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Hello, I have tried many many diets, but raw food seems to be the only one that does not leave me tired and constipated.
Also, is there some logic in removing life energy from food? It is a fact that cooked seeds will never grow. What constructive benefit could such food have in the human body?
Most raw food diets are cold and clammy. However, some people have found ways to add heat to the diet without killing the food. For example, via peppers.
Finally, even if there is convincing evidence for cooking food, I want re-assurance that following the healing tao will not require me to eat animals. I really dont approve of animal slaughter.
On the other hand, it’s a fact that plants are sentient as well… so I seem to be caught in a rut. If I want to survive, then I have to kill something else. I am not pleased about this. I have done a pure fruit diet, but that led to a drop in physical strength and loss of muscle mass.
Where is the compassion in this world? Why must I harm other things to survive?
>>Hello, I have tried many many diets,
>>but raw food seems to be the only one
>>that does not leave me tired and constipated.If that’s the case, then listen to your body, and eat raw food.
>>Also, is there some logic in removing life energy from food?
>>It is a fact that cooked seeds will never grow.
>>What constructive benefit could such food have in the human body?Really cooking only has to do with killing pathogenic organisms.
If you don’t eat meat, then this is less important . . .
although you can still get E-coli poisoning from plants, if they were
fertilized with manure improperly. Cooking also slows down spoilage,
which has to do with the same thing. Of course, as you point out,
raw food may be more beneficial to the body. It’s a trade-off, and
ultimately comes down to personal preference.>>Finally, even if there is convincing evidence for cooking food,
>>I want re-assurance that following the healing tao
>>will not require me to eat animals. I really dont
>>approve of animal slaughter.Of course, anyone that starts following the Healing Tao, we automatically
force them to eat a steak dinner once a week . . . ARE YOU SERIOUS?
How would anyone force you to eat meat?The fact is, we have people from all food paths here–omnivores,
vegetarians, vegans, raw foodists, etc. What you want to eat is up
to you. In fact, the registrar for the Healing Tao summer retreats
is a raw foodist. Plenty of people that attend are vegetarians, but
some–including myself–are not.>>On the other hand, it’s a fact that plants are sentient as well…
>>so I seem to be caught in a rut. If I want to survive,
>then I have to kill something else. I am not pleased about this.
>>Where is the compassion in this world?
>>Why must I harm other things to survive?What of all the microbes you kill when you take a shower, or scratch
your arm, or whatever? I think you need to relax a bit. It’s like
you are having trouble relating to being on Earth. Everything on
Earth–plants, animals, humans, whatever, all have their own destiny.
Who’s to say that the plants one may eat (or animals for that matter),
aren’t here for the purpose of supporting your existence, and you
are merely completing their destiny? The chi is not lost, it is
merely transformed when you consume the food. In some ways, you may
help the sentience of the food to reach a higher state of consciousness
by being part of you rather than living on its own. Nothing is
cut and dried, and just worrying and developing a lot of anxiety about
it is not going to help anything.If you really, really hate the concept of food, then through a lot
of Healing Tao practice, you can always bring yourself to the state
of “bigu”, which means that you live off of the chi from the air,
no longer needing food to survive. Although if you want my personal
opinion, that’s an extremist position. I’d instead recommend
coming into personal balance with the natural world and not be at
such a bitter war with it.S
> You can have compassion and still eat Meat. The Dalai Lama eats meat, for example.
I define compassion based on consideration for the other being. I dont care what office you have or what title or what robe or what funny name you have. If you do something un-compassionate, then you have done it.
So, just because he eats meat does not make it compassionate.
> Provided you are not going to have your body incinerated you WILL be eaten.
Yes, but death by natural causes is very different from being shoved into a slaughterhouse and killed without anesthesia.
> And if you are going to have your body incinerated isn’t this just very
> uncompassionate? I mean, why do you want to take away such a good meal to all the
> worms and bacteria.heheh. well water would eat me if I were ashes. maggots if I’m meat. Either way, someone gets to chow down.
> Regarding Raw Food. I eat a diet which is nearly fully raw food. It just also
> includes raw meat. It is called Primal Diet.Oh yes, Aajonus Vonderplantz diet. Interesting. I’m doing Doug Graham’s 80-10-10 diet: 80% simple sugar, 10% fat, 10% protein… you basically eat fruit and just a few tender greens (which have protein). His book on 80-10-10 talks about the things you would suspect such a diet to lack, such as Essential Fatty Acids.
> Yes, but death by natural causes is very different from being shoved into a
> slaughterhouse and killed without anesthesia.Actually a friend of mine said that the animal chose to die that way… if we all create our own reality, then it basically had an urge for that to happen.
Which of course makes me wonder if the Africans had an urge to be enslaved and mis-treated….
