Basics
-- Guidelines to
Getting Started on a RVAF Diet
A number of folks who
have decided to start experimenting with a largely-raw or partly-raw
RVAF (largely-Paleolithic, all-raw vegetation and animal foods diet)
have disclosed that perhaps the hardest part is getting started, and
particularly, picking what foods to eat and how much. This intent
behind this page is to alleviate much of the confusion around starting
a RVAF diet in both theory and practice. This document is
broken into two primary sections: -
General
Guidelines -- principles
- General
Guidelines -- practice: Do's and Don'ts
The former section is very
brief, and the latter is far longer.
Donations
and Support for this Website
This freely-offered educational website has been totally
self-supported by the author, Vinny Pinto, since its inception (and
many of my websites were started between August 2000 and June 2003).
While I offer the content on this website freely, as a gift to all from
my heart, it is quite obvious that not only did my research in these
realms (and also my training, including formal education, that allowed
me to offer this material in the first place) incur costs, but there
are also monthly and yearly costs associated with web hosting, domain
registration, etc. As you have likely noticed, I have chosen not to
accept any advertising on any of my websites. As a result of all of
these factors, any funds that you might choose to donate toward
supporting my research work and this site will be very much
appreciated.
Thus, I am seeking donations to help me to support
this site -- even two dollars helps! If you wish to donate, you may do
so by using your credit card, ATM card, debit card, or transfer from
your bank account, via fully secure means. To make a
donation, please go to the Donations
and Support page ! All
transactions are secure; in all cases, you get to choose the donation
amount!
Thank you very
much! Vinny
General
Guidelines -- principles First, some general
guidelines common to most RVAF diets, and particularly central to diets
such as the Primal Diet and
its derivatives. Please realize that these guidelines
reproduced on this page are my own, and
are not necessarily 100% indicative of the guidelines of any one
particular RVAF system, including the
Primal Diet; there will likely be at least some minor deviations from
any of them. For most RVAF diets
to have an effect, most folks agree that 50% or more of all foods eaten must be raw, unheated, unbleached,
unsterilized and unprocessed. Yes, this excludes soaking the
foods in hydrogen peroxide, exposing them to ozone, or soaking them in
colloidal silver or other "disinfectants". I view
previously-frozen foods (meats, fish,
etc.) as having a slightly lower quality that fresh meats or fish, but
I, and many other RVAF eaters, use
previously-frozen raw foods regularly. Some common examples
of previously-frozen
foods used successfully by some RVAFers include raw meats, raw organ
meats,
especially kidney, heart and liver, raw fish, and raw berries when not
in
season. This diet excludes
all heated, cooked, refined or processed foods (technically, there are
two or three exceptions regarding processing -- see next
paragraph.) This diet includes only foods (with the possible
exception of raw dairy and extra virgin raw olive oil) which existed in
Paleolithic times and were eaten in quantity by our Paleo
ancestors. There are, in most
(not all) RVAF diets, two exceptions to the no-processed rule
above. The first is raw extra virgin olive oil, which has
obviously been pressed. Many RVAF diets use this oil in small
quantities, as the health effects seem largely proven and
obvious. The second exception is fresh raw vegetable
juice. While our Paleo
ancestors obviously did not own electric juicers, they did eat lots of
vegetative
matter. The added health benefits of juicing (versus raw veggies) seem
to
be very considerable, and have, indeed, spawned an entire "juicing"
movement. Since consuming raw juice (of vegetables, not
fruits!) seems so powerful, some RVAF systems include
juicing. It is the opinion of the current author that raw
fresh vegetable juice offers incredible health benefits
not seen with consumption of raw vegetables alone.
General
Guidelines -- practice: Do's and Don'ts
Avoid
all: -
grains -- yes,
this includes flours, pasta, breads and doughs
-
beans -- yes,
this includes dried "peas" and also hummous (aka "hummus")
- legumes -- yes,
this includes soy, cashews and
peanuts! These foods entered the human food chain too
late!
- pulses
-- such
as lentils; most of us call them beans or "peas", anyway!
