In short, I feel pretty good. I'm up to 168 pounds, a two pound gain from my raw low. While I wouldn't rule out waterweight accumulation, I actually have a theory as to why I'm gaining slowly. I don't think it's waterweight, as my past waterweight gains have been very rapid, as I've mentioned. I think it can be explained in cooked food's effect on my bowel movements. I used to have very irregular bowel movements when I was younger, and they improved dramatically when I cut gluten and went vegan, but on raw they were twice a day like clockwork. Since eating cooked that's been cut back to maybe every other day or once a day. I'm guessing that's where the extra weight is.
Something I've actually been thinking a lot about is beans, oddly. Beans are considered by most medical organizations, and especially by many progressive vegan and progressive diet based physicians, to be one of the healthiest things you can eat, and people with a high intake of them live considerably longer than their bean shunning neighbors. This from Eat To Live
Legumes are among the world's most perfect foods. They stabilize blood sugar, blunt your desire for sweets, and prevent mid-afternoon cravings. Even a small portion can help you feel full. I encourage you to eat at least one full cup daily. They can be flavored and spiced in interesting ways, and you can eat an unlimited quantity of them. Eat some beans with every lunch. Among your choices are chickpeas, black-eyed peas, black beans, cowpeas, green peas, lima beans, pinto beans, lentils, red kidney beans, soybeans, cannelloni beans, pigeon peas, and white beans.and this:
A large recent study examined the eating habits of 32,000 adults for six years and then watched the incidence of cancer for these subjects over the next six years. Those who avoided red meat but at white meat regularly had a more than 300 percent increase in colon cancer incidence.1 The same study showed that eating beans, peas, or lentils, at least twice a week was associated with a 50 percent lower risk than never eating these foods…What really gets me about raw diets is that they say that beans, so conclusively shown to be healthy, are in fact not good for you. I can buy nutrients being destroyed by heat, so it's better to eat fruits/veggies raw. I completely buy grains being a problem for the body; hell I've experienced that one first hand with my gluten intolerance/bodily irritation with the remaining grains. But you can't eat beans without heating them, and they they seem to be doing a hell of a lot of good for you if you do.
..Beans, in general, not just soy, have additional anti-cancer benefits against reproductive cancers, such as breast and prostate cancer.
Now, although I like the taste, I can't say that I generally feel on top of the world after eating a lot of beans, and, let's be frank, the occasional gassiness they bring on isn't the most fun. Although I have a number of theories about how beans being good and bad can be possible, I haven't come up with anything conclusive in my readings. Raw, as far as I'm concerned, has failed to discredit them.
I found this awhile back. A nice counterargument, but without the scientific support that I demand from nutrition experts.
From The Nature and Purpose of Disease, Henry L. N. Anderson, Ed.D.
"A downside involved in the consumption of beans, (as well as tubers and grains) is "cooking":
1) The plant's nutrients are deranged - especially protein...which become a pathogenic mess...heating above 150 degrees renders proteins unusable, (deanimated)
2) Heated proteins become soil for intestinal (bacterial and fungal) flora, which yield a menagerie of pathogenic, carcinogenic poisons such as ammonia, cadaverine, hydrogen sulfide, indole, mercaptans, putrescence, and skatole.
3) Heated fats in legumes (and substantially fatty soybeans) are pathogenic and carcinogenic.
4) Cooked tofu and beans (globulin) yield heat-created by-products such as nitrophyrene and indole. (Food and Drug Administration's Office of Toxicological Sciences) see also Diet, Nutrition and Cancer; National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences; 1982.
How can beans both cause and fight cancer, and both cause and prevent a host of other ailments? There are issues here that need to be resolved before I'm satisfied.
I'm afraid I won't have any pictures today, but my stomach looks about the same and my face looks a bit worse, acne wise.
When I get back I'll have eaten grains and salt so I should have that 12 pounds back. Have a good easter break/weekend.
4 comments:
I've read a lot about beans (legumes) being toxic and containing enzyme inhibitors. I believe this is why they have to be soaked and/or cooked before eating or they make you ill. It's also why they produce gas.
http://www.tbkfitness.org/ has a great ebook you can purchase for something like $4 that goes into more detail about it. The author actually recommends not eating legumes which, by the way, includes peanuts and cashews.
BTW, before you switched back to eating cooked foods, how were you getting your protein?
It's unclear from the Eat to Live excerpt exactly how the study was organized. Because the negative health consequences of animal protein, especially on cancer rates, have been so extensively documented (see The China Study), it's possible that bean eaters are healthier just because they eat less meat. And even if beans do have anti-cancer properties, with a vegan diet that avoids isolated soy protein your risk should be so low to start with that beans won't make much difference.
Just a quick note for commenter Dave regarding protein: As long as you're not living off of junk food, it's impossible to not get enough protein if you're getting enough calories. Most fruits contain 5-10 percent protein, which is plenty. And lettuce, for example, is more protein-dense than beef, calorically speaking. (i.e., 100 calories of lettuce contains more protein than 100 calories of beef). The same is true for most vegetables; people just don't realize because the "serving size" for vegetables is generally so small that the protein content seems tiny. But if you're eating 2,000+ calories of fruits & veggies a day... Add in some nuts occasionally and you're beyond totally covered.
Hi Andrew,
Hope you get to blogging again soon! I was enjoying reading your journey.
Dr. D does address this in the 80/10/10 book. Have you read it yet? If not, I would try to get my hands on it asap. It opened my eyes SOOOOOOO much. I wish it was the first raw book I'd read. It would have saved me a lot of grief!
Post a Comment