Some people who feel stronly that way become fruitarians. Only eating fruit (and nuts) from trees and bushes that offer them up freely. Thus no plants suffering early termination. Daniel Reid mentions the practice in one of his books (Tao of Healthy,sex and longevity?). He does say to get proper nutrition you eat the seeds, core and peel (even banana) of most fruits.
Personally I think you have to be pragmatic. Blend your beliefs with an approach that will keep you happy and healthy. Some people get too dogmatic and rigid and when there strict diet starts hurting them after what could be months or years, they keep at it.
You can have your food and conscience too.
Michael
The seeds and core of *many* fruits have cyanide in them!
For instance, peach pits, apple seeds, cherry, apricot, plums, etc.Eating them can do you in; and even if it doesn’t,
the poison accumulates in your body until you DO
reach a lethal dose.Becoming fruitarian or sproutarian or taking any
other extreme positions usually lead to all sorts of
health problems that others don’t have. Consider
yourself warned. I defer to my previous post.Steven
i LOVE meat, especially steak…
BUT i think anyone in their right mind notices a big difference between minching on greens and slicing open cow necks..
maybe here and there, but every day every meal,
yeah right!
i think our primate cousins are correct.. 95-99% vegetables (with a few fruits mixed in) and 1% meat and eggs
eggs are kindof disgusting to mix in everything, but a few here and there isn’t that bad…
munch munch munch..
i also frown on grians and potatoes now.. some good bread every once in awhile…
but forget the food pyramid
vegetable vegetable vegetable..
greens spinach carrots tomatoes
I am not a fruitarian and I agree extremes can be harmfull. But fruitarians are not eating one type of fruit nor are they eating just the seeds, they mainly fill up on the fruit surrounding the seeds. I think the bitter seeds is nicly ballanced by the sweet fruit.
Pomegranate Seed Oil Causes Breast Cancer Cells to Self-Destructhttp://www.ats.org/news.php?id=32
Grapefruit Seed Extract May Help Ulcers Heal
http://www.webmd.com/content/Article/106/108060.htm
The Cold and Flu May Have a New Natural Enemy: Fruit Seeds
http://www.mmdnewswire.com/the-cold-nd-flu-my-hve-new-nturl-enemy-fruit-seeds-2430.html
I would love to hear your thoughts after watching this video. It stimulated me to try to research this topic more.
While *certain* fruit seeds have health benefits, MANY are poisonous.
I wouldn’t be cavalier about eating the seeds with the fruit!If you only eat a few seeds with the fruit, then you probably have
nothing to worry about–your body will detox the small amount of
cyanide more rapidly than you accumulate it. In other words, people
that eat the occasional apple with seeds probably have nothing to fear.However, if you eat fruit regularly this way, the cyanide can build
up in your body over time until you reach a lethal dose–it’s like arsenic,
and a *lot* of fruit cores and seeds have cyanide in them–some like
cherry pits, peach pits, apricot pits have quite a lot of cyanide in them!Therefore this is especially important to know for anyone taking the
extreme position of eating mostly fruit for their diet.People can and DO die from cyanide poisonings from such situations!
This is just one example of how you can develop serious health problems
and/or in fact kill yourself by taking up a seemingly harmless diet plan.EVEN IF you don’t eat seeds and cores, too much fruit can leach iron
out of your body, and you can become anemic. Not too mention tooth
decay from the sugar and acids . . .The bottom line is that basically the extreme and radical approach
is never the correct one. Moderation and balance are important.Becoming fanatical about diet or exercise regimes
causes health problems others don’t get, because others aren’t fanatical.
It’s better to just come into harmony with the natural world.Steven
The video argues that the cyanide is only released
at the site of cancer cells; however, people
*do* die from cyanide poisonings from ingesting an
excess, so I don’t think that their statement is
entirely true.It may be that there is a higher quantity of cyanide
released in the area surrounding cancer cells than
in the general body–in which case it could prove
to be a useful cancer therapy, I don’t know, but
you also risk reaching a level of toxicity, so its
kind of a dangerous game–although if you have cancer,
it’s a game you may as well play.In this event, we would have a situation where *small*
quantities could have benefits, but if you consume too
much you are screwed.This really goes back to the whole, “not going to excess”
thing again. The only problem here is knowing “how much is
too much”.“Controlled quantities of the bad can be good.
Excessive amounts of the good can be bad.
Poison kills. But when handled properly, it can cure diseases.
Without poison, there can be no medicine.
To employ poison to attack poison is a Taoist principle.”–C.K. LiuS
I think I should have been more clear on my stance of not making one self a fruitarian for longer periods of time then one is truly drawn to eat just fruite. But I open the possibilty that one might be drawn to it for self medicating reasons. As you might have been drawn to cigarette smoking and comtinued to do so.
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