche (mackerel fish marinated in lime juice, garlic and chili peppers).

The hummus sat heavy on my stomach and took a long time to digest: didn't sleep well after having hummus but apart from that everything is going OK far. I can't say I am following Wai's diet exactly but in essence have adapted it and mixed it with raw vegetarian foods.

The shopping for all the ingredients is hard work but once I have the staples I use all the time: sunflower seeds, walnuts, almonds, flaxseed and various spices, the rest is a matter of topping up on the veggies and fruit when running low: celery, tomato, parsley, spinach, cucumber, onion, cabbage ....

I'm quite happy with it; the only downside as I've said is the shopping for fresh ingredients and scouting around for hard to find ingredients.

Dehydrating is time-consuming and noisy!! I couldn't sleep well last night because of the dehydrator working all night.

If there was a raw Wai's book I would buy it and use it so long as the munch food was raw vegetarian/raw vegan.

I guess what I've done is created 'one' myself by following raw vegan recipes and making sure I have enough fruit at all times and have raw animal foods (or as close as I can get to it - poached eggs and marinated fish).

This is something I could stick to as tastewise it appeals to me; I feel like I am eating cooked but I'm not - I actually prefer the fresh taste of the raw version and feel lighter and 'healthier'. It takes my mind off cooked food which is all around me. If I crave pizza I just make my own raw version. It's not a 100% raw but it's better than what I was eating - pizza from a takeaway.

I will see how it goes; I know it's not the optimal diet and Wai's is but I lack the discipline and willpower to stick to it even with the 15 g munch food protein allowance.

I must be very sensitive to cooked food and this way I can indulge myself in what seems like cooked food, remain 70-80% raw and feel healthier and hopefully be lighter as well.

Anyway the proof of the pudding is in the eating; I will report back in several months to let people know how this has gone.

spring · Post by **spring** » Mon 25 Feb 2008 10:21

Here is a meal I had this afternoon. I slapped together some hummus I had made yesterday, olives and flaxseed cracker bread. The hummus is OK, don't really like it that much; the crackers were good. At least it filled me up. I wasn't left craving more and more food.

Post by **Oscar** » Mon 25 Feb 2008 12:22

Keep us posted how it's going.

Personally I was very happy I didn't have to eat raw veggies anymore, when going from a standard raw diet to the Wai Diet.
There are some recipes in the recipe forum which you could try out. Like tomato soup. Corinne also makes a date-pineapple-banana-coconut oil cake...really delicious! (not sure if the recipe is on the forum though)

chris m failla · Post by **chris m failla** » Fri 25 Jul 2008 03:46

I am seriously thinking of trying a raw vegan diet. For two reason, probably the same two reasons other people try it. FIrst, is sometimes feel guilty about eating animals and wonder if its the "right" thing to be doing. Second is that I see all the raw vegans on the internet and they look nice a thin. This may sound weird but I would like to burn alittle muscle and fat to obtain a smaller skinny physique. I would really like to know the moderators as well as other wai peoples opinion on this subject of eating cows and fish for food and health. thanks

Post by **Oscar** » Fri 01 Aug 2008 13:46

Right and wrong are subjective qualifications, invented by us humans. In nature those do not exist, there is just what is. A lion killing and eating its prey isn't wrong, it eats it because it needs it.

Raw veganism tries to convince us that a) we don't need animal protein, and b) that it is wrong to eat it.
ad a) Most, if not all, raw vegans know we do actually need some animal protein. They try to compensate for it by taking vit B12 and/or omega3 supplements.
ad b) How can something be wrong when it is natural for us? Trying not to harm/eat animals while disregarding one's health is what I call a "spiritual bypass". Actually, respecting animals also means respecting oneself and one's health. What can be done however, is taking care those animals are respected while they live, so in that sense I think supporting organic/natural farms is a good thing.

I'm pretty skinny myself, but I think lots of raw vegans are skinny because they aren't getting enough energy (it's more difficult to digest plants).

chris m failla · Post by **chris m failla** » Sat 02 Aug 2008 03:16

That makes sense, and thank you for answering that in a complete way. Also I want the Wai site to know how sincerely grateful I am that you guys are here to answer and give incredible insite on the subject of diet.

Post by **Oscar** » Sat 02 Aug 2008 10:58

You're welcome.