Is the Raw Food diet budget friendly? And does it really help you feel better?

[DisneyWalle]

I have been diagnosed with arthritis and have been refered to a rheumatoid specialist. I am over-weight by 40lbs - mainly due to inactivity and sedentary 3rd shift job. All of this scares me because I'm only 35 years old and my body isn't wanting to work like it should - this makes me feel and act so much older than I am.

I have been looking into the raw food diet thinking that it might help me feel better and lose some weight. However, my overall grocery budget for the month is usually $400 and I really can't afford to spend anymore than that.

Does anyone on here have experience with the raw food diet? And if so, could you tell me what I could expect to spend on a monthly basis for a family of 3. Also, could you point me to a good resource for recipes and information?

 

[williamson_ja]

My dear friend did it for about a year. She lost a lot of weight and felt fantastic. She only went off when she got pregnant with her last baby and even still ate pretty healthy (mostly vegan). I know it can be done on a tight budget. They don't make a lot of money and I would bet that she only spent about $500 a month for her family of 8. She did not feed everyone in her family the raw food diet. She ate that way and made her family simple vegan meals. I know it CAN be very expensive. A lot of it just depends on where you live and if you belong to any food co-ops. Here, you can get about 40 lbs of fresh fruits and veggies for $15 through our local food co-op. That saves a ton of money right there. Do your research. Be committed. Find a mentor to help you through it. I would say that it's worth it. I would do it if I could.

 

[Evi]

I think a raw food diet can be budget friendly. I think it all depends on where you get your veggies from and how you prepare them. I personally can't do all raw because of food allergies but I eat lots of veggies. I would recomend starting with something a kin to the clean diet it has very good dietary guidlines. I'd also give up the "whites" sugar, white rice, white bread, etc. Try whole grains and wild rices, use stevia and honey, give up on processed foods.

The best advice I have is to eat seasonally. Seasonal fruit is usually sourced locally and gets to you faster then food that is shipped across the country or internationally. If you can start your own veggie garden. It need not be huge look into square foot gardening. There are lots of vegetables that require little maintenace once established. Buy from local farmers markets, go fruit and vegetable picking at local farms, Join a local CSA.

Once you start to buy local you'll never want mega mart veggies again. I do hope you find some relief with diet change. I know many people swear by the Clean Diet. I've just started it but can say it seems to be really well rounded and they offer great support. You don't have to buy the suppliments it just makes it easier and costs less then trying to buy them individually.

 

[SDSorority]

I think a raw food diet can be budget friendly. I think it all depends on where you get your veggies from and how you prepare them. I personally can't do all raw because of food allergies but I eat lots of veggies. I would recomend starting with something a kin to the clean diet it has very good dietary guidlines. I'd also give up the "whites" sugar, white rice, white bread, etc. Try whole grains and wild rices, use stevia and honey, give up on processed foods.

The best advice I have is to eat seasonally. Seasonal fruit is usually sourced locally and gets to you faster then food that is shipped across the country or internationally. If you can start your own veggie garden. It need not be huge look into square foot gardening. There are lots of vegetables that require little maintenace once established. Buy from local farmers markets, go fruit and vegetable picking at local farms, Join a local CSA.

Once you start to buy local you'll never want mega mart veggies again. I do hope you find some relief with diet change. I know many people swear by the Clean Diet. I've just started it but can say it seems to be really well rounded and they offer great support. You don't have to buy the suppliments it just makes it easier and costs less then trying to buy them individually.

I second this.

We eat SUPER clean (gluten free, meat free, all organic dairy, you get the idea). We try to do 1/3 of our day raw. OP, I suggest you follow Matt and Angela Monarch (http://www.therawfoodworld.com/ and they also have a youtube channel) and Kevin and AnnMarie Gianni (http://renegadehealth.com/blog/ and they too have a youtube channel). This also gives you a little insight into raw food, but it's mostly juicing (http://www.fatsickandnearlydead.com/). Watch it- it's pretty interesting!

