I’m looking for info on how to get started eating raw but doing so gradually. 6 years ago, I had pancreatitis and a gallbladder infection. After 5 days in the hospital, my gallbladder was removed. Since then, my digestive tract has been a disaster. When I eat a lot of raw food, it goes even crazier. I’m hoping that if I can change my diet very gradually, I can work my way towards eating a lot of raw. Can you point me in the right direction? Thanks so much!
Especially when we’ve had health issues, it’s important to make sure we’re taking extra good care of our bodies. So good for you for seeking out healthy things you can eat! After all, the food we eat is what provides our cells with the materials to rebuild itself. So food is a very big deal for our bodies.
The thing about raw food and digestive issues is that raw food has a lot of fiber in it.
Fiber is great for the digestive track because it helps move things along to keep your intestines and colon clean.
We don’t want things hanging out in there for too long or getting stuck because then we have rotten materials in us. Gross!
Carnivorous animals like lions and tigers have relatively short intestinal tracks in comparison with humans. (Those links will take you to some diagrams to give you some perspective. Look how simple the lion one is and how compact and wound up the human one is!)
“A carnivore’s or omnivore’s small intestine is three to six times the length of its trunk. This is a tool designed for rapid elimination of food that rots quickly. Man’s, as well as other herbivore’s small intestines are 10 to 12 times the length of their body, and winds itself back and forth in random directions. This is a tool designed for keeping food in it for long enough periods of time so that all the valuable nutrients and minerals can be extracted from it before it enters the large intestine.” (via http://www.waoy.org/26.html)
These shorter digestive tracks are great news for our wild friends because of all the meat they eat. They need to be able to digest it quickly and get it out of their bodies so that it doesn’t putrefy and rot in their digestive track.
Humans on the other hand have extremely LONG intestinal tracks. If we eat meat, it does not get out of system as quickly as it does for the lions and tigers. The biological fact of our intestinal track lengths supports the idea that humans should not be consuming meat; that perhaps, by design, our bodies are not intended to process it. Interesting, eh?
Even if you’re not eating meat, you still don’t want things hanging out in your intestines.
Think of your intestines like a tunnel.
Tunnels are meant to help people get from one side to the other, right?
If there’s a traffic jam in the tunnel, or even an accident…
Things can get backed up for miles, people may have been hurt, other people get angry, and they can’t get to where they’re trying to go.
The same thing happens with your food.
If your food (even if it’s raw food) gets backed up in your intestinal tunnel, things can get backed up, you’ll start feeling bad, and may even feel pain. It can make you cranky, and the food isn’t going to be able to get to where it’s trying to go…which is OUT.
(You should be pooping at least once a day by the way. A topic for another day!)
Fiber (along with water) is the main thing that helps get things moving through our intestinal track. But if you have a digestive issues and fiber makes things flare up, you might feel kind of helpless…
How To Eat Raw Food If Your Intestinal Tunnel Has Been Injured…
If your Intenstinal Tunnel is more fragile or sensitive than it used to be…
Or if it’s been injured in some way, I suggest you avoid eating raw fruits and veggies like: broccoli, cauliflower, kale, squashes, apples, and lettuces.
There’s so much roughage (fiber) in those veggies that when they go through your intestines it can be more abrasive along the wall lining.
So if you’re not going to be eating those things raw, how will you enjoy ANY raw foods you might be wondering?
The 2 most best things to make when you have a sensitive Intestinal Tunnel…
1.) Green Smoothies
2.) Fresh juice
When you make green smoothies, you’re BLENDING your fruits and vegetables instead of eating them whole.
What this does is breaks down the cellulose (especially in the green leafy veggies) so that your body doesn’t have to. The blending pulverizes the fruits and veggies so that then as they’re going through your system, they are nice and smooth along your Intestinal Tunnel.
When you’re juicing, you’re getting massive amounts of nutrients and most of the fiber is still in the juicer instead of going through your body.
Juicing is especially good if you’re having an acute flare up of pain or discomfort in your Intestinal Tunnel. Since there’s so little fiber in the juice (since it has been strained by the juicer) your Intestinal Tunnel gets a rest. It doesn’t have to work hard to get the food through you. Instead, it just gets to have the nutritious, healing juice flow through it.
Enjoying delicious Spinach, Apple, Orange juice during my 64 days of Juice Feasting. (March 2010)
There’s so much to share on the topic of Green Smoothies and Juicing…
So as we heard in the movie Jerry Maguire, “Help me help you!” 
What do you want to know about Green Smoothies and Juicing?
Leave your questions in the comments below…
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would like to know how to make the green smoothies; what proportions to add etc
Great, Sinder! I’m glad you’re ready to learn about green smoothies. Stay tuned!
Hi Mona,
I am curious to know a practical way to do the planning, shopping, and preparation in order to integrate juices into my diet.
Is juicing the easiest way to “go raw”?
If I am on a tight budget, how can I take the juicing route, e.g. without breaking the bank on buying a super-blender or juicer?
Hi Michael! Juicing is a wonderful way to incorporate more raw foods in our diet, but it’s not the only way. If you want to do juicing though, you’ll definitely need a juicer. There are good ones at Wal-Mart, Target, etc. for around $100. It’s definitely an investment and more than a coffee maker or toaster! But the rewards are going to be so much more in the return on your health that you get.
A Jack LaLanne Power Juicer is a good machine for around $100. Of course there are better ones, but the most important thing about juicing is just to do it! You can also look on Craigslist in your local area to see if there are people selling juicers. You can look for them at garage sales too. We can all juice if we really set our minds to it and decide that it’s a priority – no matter what our budget is. You can do it!
Great article on digestion Mona. I enjoy green smoothies every day. I really “smooth” them out by adding an avocado!
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Hi Mona,
Thanks for your responses to questions. I am wondering — is there much difference between blending and juicing?
Also, do you have a list of many juice/smoothie recipes?
I think having variety is good, so that one can have numerous options and say, “Eating Raw is Going Good!”