Ask Nomi

You have questions. Nomi Shannon has the answers. Submit your questions about anything raw.

Previous Questions:

Question:

Please help me! I was slowly transitioning to a diet of mostly fruits and veggies. Making green smoothies every morning for three weeks. I blended raw organic spinach or baby greens with frozen bananas, milk or coconut milk, Greek yogurt,sometimes berries. The last day I used coconut milk and coconut water and blueberries, bananas, yogurt, and a huge amount of spinach. I drank 1/2 and started itching more and more. I had to get a cortisone shot. What happened?

- Cindy

Answer

There’s a lot of oxalic acid in spinach. Go easy on it.
Eat it maybe once a week. You want to add way more variety to
your greens. If you are trying to be raw, cut out the dairy it does not
do a body good.

Try: kale, collards, parsley, cilantro, sprouts…there are tons of greens
I suggest you get my smoothie eBook, it’s $7 or $8 and also Victoria
Boutenkos book on Green smoothies.

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Question:

hi nomi, i just bought my first excalibur. my fiance and i experienced stomach cramps with what we believe some mold from using the dehydrator at 110 as specified with one of the raw cookbook i am with.

my question is : do you think using the at 110 degrees may of contributed to these pangs?

thank you,
kim

Nomi’s Answer:

depends on what you’re making but yes I don’t believe in using such a low if you’d been my for any amount of time you’d know that I long at low temp can create mold and spoilage.

depends on what you’re making but if it’s crackers start at 140, as soon as food is
warm to the touch turn it down to 115-120 the food never reaches the internal temperature of the dehydrator.

Just like the Thanksgiving turkey after roasting at 350 for hours is ‘done’ 165-170 F

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Question:

I have been all raw vegan for almost 2 years now. The I have is that citrus fruits and nite shades bother if I eat them everyday, as with apple cider vinegar. I have been cleaning out my colon with enemas everyday for months now and what a difference I feel, but I still cannot do nite shades or citrus as my finger joints and hip joints Will it eventually go away or is it that we are not meant eat all foods. My blood type is A negative.

Before I was raw, I was organic for 4 years, and even then, I ate too many nite shades or citrus i would get pimples.

So, I hope you can shed some lite on this subject.

smiles&raw food
Beverley

Nomi’s Answer:

a. stop doing enemas every day, after two months unless you have cancer and you are putting something in to your body that is just too much.

b. Listen to your body it doesn’t like those foods. End of story. sorry I it limits what you can eat but your is telling you something.

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Question:

Hello, I would like to know if a 50% raw and 50% cooked diet healty for a person or would you suggest eating 100% raw food the best way to go?

Thank you.

- Carmen

Nomi’s Answer:

One sentence question would take 10,000 words to truly answer most people see good results at 50% with each meal.

At Least 50% for people who are ill, have health challenge, need a cleanse…had bad habits, 100% for anywhere from 3-6 months and longer would be the way to go. I always recommend 100% for some time at least. I was 100% for five years and have been high raw since and what is being cooked in that 50% is also an important consideration so you see it is not possible to clearly give you a good answer.

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I bought some enviro mushrooms but I’m wondering about the correct way to prepare them for a meal.

- Mary Reid

Nomi’s Answer:

I have no idea what enviro mushrooms are some mushrooms can not be eaten raw…once you know that you can eat them raw there are tons of recipes, usually they are marinated

There’s a great marinated mushroom recipe in my book Raw Food Celebrations.

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How do I start raw for gaining back my health and weight loss? I thought I should buy Alissa Cohen’s book. Now I think I need your book. I need to know how to start and a coach to help lead the way. My daughter has hired me a Personal Trainer and she wants me to eat lean meats along with Raw Foods. She doesn’t understand. I haven\’t begun with her yet. So, where to begin, I know I need a certain % protein, fat, how many calories, how much fruit etc., and such? I am 202, 5\’2\”, 57 yr. old diabetic and had double by-pass surgery to boot. I look healthy and all but am a mess health wise. No energy. Hope you can see my question here. What do I eat to get healthy and lose this dadgum weight. Thanks for listening. I have seen Carlene Jones site, sounds great and all, but to much fruit for me right now. I live in GA. U.S.

