Raw food "lifestyle"... unsustainable?

emtjmac

I really don't understand what draws people to something like this. 30 bananas a day? 50 bananas a day? What? Why? I just don't get it... I can't find any serious, respected people who think that this is the answer to all of man's problems but it seems like a lot of the people who subscribe to this way of thinking believe that to be the case. No disrespect to people who think this is the way to live, maybe there is something to it that I haven't been able to discover through my cursory googling and youtube meandering.

Kaydana123

The reason you can't find any serious, respected people who believe it's the answer to all of man's problems, is because it's not the answer. It is pretty much entirely based in pseudoscience.

Leeanne1974

I really do believe that the Raw Food thing is utter nonsense and stupidity.
My very good friends is related (via her ex husband) to one of the biggest pioneers of the Raw Food Diet in the UK.
This pioneer insisted on her baby following her diet from the time she started eating solid foods. At the age of 6 or so months the baby couldn't even lift its own head up. The health visitor recommended highly that the baby needed dairy and food with a high calorie diet (as babies do need) and she gave in.. for a week or so.
If there was a parent insisting their child ate hamburgers all of the time then their child would probably get taken into care. Yet others can force their unhealthy diets on their children and get nothing. Madness.

emtjmac

That's crazy Leeanne! Oh my God!

lyttlewon

I admit it is kooky. BUT I have a cousin with a pretty severe autoimmune disease and the raw food thing helps her. The medication she is supposed to take has horrible side effects, like blindness, so eating a raw diet isn't really unreasonable.

CoderGal

I really do believe that the Raw Food thing is utter nonsense and stupidity.
My very good friends is related (via her ex husband) to one of the biggest pioneers of the Raw Food Diet in the UK.
This pioneer insisted on her baby following her diet from the time she started eating solid foods. At the age of 6 or so months the baby couldn't even lift its own head up. The health visitor recommended highly that the baby needed dairy and food with a high calorie diet (as babies do need) and she gave in.. for a week or so.
If there was a parent insisting their child ate hamburgers all of the time then their child would probably get taken into care. Yet others can force their unhealthy diets on their children and get nothing. Madness.

^crazy. Sorry to hear. I'd call someone about it if I were you so it would be taken care of.

emtjmac

I admit it is kooky. BUT I have a cousin with a pretty severe autoimmune disease and the raw food thing helps her. The medication she is supposed to take has horrible side effects, like blindness, so eating a raw diet isn't really unreasonable.

I'm glad to hear that the diet helps her. Now I know that it has some medical applications. Thanks!

peach688

ive never heard of that its kinda weird but hey i believe if its not broken dont fix it if it works for you thats great but im not into it lol plus i like my steak

peach688

and milk lol

ObtainingBalance

People tell me they don't like dairy because it's high in added hormones . They can get calcium through soy milk, almond milk, spinach, and other stuff.

Veggies and fruits ARE good for you, no question there lol.

Meat doesn't always have a lot of vitamins, but it is high in iron and some others (depends what meat) . It's high protein too. Protein fills you and helps build muscle but sometimes people overly encourage it.

If you eat a raw diet, you would definetely not go over sodium, which is sometimes bad.. .(too much sodium, high blood pressure)

I don't know, I couldn't eat completely raw. It'd be too hard. Some days I've been going meatless though. I'd go dairy free if I had almond milk... i love almond milk! But, I am not on a raw diet. lol .

I've heard it benefit a lot of people.... but that baby in the above example didn't get a good variety of food, plus probably lacked a huge amount of calories because he was on raw foods. IF you did a raw food diet you would want to still count calories... eat a lot of nuts, beans, tofu, soy milk, oatmeal, rice, high calorie foods.. Unless any of these fit out of the "raw" category lol.

lyttlewon

My cousin eats 80% raw. She said that is a sustainable amount for most people. Keep in mind some "raw" foods can be heated up to a certain temperature. It has to do with keeping the enzymes in tact. She makes these dehydrated crackers that are the bomb, to dehydrate you heat to like 114 degrees. Her cashew "cheese" is amazing too.

stukawife

Soy milk almond milk are such are not milk. They are powder with water added....and frankly humans were not designed tojsut eat raw. We discovered fire, we eat meat etc.

Moderation si the key.

And yes less junk and hormone/pesticide laden foods would also be good,.

Extremes are bad.

FitnessPalWorks

I could never do a total raw-food diet but I will say the woman in this video DOES look amazing. I'm all about a nice steak and milk as well, I just make sure it has no growth hormones (hello, growth hormones make the cows fat, and you're eating that! Hello, weight loss problem!).... and for other stuff I try to stick with non-GMO as much as possible. Oh yeah, and I'm still trying to lay low on gluten because I think that is bad as well....

Everything in moderation but check out this video.....

http://youtu.be/zSDKXkWpYTQ

(Edited as I found a video that was better quality....)

pdworkman

Different things work for different people. I'm vegan and grain-free, and a lot of people would assume from that I am probably high-raw, if not totally raw, but I'm not. I pick up the occasional "raw" recipe now and then, but my body can't handle very many raw veggies - more than a few sticks of raw carrots will have me doubled up in pain - I live in a cold climate, I run and strength train and need a more calorie-dense diet than raw would afford me, and I am allergic to a number of the foods used in most raw recipes, such as dates, nuts, etc. I also don't have the patience for the gourmet raw recipes - all of the dehydrating, etc. So I eat raw fruits, some raw veggies, nuts/seeds that I am not allergic to, and lots of cooked root vegetables, beans, soups, etc.