Good luck OP! It's a lot of fun (and very rewarding) to eat raw food. A couple of cookbooks (lol uncookbooks...) that I love are by Ani Phyo. We have most of her stuff- SOOOOO DELICIOUS!! Check her books out from the library or go to her website (www.aniphyo.com). You can also check out my blog- I have a number of raw food recipes on there (http://www.anniessimplelife.blogspot.com). I don't have too recent of a post up right now (that's coming later today, actually!), but some of the stuff might help!!



GO FOR IT!

 

[bettymae1121]

My boss has RA and just by going to "no white carbs" she says she feels a lot better. Instead of jumping straight into a "raw" diet, you may want to slowly transistion. Cut out white carbs first, then slowly eliminate other foods from there until you get to the point that you feel better but still eat foods you enjoy. Just a thought, good luck!

 

[DisneyMomma81]

My cousin who's just a couple months older than me *30* was recently diagnosed with RA - I'll share cutting out white carbs with her.....

 

[DisneyWalle]

Thank you to everyone who has posted! I will check into those resources and the clean food diet. We actually have been cutting out "whites" for about 3 weeks now; my son and husband havent really been paying attention - but I've also still been making homemade brownies (with white sugar) for them. I switched us over to Ezekial and Genesis breads about a month ago - and so far no one is fussing.

For those of you who have tried the raw or clean food diets, do any of you have any health problems that it has helped control?

 

[Deffenm]

I am on the 17 day "diet" in hopes to reduce my blood pressure and weight. It is pretty much just like the clean "diet". I am only on day 5 and have lost 8pounds. Please keep in mind I have over 100 to lose. My family eats some of the things I do but not everything. For me buying the items to prepare my food with cost the most (things like Agave nectur, flax seed, etc..). Luckily I won't have to buy it every week. Now when I go to the store my trips are easier because it's fruit, veggies, yogart, and then items for kids and husband to eat. I will be honest I struggle everyday to eat the right things. It is very hard when everyone else around you is eating pizza, cookies, chips, things that taste really good and you are eating a spinach salad. I just remind myself that if I don't make these changes now I may not be here long. I am only 34 and I want to see my kids grow up and play with my grand kids. Best of luck to you.

 

[jsmith]

Rather than a "clean" or raw food diet-look into paleo eating-paleo means you eat nothing that would not have been in a evolutionary humans diet-since it takes 10 to 12 thousand years for an evolutionary change to effect itself with out alot of stressors forcing it-this means eating nothing that could not have been obtained by hunter gatherers.
basically you eat lean meat, poulty, fresh and shallow water ocean fish,veggies but not nightshades (tomatoes, eggplants, peppers)fruit, seeds and tree nuts,honey, and eggs. NO grains, dairy,legumes (peas, beans, peanuts) things that are native to the new world ( nightshade veggies, potatoes) nothing refined or processed and most importantly-NO SOY ( soy has been in the human diet in an unfermented form for only a few 100 years). this will get ride of gluten,hormones,and anything else funky and you should feel alot better and loose weight pretty quickly.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

That depends...

When I tried to endeavor in it--it was not cheap.

Today--I still like RAW almond butter...but a jar of it was 3X as much as roasted. (I think 3x...not recalling what I paid for roasted, just that raw was $30 for a slightly smaller jar.)

Raw is tough because if you are going to go truly raw--but still want some variety making all the quite yummy things...many of the raw ingredients are just so expensive. Just my opinion of course. The ingredients I am speaking off are not in the traditional produce section. I am referring to the raw nuts, raw agave, raw coconut, raw carob---those type of things that often are found in the pricier stores. And then there is the dehydrating equipment. Eeek! I never bought the equipment, but bought prepared items that were all raw. No funds to get what I needed to make some of those scrumptious confections.