- peanuts -- a
legume, entered the human food chain too late
-
cashews -- a
legume; also, heated when extracted from shell
-
hazelnuts --
often heated when extracted from shell
-
refined and
processed oils
- vegetable
oils,
other than raw unheated extra virgin (EV) olive oil
- hydrogenated oils
- all cooked foods
- all heated or
processed (refined, etc.) foods
- all pasteurized
dairy products (raw dairy is more an individual question)
- heated honey
(careful! -- most so-called "raw"
honey has been heated to 160 degrees F.)
-
dried fruits
which have been heated, or processed with oils or sugars (you would be
amazed!)
- almost
all cured
and dried meats; most will have been heated, or have had salts,
nitrites, nitrates and/or other preservatives added
Usually
Avoid (some exceptions!): -
farm-raised fish
-- they are often fed unnatural, nutrient-deficient foods, and will
usually be especially lacking in the
"really good" Omega 3 oils and some carotenoids due to the unnatural
diet.
- most
farm-raised
shellfish -- same reasons as above, usually (some exceptions)
- shellfish --
many of us enjoy shellfish occasionally, but they are more of a treat
than a staple
- salted
foods
- adding
salt to
foods -- if you really want to use salt, and your body is asking for
it, use only good unheated sea salt
-
all fruit
juices, even fresh and raw -- the sugars are too concentrated, and they
are often little more than highly sweetened and flavored water. Having
said that, I do admit to occasionally drinking 4 ounces at a time of
fresh-squeezed organic orange or grapefruit juice
- fresh raw veggie
juices which contain more than about 40% of carrots or beets -- these
are too sugary. However, having said that, I admit that when
traveling, I occasionally drink and enjoy a 100% pure carrot juice.
Make sure
all your foodstuffs come only from the following categories:
- raw wild-caught
fish
- occasionally
raw, wild-caught shellfish, or farmed oysters or clams
- organic (and
preferably pasture-fed) meats and
poultry
- organic,
pasture-fed eggs
- truly
raw and
unheated honey
- truly
raw and
unheated extra virgin (EV) olive
oil
- possibly
small
amounts of truly raw and unheated flax seed oil -- will depend upon
your body type and needs.
- fresh raw
vegetables, preferably organic
- fresh raw
fruits, preferably organic
- fresh raw juices
of vegetables -- at least 4 eight ounce glasses per day. --
Highly Important for Most Folks! -- Luckily, if juiced in a good
juicer, these juices may be stored in small air-free, airtight
containers in the refrigerator for a few days; more guidelines
elsewhere on this site. Do not use primarily sugary vegetables such as
carrots
or beets. They may be used in moderation, mixed with juices
of green
vegetables
- raw,
unheated,
organic, pasture-fed raw dairy -- depends upon your body and genetics
- limited amounts
of truly raw and unheated nuts
and seeds such as walnuts, pecans, pine nuts, pumpkin seeds and almonds
- limited amounts
of dried fruits, and only if truly unheated and unprocessed (no oils or
sugars, etc.)
- if
your body
type will allow it, modest amounts of true, well-fermented sourdough
bread, or very limited amounts of unheated, uncooked breads, such as
"Essene Bread". However, most people seem to be adversely
affected by even small amounts of grain-based carbs.
Can You
Summarize Quickly -- What is Most Essential? Okay,
bottom line, in brief --
here goes:
To me, and to some other researchers, what seems most essential and of
primary importance on a RVAF diet are the following points, reduced to
quick summary guidelines: Do: -
Eat at least
50% raw and fresh foods -- I personally eat over 80% raw
- Drink at least
3 glasses of fresh raw green juice every day -- Highly Important for
Most Folks!
- Eat
at least a
bit of raw animal fat every day: this may be in the form of egg yolks,
fatty fish, butter, or in meats
- Eat at least
one piece of raw fruit per day; many of us prefer more often.
You may need to avoid overly sweet fruits.
- Eat at least a
bit (4 ounces) of raw animal food (eggs, fish, meat) at least 6x/week
- Get at least
a bit of exercise daily -- a 10-minute walk is better than
nothing!
