Sauerkraut -it's good for you. #20

In Elyse's raw food class (mentioned in the previous post) she recommended a bit of sauerkraut morning and evening to promote healthy levels of intestinal flora. Why didn't I think of that? 

I bought a jar of hers after the class and have been eating a small portion as an appetizer before lunch and supper ever since. I also bought her flax crackers and serendipitously discovered that they compliment each other nicely -the texture and the neutral taste of the cracker soaks up the tartness of the sauerkraut.

Healthy and delicious!

The pain in my groin continues, coming and going for no apparent reason. It does, however, seem to get worse after walking. I decided to cancel my colema appointments until it clears up.

The watery stool situation is improving, so I've started bringing in more raw food into my diet this week.

It's official. My flight back to Edmonton is booked for April 14th. I'm going to miss the charm of Victoria, the scenic views, the amazing weather, the people I've met.

I'll be back!

Here are the stats for this past week:

                             03/14/10              03/21/10           Change

Weight              124.4 lbs.               125.2                   +0.8 lbs.

It looks like last week's loss is this week's gain.

Body Fat           15.0 lbs.                 15.1                      +0.1

Looks like I put a little meat on (instead of fat).

BMI                     19.5                       19.7                     +0.2

A reflection of the weight.

Body Fat           12.0%                     12.1                    +0.1       

Same as above but as a percentage.

Water                64.3%                     64.1                    -0.2

Above 64% is a good place to be.

Bone Mass        6.3%                       6.3                     No Change.
Holding steady.

Raw Food "Cooking" Class

A good friend here in Victoria called me earlier this week to tell me about a raw food cooking demonstration that was being held at the new Thrifty's store at Tuscany Village.

Elyse, Nuff, a healthy, lively, cook whose energy belies her age was -quite literally- the host, chief, cook and bottle washer. She's been involved with raw food for more than 20 years, and has a line of raw food products that can be purchased at places like Thrifty's Foods and Planet Organic.

She's also published a book, Alive 'n Raw... as Nature Intended, which along with the basics of about proper nutrition, includes some yummy, simple, recipes that are quick to put together.

She travels BC in a motor home that doubles as an office where she sees clients one-on-one for nutritional counseling or coaching on raw food preparation. She the real thing. Her website is LiveRawKitchen.com. Just give her a call if you're interested. (I've also added her link to the Blog Section on the right.)

After a brief introduction on the benefits of raw food, she showed us five super simple recipes to help us replace dairy and gluten products with raw ingredients that are much healthier for the body. I have to emphasize they really are simple. Even I came away from the evening thinking, "Hey. I can do this." 

Eating raw is not the easiest thing I've ever done. Just buying raw vegetables and wondering how to prepare them is not enough. Reading books on the subject, surfing the web for ideas, and taking raw food classes (like this one) are all ways of becoming educated and staying motivated.
"You have to do it yourself, but you don't have to do it alone." -Unknown

This is What Confucius Would Say.

On the recommendation of the doctor I saw a few days ago, (refer to previous posting), I picked up, "Healing with Whole Foods: Asian Traditions and Modern Nutrition," 3rd. edition, by Paul Pitchford. It's huge, and from what I can see does a very good and thorough job of looking at the subject of nutrition. 

For now I'm going to stick with the raw food approach. Within this domain, however, I can also concentrate on foods this book recommends for people with dampness related issues:

• Carbohydrate-rich veggies like carrots, parsnips, turnip, garbanzo beans, black beans, sweet potato, peas, yams and pumpkin....   
• Pungent vegetables and spices like onion, leek, (dried) ginger, cinnamon, fennel, garlic and nutmeg.... cherries and dates....    
• According to TCM, other foods that dry dampness are: rye, amaranth, corn, aduki beans, celery, lettuce, alfalfa, kohlrabi, raw honey and all bitter herbs, like chaparral as well as chamomille.

The doctor also suggested I start by reading the section on the Earth Element which is related to the Late Summer season. (Rightly or wrongly, I take that to be the equivalent of our Indian Summer.)

• Recommended foods for people of this type are mildly sweet or yellow or gold in colour, such as: millet, corn, carrots, tofu, rice, sweet rice, chestnuts, filberts, apricots and cantaloupe.  

It is a time of transition and dishes should be simple and everything, preparation to presentation, needs to done in moderation.

That leaves me with a fair bit to work with -and think about.

What would Confucius Say?

