HIV - Raw Food Diet

[Scotian]

Does anyone have any experience with a raw food diet? If you have found it practical/easy to follow.
Are you able to maintain weight?
Any feedback would be appreciated.

[Peter Staley]

I moved this to Living With because it's gone without any replies in our Nutrition Forum.  I'll move it back once others chime in.

[weasel]

HEY Scotian  ,
                         I tryed it for several months !

     It is hard to do !

    I have  gone back to eating good healthy  food . that is cooked .

     I like  home made  food ! Stuff from the garden !

     I do find eating raw food , for ME  it was hard to keep weight on .

    I have gained pounds , but feel better now .

    I do find NOT eating FAST food is a good habit to follow .

    My answer to is it practical ,not for me !

    It did not satisfy  my system .

    and caused  bowel issues .

                                    good luck with it ,
                                                                 Carl
 

[water duck]

When you say 'raw food ' does it include poultry and meat ??

If it does , then let's drop the 'HIV' , you must know that these things carry with it - bacterias and virus - that the cooking process helps to kill to make it possible for consumption.

Now if you ask me if i would PERSONALLY try a raw food diet , my answer WILL BE NO !!
BECAUSE i am HIV+.

If you next ask me how do you maintain your weight , my reply will be : keep away from all dairy products, eat right and at the same time. And when you are fulled, stop ; that is the reason i shy away from buffets lunchs or dinners where if you don't eat alot , you don't get your money worth.

Wd

[Miss Philicia]

"maintain" means keeping his weight UP, not down, and you can read about his diet here:

http://forums.poz.com/index.php?topic=25481.msg320148#msg320148

[water duck]

Thank you Miss Philicia for the clarification.

Dear Scotian , please eat whatever you like that brings you the most pleasure in the enjoyment of eating. How about a ice cream  make it a double 

Wd

[mecch]

I was off meat and all dairy for a few years in my 20's. It wasn't so difficult to find delicious food since i lived near an enormous whole foods hippie food coop.  I was a runner and that diet kept me stick thin. I also ended up (related or not?) with CFS - chronic fatique syndrome - remember that? !

A raw food diet, as opposed to vegetarianism, is almost a cult, however. We can eat many more food raw than we know, (even fish and some meats), but vast amounts of food really are healthier and more nutritious cooked.

I can't imagine any trained nutritionist who counsels HIV+ people, who would easily recommend a raw food diet.

In this age of effective anti-retrovirals, commencing a raw food diet based on health benefits seems a risky endeavor.  Its seems, to me at least, to be a choice that has more to do with politics, spirituality, or questions of control.  It would take extraordinary control to follow for an extended period, and socially its hard to manage. Why make ones life so difficult?

Why???

[Merlin]

The only raw food diet (BARF) I know of was what I fed to my late precious pup. And that didn't help her much either. Other than sushi, I really think it's best to eat cooked meat. Vegetables,fruits and nuts, when well washed & cleaned, are probable candidates for them being raw.

Like what weasel said, I went on a drastic cut out of all "junk" food during my 1st year of infection, and ate nothing but tons of fresh vegetables and fruits thinking that would help flush out all my toxins. I cut out all diaries, eggs and ice cream and the usual favorite KFCs....u get the drift. I lost alot of weight and felt tired and hungry all the time. I junked the program after 3  months and now got most of my weight back. I eat normal & feel more balanced now.

So, dun go overboard. Moderate.

[thom k]

Hi,

I am new to this forum and see that the post is old, but am very interested in the topic and wan to see if anyone has any experience with hiv and a raw food diet.   

I have been diagnosed for about 5 years.  I am not on any meds right now and my T-cell count is about 300 - 350.  I don't know what my viral count is, but my doctor has never been overly concerned about my numbers.   He does say that now is the time to start considering which meds to take though.  We are working on that. 

I am about 75% raw after taking about a year / year and a half transitioning here.   

I began down this path because I was overweight and my dr. said it was becoming a problem.  I know that I ate/eat way too much sugar and felt like that needed to be addressed, as well as a lot of fats and animal protein.    And I was interested in establishing a very healthy dietary practice to deal with the virus.   After reading a lot about it, I decided to give raw foods a try and found that it has been effective, easy diet.   I have lost a good 50 - 60 lbs and although I have to be careful to lay off the sugary foods, for the most part, I have been successful in keeping the weight off.  I tend to get to a place where I feel like I can handle "bad foods" and then the slippery slope starts.

I typically eat like this during the week: fresh pressed juices in the morning  til mid-afternoon.  The juices are usually green or vegetable juices and occasionally fruit juice for variety.    Then I eat raw fruit or vegetables (for dietary fiber) til I go home from work and then my dinner is a cooked meal: rice, vegetable and some sort of animal protein, usually fish. 

On the weekends:  basically the same, but I do go out to eat more and eat whatever I want.

I have been very happy with this plan and can feel a huge difference in my overall well being.  I find my mood and energy levels very stable with this diet.  I personally feel that the fresh juices are the key and remain very committed to this being a part of my nutritional plan.  It does take a significant committment to maintain this diet though. 

My Dr is very practical about my diet; he can see that it has helped me lose the weight he told me to lose and that there is a positive psychological effect for me too.  Right now its working for me, so I don't need to fix it.

