Raw Food Diet

[Shea Zellweger]

Anybody tried this? From what I understand, it can be done for weight loss but is intended to be a permanent lifestyle change. "Raw Foodists" are a group of pseudo-vegetarians who eat only raw, living food as at least 75% of their diet. Eating "raw, living food" does not mean swallowing an animal whole, but rather eliminating meat from your diet (even Sushi, since that fish is still dead). "Raw" apparently is defined as not heating food over 116 degrees Fahrenheit, apparently on the grounds that certain enzymes are destroyed if food exceeds "natural" temperatures.

I like to do diet-restriction experiments. In the past, I have gone vegetarian, vegan, and kosher, each for a week or two at a time so I could get an idea of what it was like to be limited in those manners (vegan was awful, vegetarian was okay, Kosher wasn't bad except that I do love bacon...). I've considered trying this with Raw Food, but keep reading about withdrawal symptoms(?)

What about you? Are you a "Raw Foodist"?

[Larry Parsons]

The trouble with those kind of diets you have to carry your food with you if you want to eat at a church pot-luck or at a resturant with family and friends. This is what our son does but he will tell you that he is not on a diet so I guess you will call it a life style and when he visit us he will he do the cooking.
Thanks
Larry
P.S
My wife eat a lot raw vegatable but we are not on a diet ether!

[Gina Stevenson]

It's easier in the summer than winter, if you live in certain climes. When it's cold one likes to help warm up by having something warm ... such as homemade soup. But, I have no problem with the idea ... tho' I do like to make soup ... but with lots of veggies in it!

Right about those (digestive/cellular-supplying) enzymes, too ... they'll be less than 100% efficient with heat. [getting hungry for some veggies just thinking 'bout it during this pit stop posting!]

[Vivian Cornwell]

I know several people who do this. One friend from church had ovarian cancer several years ago. She decided not to have surgery and changed her lifestyle and went on this diet and is healthy today. She does juicing of carrots also. Her skin has turned darker (almost orange) from the carrot juice. We had a group get-together with church friends last night and she brought raw food to share. It is always interesting to see what she brings to these occasions. She does not eat the other food people bring, unless it is "on her diet."

[Gina Stevenson]

I know several people who do this. One friend from church had ovarian cancer several years ago. She decided not to have surgery and changed her lifestyle and went on this diet and is healthy today. She does juicing of carrots also. Her skin has turned darker (almost orange) from the carrot juice. We had a group get-together with church friends last night and she brought raw food to share. It is always interesting to see what she brings to these occasions. She does not eat the other food people bring, unless it is "on her diet."

Yes, I feel we learned too little too late for Danny several years ago, tho' I was trying to "eat healthy" at the time. Have still wondered sometimes what might have been ....

[Susan Unger]

I know several people who do this. One friend from church had ovarian cancer several years ago. She decided not to have surgery and changed her lifestyle and went on this diet and is healthy today. She does juicing of carrots also. Her skin has turned darker (almost orange) from the carrot juice. We had a group get-together with church friends last night and she brought raw food to share. It is always interesting to see what she brings to these occasions. She does not eat the other food people bring, unless it is "on her diet."

A former collegue of mine ate so many carrots that her nails and fingers turned orange. I always thought that maybe that was a "sign" that she could hold off on them for a while

On the other hand, I and a friend of mine watched a DVD this summer called Clinical Nutrition Vol 4 [produced by the humane society so you know where their bias is going to be] that showed the advantage of healthy eating especially the benefits of vegetarian/vegan eating in preventing chronic health problems.

To answer your question, Shea, I don't think I can do a raw foods diet. I can suffer through a vegan diet if I must, am comfortable on a vegetarian diet, and now will get sick if I eat how I once did [the family reunion this summer was awful in that regard]. I don't know of any raw foodists either.

[Steven Martinez]

I always say be careful of any diet that is not practiced by a non-western people group. Often some of the new diet fads are simply a creation of western consumer culture. Veganism, Vegetarianism and Kosher diets have been practiced by millions for thousands of years. However, I cannot name an indigenous people group who consume only raw foods. Considering the energy it takes to cook food, one would think that if the benefits of eating raw food were truly that great that a society would adapt to that principle. Obviously I am not saying that eating raw fruits and veggies is without benefit, because obviously our mothers have told us eat our carrot sticks to be healthy, but considering that no people group of substantial size seems to exist with this dietary principle leaves me on the skeptical side where Veganism, Vegetarianism and Kosher diets seem to have survived the test of time to show that they are healthy and sustainable dietary lifestyles.

