raw food?

i have difficulty cooking because of my disability. i've read a bit about raw foodism and think it might be a helpful tool for me to eat real food instead of microwaved lean cuisines. i don't eat enough produce and i eat too much processed food, so.. looking for info.

book or website recommendations please!

also, any experiences and other recommendations are appreciated.

Replies

  • khristiana
    khristiana Posts: 131 Member
    Hi mykaylis, I suggest if you have netflix you watch a documentary called Forks over Knives. I watched this on August 7th of this year and it literally is saving my life. From August 7th until now, I have made a circle coming back to fully raw food, which I haven't conquered yet. :)

    Raw food is amazingly good for you and your health, and I love the energy and positivity I feel when I eat raw food and make cold pressed juices. I am not fully raw, however, because I do love hot meals. But no more animal meat or animal products in anything I eat, and I can already tell a huge difference.

    I wish you luck! Give it a try, you have nothing to lose and everything great to gain.
  • FunkyTobias
    FunkyTobias Posts: 1,776 Member
  • Yi5hedr3
    Yi5hedr3 Posts: 2,696 Member
    Raw is usually not good because of the toxic Phytates and Lectins. Always cook your veggies! :)
  • mykaylis
    mykaylis Posts: 320 Member
    Please consider rethinking this.

    Raw food diets still requires hefty amounts of prep and special equipment, if not more than eating a diet of both cooked and raw food require.

    i imagine so!

    i have time for prep. it's just not safe for me to use a hot stove. it's complicated, let's just say my brain is on the fritz. i can do crock pot cooking, i'm not looking to dive completely into raw foodism, i just regard this as a tool to get more produce.
  • RAinWA
    RAinWA Posts: 1,980 Member
    Do you have someone who can help you with prep? My husband is unable to cook and I prep his breakfast and lunch so it's easy for him to microwave what needs to be hot. Pre-cooked chicken breasts, sausage, rice, soups, chili, etc. Makes a huge difference for him - he gets tired of sandwiches (which is about all he is able to manage otherwise).
  • niniundlapin
    niniundlapin Posts: 327 Member
    After a semester of parasitology (even though it's just one semester), I won't encourage anyone to eat raw food since there's no certain way to decide if the ingredients are handled proper enough to ensure optimal safety, and cooking is at least a good (but not perfect) defense for that. I know I'm being a little bit exaggerated here and human body is not that weak, but I'd rather not exposing myself under such condition (especially with raw animal products). Yes I still eat my salad raw and would give sashimi a try once a while, but that's it... always well-done for my steak & no blood. I should put it like this: when I do raw food I eat them with different levels of fear (?!). Anyway, that's my opinion based on what I know & have learned...
  • mykaylis
    mykaylis Posts: 320 Member
    thank you for your input. as far as parasitology goes - people eat raw salads, carrots and dip, etc on a regular basis. my vision of raw food is similar to that, with no raw cows or pigs or poultry - i do enjoy sashimi on occasion but only prepared by a restaurant i trust - and with no specialized stuff like dehydrators or extremism.

    basically, i regard raw food as something that doesn't risk me burning my house down. like i said i can cook in a crock pot but so many things just don't work out that way, and i'm looking for suggestions. :)
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,626 Member
    what about using a toaster oven? i use mine like a mini oven. just use the timer function and it shuts off automatically (at least mine does)
  • elphie754
    elphie754 Posts: 7,574 Member
    Can you use a plug in steamer? The one I have allows you to set the amount of time you wish to steam something, and then automatically shuts off after that time. You can pretty much steam anything: chicken, fish, all sorts of veggies, etc. mine has two sections so you can steam two things at once.


    Not to get too personal, but I'm assuming the issue is you have some sort of neurological disorder that causes you to have time lapses, such as a seizure or black out disorder, and you are worried about starting a fire due to that? If so, there are quite a few devices (like the timed steamer) that work on timers and automatically shut off. Some can be a bit more pricey, but I would look into them.
  • FitnessPrincess9
    FitnessPrincess9 Posts: 27 Member
    Raw foodism is a great idea, you just have to make sure you are getting enough calories. Raw food is high in fiber which will make you feel fuller faster, but because raw food is typically low in calorie you have to make sure you are getting a sufficient amount of nutrients.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    mykaylis wrote: »
    Please consider rethinking this.

    Raw food diets still requires hefty amounts of prep and special equipment, if not more than eating a diet of both cooked and raw food require.

    i imagine so!

    i have time for prep. it's just not safe for me to use a hot stove. it's complicated, let's just say my brain is on the fritz. i can do crock pot cooking, i'm not looking to dive completely into raw foodism, i just regard this as a tool to get more produce.

    So you can peel and prepare food and use a contained / timed cooker

    For crock-pot recipes look at www.skinnytaste.com, there's lots of lovely ones including chicken cacciatore which is a personal favourite

    What about using a microwave? that is timed too?

    Some ovens have built in timers that start and stop too

    I would recommend not watching Forks Over Knives as @funkytobias linked but if you do want to eat raw food then that's certainly a route - it will just take a lot of effort to get a good nutritional balance