[BT65]

Juicing is all well and good, but the cost can get a bit outrageous.  I got a juicer a couple years after being diagnosed.  Loved the juice, but couldn't afford to keep it up. 

[aztecan]

Hi Thom,

I also juice some things, but not to the extent you do. I love fresh carrot juice in the morning.

I have heard some people swear by a raw diet.

Your getting your fruit, vegetables and protein, so who's to argue?

Congratulations on losing the weight. That will certainly be of benefit to you down the road.

I am glad you and the doc are talking about meds too. You are in the range when you should be considering starting meds.

Of course, I an advocate for starting earlier rather than later, so that my comments for what they're worth.

Keep up the good work.

HUGS,

Mark

[justpozman]

I am 51, poz for 10 years.  I am off meds now because I got hepb in 2007.  The vaccine didn't work for me.  Emotionally I'm ok.  Twice I went back on meds and twice my liver alt/ast shot up.  So, now, I'm waiting.  Recently found out an ace inhibitor I take can cause my liver to become sensitive in addition to having the hepb and of course the hiv. 

Anyway, I've always been a big man.  I'm tall and 40 pounds about the charts.  Though I've had muscles due to weight lifting, I had to cut the workouts due to health.  I switched to yoga, walking, etc., counting calories, etc.  Weight just slow to come off and nothing happened. 

I started switching to watching what is in the food I eat.  Things such as hydrogenated oils, high fructose corn syrup (hfcs), then switching off most processed foods. 

I decided to find out things that are thought to help the immune system & switch to eating that type of 'food modification program'.  I use to take a satin and eating steel cut oats, with cinnamon, blueberries, coconut milk, ginger, I cut my needs for this med.  My cholesterol went down from 400 to 199 & now is 149.  I make enough to last me a week.  It's what I have for breakfast.

This past year I started switching more then the year before, eating lots of fresh fruit that I cut up and eat, storing what I don't which lasts me a couple more days.  I do not use a juicer.  I brought a steamer and I steam my veggies.  Found out what particular vegs, are good for the liver.  I happen to like beets and I add cinnamon to them to help my body process the sugar better.  Steam red onions with ginger turns out to be pretty good. 

I still like my greens and I steam them.  Sometimes I use smoked turkey and sometimes I use pork, yes, still guilty but my blood counts show I'm doing better & I'm losing weight.  I have 20 lbs to go.  Though a couple of the nurses tell me they like my muscles.  :}}  Such sweet talk!

My weakness is fried chicken.  Now I limit myself to once a week and other nights, baked, if I eat it.  I'll eat hard boiled eggs, another good thing for the liver. 

I actually like watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydews, avocado, papaya, kiwi, grapes (with seeds!), strawberries, blueberries, basically, I've discovered local produce areas in the stores have a variety of fresh food and I am enjoying it.  Since I walk, it's not much for me to go from one store to another to learn who is selling what cheaper this week.   I cannot tell you the last time I was at McDonald's, Wendy's, etc., just not me anymore. 

My friends are use to it now.  I don't preach it as a must do, but I can say, I'm not dating!  I don't know anyone who could go for a month like this let alone how I've been moving to it month by month over the past couple of years.  My friends will ask me things about it now.  On a recent holiday event, where several of us stayed, they liked how I did what I did for food.  Not one person gained a pound.  Even though the cleaning lady left a huge chocolate cake that she made at home, instead of store brought.  I even had a couple of pieces over three days.  Man, I wish I knew how she did it.  She said she used lots of butter.  It wasn't full of sugar, just sweet enough to taste the dark chocolate and not make it real bitter.  So, I'm not completely without eating something, it simply depends on how made, etc.

My rule of thumb, fresh, frozen, canned.  I know how to cook various beans and I like them if done correctly.  (no gas either if done correctly)

I will still make home made chicken soup which takes a day, again, I know what is going in it.

My point, is a person can change eating habits, gradually, even slip now & then. 

It just doesn't make you a popular person. 

Here's a story, I attend an hiv meeting every 3 weeks.  One day, one of the health people, was going to eat some of the various processed sweets brought in to snack on.  (I don't eat any of it) I knew this lady has diabetes.  I mentioned it to her, two of the things she was going to eat had over 15 grams of sugar per serving.  She had been complaining of her sugar being high.  She was surprised I remembered her saying that.  On the next meeting, I found these processed but under 15 grams of carbs and less then 5 grams of sugar with 2 grams of fiber, no HFCS, no unhealthy oils, cheese snacks.  Something that should not cause her sugar to rise and tasted good.  I brought in a big bag and everyone there ate all of them! (Only one ate the store brought cake which was leftover)   See, I'm not totally, non processed, I am simply watching what is in things, etc., & choosing.

I have signed up at the USDA & FDA sites to get email notices on recalls of food.  I've been surprised to see recalls of 'organic' foods, foods I wouldn't think would be a problem, of course, meats from time to time & some processed foods.  Most because of listeria & salmonella, sometimes because something has nuts in it when the contents say nothing about it or has dairy in it, when it is not mentioned. 

I've educated myself because I have too, like many of us.  I know this is long, but thought I'd share and oh, did I!

Peace ....