Yesterday I ate:9:00 . . . 10 honey tangerines
1:00 . . . 1 pineapple + a few medjool dates
3:00 . . . 14 honey tangerines
4:00 . . . 1 lb. campari tomatoes (love them!)
6:00 . . . 2 cantaloupes
8:00 . . . few more honey tangerines
Play: ballet, stretching, hiking in woods
This book caught my eye at the public library so I brought it home. Wow. It is a work of art. It has beautiful pics on every page of the most gorgeous varieties of heirlooms, over 200 of them. And some interesting info about the history of tomatoes in general and about each variety. Fascinating! I am really enjoying it. My mouth is literally watering. It makes me want to try them all!
I love the names of the varieties: Banana Legs, Aunt Ruby's German Green, Hungarian Heart, African Queen, Black Cherry. And they all look so mineral-rich and delicious. Oh, I am not kidding. . . I want to try every one of them!
One lingering unresolved question I have regarding fruit has to do with the tomato. There is a lot of conflicting info out there about tomatoes. There is plenty of info all over the internet if you are interested in doing your own research. Some peeps think tomatoes are somewhat poisonous since they are members of the "deadly" nightshade family. Plenty of people claim that they have allergic reactions to tomatoes or that they cause arthritis. I suspect that some of the problems may come from pesticides or from cooking them and/or having them in a sauce with MSG and salt. But I can't deny that there is SOMETHING about them that I'm not exactly sure about.
I know that if I eat a LOT of tomatoes, I sometimes get a slight reaction like feeling a bit flushed or waking up with itchy, swollen eyes. My conclusion at the present is that tomatoes are a bit suspicious, at the least.
BUT, I have to admit that I love the taste of tomatoes. Some in particular are just out of this world to me. So I will continue to eat them and enjoy them until my intuition tells me otherwise. I just won't be eating tons of them at a time like I do other fruit.
Looking through this book also reminds me of the infinite varieties of ALL fruits. There is such an abundance out there. . . it would take many lifetimes to get to try everything. What we are exposed to in the local grocery stores is SO little compared to what is out there in Nature all over the world.
This book is wonderful and I wish I could show you all the photography. Maybe your library has a copy for you to enjoy. Nature is just so amazing. . . how could we not appreciate all the beauty and splendor, even if just pictures in a book?!
And if you have a strong feeling or clear understanding about tomatoes one way or the other, I would love to hear about it! ♥
I just wish I liked a tomato in the raw. I've always loved anything tomato-based though, which is odd. I think I could stick to all fruit easier if I could just acquire a taste for the beautiful 'mater....
ReplyDeleteI seem to get itching in different places after consuming tomatoes. I am not a huge fan of them, but sometimes I just don't want something sweet.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Debbie and Shannon, for your thoughts on tomatoes! I guess we will just have to listen to our bodies, and our intuition on this. ♥
ReplyDeleteI discovered your blog a few days ago. It is my desire,and do so much of the time, to eat a fruitarian diet. Your blog is the guide and encouragement I've been looking for. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteHi, Barbara. . . Welcome! And thank you for writing. Feel free to hang out. . . there is plenty to read. Sounds like you are doing very well. Girl Power! ♥
ReplyDeleteAh yes, I noticed the comment approval notice after my second post, so sorry about that! lol I'm with you now ;)
ReplyDeleteTomatoes, sigh. It makes raw living SO much easier but with trial and error recently I determined I cannot eat them, cooked or raw. I get very achy in my joints and get some odd itching in my throat and mouth. :( I love the way they taste and give another flavor spectrum to work with when I want something less sweet, but my body said no. I agree, we all have to listen to our bodies, they are the bosses.
But I will live vicariously through those of you who can enjoy them, and I'm hoping that maybe over time and with fruity healing my body might change her mind? lol
Do you think food combining allows tomatoes to be combined with onions, strawberries and cucumber? I think this would be an outstanding combination, what's your take on this?
ReplyDeleteHi, Forest Faery. . . Yes, I understand about the body reactions. And maybe things will change for you in the future. It's an interesting process! :)
ReplyDeleteHi, Vegan Man. . . Well, the onions do not appeal to me at all, but everything else sounds nice. To each his/her own. :)
While on Pineapple Island, I had tomatoes twice after being completely off of them for over 3 weeks. Both times I ate them I woke up the next morning with burning eyes, sore tongue, stiff achy hands, swollen brain sensation, and an overall crudy feeling. The tomatoes I ate were raw and pesticide-free. I ate about a pound each time. I love tomatoes, and they are a wonderful alternative to sweet fruit. But I have come to the conclusion that they definitely are not good for my body. I recently read "From The Ground Up" by Amy Stewart, a wonderful memoir of the author's first year of gardening and she says that tomatoes are subject to more illnesses and pests than any other food, and require lots of products to grow them successfully. That, too, makes me kind of suspicious of them. I would like to see if yellow tomatoes make me feel the same way. The original tomato that the explorers brought back to Europe was yellow. Maybe the chemical make up is different. All of the tomatoes available to us in the markets are there because they hold up well during shipping. It would be fun to try some truly organic heirloom varieties and see how I felt after eating them. The real revolution will be for all of us to start growing our own food again.
ReplyDeletePineapple Blessings, Esmee
Oh, thank you, Esmee. . . for all this info and your insights and experiences! People in past generations called the tomato the "cancer apple" but some also called it the "love apple." So it seems there has been confusion about the tomato for a long time. I guess we'll just let our personal experiments continue. Maybe you'll get to try some heirlooms this summer. You are so right about growing our own food, tending to our own orchards. I dream of it myself. ♥
ReplyDeleteAll season I've been eating everyday, 4-8 huge organic heirloom tomatoes from Farmer's Market (which have about one more week in season here in L.A.) and I've never noticed any problem. BUT, I've been transitioning into all fruit, I was still eating avocado and kale and celery. Amazing how much better I feel cutting veggies and avo out and just doing fruit! WHO KNEW veggies of all things (which are supposed to be the healthiest thing to eat on the planet) are not the best for us!
ReplyDeleteSo...maybe I'm not the perfect person to say since I was eating veggies too?