Raw Food & Chinese Medicine

I've been going to a practitioner of Chinese Medicine who offers colon hydrotherapy and Qi Gong among many other healthcare services. I really like her and the care I've received. What puzzles me is the fact that she doesn't seem to see the merits of a raw food diet. She thinks it's great for a cleanse, and fine in the summer, but suggests that I cut down on or completely eliminate raw foods at this time. She felt my pulse yesterday and was surprised that my blood wasn't as thin, less congested, and my pulse was much slower since the last time (it was actually fast then), approximately two weeks ago. I've upped my juicy fruit and greens intake considerably since then, and I think this, coupled with the fact that I'm simply further on in my raw diet have created the changes in my blood. She suggested that the weather is getting cold here in Vermont, and so I need to lessen or completely eliminate the raw foods in my diet, which she says are cooling to my body. Admittedly, I have done very little research on Chinese Medicine and need to do more, especially since it intrigues me enough to want to partake in it. I am certain of one thing, and that is I don't plan to stop eating raw. Nonetheless, health being a passion of mine, I'm very curious about this cooling/heating foods concept. Do I increase the use of ginger and cayenne, and other "heating" foods in order to counteract the cooling foods? Are the cooling foods actually creating a problem in the first place? Lots of questions to ponder!

I think a little history on my dietary/health background is in order now. I've been a vegetarian for 29 years. I'm now 35 years old. I've read a ton on vegetarianism, veganism, raw-foodism, and feel quite at home experimenting with a raw and living food diet. I've arrived at this point because I was not satisfied with my health on a vegetarian diet, which has fluctuated between lacto-ovo and veganism most of my life.

The biggest problem in my diet was my utter dependence on sugar, wheat, and dairy. Just about every day of my life I was so tired I couldn't perform the simplest tasks such as cleaning my house. I ate sugar on a daily basis, usually in the form of organic chocolate bars (sure they were organic but still saturated with sugar) and fancy pastries. I was a cheese fanatic, and I believe this was mainly because I was craving salt due to deficiencies in my diet. In spite of the fact that I live in an area of Vermont where there is a high concentration of organic vegetable farms, I ate a very small amount of raw and living foods; In fact the bad foods I was eating dulled my desire for vegetables and fruits. The minute I'd eat something processed I couldn't even force myself to eat something from nature.

My diet was just about 100% organic foods, but that didn't make a difference. Supposed health food stores and supermarkets advertising whole foods as their specialty, differ in one basic way from the typical supermarket, and that is the fact that they tend not to carry foods with artificial colors and mainstream preservatives/additives. Problem is the processed foods that dominate these stores--organic or not--are loaded with sugar and all types of fillers/additives. Cane juice, raw sugar, cane sugar, call it what you want, but it's all the same thing!

I grew up in Howard Beach, Queens in NYC, a rather tough place for those who were different, and boy was my family different! There was only one other kid I knew in my neighborhood whose family's diet was even close to ours. They weren't vegetarian, but ate a lot of whole and chemical-free foods. I remember being made fun of in school as a kid because of the different foods my mother packed me for lunch. I was so self conscious of the baggies full of sprouts, apple butter/rice cake sandwiches, raw milk (there was a company who sold and packaged this in black cartons-quite a sight for visiting school friends!) and the like. A number of times I was asked if I was eating grass. What a difference from the ever popular Wonderbread and cold-cut sandwiches, Skippy peanut butter, Ding-Dongs and Twinkies. Now "Organic" is huge, so much so that the government has decided to oversee its certification, and it's become just another product to package up and make pretty for the masses.

Comments

[linda]

I personally hear this a lot and I have a great book (like an encyclopedia really) on chinese medicine. I have to say that nobody knows your body like you do. People do what works for them, in the climate and culture that works for them. I personally don't agree with everything that I read in the raw food world, the chinese medicine world or otherwise. If your body is telling you that what you are doing is making you feel good, then use that as the gauge.

I personally think that eating raw foods helps to really speed up the process of healing and awakening/awareness. Once people try it, they understand. Sometimes it's too fast for people and so they incorporate some cooked food in so that they can adjust better.

I feel that raw foods is a way to live that is different from the norm - we aren't anymore limited to or by our disease(s) or our blood type or whatever.

In other cultures, older cultures like in japan/china - they eat more simply and they haven't had the problems that we have until more recently when the fast food chains made their way to their world. We've created a mess for ourselves with lots of cooked and processed food and chemicals everywhere and I feel that raw food is a way to swing the pendulum into a healthier state. Naturally the pendulum will find it's even "swing swang" once harmony is achieved.

Hoping all this makes some sense. It's my thoughts for the morning.

Keep up the great work Cecilia! It's wonderful to read about your raw journey.

Linda