Back in October, just before I embarked on this raw food experience, I had some blood work done. One of the tests showed the amount of inflammation in my system. I was thinking that, more than 3 months into this process it would be good to see if the inflammation had gone down any.

Note: An acidic environment leads to inflammation. A raw food diet, which is basically akaline,  should lessen the acidity in my body and therefore the inflammation as well.

Back in October, 2009 my blood work result was 935. 
Normal is less than 120.
In February, 2010 (using a muscle test) my "reading" was ((correction) 545,
which suggests that the raw food diet is quite effective. 
(If your not into behavioral kinesiology, i.e. muscle testing, I will be getting the regular blood work done once I get back to Edmonton in April and we'll be able to compare apples to apples.)

I met with an MD, whose has decided to pursue Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) full time.  She was very helpful and explained that TCM has a very different philosophy from Western medicine. This modality sees things in terms of various concepts such as chi; the Five Elements: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water; excess and deficiency; cooling and warming foods; dampness, or heat..... 

She said that I was damp and that I should be eating more cooked food (for the heat), and lots of grains, which are a condensed form of food, (that have more heat qualities.) I was confused as this is virtually the opposite of what my current health practitioner was advising.

With some exasperation, I shared that information with my sister. It turns out that my naturopath studied TCM for 3 years and agreed with the doctor's assessment of my condition. His point was that it boiled down to a question of priorities, and dealing with the cancer is the priority at this time.  

In the short term, getting my body to an alkaline state trumped dealing with dampness, because cancer can't live in an alkaline environment. Because most grains are acidic, he suggested avoiding them. Once the cancer is gone, then modifying my diet to deal with the dampness would be an option to consider. 

Makes sense to me.

Overall, I'm glad I got a second opinion. There's no doubt that getting advice is diametrically opposed can be frustrating. The trick is to see beyond the language (and baggage) of each modality, and try to make sense of what is being said. 

Not easy. Certainly it takes time and effort, and the willingness to deal with ambiguity. Most of all it takes a certain level of confidence in whatever decision one makes, balanced with a willingness to remain open minded about any new information that may come along.

That's my story and I'm sticking with it -until something that makes more sense comes along.

Week Nine Summary

Week Nine. It feels good to be starting the New Year with this new diet. I'm also pleased the changes to my diet so far have been minimal.

It's taken some time and effort to get set up anew here on the west coast. Fortunately, I did order some items ahead of time, one of which was a book on salad dressings. Salad Dressings for Life (available from Hallelujah Acres) http://ecommerce.hacres.com/Educational/Recipes-Books has proven to be quite helpful. I also went out and bought a wide assortment of spices and herbs which has made it possible for me to make a number of tasty dressings.

These dressings, Orange-Tahini,  Lemon,  Russian,  Avocado Tomato,  Tangy Mango  etc. have gone a long way toward creating a sense of variety in the salads I've been having. This is particularly important when raw vegetables are pretty much the only things one has to work with.

I'm not much of a cook, so having a few recipes, some of them quite simple, has boosted my confidence and encouraged me to be more intentional and adventuresome around my "cooking."

The stats for this past week show an interesting change of direction:

                             12/27/09             01/03/10           Change

Weight              133.7 lbs.               134.9                   +1.2 lbs.

Interesting how the introduction of cooked food quickly changes one's weight.

A few years ago I spent about a month in a health spa in Mexico. I lost about 25 pounds and arrived back in Canada weighing about 140 pounds. Once home, I continued to eat well but, unlike Mexico, cooked food was a bigger part of my diet. I put on one or two pounds a week. Within six months, I was back to my old weight of about 165 pounds.

I'm no doctor, but this anecdotal evidence (along with the resumption of weight loss in the coming weeks once I return to raw food) strongly suggests that a raw food diet goes a long ways in assisting a person lose any unnecessary weight.

Body Fat           20.3 lbs.                 20.9                    +0.6 lbs.

Half the increase is fat. Not totally surprising as I've indulged in delicious Brie cheese and hummous this past week.

BMI                     21.0                        21.2                     +0.2

A slight increase due to a slight weight gain.

Body Fat           15.0%                     15.5                     +0.5       

Same as above but as a percentage.

Water                62.0%                     61.7                    -0.3%

For the first time, a very small downward change. Not sure if it's a reflection of the weight gain, or the diet.

Bone Mass        6.4%                       6.4                       No change.

The bone mass seems to be holding its own.