Two Years of being High Raw Vegan...

It doesn't seem like a long time since I wrote about concluding one year on my high raw vegan lifestyle. But, indeed, another year has gone by, and it's time to write another report card =).

I will begin with emphasizing the gratifying life-experience that comes with increased immunity, energy, vitality, mental focus, and spiritual upliftment. When you have the mental clarity to sort out who you really are, what you stand for, and what you would like to do or become for this world, AND you have the drive and energy to work towards that, you are on the path to a new and better you. That 99% perspiration in life doesn't happen when one is always tired, listless, and conscientiously unaware.

Now, to the minutiae =). How has my eating changed in the last year? As mentioned in the article on cravings, I find myself reaching out for more green juices than ever. Replacing green smoothies, very often. Smoothies, teeming with fiber, are filling, like a meal; juices, sans fiber, are a burst of energy, like a shot of espresso, if you will. In the raw food think tank, there has also been some dichotomy over how blending can change the composition of foods and render them 'less effective'.

Juices, particularly green, make the micronutrients from green leafy vegetables instantly available for absorption by the body. Drinking a green juice is like absorbing energy directly from the Sun -- green leafies don't even have peels to shield them! Think about it, this entire planet has been powered by the Sun for 4.6 billion years, and will continue to be for as long, if a meteorite doesn't hit us, that is. To put time in perspective, it takes only about 5 minutes to clean a juicer, and you get better with practice =).

While we are talking of liquids, it's worth mentioning that raw foods have a much higher water content than their cooked / processed counterparts (obviously!). Prolonged consumption of foods, in their most natural form, keeps your body well hydrated, which is very desired. Conversely, when I eat a highly processed meal or drink alcohol (even very rarely), my body feels rather dry and dehydrated. One glass of wine has to be offset by 5 of water. Who knew, eating raw foods would also alter your relationship with alcohol!

High water content in food also 'cools us down' -- most raw meals have a cooling effect on the body. The ingredients, themselves, are also at a lower temperature -- often refrigerated to last longer and heated only up to 105F. With this kicks in a lower body temperature, over all. That jacket that I much loathed to carry, is now my constant companion, and tucking under a throw is rather cozy -- a small price to pay for all the benefits. Or I could attribute my being colder to getting older and exculpate the raw food lifestyle altogether :p.

Moving on to solid foods, without doubt, there is an increased gluten sensitivity in my body. Having grown up eating whole wheat bread for both meals on most days, this startled me! I wouldn't go so far as to say I've developed celiac disease, but consuming large amounts of gluten in a single meal bloats me significantly -- adding 3 to 4 lbs for up to a week! Goodbye, gluten. It's remarkable how my weight has been fairly constant since the 22 lb loss; increased weight has no respect on my scale.

That brings us to other forms of physical 'healing' that come about with eating nutritious food. Turns out all those new hair on my scalp weren't just my imagination or inflated ego. I checked in with my last hair-dresser a couple of weeks back (I rarely go back to the same person) and she inevitably mentioned how my hair felt stronger and looked denser to her! She even has a new hairstyle planned for me when I visit her next, in about six months. Until then, I'll bask in all compliments on this one =), and pass them to her.

That would be it for 2 years. I hear many reasons people give to continue to eat the way they have been. The most common ones are "processed food is 'tasty'" and "eating this way is 'normal'". Well, if raw food preparations weren't 'tasty', would my 'sacrifice' really last for 730 days?! As for resistance to change, if a better quality and/or more efficient fuel came along for your car, would you still let it wear out faster on the old type of fuel?

What about the fuel that powers you?