- Get
sunlight
whenever possible, in moderation;
be careful not to burn, based upon your knowledge of your genetics and
skin type
Don'ts/Avoids:
- avoid all
grains, beans, pulses ("dried peas") and legumes and refined products
made therefrom
- avoid
all
heated (pasteurized) dairy products,
including butters and margarines
- avoid all
refined sugars (yes, even heated honey); this includes all candy bars
and most athletic "food" bars
- avoid all
refined and processed oils and hydrogenated oils, including margarines
- avoid all
fried foods, including potato chips
-
avoid all
alcoholic drinks
- avoid
all
entertainment and street drugs
- avoid all over
the counter (OTC) drugs
- avoid, if
possible, all prescription drugs -- talk with your doctor about this
possibility if you are currently on drugs
Nutritional
Supplements I
take nutritional supplements, as I always
have, but far less than in the days before eating a largely-raw Paleo
diet... Some few RVAF systems, notably the Primal Diet,
disapprove of taking nutritional supplements. To learn more
of my views and practices in the area of nutritional supplements and
raw diets, please see the page on this website entitled Some Notes on Nutritional
Supplements in Raw Diets Can You
Suggest a Sample Menu? For a sample menu from a
typical day in
my life, one year after starting to eat a RVAF diet, please click here
to see the "My Current Diet" page (on this site.) This menu
may give you some ideas and suggestions on how to get started.
Do
You Take Nutritional Supplements?
Yes, but far fewer than when I
ate a good, low-fat, no-junk-foods, no-junk-oils, no-dairy
diet. I take the following supplements daily:
- vitamin C, 1,000
mg., 2x/day
- vitamin
E,
natural source, mixed tocopherols, oil-base, in gel capsule, 400 IU
- calcium/magnesium
(Ca/Mg) supplement, at least
1.5 grams daily (Ca), usually in form of carbonates and citrates, some
chelates
- boron,
about 3
mg/day
- chromium,
as
picolinate, about 200 mcg./day
- vanadium, as
vanadyl sulfate, about 15 mg to 45 mg./ week
- indium,
a trace mineral
- multi-mineral
tablet, every other day
- raw, unheated
hand-harvested sea vegetables: kelp, dulse, handful every other day
- occasionally,
Vitamin A & D from fish liver oil, relatively unheated (not
fanatical about this)
- alpha lipoic
acid (ALA), about 60 mg, 1x/day
- "alkaline
ionized water" more properly known as Electrolyzed Reduced Water (ERW),
which supplies the invaluable primitive, primal, primeval antioxidant,
the negative hydrogen ion (also known as the "H- ion"), about 3 ounces
of extremely strong (-837 mv. ORP) water 4x/day, in tap water. For a
linked page on this site about the H- ion and its antioxidant
properties, click
here.
- MegaH (aka MegaH-),
which supplies the invaluable primitive, primal, primeval antioxidant,
the negative hydrogen ion (also known as the "H- ion"), about 1/2
capsule dissolved in 10 ounces of water, 3x or 4x day. For a
linked page on this site about the H- ion and its antioxidant
properties, click
here.
Click
Here to
Return to RawPaleoDiet Home Page!
Donations
and Support for this Website
This freely-offered educational website has been totally
self-supported by the author, Vinny Pinto, since its inception (and
many of my websites were started between August 2000 and June 2003).
While I offer the content on this website freely, as a gift to all from
my heart, it is quite obvious that not only did my research in these
realms (and also my training, including formal education, that allowed
me to offer this material in the first place) incur costs, but there
are also monthly and yearly costs associated with web hosting, domain
registration, etc. As you have likely noticed, I have chosen not to
accept any advertising on any of my websites. As a result of all of
these factors, any funds that you might choose to donate toward
supporting my research work and this site will be very much
appreciated.
Thus, I am seeking donations to help me to support
this site -- even two dollars helps! If you wish to donate, you may do
so by using your credit card, ATM card, debit card, or transfer from
your bank account, via fully secure means. To make a
donation, please go to the Donations
and Support page ! All
transactions are secure; in all cases, you get to choose the donation
amount!
Thank you very
much! Vinny
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