So I Went Raw Vegan for a Month... Here Are My Results

So, I brought a one way ticket to Nicaragua to spend my fall/winter to get out of the Babylonian system that is the USA for a while. I've been here a little over a month and have no plans to leave anytime soon. A little bit of background information about me; I have been a pescatarian for a year, have previously been vegan (not raw) for 3 months, and am very conscious in choosing what I eat.

So, I'm hanging out in the Pacific town of San Juan Del Sur and I meet this raw vegan guy and immediately we begin to have a pretty intense conversation about food, God, fasting and the prana energy all around us and how to harness it, among other intense topics. He describes to me his state of mind and how he feels as a raw vegan as well as the proclaimed health benefits he attested to. I remember the 3 months I was vegan I noticed a similar but definitive "buzz" of well being so I figured there may be some truths to his proclaimed mind, body, and soul health benefits he was experiencing.

In case you don't know or are not familiar with the term raw vegan, you basically only eat uncooked fruits and veggies, seeds, and cold pressed oils. No animal products(except raw honey), and no cooking foods above 116 degrees Fahrenheit. It's a diet that can make even vegan and vegetarians cringe at the thought of. Me being a massive fruit lover, and being in the tropics where fruit is abundant, cheap, and literally all over the place, I said, what the heck, I'll try it for a week, and if I hate it I'll take the experience and run with it, and if I love it I may go longer than a week. This was my mindset when I first went pescatarian and it's been a year already. Fast forward a month and I broke the diet last night at a cheap local eatery and ate some rice and beans with avocado, some plantains, and a tortilla, and, as simple as this meal sounds, it was ecstatic. In fact, it was too good and I ended up slightly overeating and today my digestive system is paying for it! Here are some things, both good and bad, I've noticed or felt during this period.

I gave up coffee, a beloved substance of mine that Ive consumed everyday since basically a kid. Well, at least for the 30 days. Today I gave in and picked up the cup. Keep in mind, I had absolutely no intention of doing this whatsoever. If I could tell my self a week before my trip that I would give up caffeinated beverages, I would have never believed it. It's in my identity to drink coffee. Honestly, I can do an entire thread on just this subject alone and the withdrawals I faced, but here's how it all started. On day 3, I noticed after drinking the coffee, that, for the first time, it actually made me feel slightly worse. It's as if, because I was putting raw, healthy stuff in my system, the nervous system shocking stimulant known as caffeine made me feel bad, because it was the only "poison" I was still consuming. So I gave it up cold turkey after researching that night about how caffeine basically shocks your central nervous system and puts it in a fight or flight survival state, and that's basically your caffeine buzz. The following ten days were hell, to say the least, but I figure it would have been much worse if I wasn't a raw vegan. After 20 days, it slowly got better, but never "as good" as my caffeine state of mind. However, like I mentioned, I was living off a buzz from the diet that made it much easier; I couldn't imagine coping with the withdrawals without the diet. It's as if, the fruits were controlling my brain, and no matter how bad it got, I didn't give in. As I already mentioned, I threw in the towel today, because after all I am on vacation, but the lessons I learned were invaluable, such as taking periodic breaks from caffeine, eventually going completely sober from it, and how relying on any substance as a crutch is just bad for your mind, body, and soul. To people scoffing at the idea of "caffeine withdrawal", it's real, serious, and in my personal opinion harder to give up than cigarettes. Also, I haven't touched alcohol since I've been here when normally I'm a 1-2 beer a day kind of guy.

I also felt a heightened spiritual state. I feel almost like I'm fasting, but obviously not quite as I'm consuming quite a bit of calories. I remember my dreams every night. This may seem strange, but I've noticed animals have been approaching me more, as cows, horses, dogs, and other animals would come up to me during my nature walks. This was borderline scary at times, but they were just kind, curious animals. Also, kids would more often than not smile at me when walking by them. They would run from their parents site to give me a high five, then get yelled at by their parents for approaching a stranger like that. Could they be sensing my heightened "spiritual" state? Perhaps, or it may just be coincidence.

