I'm only 5 months into this raw food experience but I don't understand 2 things right now:

1. Why do I need 8-10 hours of sleep per night when I used to get by on 6-8? Everything I read said I would find I would need less sleep.
2. Why can I not handle raw nut loafs/pates? Honestly, they make feel like I want to hurl! Every site or raw book has their version but each one I have tried (about 5 different recipes - all seem to have rather similar ingredients) just disgust me. I've tried both soaking the nuts and not soaking the nuts. My husband has been a good sport but honestly, are we to live without entrees and just eat salads for dinner every night? Makes it hard to entertain and also to keep my 3 kids interested.

Any help? I would appreciate any insights. Gratefully, Lori Ann Wilkinson

Dear Lori Ann,

I hear that you have been trying to adopt a raw food lifestyle. That is a big change and while it could be smooth and rewarding almost immediately for some people, such a radical transformation could seem quite challenging for others.

My family has been on a raw food diet for thirteen years and thus I have observed literally hundreds of people implementing a raw food diet. While most people report a reduction in their sleeping time right away, I have heard from many people that they began sleeping more, especially in the beginning. For example, I have noticed this seemingly illogical event with persons who used to drink coffee. The regular consumption of caffeine may lead to a disturbed sleep, when people sleep less hours but they do not feel rested upon awakening. Of course, there are many other ingredients in a typical processed diet that may negatively influence one’s sleep. Consequently, when one begins to eat a healthier diet, his or her body requires additional rest in order to recover. Our bodies are trying to reach homeostasis during the night hours in order to heal. When the organism becomes stronger, that person’s sleep will most likely begin to reduce. I have heard from some people that their sleep first increased and they slept more hours for months and even years before they noticed a marked reduction. If we try to cut down our hours of sleep, our adrenals eventually wear out and as a result, we could feel tired and irritated during the day.

The following is an excerpt from my book 12 Steps to Raw Foods. I hope it will answer your question about eating nuts.
In health,
Victoria Boutenko

The Progression of the Raw Food Diet

I have observed that most people, who implement a raw food lifestyle, pass through three main stages:

1. The transitional stage. During this time which may last from a couple of months to a couple of years, people consume a lot of so-called “raw gourmet foods” that usually contain lots of nuts, oils, condiments, and are not made according to the rules of proper food combining.* Raw gourmet dishes traditionally have names and appearances that resemble popular cooked recipes, such as “Un-burrito,” “Nice Cream,” or “Rawsage.” You will encounter a lot of these dishes in raw food restaurants and at raw food festivals. The food during this stage is somewhat comforting due to its heaviness and gourmet taste and therefore, helps to overcome the dependency to cooked foods. Many people crave a lot of flax crackers and other dehydrated foods during this stage. You don’t have to learn how to prepare many different gourmet recipes unless you want to, but I highly recommend learning three or four basic recipes.
2. The Salad Stage. At a certain point in your raw food life, you will begin to naturally crave simpler dishes as opposed to those heavy gourmet concoctions. From this time on, little by little, salads will become your staple for a long time, possibly for years. An endless variety of salads with an inclusion of some fruits and some nuts or seeds will totally satisfy your needs for calories, nutrition, and pleasure.
3. The Whole Foods Stage. People usually arrive at this stage after many years of living on a raw food diet. During this phase you will naturally prefer whole foods to salads. You will develop a strong preference for the highest quality seasonal ripe fruits and vegetables. You will most likely stop or greatly reduce your consumption of oils, sweeteners, and dehydrated foods. You will always crave exactly what your body needs for your health and you will consume those precious foods with heavenly enjoyment. I don’t know yet if there are more stages after this one.

Don’t rush or pull yourself through these stages, rather follow your bodily intuitive guidance. That will ensure your happy thriving on a raw food diet.

The following are nine main advantages of being self-reliant in terms of preparing raw meals:

• You will always be well fed no matter where you are.
• Your can individualize your diet based on your personal cravings to ensure the adequate nourishing of your body.
• You will always eat delicious food of your own choice.
• You will be able to quickly adjust your diet according to your personal transitions from one stage to another.
• Your skills in preparing a couple of perfected, scrumptious raw gourmet dishes will enable you to pleasantly surprise your guests and will attract more like-minded friends into your social life.
• You will always be appreciated at raw and vegan potlucks.
• Your dining will always be most economical.
• You won’t have to depend on others to be fed.
• You can teach raw culinary arts to many others.
  

* Food combining was first described in the early 20th century by Dr. William Howard Hay. Its principles encourage separating specific foods, eating certain ones together and only in specified meals.

 

Coming to a full understanding of raw foods does indeed take some time. There is a lot to learn, and just as much to unlearn.
While I cannot give you specific responses to your questions because I do not know enough about you, your lifestyle (past and present,) your present diet, or your current state of health, I happily can offer you the following generic comments.

Your body is self healing, self monitoring, self repairing, and self organizing.
You may be sleeping more now because your body is catching up on missed sleep.
Your increased need for sleep may be due to something as simple as your body doing extra healing during this time.
Or, it may be that in fact you weren't getting enough sleep on your previous diet, and now you are actually getting a normal amount of sleep.

Your need for sleep varies dependent upon a great many factors, including but not limited to your emotions, fitness activities, work, recreation, and food choices.
Let's assume for the moment that little has changed in your life, of late, except for your diet.
If you were eating a relatively standard western diet, it likely included a fair number of stimulants, irritants, and excito-toxins.
Any and all of these substances can affect your body's ability to go to sleep, and your overall sense of "needing" sleep.

