Body Warmth on Raw Foods

by Anonomous Male
(Rhode Island)

“Wow, loved your inspiring article on ezinearticles.com & web site is beautiful and inspiring too. But, must challenge you to better understand me as having deep concerns with lack of proteins on a raw food diet.

I live in a cold climate here in RI from November to May. My body temperature drops markedly when I eat raw (love the concept, tried it three times seriously) I just can't seem to stay warm. Then when I eat fish & meats warmth is not a problem. This is exactly what folks are referring to when they are concerned about not getting enough protein. It really has to do with body warmth. I can't afford to crank my heat up to 72 degrees to compensate! I own & studied 4 raw food books: Raw power, Natures 1st law, Blatant Raw foodist propaganda & great recipe book for raw food too. All no help on this subject.

*Also, I am fat & on a tight budget with big mortgage and high heat bills. Can't afford high priced protein mixes from Sunfood. Can you write an article on this? Yes, I still eat sprouts & alfalfa sprouts to this day. They don't keep me warm though. THANKS”


CORIN'S RESPONSE:
In the first few years raw, I too used to get cold. This is common when you are detoxing and cleansing, and is mostly a circulation/lymph issue. Your body will be detoxing for the first year as the blood thickens and the circulation slows, and there is an increased flow of blood to the internal organs that are finally getting a chance to try and heal. My experience now though is that I get colder when I eat a cooked soup or steamed vegetables because it somehow makes my body more sensitive to cold. Amazingly, by eating all live “cold” food, and after being balanced with many years with the lifestyle as well, I am much less sensitive to extremes in weather and adapt faster than I ever did as a cooked-foodist. I feel like a superhero who can withstand any temperature now, and my fitness abilities have also gone way above and beyond what they used to be. I remember always being cold as a cooked-foodist, as many women often are. Now though it is the opposite, I am either on the warm side or totally comfortable most of the time, even in cold climates. I love it!

I remember once, in my first year raw, I was walking down to the beach with some friends, late at night in Venice, California, and I started to complain that I was really cold. Juliano, (now runs Planet Raw, Santa Monica) told me to go run some laps. So that's what I did, and I certainly wasn't cold anymore, and it was fun too! Sometimes we just need to get our circulation going (do some yoga, exercise, or dry skin brushing), put on a warmer sweater, or drink some hot herbal tea!

Animals in the wild survive the coldest weather without heaters, pots, or stoves. Your resistance to cold weather will increase once you get past the transition and detoxing stages. Like cold showers increase our resistance to cold weather and cold water, room temperature/colder food also increases our resistance to temperatures. You can also refrain from eating refrigerated food and you can warm up soups as well as warm meals in a dehydrator to get the sensation of warmth.

If you are still having a problem in the heart of winter in a cold climate, then what you are lacking is your Omega Fatty Acids and other healthy fats. It is not necessary to eat fish to get your EFA's; where do you think the fish get theirs? They get it from Marine Phytoplankton. It is also what the whales exist on and how they stay warm in the cold ocean!

You can take Marine Phytoplankton directly as a supplement, as sold here, or you can take VPure Omega 3 Vegan DHA, which is taken from algae (phytoplankton) and made into an easy to swallow vegan capsule to take daily. To really get the warming effect, take the liquid phytoplankton, but the Omega 3 supplement should help too.

It is good that you are still eating sprouts, but you are right, they will not keep you warm. Green vegetables and high sodium content foods tend to cool the body. Celery, seaweed like kelp, and coconut water, all do the sodium content, are all cooling in the summer time. Marine Phytoplankton has had the sodium removed, so it will not cool you. You also mentioned three raw books, and you are right, they do not include information on how to eat to warm/cool the body.

You need to get David Wolfe’s Sunfood Diet Success System, and study his Sunfood Triangle. In it, you will learn that your Cholorophyll:Sugar:Fat ratio needs to be around 20:40:40 if you are eating to warm the body. Fats and Potassium rich foods warm the system, which is why you crave fish/flesh because it is a high potassium, high fat food. More heat is produced upon the breakdown of fats then with the break down of carbohydrates, but there are many fruits that are very rich in potassium. Nuts and seeds like macadamias and sunflower seeds are both rich in fat and potassium! The warming, high-potassium fruits include avocados, dates, durians, persimmons with seeds, prunes, pumkin, raisins with seeds, and sun dried apricots.

Finally, sulfur-residue foods warm the body. These include cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, garlic, onion, and durian fruit. David says that by eating a meal rich in sulfur, potassium, and fat, you will notice a heating reaction within 45 minutes, and will become greater as you become more purified on the diet.

Here is a good video on eating these warming foods to help keep warm while you are transitioning...



Visit our healthy fats page for a list of fats to start eating more of. These will not make you gain weight, but they will help you feel more balanced, warmer, and be a good substitute when you feel like you need protein, for what you are really craving is fat, not protein. Remember that nuts are also a fat, but need to be soaked to release the enzyme inhibitors. You may re-dehydrate them in a dehydrator for storage. For that matter, keeping a dehydrator running in your home is a good way to keep it warm!

My husband loves cayenne pepper and other peppers, and when it is cold out side, we spice up our afternoon/evening meal, and this really keeps us warm in the winter! You mention that you are on the heavier side, so you simply must expect that you will be going through quite a bit of detoxing and weight loss in the beginning, and periods of feeling cold because of this, therefore add some cayenne pepper and spicy foods in to keep your lymph moving the toxins through and to keep you feeling warm.

So, to make a long story short, it is not protein that you need, but fats, sulfur, potassium, and DHA from the sea in Marine Phytoplankton. Add to that increased activity, warmer clothing, a change of mind-set with a commitment to letting go of animal flesh, perhaps a dehydrator to help keep both your home and body warm literally and figuratively, and some extra spice in your life, and you’ll be feeling warm in no time!

Lastly, I find that people often look for excuses to not be full raw or vegan, and the protein myth becomes just another excuse and falty myth that they use to not have to go all the way with it. Often when people experience the detoxing effects, they give up and say, “Oh, I just wasn’t getting enough protein, I had to start eating fish again.” Also, my personal favorite excuse, “ It was just too expensive.” That is the biggest myth of all, because avocados, fruits, and vegetables cost very little, but dead fish and animals are very expensive. Cut out the flesh and purchase for yourself some fancy superfoods like Marine Phytoplankton, where one bottle will last you two-three months, and stop making up myths! That bottle will cost you around $60. My husband and I go through a bottle in about a month and a half, so it should last one person 3 months. That is $20 a month. Fish throughout the month will cost you $20-60 a week, so stop fooling yourself about cost! Hemp protein powder, not a superfood really, but just a food, is an excellent food to add to the diet and has a full ratio of amino acids, and is much less expensive then the phytoplankton. You only need to purchase a few things like this to feel satisfied and have a well-rounded raw vegan diet. Enjoy!