Why Am I Feeling Dizzy On Almond And Pumpkin Butter? What's The Best Overt Fat?

by Danai
(Amherstburg Ont Canada)

Danai's Question: I tried to eat 1 tablspoon almond butter with 1 tblsp hemp seeds and 5 raw almonds for a snack for my fat of the day, separate from my other meals. It made me feel dizzy, sick, and extreme dry mouthed for the first time. Is this some kind of reaction? I use to o.d on the stuff without no effects.

What do you think is better to eat coconut, avacodo, hemp seeds or almond/seed butter for your 10% fat?

Rate from best to worst. Where do you get your omega 3/6 that they claim is so needed?

Thanks,
Danai

Andrew's Answer

Hi Danai.

First, you should know that you don't NEED to eat any overt fats at all. The 10 percent of calories from fat is the MAXIMUM amount of fat you should be taking in. You're still taking in some fats if you simply eat a variety of fruits and vegetables.

Some raw foodists don't feel at their best when they eat overt fats, so they avoid them or eat them only on special occasions.

In addition, many types of nuts and seeds you buy at health food stores are not actually raw, as their packages contend, and all packaged nuts and seeds are dehydrated to prevent them from going moldy.

If you've ever had a walnut picked fresh off a tree, you know they're fairly wet and don't taste a lot like the dried versions of them you find at a supermarket.

Because of their dehydrated state, most nuts and seeds will cause you to be thirty because your body must rehydrate them with its internal supply of water before they can be digested.

If you decide you want to eat nuts and seeds, I would suggest you buy from a reputable company. I usually order some nuts from Living Tree Community Foods several times a year; they've impressed me with their high-quality food preparation, selection, and storage methods.

Dizziness

I know nothing about your health history and I don't guess about the health of others.

However, based on your brief description, three options strike me as things you may with to investigate.

1) The fat you're taking in is causing blood sugar issues. See if avoiding the overt fat makes a difference, or if something like an avocado, which has more water, causes the same problems.

2) If I ate the nut combination you described to me, I'd probably feel sick too. If you're going to eat nuts and seeds, eat one per meal in small quantities. Be aware that many people find they can't control their nut intake and end up binging. If this is a problem, avoid them.

3) Because you said you've never had this problem in the past, your vitality may be increasing with your improved diet so you're reacting more strongly to less-than-ideal foods. Another option is that it wasn't you at all but that you were eating nuts and seeds of poor quality.

Rating Overt Fats:

There is no official rating system of overt fats. Nuts and seeds contain elements that are good, and so do avocados, but overdoing either is going to cause problems for even the healthiest individual. However, digestive vitality differs depending on health, and some people will find eating nuts and seeds causes lots of digestive problems or none at all.

In my own personal digestive preference, I'd line them up like this:

1) Avocado
2) All nuts/seeds/nut & seed butters
3) Coconut meat, unless you're eating it straight from a young coconut. I don't eat coconut meat at all unless it's fresh.

Omega 3s and 6s

You get plenty of essential fatty acids on this diet. Omega 3 and 6 appear in a good ratio.

Early man ate a 1:1 ratio of Omega 3 and 6, and current recommendations from credible doctors range between 1:1 and 4:1. Some people on SAD diets, by comparison, eat 30:1.

Eating just raw fruits and vegetables will leave you with about 1:1, but adding in nuts and seeds, specially foods high in ALA (omega 3s) can skew the amount of 3 you're taking in upward.

The emphasis on boosting omega 3 intake by doctors today mostly applies to people with radically skewed ratios, like virtually everyone eating a SAD diet. If you're on a raw diet, it doesn't matter nearly as much as long as you're avoiding oils and other fatty foods that are problematic while eating a healthy raw food diet.

Following Up:

Learn about a healthy raw food diet that will set you on a path toward health.

Learn what foods are healthy and which should be avoided.