Fruit  - including tropical fruit such as mangoes, figs (particularly good for brain chemistry), papayas and bananas; berries and other fruit.  We enjoy melons, apricots, apples and pears, cherries, kakis, grapes, currants, oranges, lemons, grapefruit, avocados, tomatoes, cucumber etc. 

Nuts and Seeds - fruit is not dense enough to supply all our nutritional needs in our current state. Nuts and seeds give us dense nutrition.  They should be soaked for a few hours before use to break down their growth inhibitors which interfere in digestion and assimilation of nutrients.  We include a wide variety - hemp is our staple, we also eat sunflower seeds,  pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, hazels (filberts), walnuts, almonds, coconut, macadamias, brazils and pecans.

 

Greens - needed for minerals, chlorophyll and protein, they also alkalise the body in a way that is essential to counteract the acid-forming properties of most nuts and seeds and some other foods.  We drink wild green juice nearly every day and eat wild greens with our salad.  If this is not convenient use purchased mixed greens. Dark greens are the most nutritious.  Green superfoods are also helpful.

Oils - we get fatty acids from nuts and seeds but to keep the correct balance between omega 3 and omega 6 essential fatty acids flaxseed (linseed) oil is very helpful.  This oil is very unstable and needs to be kept sealed and cool.  I think the higher quality oils are also the ones that taste best.   My favourite brand is Stone Mills which, to my surprise after previous experiences of lower quality flax oil, is delicious and we have delighted in pouring it all over our chocolate pudding and eating it with teaspoons of bee pollen. Flax oil has to be converted inside us to DHA which the brain needs.  Coconut oil helps this process. 

Animal Products - we have found these, in small quantities to be one of the keys to being completely raw.  We use raw goats milk, goats’ butter, sheep or goats’ yoghurt, kefir, unpasteurised cheese and raw (carefully selected organic, free-range) egg yolks.  They could be seen as a substitute for the large amount of insect matter we would consume if we gathered our food in the wild.  They are a vital souce of vitamins D and A, fat soluble vitamins which are diificult to obtain in sufficient quanities and in an assimilable form from elsewhere.  B12 needs also to come from animal sources - plant sourced B12 is not the form humans need and can even get in the way of proper B12 absorption.  I suspect there are also subtle factors in animal products that we do not fully understand yet.  I think of them of a kind of superfood.  We have found ethical sources of these products.  See Raw Dairy Suppliers.  I personally eat raw, smoked or pickled fish sometimes.  I have not come to an ideal answer about the best way to consume it but I feel like I need it from time to time.

Superfoods and Supplements - due to poor quality of soil (including organic because of long term soil erosion), fruit being picked unripe, storage and the fact that the human gut is probably not working at its best, we need all the help we can get.  This is the case whether eating cooked or raw food.  I and the children take minerals, vitamins and MSM. I sometimes take aloe vera juice too. We also eat goji berries, raw cacao, maca, bee pollen, green superfoods, purple corn, camucamu, seaweed and other superfoods. 

Water - of course- our main constituent - it is well known now that we should drink plenty of good water - spring or filtered.  we use a Wellness water filter which not only filters out nearly all contaminants but actually restructures the water to make it the way natural water should be with the water molecules in pretty, ordered patterns.

In practical terms the menu for us typically works out something like this at the moment:

On waking: a big glass of filtered water and some green superfood, MSM and zeolite.

I have spoonful of ayahuasca. 

Then rooibosch tea with raw goats milk or if I need a bit of waking up I might add a teaspoon of rhodiola root powder to my tea.

Early Breakfast: melon or other fruit.  Late Breakfast: chocolate pudding topped with kefir, fruit such as mango or berries and flax oil

 

Lunch: green juice, usually nettles and celery in spring. Most days I make a raw green soup (blended salad or smoothie) out of wild garlic leaves (in spring), watercress or other greens, and, for example, tomato, carrot, avocado, miso, celery and filtered water  as well.

Later Afternoon: big mixed salad with lots of greens, and including grated root vegetables and avocado or a rich avocado based dressing.  I and the children also like miso (unpasteurised).  A slice of unpasteurised cheese with it or after it for the children.

 

At some point: an extra treat made of fruit, dried fruit, nuts,seeds, superfoods etc.  Extra special additional treat for the children (and me!) is spoonfuls of bee pollen mixed with flax oil, a fresh date with goats butter inside it or a fig with cheese in the middle.

 

Through the day I enjoy snacks of fruit and superfoods,and drinks of water, rooibosch tea.

I also make drinks with some of the botanicals I have been getting into recently such as rhodiola, he shou wu and ashwagandha.

 updated March 2007