Desperate SALT cravings and newbie questions

[Ydra]

Hello everyone!!

I just started this diet for acne and weight issues, so I'm new to both the diet and the forum! I went on only a few days ago and it has been really tough so far... I keep cheating a bit everyday ! And it's because I have huge salt cravings all the time, to my astonishment, because I've always had a sweet tooth and now it is only salt/salty seasonings I crave the most. Well, I also crave bread and a little cheese, but definitely not so much.

I'd LOVE to have some piece of advice from the experienced fellows here! These are my concerns:

* I crave salt, except for fruit everything seems tasteless without it. But eating sweet things all day makes me want salty foods even more...

Do you think hyposodic salt, potassium chloride or nori powder are OK to have instead?

* I can hardly swallow raw yolks and fish. They're so disgusting for me to eat ... I love sushi with the all the rice, seaweed, wasabi, soy... but eating raw fish with lemon and olive oil even makes me sick. Raw yolks sweetened and blended with other fruits are not as much repulsive to me but I can't manage to eat them with other things. And I definitely would not be able to swallow any raw meat... I have been almost a vegetarian for many years so it might not be helping... Maybe there are vegan alternatives to this diet??

*The same goes for the less sweet 'dishes' I have tried to calm my cravings with, such as gazpacho, guacamole, tomato soup, tomato+cucumber salad... but they are so tasteless to me without any salt!!!

* I can't find unshelled organic Brazil nuts where I live, so if you know of a trusted online seller I'd gladly place an order...

*All this oil, nuts, fat, yolks thing won't damage our livers? I imagine this has been discussed before, but it really concerns me since my liver took a long Accutane course and can't even process alcohol drinks properly...

* Is it OK to consume raw nut butters and carob? (Ingredients are cane sugar, rice molasses, carob and hazelnuts, although some brands may include plain cocoa, soy lecithin, natural vanilla, sunflower seed oil, palm oil, coconut oil...)

*Drinking orange juice and using lemon/vinegar dressings have caused heartburns even if taken along with olive oil... I doubt that is a 'good' thing...

Anyway, I'm really willing to stick to Wai, so I hope I can manage to overcome these issues. Thanks all in advance!!!!

[Oscar]

Welcome.

If you're willing to invest lots of time in getting to the Wai Diet, you could go for a gradual approach instead of a sudden one. You'd have to accept you probably will have acne for that whole period though.

Eating without salt (and other spices/herbs) takes getting used to. In the beginning everything will taste bland, and it takes a while for your tastebuds to become more sensitive to the subtle tastes in the foods on this diet. It is however imperative you stop eating salt and spices at some point, because they cause acne.

You've been a vegetarian, so I'd advice to start slowly with yolks/fish. Eat the yolks mixed with fruit, like you mentioned. IF you want to try a bit of fish, maybe use a bit of soy sauce and wasabi in the beginning, and gradually decrease those over time. Of course this isn't ideal and will cost more time. Don't think about eating meat.

On this diet your liver will be fine (or at least no worse off than it is now). What is damaging is the amount of toxins it has to process, not natural foods like you mentioned.

* Is it OK to consume raw nut butters and carob? (Ingredients are cane sugar, rice molasses, carob and hazelnuts, although some brands may include plain cocoa, soy lecithin, natural vanilla, sunflower seed oil, palm oil, coconut oil...)

I would say no. One had to be careful with the 'raw' label anyway, because it's not always really raw, even though it is mentioned. For instance most 'raw' shelled nuts are still shelled by heat, and therefore not raw.

*Drinking orange juice and using lemon/vinegar dressings have caused heartburns even if taken along with olive oil... I doubt that is a 'good' thing...

I think it's the acidity. You'll have to experiment with the amount of oil or lemon/vinegar added. Give your body some time to get used to all these new things.

Hope this helps.