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reply to good questions
Not dumb questions at all! A lot of people have those same questions and I did as well and had to figure it all out for myself ?? so here ??s what I found.
1) Coffee. It ??s a biggie because it ??s such an addictive drug that has definite withdrawal symptoms. If you come off of coffee all at once you can get a splitting headache because the blood vessels in your brain get shrunk when drinking it. Believe it or not, one of the best remedies for this is to stand on your head or hands or just get yourself upside down somehow. I used to go upside down in our recliner. But better than going cold turkey it ??s better to get your adrenals powered up again because coffee and regular food puts an awful strain on them. I ??ve been off and on coffee so many times it ??s shameful so I know a lot about it. There are herbs that will help you get off coffee because they help your adrenals. If your adrenals are weak they will make you crave more coffee because they can ??t get the adrenal and hence glucose pumped into your blood stream like they used to from the abuse. Coffee works pretty much the same way sugar does. Coffee makes adrenal which makes sugar release from your storage. The trick is to get your adrenals strong enough. The way to do that is with pure licorice herb. You can buy that in tea bags. The easiest way to come off coffee is to add this herb to Earl Grey or your favorite caffeinated tea. It ??s important to make this switch. Coffee has addictive properties way beyond the caffeine. Don ??t give caffeine up the same time you give up coffee unless you don ??t mind feeling real bad for a week or so. You also don ??t really have to give up all caffeine if you don ??t want to long term. Green tea is supposed to be extremely healthful and it has caffeine. It just doesn ??t have the same intense addictive and acidic properties as coffee. Also, there is an herb called Mate from South America that is supposed to be great for you, give a boost and not have that crash like after coffee. There is a lemon one that is yummy. My personal favorite is kukicha (or twig) tea mixed with licorice tea. I put one back of each in a big cup or pot. Be careful drinking licorice a lot if you have high blood pressure. My blood pressure tends to be low so it actually helps me. There ??s not much if any caffeine in it but it gives me a lift all the same. Must be the nutrients. After you get off the coffee the best coffee substitute that kinda tastes like coffee is something called Roma. It is not raw but much better than coffee. Don ??t drink decaf by the way ?? still addicting, still caffeine and even more acidic than coffee. The place to get to eventually are these wonderful life giving herbs. They have lots of nutrients without the fiber so they don ??t have to be raw since you don ??t need the enzymes to digest them. Herbs will help your body stay warm and comforted while transitioning to raw and when you get there. A very important herb for many live fooders is Ginger tea. It is great for digestion and helps keep your body fire up when eating lots of veggies and fruit which are cooling. As a 51 year old female I sure hope you have heard of Don Quai. Perhaps you can look it up rather than trying to go into it here. Many women swear by it. Two other herbs that will help you to strengthen your adrenals and that are important in transition are cinnamon and stevia. Stevia, like licorice, is very sweet (sweeter than sugar I believe) yet does not make blood sugars go up. Cinnamon is just a miracle herb. It should be added to anything you can. I find that a big part of loving coffee is having that hot cup in my hands. If I drink enough tea and I don ??t give into that need for a boost when something important is happening and reach for the coffee ?? if I reach for green tea or mate instead ?? then I don ??t start the chain of addiction. Addictions aren ??t easy to break but it can be done.
2) Alcohol. Most live fooders curse alcohol like the plague. Wine is actually a live food and in recent years has been in the news a great deal as being good for the heart, especially for women, in small quantities. I occasionally will drink an inch or two of wine when I crave it and it seems to do me good. It ??s nice to be able to participate at gathers in this way as well. Drinking too much makes me deathly ill. Drinking just a little makes me stronger. Best to get organic if you can because they add sulfites to wine that are not good. All wine has natural sulfites, so some people are allergic to all wine. If you drink a good deal, this is also a way to wean yourself. Switch to wine and reduce slowly. If you drink, or have drunk regularly, milk thistle is a miracle herb for restoring the liver.
3) Husband: There are transition foods for him too, but that has to be done in a way that respects his choices. Offering is much different than forcing. Go one meal or new added food at a time. For instance start with breakfast for both of you. You can get live granola and he can add milk and you can make almond milk or you can make smoothies. If he eats regular cereal ?? let him. If he wants only eggs and bacon it ??s now time for a sit down talk. I make what is good for me and my husband will make for himself anything else that he wants or needs. Over time I ??ve gotten him to the point that he eats almost everything I give him and only eats the other stuff when we go out because what I make is yummy and he is lazy. Simple. The trick is to go slowly. Offer one new yummy thing at a time. For instance I started with live food desert snacks. I ??d offer him a cookie or a piece of pie as a snack. Now that isn ??t too mean is it? Before long my husband started to call for his smoothies from his office for his mid-morning snack. He used to eat cookies. He used to eat a big nasty meal every night until I started making him luscious salads with some meat added on top or a macaroni salad potato salad. That got him hooked on salads and now even if I don ??t eat salad he will go make himself one. He slept better and felt better. But the number one thing is not to make it about your husband. It is about you. Do what is best for you no matter what anyone says or whatever fits they throw. This is about you. If you get healthier and happier others, especially husbands, get intrigued. Especially if you start to lose weight and look great.
4) Weight. Most people do lose weight but that isn ??t the point. The point is to get you to your ideal weight ?? which definitely happens. Some people don ??t weigh enough and gain but most Americans are extremely over-weight and lose weight quickly. When raw I always lose weight. This time I went from a size 12 to a size 2 in 6 months. I ??ve never done that before but this time I ??m not eating oil or any kind of sweetener so lost a lot quickly. I wouldn ??t suggest doing that right off ?? if ever. I ??ve been around this and eating very clean a very long time. Don ??t think about fat or sweeteners and just let your body get to place where it feels healthy and good. Our society is so obsessed with size. It ??s very sad. Think health and you will be treating yourself with respect and your body will reward you.
5) Nuts. They say if you have cancer you have to but that ??s all I ??ve ever hear about ??watching nuts ??. I watch nuts all the time ?? that is soaking in my kitchen! Nuts are great! I don ??t know how anyone transitions to raw without nuts. Just make sure that you soak them. I soak a bunch of different ones, dehydrate them, and snack on them. When transitioning, it ??s especially important to eat nuts in order to get that ??full ?? feeling and to get the amount of protein that your body is used to. We don ??t need much, but when you ??re used to getting so much your body tends to scream for it until it ??s used to less. It ??s ok ?? Go Nuts!
So that ??s my extremely long-winded opinion. Good thing I type fast. Best of luck!
greenbunny
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