[Bob Hunter]

I would like to argue in favor of a fresh diet of garden veggies and fruits. I guess this would be called raw then? I grow a garden in the summer that brings a lot of fresh veggies to the table, we typically find that steaming them is the best way to prepare the veggies. Now are you saying that the enymzes are destroyed from steaming? I also pick blueberries and blackberries and eat like a Bear. And then of course there is corn. Do we eat that raw too? I don't like it uncooked corn...

Somebody help me out here, I think even the native Indians cooked their corn and their fish.

[Dennis M. Scott]

I guess it's my turn: the first two times I saw this thread, I read, "Raw Foot Diet." I am so relieved that I misread it.

[Susan Unger]

i guess it's my turn: The first two times i saw this thread, i read, "raw foot diet." i am so relieved that i misread it.

yyuuuuuuuuucccckkkkkkkk!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Steven Martinez]

Somebody help me out here, I think even the native Indians cooked their corn and their fish.

That is kind of my point. I have not seen any research that suggests that a complete Raw Food Diet is truly sustainable. I second your fresh fruits and veggie intake.

[Shea Zellweger]

I would like to argue in favor of a fresh diet of garden veggies and fruits. I guess this would be called raw then? I grow a garden in the summer that brings a lot of fresh veggies to the table, we typically find that steaming them is the best way to prepare the veggies. Now are you saying that the enymzes are destroyed from steaming? I also pick blueberries and blackberries and eat like a Bear. And then of course there is corn. Do we eat that raw too? I don't like it uncooked corn...

Somebody help me out here, I think even the native Indians cooked their corn and their fish.

Fish would still be cooked, as would any other meat. I said in my original post:

Raw Foodists" are a group of pseudo-vegetarians who eat only raw, living food as at least 75% of their diet. Eating "raw, living food" does not mean swallowing an animal whole, but rather eliminating meat from your diet

So your options for Fish would be to either a) not eat it or b) make it part of the other 25%. Their advice on corn and other tough vegetation is a little more interesting... they recommend "sprouting" any hard seeds. I've also seen several recipes which call for Blue Agave as a sweetener, and something tells me you have to cook that to make the syrup.

That is kind of my point. I have not seen any research that suggests that a complete Raw Food Diet is truly sustainable. I second your fresh fruits and veggie intake.

A "complete Raw Food Diet," probably not... but if Veganism is sustainable, wouldn't a 75% "raw" (fresh/living) food diet, supplemented with 25% non-raw food (bread, tofu) be equally sustainable, and in fact be one of the healthier vegan diets available? I'm not particularly interested in becoming a vegan, but I know several whose eating habits would only need a couple of minor adjustments- specifically, cutting back on the fried veggies- in order to qualify as "raw foodists."

[Bob Hunter]

I was jogging the dogs the other day and some lady in a BMW accused me of hogging the road. So i pulled the mp3 player out of my ears and said, Whah? Then she got frustrated and called me a tree hugger. Tree huggers eat tree bark and grass hoppers which is a raw diet, therefore, they are more fresh living persons, they don't even have to use toilet paper because they raw foodists.

[Marsha Gupton]

This is one of those issues where you have to agree to disagree. While, I do not go by a raw diet I have friends that do. I have a friend that does this yet I like a good greasy cheeseburger.. haha.. yet there is room in the world for both of us. Isn't that great??

[Dana Grant]

My question is this -- if raw food dieters only eat "raw living food" -- well, once you take the fruit or veggie from its stalk/vine/tree -- is it really still living?

There are many people who eat this way because they believe it to be the "biblical" way to eat. The way God intended it, so to speak. http://www.welikeitraw.com/rawfood/2...ul_embrac.html

Dana

[Shea Zellweger]

My question is this -- if raw food dieters only eat "raw living food" -- well, once you take the fruit or veggie from its stalk/vine/tree -- is it really still living?

I wondered that as well, and not being a raw foodist, I don't know their answer, but I imagine it has something to do with the ability of a given piece of vegetation to still grow and live if it is properly cared for. Now... tossing it in a blender with 3 other raw ingredients and some juice... I have no clue how that qualifies.

[Gina Stevenson]

Well, a combination of cooked & raw seems good. Can't live in this cold climate [well, no, not today, but too soon it will be] without ... in the middle of winter ... a nice, warm bowl of homemade SOUP! But, yes, I do love my fresh veggie juice, too.