Are Chives Okay To Use On A Raw Food Diet? Salt?

by Neil Reitze
(NSW, Australia)

Neil's Question:

I have not read anything about onions or garlic being bad for you before now.

It does make sense, and I do recall getting immediate reflux from eating raw garlic when a doctor suggested I eat more of it (when I was first diagnosed with FMS years ago). You make some good points there about these two foods.

Do you know if chives, garlic chives and other green herbs that have strong oniony flavors also harm us?

Another unrelated question with salt: Is it okay to use the grey colored salts like sea salts or celtic salt?

I have argued in the past that plants have all the salt we need but was worn down by arguments such as these natural salts have more nutrients in them and are unrefined etc.

Andrew's Answer:

Hi Neil.

First off, there is a difference between a food being blatantly harmful and just not ideal. While eating enough onions or garlic can do serious harm, most people don't eat a lot of it.

In the small quantities it's usually consumed in, we can say that it's not ideal for certain, but making grander claims is challenging because we just don't have the science to back it up right now.

If you're eating a healthy low fat raw food diet and avoiding all the less than ideal foods, you're going to be in better shape than someone who eats members of the Allium family.

The Allium Family:

Shallots, leeks, chives, scallions, and garlic chives all fall within the Allium family of plants, and all share the allicin and other harmful chemicals that bother humans.

Each possesses them to a lesser or greater extent.

Figuring Out If You Should Eat These Foods:

Rather than taking my word for it, I suggest you follow Andrew's Litmus Test for six months and then eat some raw food with garlic, onions, chives, etc as an ingredient.

If you're like me, you'll dislike the stomach upset, body odor, bad breath, and general feelings of malaise the ensue.

I personally just about never use these foods when making recipes. If someone offered me an otherwise healthy raw dish with a bit of chives in it, I'd consider eating it, but if I did so I would do it knowing that I'd pay for it, at least a little bit, afterwards.

Salt

No, sea salt or any of the other fancy salts people try to sham you into buying are all equally harmful. No salt contains enough mineral content that it makes sense to eat it for that purpose.

Learn more about salt here.

Following Up:

Want awesome raw dressings and sauces that don't contain any members of the allium family? Check out Savory Raw Dressings And Sauces.

Learn how to eat a healthy raw food diet.

Figure out which foods to eat and which to avoid.