- Linda Wheeler

Nomi Answer:

Well you are going to need to begin in small steps my book The Raw Gourmet is an excellent first book to buy as it explains in ALL (if you read it ALL)

Alissa first book is a good second book to buy further down the road for more recipes and inspiring stories.

I offer 2 kinds of online coaching, a 21 day program and a three month program (yourrawfooddiet.com) with menus, recipes, etc

I can also offer 1:1 coaching packages but I don’t think you’re ready for that yet If you’ve been eating meat…then why not start with your personal trainer, work up to 50% raw food AT EACH MEAL AND get your meat protein as she suggests…you can’t go to fast w your health issues as detox would be very hard on you.

An individual coaching session with me is $200 for one hour and you need much more than that! But I can at least help you find a start off point

so
1. my book
2. follow current coach…work up to 50% raw at each meal…

this is going to be a huge improvement over what you’ve been doing…yes?

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I like raw, yet when I’ve gone even more than 50% raw I have anxiety, jitters…In Chinese it is considered that I have a cold damp spleen-stomach…so the warming food is good for me. Yet I am attracted to raw. What would you recommend? – Cassidy

Nomi’s Answer:

I went through this with my acupuncturist and finally had to stop going to her she was so vehement it. It is very difficult to combine two bodies of knowledge such as the Chinese Medicine and Raw. Ayervedic and Raw have been successfully combined by Dr. Gabriel Cousens.

You probably should concentrate on the warming foods both raw and cooked. Spices like cinnamon, ginger, cayenne and the cooked food you eat you should be careful to eat vegan/vegetarian warming foods as well if that’s what body needs….

You may not be taking in enough calories when you are doing over 50% raw or it all needs to be tweaked!

I do phone consults if you’d like to find out more about that let me know, together we could get to the bottom of this. For a consult I have you keep a food diary in a very specific way which I then analyze very carefully.

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Question:

Would you please tell me How many calories do i need for one day and which
foods are very high calories.

Nomi’s Answer:

That is a big question and one I can’t answer without knowing a great
deal about you.

But you can find this out for yourself quite easily online. Check nutritiondata.com or fitday.com

At these sites you can input your height, weight, age etc and it will come up with how many calories you need to maintain your current weight, it will also explain how many calories you need a day to gain a pound a week or to lose a pound a week.

These sites (and others like them) are also where you can tell how many calories you are actually eating by inputting everything you eat. If you do this for one week you will have a good picture of your calorie, fat, carbohydrate and protein needs.

If you are all or high raw you can then figure out which foods are best for your particular profile.

If after doing this and reading my book The Raw Gourmet if feel you need additional support I offer a 3 month group coaching course at www.yourrawfooddiet.com, and I also do personal phone consults.

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The Raw Gourmet Recipe Corner

Another ridiculously simple and easy recipe from

Nomi Shannon, The Raw Gourmet in an effort to

show that it’s not difficult to be all or high raw.

Really!

Red Cabbage Caraway Slaw

6 cups thinly sliced red cabbage

1 large onion, sliced very thin

1 tablespoon caraway seeds, or more to taste

1 teaspoon Nama Shoyu or Tamari

1 teaspoon water

1 teaspoon sea salt

a clean pair of rubber gloves

In a large bowl, combine the cabbage and onion.

Toss. Sprinkle the caraway seeds, Nama Shoyu,

water and salt evenly over the vegetables. Using

gloves, knead (massage) and toss the veggies,

crushing the veggies in your hands for 5-6 minutes.

(time it). It’s ready to eat! This will keep in your

refrigerator for 4-5 days.

Variation. For a more intense flavor, cover the slaw

with a plate and place a water jug or brick on top of

the plate for additional weight. Cover all with a towel.

Allow the slaw to marinate at room temperature for

2-6 hours. Remove the weight, refrigerate or serve.

Serves 4.

Also posted in Articles, Blog, Recipes | 1 Comment

Are olives (black or green)considered raw and can they be included in the Raw Food Lifestyle eating plan?

- Josey

Answer from Nomi:

Not all olives are raw by a long shot. You have to search them out. Most olives are treated with Lye.

Here’s a source where you can find raw olives and many other raw items Many raw fooders lover raw olives and use them as part of their diet: olives are considered a fat.

Here’s the source for all things raw that I recommend:

http://jrox.therawfoodworld.com/jrox.php?id=1212

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