Gut Healing with a Raw Vegan Diet?

[Pat Robinson]

(this is a repost of a member wondering about gut healing with a raw vegan diet)

You have some difficult questions which have no absolute answers, imo. The severity of diet one embarks upon or embraces has as much to do with "what you feed your skin and your mind and your outlook" as your body.

I don't believe in a 'search and destroy' paradigm about life and living. I believe the world is exactly as it needs to be and is whatever it is, for a reason. Many embrace a paradigm of "one right way" for feeding one's body, skin, mind and outlook. There are many sites which believe differently than I. :-) I am not an absolutist about much of anything.

If I had to select one thing of most concern about your healing plan, it would be related to potential nutrient deficiencies on a raw vegan diet, when starting from years of SAD and antibiotics, etc. 75% raw seems to be an approachable and nourishing goal. Eating some cooked beans and legumes and some ferments could provide some balance, imo.

The main nutrients I've seen of concern are preformed vit A, B1 (raw beans are not healthy, but are key source), Omega 3 fatty acids (specifically ALA conversion to EPA, DHA, especially with any thyroid issues), tryptophan (unless you culture soy), and B12 (especially without any ferments!).

Here is a site which disagrees with me

Food sources of essential nutrients

I'd be sure to include sea vegetables and confirm they are heavy-metal tested.

As far as ferments, here is my Probiotics 101:
http://heal-thyself.ning.com/profiles/blogs/whole-food-probiotics-101
http://heal-thyself.ning.com/profiles/blogs/probiotics-pusher
http://heal-thyself.ning.com/profiles/blogs/everything-probiotics
http://heal-thyself.ning.com/profiles/blogs/homemade-probiotics

Candida 101

Nutrients in Herbal Infusions
(scroll down)
Just Say No to Synthetic Vitamins and Processed Foods!

Unfermented vinegar is considered acidifying to the body. Ferments are (controversially) considered alkalizing in small amounts because they help to rebalance the but microbials.

I believe in consuming nutrients in their whole food forms. Others prefer to have concentrated amounts of isolated (synthetic) vitamins and nutrients. I trust our body to process nutrients most effectively in their natural form.

Highly processed and denatured wheat gluten and pasteurized, homogenized, antibiotic and growth hormone laden A1 dairy casein from cows fed GMO and pesticide raised grain---are not an evolutionary food. They are a contemporary processed white liquid/powder that have limited similarity and significantly less nutritional value than raw, 100% grass-fed whole A2 dairy and whole grains which are soaked and naturally fermented.

Nonetheless the damage of food additives, such as HFCS, artificial colors, flavors, preservatives, etc.

This was an interesting video posted about the health concerns with processed soy

I believe that fermented soy has health benefits.

So, depending upon how bad your gut is, a raw vegan diet might or might not have adequate nutrients to REBALANCE nutrient deficiencies which have developed over decades of abuse.

Hope that helps to get you started. Only you have the answers for you. Listen to your body and trust that!

Take wonderful care,

Pat