Another benefit is digestion is incredible, and it's almost impossible to overeat; you would have to eat a ridiculous amount of fruit to overeat and the water in them will make you feel super full before any serious overeating can occur. This was huge, as I would binge eat 3 times a week, sometimes more, back in the states, and I would suffer the next day feeling like crap the whole next day, like a hangover. On the flip side of this, however, you never really quite feel "full". Well, you do for like 2 hours, then your hungry again. You have to constantly snack on stuff. Instead of relying on just food for energy, however, I learned you have to amp up your "spiritual" muscle and sun bathe to receive additional nutrition or "prana" from the sun, plant your feet to receive information from the earth, and focus on deep breathing in fresh air. These three things I just mentioned is how "breatherians" live off of, as they eat no food; they just live off the prana energy all around us. By doing these three activities, my continual hunger subsided and instead, I was filled with spiritual energy. To many readers, this may sound crazy, but we are solar beings and we need to remember how to be solar beings again.

My skin was also glowing during this time. I don't know if this was because of the daily sun exposure or not, but my skin hasn't looked this good in years. I did lose a little weight but not as much as you would imagine; I took hemp protein supplements daily and worked out 6 days a week. Working out, I would feel lethargic at times, but I think this had to do with the caffeine withdrawals more so than the diet. I still had a nice muscle composure when I flexed, but I think a lot of this has to do with genetics; I've noticed people of African decent and darker skinned people maintain a healthy muscle mass and still look muscular while following such a diet, while European descended raw vegans tend to look more like "Gandhi", for lack of a better way of putting it. Again, this is just my speculation and obviously I could be wrong or there could be exceptions.

I required much less water as most fruits contain high water content. This I consider a benefit as fruit water is alkaline and uncontaminated, as opposed to tap water, or even bottled water which leaks BPA's into the water. My pee was always clear and I drunk maybe 2 glasses of water tops a day. Hydration was never an issue. One drawback, however, is that I would consistency wake up in the middle of the night to pee. I don't think I slept through a whole nights sleep without waking to pee

the entire month of being a raw vegan due to this, and that certainly got old quick. I also was pooping a lot more than I normally do, about twice a day.

As far as what I ate on a normal day and cost, here's what it looked like.

Breakfast: 2 medium sized papayas

Mid morning: 10 bananas

Lunch: two coconuts filled with water and I ate the fatty and protein rich meat as well.
About 48 of these small, sweet fruits called "wachotes?" ( don't know what there called in English) or a cantaloupe in which I ate the seeds as well (rich in protein)
Hemp protein mixed with water

Dinner: 10 mangoes
A salad with cabbage, tomatoes, garlic, and avocado with lime as a dressing cost about &2 for everything.

Of course I would switch it up some days, but for the most part that's what I ate. I would spend about $6 a day on ALL THREE MEALS. Like I mentioned earlier, fruits and vegetables are so abundant in the tropics, it's literally dirt cheap to maintain this diet here. It's the opposite here; fast food is more expensive than the healthy stuff. And, ironically, as poor as a country as Nicaragua is, most people eat fast food.
If your a little thrown back by the quantity of food, (10 mangoes as an appetizer, for example) you have to keep in mind that because these foods contain mostly water, you have to eat more of them. Because of this, sometimes it took a long time to eat a meal, sometimes up to an hour and half, due to the sheer quantity of food you have to consume.

As far as taste, coconut has now become my all time favorite food. It never got old once as I ate it every day, neither did mangoes. Everything else sort of did, however, and as such I switched it up. Occasionally, walking by people eating cooked food, I got cravings, but nothing extreme.

The drawbacks of this diet were mainly social; I spent most of my meals eating by my self. Many people consider meal time a social event, and it truly is difficult showing up to a restaurant with friends and eating strictly raw vegan. Explaining to people that I'm a raw vegan I tended to get mixed reviews, with most people thinking I'm just strange and couldn't fathom why I would embrace such a diet. I think if your girlfriend or wife was a raw vegan, or if you were surrounded by raw vegans, it would have made it much easier to continue on for longer than a month, but I got tired of being a recluse at meal times.

Another drawback is people's access to these foods; I realize how much more difficult and costly this diet would have been in the states or Europe even. It's just not practical for a lot of people. But in the tropics, it's smooth sailing.

Anyways, like I mentioned i throw in the towel yesterday, not only on my diet but I'm back on coffee as well. Overall, it was a great experience that i would compare to a spiritual journey of some sort. It also improved my discipline as I'm still blown away I made it that long without coffee. The way I felt off of being raw vegan is a feeling like no other. I'm still a vegan, but I'm happy to enjoy being able to eat cooked foods with people and enjoy the social aspects of meal time. Will I go back to the diet again? I think so, but for now, it's coffee and socialization for a while!