Those who can do it on the cheap, I am in awe. But our budget tends to skyrocket with the healthier eating. For example--I am vegetable heavy right now on South beach....Trying to get that under control--but 2 cups of vegetables for 2 meals each plus veggie snacks...turns out to be a lot of food.

 

[4shinystars]

I have had rheumatoid arthritis for over 11 years now, and have tried MANY different "diets" and natural/alternative treatments. While a raw foods/low carb etc.. diet may work for your weight loss and general health, it isn't going to cure your RA. I've been there, tried it all, done that. I know personally one person who has osteoarthritis in her knees, and dieting and nutritional supplements helped her mobility and general well-being, but OA is not RA. Funny thing is that the 10 years prior to my getting RA I'd consider to be when I took the best care of myself, and was in the best shape of my life, then BANG! RA hit me like a ton of bricks, fast and severe. Go figure...
If you have been diagnosed with RA, please talk to your rheumatologist about your options. I have been on many different treatments/rx throughout the years and am currently taking methotrexate and Enbrel. I left my job of 5 years at Starbucks in August because my health was getting worse. 95% of my customers and many of my co-workers had no idea I had RA. By insisting on giving 110% of myself at work, pushing myself to be better and faster than the 20 year olds, all I did was make myself worse physically. And I have been eating seasonally with mostly organic foods for quite some time. Perhaps if I had a mild form of RA, it would have helped.
Whatever you do I wish you well.

 

[Evi]

I've notcied good changes with my allergies. I think anything that reduces inflimation in the body is good.

 

[EMom]

I did not witness this firsthand. Thank goodness.

A relative has had some health problems and their significant other convinced them to try the all raw food (really raw veggies) diet. Over the course of several months, the relative lost a LOT of weight and no longer suffers from diabetes. That is the good news.

The bad news is that now everyone who enters that house is served only raw food. Period. Nothing but. I don't know how they do it, but make stuff like "pudding" out of raw veggies....things like that. Faux food out of raw veggies. It might look like cooked meat, but it's raw veggies. I'm stumped as to how they do it.

Anyway, they had a special event recently with lots of guests and apparently, after the guests ate all that food, things did not go well. Maybe some thought the pudding was pudding. Basically, they didn't necessarily grasp that all they were eating the entire evening was raw veggies. The result was group diarrhea, stomach cramps and a good amount of nausea. And considering that some had flown in for the event and had to fly back feeling that way, it wasn't pretty. Now the two that were used to the all raw veggie diet suffered no ill effects whatsoever. Their bodies were used to it.

That might be another reason to ease yourself into the diet and no plunge into it all at once. As for cost, I can't say, as money is no object for them. But I'd go with the poster who said to buy what is in season.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I did not witness this firsthand. Thank goodness.

A relative has had some health problems and their significant other convinced them to try the all raw food (really raw veggies) diet. Over the course of several months, the relative lost a LOT of weight and no longer suffers from diabetes. That is the good news.

The bad news is that now everyone who enters that house is served only raw food. Period. Nothing but. I don't know how they do it, but make stuff like "pudding" out of raw veggies....things like that. Faux food out of raw veggies. It might look like cooked meat, but it's raw veggies. I'm stumped as to how they do it.

Anyway, they had a special event recently with lots of guests and apparently, after the guests ate all that food, things did not go well. Maybe some thought the pudding was pudding. Basically, they didn't necessarily grasp that all they were eating the entire evening was raw veggies. The result was group diarrhea, stomach cramps and a good amount of nausea. And considering that some had flown in for the event and had to fly back feeling that way, it wasn't pretty. Now the two that were used to the all raw veggie diet suffered no ill effects whatsoever. Their bodies were used to it.

That might be another reason to ease yourself into the diet and no plunge into it all at once. As for cost, I can't say, as money is no object for them. But I'd go with the poster who said to buy what is in season.

There is a vegan pudding--it is made with avocado. Perhaps too much avocado isn't a good thing.