Stimulants include substances such as coffee, tea, chocolate, refined sugar, various O.T.C. remedies, and soft drinks.
When including stimulants in your diet, you will have a profound but false sense of requiring less sleep.
You will develop a sleep deficit that can only be caught up and made up for AFTER stimulant use is terminated.

Irritants such as vinegar, mustard, salt, cayenne, strong spices, stress your physiology and negatively affect your sleep.
The body does extra work as a result of their consumption, and gradually falls behind in its detoxification, healing, and repair efforts.
Your increased ability to sleep at this time may simply be a reflection of your body's need to do extra repair work.

Excito-toxins are substances that stimulate extra and abnormal brain activity while also damaging brain function.
MSG is a classic excito-toxin, as are most of the other glutamates found in salty soy derivatives.
Food industry chemists introduce various excito-toxins into foods in order to make them "more appealing," (read: more addictive.)
Humans are suckers for stimulation, and excito-toxins are the ultimate brain stimulators.
When you are under their influence, sound sleep is often difficult to come by.
Once off them, it could take months of deep sleep before you feel you have truly caught up.

Of course, I cannot comment upon your current raw diet, as you give no specifics.
There are many ypes of raw diets. Some raw diets are vegan, others include raw meat.
Most raw diets are extremely high in fat (the average raw diet includes 65% of calories from fat.)
The 80/10/10 diet that I recommend is predominated by fresh, ripe, raw, and preferably organic fruits and vegetables, including a maximum of 10% of its calories from fat.
80/10/10 is the program that I use for getting sick people well, and for helping top athletes to set new personal bests. Sleep requirements are healthfully minimized on this program.

I agree with you that most raw nut loaves are quite unpalatable. Any meal that relies upon nuts as the primary calorie source is going to be lacking in flavor and in nutritional quality. You can do better.
Nuts, seeds, and other fatty foods have a place in the human diet, but a "nut loaf" is basically a brick. :)
There are hundreds if not thousands of GREAT raw recipes, Lori Ann. I have printed one book full of them, "The New High Energy Recipe Guide," and am currently finishing another, "Simply Delicious, The 80/10/10 Recipe Guide."
"The 80/10/10 Diet" includes a week of breakfast, lunch, and dinner recipes for each season of the year.
You are not restricted to eating "just" salad every night, no. There are hundreds of vegetable-based drinks, slaws, wraps, "handwiches," soups, pastas, and other dishes for you and your husband to enjoy.
My wife and I are both professionals, and have guests to dinner almost every week.
We never have trouble making our meals interesting, delicious, and completely satisfying for our guests, and rarely if ever serve the same meal twice.
>From before dinner drinks to soup, salad, entree, and dessert, people love coming to our home for a healthy, five-course meal.

Kids are far easier to please than adults. They are usually quite satisfied if you will simply provide them with all of their favorite fruits during the day, and something interesting to eat for dinner. I find that most children will eat almost anything for dinner if they have a hand in making it. Even if they only play a small part in dinner creation, they are much more likely to eat the entire meal.

If you need further guidance or suggestions, please do not hesitate to contact me. I have a lengthy FAQ on my website, and have created many educational books, CD, DVDs, and the like in order to make living raw easy, delicious, fun, nutritious, and healthful.

In health abundance naturally,
Dr. Douglas N. Graham
www.foodnsport.com

Hi Lori Ann,

My friend Jesse asked me to reply. I publish Living Nutrition Magazine and have been a health and diet coach for many years and a raw fooder for 23. My sites are http://www.livingnutrition.com, http://www.selfhealingempowerment.com, http://www.raw-passion.com and http://www.colitis-crohns.com.

As you may know, becoming a successful raw fooder is an art that takes education, practice and time. When we go 100% raw the body undergoes a massive housecleaning and rebuilding, thus we need more rest and sleep during the first 3 to 12 months. After you are cleaned out and following a low-fat diet, your energy should begin to soar and you should need less sleep as your body gains strength and vitality. The process depends on how overweight or toxic you were to start and how well you eat and take care of all of your health needs.

Recipes can be fun and salads can be delicious, but the best way to eat during the day is simply fill up on meals of whole fruits and greens. Then have a salad with a nut or seed dressing or avocado for dinner, or skip the fatty foods and have more fruit and greens as I almost always do. If nuts or nut loaves are not appealing, then avoid them---they will not digest if we don't want to eat them and so they will make us toxic inside. Salads are much healthier than fancy entrees and can be more enjoyable because they leave you feeling great and not groggy. Living Nutrition Magazine and my book Your Natural Diet: Alive Raw Foods teach HOW to eat for peak health and satisfaction based on the most successful raw food diet approach as taught by Natural Hygiene. I highly recommend them. The book will guide you well. Also, my new raw recipe book, Raw Œn Delish Vibrant Recipes, has 300 practical and delicious recipes which I think will delight you, many with simple dressings. These are available at http://www.livingnutrition.com/bookstore.html and http://www.rawndelish.us.

I also sometimes include articles in Living Nutrition on how to transition kids to raw eating, and my friend Karen Ranzi who writes for me teaches Creating Healthy Raw Children workshops. Her site is http://www.karenranzi.com and her book should be out this winter. Also, we sell Primal Mothering which teaches the simplest way to feed children the raw food diet. Please let me know if can help more. If you are in the Bay Area, please join us at my Raw Passion Fruit Picnic in Sebastopol on August 18. See http://www.raw-passion.com. Also, you can join our Forums at http://www.livingnutrition.com and ask questions and get support there.

Best healthful wishes,

David Klein, Ph.D.
Editor, Living Nutrition Magazine
Hygienic Doctor

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