Thanks for reading.

Links
en.m.wikipedia.org...

www.towardsfreedom.com...

a reply to: sekerofknowlege

geez the sugar!!

Im thinking of becoming a, like one day a week meat, rest of the week fish, egg, vegetables.

Excellent post! Thank you for sharing your experiences. I especially understand the connection to coffee however possibly looking at a coffee substitute such as the Europeans do with Espresso would help to moderate your addiction (big possibly and not to mention IF you wanted to!)

I have a couple of friends that are fruitarians and they are both quite healthy and amazingly aware of things that most do not notice; their insight on a great many subjects is astounding. I have not taken that plunge however, may do so in the future if it is semi-convenient (business meetings would be awkward).

Thanks for sharing your personal observations regarding this matter.

How does the lack of protein and carbs affect your ability to exert yourself?
And I would say all that fruit would mean poop city......yikes..

woah, too much text, i just wondered wth a pescatarian is.
as for what happens when you go vegan, we know,
you smell like a roman legionare with dysentry, and you bore all you friends with fascinating facts abouts veganism.

You must have a far more stout GI system than I.

If I ate 10 bananas, 10 papayas, and what-not in a day I would literally flush myself down the toilet. Just a sack of empty skin left sitting there.

a reply to: Hyperia
Yes, but fructose and refined sugar are two very different things..

a reply to: notmyrealname

Glad you enjoyed the read, and thanks for your feedback!

a reply to: sekerofknowlege

That is true but sadly, for me at least, when testing blood sugar levels it was just as high (if not higher) after eating a banana or orange as after having a few cookies. I know you are getting a lot more nutrients and aminos and stuff from fresh fruits, but the sugars are a problem for alot of us. Thanks for sharing your experiences though , its encouraging to read accounts like yours. Enjoy your vacation!

a reply to: Hyperia

i was thinking the same thing but fish one day a week and wild vensison/or rabbit one day a week, and cheat with a cheese burger once a month

Great post, I enjoyed reading about your experience.

a reply to: sekerofknowlege

i was vegan for 8 years, then i found out that it was a cult, started eating gmo-free meat, and i actually got "high" from it, the nutritional value of meat to the brain is amazing! i am a happier person now.

Good god, I love fruit as much as the next person, but hell no. We need protein for a reason, that much fruit starch & sugar, and not much else, would leave me practically comatose. And honestly, you didn't have very much variation at all, big no-no for obtaining a proper spread of vitamins & minerals.

I'd consider myself a half & half vegetarian/carnivore, or more accurately -- a half-assed one. I haven't had any meat in a good month (I'm in a "meat? meh." pattern) HOWEVER, as much as I loathe beans, I've been making a point of eating them for the fat & protein content when I skip meat.

Focus on the nutrients, not the preparation methods. Unless you have very deep pockets & can afford to have an enormous variety of raw fruits & veggies at your disposal daily, you're simply going to need to make room for some that need cooked, otherwise you're going to be running the risk of deficiencies.

a reply to: sekerofknowlege

I enjoyed reading your posts and find it refreshing to see someone put so much effort into their writing. Veganism is a tough path to follow so fair play to you for sticking it out. I was vegan for a while a few years ago and it was finally becoming pescatarian that put me back to being three quarters carnivore. Smoked mackerel led to smoked bacon and the veggie years were all over : )

Vegan diets can deliver a balanced diet that's good for our health and immune systems. It's the discipline that trips so many up and the sacrificing so many tasty foods. This guy, Frank Medrano, has been promoting veganism for years and years now. Check out the level of fitness he has through mainly callisthenics:

a reply to: sekerofknowlege

Could you give us an update in a few months,providing you stay on the "dirty" diet?

I'm a pescatarian(again)and would be interested in the physiological effects of a week of "raw".I'd like to try it in the latter half of next year because I'll be on supplements for about that long and think it'll make a good de-tox.

a reply to: DOCHOLIDAZE1

Yes, that's also what I'm thinking, pizza hamburger taco....... I'm hungry

I've been high carb vegan for a year and a half now and it's incredible how healthy and fit I've become, I eat around 40-60 ripe spotty bananas a day on raw days or around 30 bananas and a high carb cooked meal on cooked days.

Here's a really good vid i watched recently:

a reply to: One_Love_One_GOD

Neanderthals had bigger brains, they eat meat like candy