Thanks for the recommendations Joss, I certainly will!

   Cheers

Siobhan

You eat Sweet potato raw, Canetrekker? If so, what do you do to it - do you slice it thin, dehydrate it, or just bite into it?

I've had raw corn, and that was quite nice on a sweltering hot day, but I thought sweet potatoes, pumkins, zucchini, etc. would be too starchy. I tried eating broccoli raw, as it's a favourite from a long way back, but it tasted really bitter, so I haven't had any for ages... I'd probably eat a couple of pieces if a cookfoodie was making some, but I don't really have the desire to cook any myself, so it's been a while since I've had some (I'm practically 100% raw, the only cooked things I eat are every now & then I'll have some tofu bites/sliced tofu or a veggie&tofu california hand roll/sushi, or if I go out with a friend I might buy some cooked food at Veg Out (Melbournians will know what that is!), but they're a couple of rare exceptions. Other than that, I'm 100% raw each day.

   Like some people have stated, I eat a lot of fruit, but I feel best when I'm eating plenty of fresh salads. A simple salad I like to whip up & wolf down over Third Watch (evil channel 9 has taken it off now... boo-hoo) is:

1 tub of Sprouts - usually alfalfa & onion sprouts, sometimes mungbean sprouts
Cherry tomatoes or nectar or grape tomatoes - at least 6, maybe some more
Avocado - I tell myself I should only have half an avvie, but then I add the other half as well... plastic wrap being bad, and all that (that's my excuse, anyway)
Capsicum ("Bell peppers" to some)- red's my favourite - 1/3 - 1/2 a capsicum
Celery - plenty - at least 3 stalks, more is better
Carrot - at least 2, coarsely grated.
Spring onion (if I have some) - all the green bits of about 2 small spring-ons, and some of the white bit too, but it's the green bit I like most.

   Also, I'll add some coriander ("cilantro" to some?) or parsely if I have some.

   This gives me lots of energy and makes me feel really good, and it really is "fast food" in a good way! I'll snack on some fruit (especially a fruit salad or some watermelon. I seem to want fruit first thing in the morning, for example half a "rocky" (cantaloupe/rockmelon) and some blueberries or kiwifruit, but around lunchtime I want a salad. Unfortunately the closest places to work put cheese and cooked food in their salads (even meat  :angry: in some - yuck!), so I've started buying the salad ingredients, shlepping them over to work (crowded Melbourne trains are no fun!), and throwing together my own salad during my lunch hour.

   Anyways... I'm about a month raw (I think maybe a bit more), so I'm really curious to learn how you guys eat cabbage, zucchini, and other common veggies. Also, what is Kale? Do we call it something else here in Australia?

According to Wikipedia (online encyclopaedia), it is poisonous. It also describes many beneficial medical uses including:

It is also said to have bone and teeth building properties in children, and have value in treating 'many female disorders'. In past times comfrey baths were popular to repair the hymen and thus 'restore virginity'.

What the?!?!? That sounds very dodgy.

Constituents of comfrey also include mucilage, steroidal saponins, tannins, pyrrolizidine alkaloids, inulin, vitamin B12 and proteins.

B12? All the articles I read say that B12 is only in animal products or in soil, cacca, etc., yet there's B12 in comfrey? Hmmm... very interesting, considering the many scientific tests conducted each day, often very wasteful tests, I believe that testing plants and other vegan foods for B12 should be included as a priority.

Hmmm... Very interesting. One would have to be familiar with flowers, so as to avoid eating anything poisonous, of course! <laugh>

   Still, adding a few flowers to my diet sounds delicious!

Siobhan

Hey Janita,

   Where abouts is that? I saw an article on page 4 (I think) under "Raw Facts, Info and Science", but there were not replies at all... This whole B12 thing is really, really confusing... I'd still have a test though, my GP said if worst comes to worst I can get an injection which only costs around $6, so if I find I get too low I'll probably do just that. I was trying to take a multivitamin about a month or so ago, & I just couldn't keep it down, not for love or money - so I guess the injection is the lesser of two evils.

