For those who have followed The Vegetable Centric Kitchen for awhile you’ve seen me through quite a big shift from a Natalia Rose-style detox lifestyle (with almost no fruit) to a nearly fruitarian-style diet where I’m basically living on fruit. I don’t know that I “believed in” 80/10/10 when I started but I felt something was lacking and my curiosity drew me to it. I still don’t know that I could “prove” it to anybody, I don’t completely understand all of the nuances but I know that I’ve never felt better so why mess with a good thing? I also wouldn’t necessarily say that I think this is the right path for everyone, but for the moment, it’s incredibly right for me.
I feel like I’m straddling the two worlds at this point. I don’t feel like I quite fit into the natural hygiene community which dismisses colon cleansing and juicing as “unnatural” (I agree, but so are many of the things we have put into our bodies throughout our lives). I also don’t feel like I completely support a lifestyle of frequent juice fasting or fasting throughout the day, probiotics, fermented foods, and living on greens and goat cheese. I also feel incredibly “over” being afraid of fruit. I found it particularly difficult to include cooked foods and dairy in the same diet as large quantities of fruit. It just didn’t work for me so I avoided it. It also wasn’t working for me to get the majority of calories from fat and protein. I never thought of the way I was living as a “high fat” lifestyle but when I finally calculated it, I realized my days were 50-60% fat calorie wise, compared to the 5-10% I’m doing now. There is no need to repeat which way has worked better for me. As far as juicing all day, I really feel like it slowed down my digestion significantly. I felt this way for quite awhile and was compensating with bitters to improve digestion. With fruit (though it took a few weeks to get back to normal) my digestion is strong.
Colon cleansing.This is a big one. I’ve read a lot about the problems people have had eating high-fruit and (while I may be wrong) I believe they could be avoided with colon cleansing. I’ve seen complaints of major gas and bloating, skin and tooth issues, tiredness and lack of energy and so on. The common advice is just to “wait it out” and the body will take care of old toxins on it’s own. In some cases it seems to, I’ve seen folks who appear to be thriving. In many other cases, people fail who didn’t have to. I myself was feeling so good (doing a colonic a week) when I first started on fruit that I thought I could probably just forget this whole colon cleansing thing. The results of that little experiment lead me right back to where I started. When I quit doing regular colon cleansing (even though my own bowel movements continued to be frequent), I just didn’t feel as bright. I smelled bad, my digestion slowed down, and felt slower than usual. I also got really puffy and didn’t feel like I looked like myself. One colonic got my face looking like the one I was used to seeing in the mirror. This feels like a pretty vulnerable post on kind of an awkward topic but if I didn’t feel it was important, I wouldn’t be so concerned with addressing it. This could definitely be more thorough but I’ll leave you with a couple of videos from some teachers I really respect who tie things together nicely. I highly recommend watching these:
Hi Rande! For some reason, my browser won’t load the videos but I will try to watch them later. I really appreciate you sharing your insights here. I find that I definitely gravitate toward fruit meals, especially as someone who was vegan for a few years before getting into cleansing and, despite my shift in thinking about veganism as a consumer philosophy, can’t seem to stomach any of the lighter animal foods well at all. Eating a big, juicy persimmon is so much more satisfying to me than the chocolate or the goat cheese that a lot of cleansers look forward to each evening (either of those, but especially the chocolate, really puts me down) so I’ve also struggled with feeling like something of a black sheep. Because labwork that I had done a couple years ago indicated that I had extremely high levels of yeast in my body (and I suspect that I still have a significant amount given my symptoms), I’ve been reticent to jump into a high-fruit program with both feet but I definitely feel that the closer we can eat to fruitarian without dropping dead from the polluted environment, the better. The other thing that gives me pause as I contemplate upping my fruit intake is the question of how I could sustain such a lifestyle given that I may end up settling in a very cold climate (possibly in the New England states). I’m currently trying to figure out how I can grow figs, persimmons, and paw paws inside of a passive solar greenhouse despite the snowfall there…Where there’s a will, there’s a way! Thanks for sharing this part of your journey. I’m looking forward to reading more!
The yeast thing is interesting- there are actually a bunch of people that claim their candida was healed eating low fat, high fruit. Their theory is that it’s the fat rather than the fruit that causes the issue. I don’t understand it completely but it might be something interesting to look in to! I also have a theory with eating fruit in a polluted environment- there are a lot of folks doing it (granted, they aren’t doing colonics) and eating a HIGH volume which I think keeps them from over cleansing. Just a thought, I could very well be wrong. As far as being cold- I’m actually significantly warmer on this lifestyle- I had SUCH a hard time with the cold when I was just doing green juices and salads but now I’m much more tolerant. I’d love to hear if you ever get a good greenhouse going!
Hahahahaha. Love seeing Gil go off here–in the midst of a treatment no less! Too hilarious. Though of course I’d argue with him about animal proteins
I’ve never seen compelling evidence for any of the claims behind 80/10/10. But one has to follow one’s own intuition and reasoning with these things! Happy new year, Rande!
Yeah, it’s one of those interesting things where even if somebody could completely show me it was wrong on paper- right now I still wouldn’t change anything because it would mean going back to struggling. and I love these Gil videos too, they crack me up but are super informative!
Hi Randi,
This is all so interesting to me. An example of my experience last year was me being extremely dogmatic about a strict candida cleanse, short juice fasts, and I basically felt horrible all the time. Even the juices game me little energy. Then I went on a trip to mexico, lay out in the sunshine and drank fresh pina coladas and I came back with a glow on my face and not like the sick person I was before I left. My evaluation of this experience was that I was not getting enough nutrients from just green juices, my body craved the fruit and its sugar. Here I was so determined that I was full of yeast, and probably was, but I think I was also very deprived of nutrients to keep my body well enough to heal itself. It’s a confusing thing, but I like how you are just allowing your body to be your guide. It’s happy and thriving, so be proud of yourself for listening to it. xoxo
Thank you for sharing your 80 10 10 insights. I am going in that direction too, and for all the reasons you noted. I feel so good-am doing extra enemas and getting in a weekly colonic, but I am still puffy. It’s only been about a week, and I have a hard time believing that I need anywhere near 2500 calories a day. I want my flat, D4W belly back now, but with this glorious, fruity energy. Please continue to share any thoughts-really appreciate them.
Well…my thoughts are that I could have written this! Especially missing the flat, D4W belly but not willing to compromise the energy! I’m on the fence about the calories- there are days when I just LOVE eating that much and days when that feels like way too much. Sounds like we’re on the same journey together!
Thanks Rande for sharing your experience, it is so important for me to read!
There is nothing better!
I have always thought that the principles of D4W such as green juices, no sugar cleanses, colonics and eating goat cheese, are a stage of a cleanse and not a lifestyle by itself, because nobody should live without fruit forever! I guess green juices and colonics can be included as part of a 80-10-10 lifestyle but also for a certain period of time, or because one chooses to include them longer. But I am not sure about a lifestyle in which one needs a colonic in order to feel good. That wouldn’t be sustainable. Does it make sense? or maybe I am Very confused!
Anyways! wish you keep feeling good! and enjoying lots of fruit