Siobhan

Hi greatmate54   

Someone recently told me that bacteria and various micro organisms make up a large percentage of our bodyweight, that we have all these creatures living inside of us or, to put it differently, "we're their world"!

   ... Fruit for thought!

Hey, what are people's thoughts on vitamin B-12?

I had a blood test recently. I had actually been thinking that I had been vegan for about 1 year, but I got a blood test the day I first went vegan (my GP said it would make a good control to future blood tests), and that was at least two years ago... my, how time flies when you're having fun! <grin>

My doctor said my B-12 was OK, my calcium was good, and... despite the warnings about how all would go to hell in a handbasket & I would "become anaemic", my iron is now significantly higher than before I went vegan! ... and before I went vegan I was eating tuna & taking iron tablets, now I just eat as much fresh fruit, nuts, seeds and salads as I want, no tablets, and my iron is now higher!

   Anyways, the only thing worrying me is my B-12. My doctor said to just keep getting it tested, so it doesn't get too low. Why can't our bodies make it for themselves, didn't they in ancient times like other animal species? And where do the gorillas get theirs? I'm told they don't eat any meat.

Siobhan

Thankyou for the warm welcome, RawGreenGoddess and Jocelyn *

And especially thankyou Jocelyn, I will investigate your suggestions!

Siobhan

I've noticed that too! I was actually bordering on porphyric, I was very pale & I immediately burned, then peeled and went back to being pale. Since I used to be really into the whole Goth look & still am what I would call "Goth-lite", I didn't mind, but now I honestly haven't burned & peeled, but spending the days with no sleeves on recently, I have in fact tanned!



I have much more energy too, and I now have french manicured nails because my nails are now actually growing long enough - before they would chip & tear straight away.

I'm nearing a month raw now, and my clothes are getting loose on me, which is fantastic, and my tummy is gradually reducing, as well as my thighs and my arms. I was a bit of a fatty boomba & couldn't even feel my ribs when I pressed down before, but now I can! I'm not stick thin yet, but the thick "blubber" fat I had is melting away & I'm sure it would melt much faster if I could afford a gym membership! Before this I was vegan for more than a year, and while I did lose weight giving up dairy, eggs & meat (dairy was the hardest for me, meat & eggs were really easy to give up!), the weight loss plateauxed and I stayed less fat, but nonetheless still fairly fat ... just as well the reason I went vegan was because I'm against animal cruelty, then!

The main reason I have "gone raw" now is because I'm in an extremely, intensely stressful situation at work and financially, and I feel that I really have few options to make the situation any better, so eating healthy and taking care of myself is something I am able to do ... and I think that by living raw I'm stronger and less able to be defeated by this (hopefully only temporary) bad spot I'm in!

Siobhan

That website says that unroasted cashew nuts (and oil) are toxic!

I eat unroasted cashews all the time!!

I was channel surfing on the weekend & I happened upon the Sri Lankan show on Channel 31 (Community Television). Since they were doing a restaurant review & because I was bored I kept watching, and to my surprise they were reviewing an organic and RAW FOOD takeaway/cafe-type place at the Victoria Market. This board seems to be fairly Perth-oriented, but if there are any Melbournites reading this, then this is an option for us!

   I haven't checked it out, as I've been mad busy these last few days, but I hope to brave the Vic Market, even this close to Christmas, this weekend.

   It's called something along the lines of "Organics" or "The Organic Takeaway", something like that. I believe the people that own/manage it are Sri Lankan and the chef/head cook is Korean. The two dishes reviewed were raw food lasagne (I'm going to have to try this before I believe it - my friend Monique doesn't believe there can be such a thing) and a dessert with a base of nuts & seeds blended together, then a thick berry-dominated sweet layer and a blueberry (if I remember correctly) sauce on top. It looked prrrretttty damn appetising to me!

Siobhan