I know a lot of people say that they have a lot of energy on a raw diet, that their medical conditions have been reversed, etc. I think that just like with any diet, there are people who are going to feel good on it, and people who aren't. If particular foods bother you or aggravate a medical condition, and a raw diet reduces or eliminates those foods, then you are going to feel better. If it doesn't give you enough energy to stay warm or function optimally, if it is too fussy or you don't like the food, you're not going to stick with it.

I know Dr. Joel Fuhrman, though a proponent of plant-based diets, says that he's never had a patient who did well on raw food diets long term. But then, I don't agree with a lot of things Fuhrman says, either. I don't know anyone who has been on a raw food diet long term. Some who have done it short term more than once, but who tend to go back off of it during the winter or when going through highly active or highly stressful periods.

emtjmac

My cousin eats 80% raw. She said that is a sustainable amount for most people. Keep in mind some "raw" foods can be heated up to a certain temperature. It has to do with keeping the enzymes in tact. She makes these dehydrated crackers that are the bomb, to dehydrate you heat to like 114 degrees. Her cashew "cheese" is amazing too.

That's cool! I think that raw, whole foods should be a part of everyone's daily diet but they shouldn't be the entirety of it! I can't imagine what cashew cheese would taste like lol.

Bakkasan

Even though there is new research, OLD news that fire was the turning point of man kind.

1999 http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1999/08/990810064914.htm

Today http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/10/121026-human-cooking-evolution-raw-food-health-science/

Nothing wrong with people who want to eat raw foods. I applaud them. But current understanding which hasn't changed in many years is cooking food yielded the changes to evolve into our semi intelligent species today.

For funsies, the article also kind of explains why most over muscled people are meatheads. (Just a joke guys)

Hollycat

Raw goes against everything we've been taught. It seems extreme. Until you do your homework. Until you become desperate enough to do what someone tells you is best for your body. Until then, I struggled with diet after diet after diet. It was endlessly confusing and frustrating. I believed that calories were the only thing that counted. As far as my body is concerned, I was wrong.

My homework started when, at 48, I weighed 240 pounds, could barely move for the pain in my knees, developed a reversible heart condition and I literally felt like I was dying. Every movement was an effort. I was tired all the time and I felt sick without really being sick. A friend told me about Marilyn Lister, a live blood analyst and nutritionist in my city.

I went to her a year ago in what I thought was the utmost desperation. She told me what to do. For a year, I refused to listen. How could a reasonable diet with meat, dariy, grains, vegetables and fruits be causing my obesity and pain? How could I possibly change my diet so dramatically? How would I eat this way and feed my family what they wanted? And what was the guarantee?

Over that year, I gained 30 pounds and felt even closer to death. In September of this year, I went to see her again. She explained what happens in an alkaline vs. an acidic environment in the body. If you want the complete explanation, please see my blog: www.hollycat50.wordpress.com. I finally reached the point where I would do whatever it takes to regain my health and, by eating mainly raw, I've literally transformed myself in 8 weeks. I sleep through the night with no pain. I stopped snoring. I have energy to spare. I can SEE with my own eyes the changes in my blood from week to week. When I first started, I had no normal red blood cells. None. Now, my blood cells are developing normally and the plasma/interstitial fluid between my blood cells is starting to clear itself of toxins, yeasts, mold and fungus. It's simply amazing the difference optimal nutrition makes on the body.

For the past 9 weeks, I've eaten mainly raw, but I never say never. If, for example, I were presented with Prime Rib or Filet Mignon in someone's home, I am unlikely to say no. I stay flexible. I eat raw most days [green smoothies, veggie wraps, juicing, nuts and seeds], but on occasions where I'm eating out, or at friends and family, I eat whatever is there. Getting all legalistic about food is as bad as eating anything and everything. Attitudes about food can be toxic too. I guess I'm about 70-80% raw. 20-30% of the time, I am in a place where eating raw is not a realistic option. At restaurants, I make the best choice I can. At someone's home, I eat what's served. It's not polite to foist your ideals on people and friends and family are not usually receptive anyway. People are receptive when they're ready to be receptive.

The difference in my blood on a SAD diet [Standard American DIet] and a mainly Raw Diet is absolutely mind bogglingly different. When you see it in front of you, it's hard to stay in denial. If eating raw brings me back to health, why on earth would I change that?

I've lost 25 pounds since September 1st [8 weeks].

Hollycat:flowerforyou:

By the way, eating 50 bananas a day is just dumb. That is NOT eating raw. It's eating stupid.

Hollycat

Before there was fire, there was raw.

Hollycat:flowerforyou:

Hollycat

What's the benefit of eating raw foods?

Wow. Where do I start? First off, most raw foods are alkaline, as opposed to acidic. The goal in a raw food diet is to alkalize the blood and, thus, the body. The blood's pH is around 7.3-7.4. Ingesting alkaline foods [close to that pH level] is the way to keep the body's alkalinity in balance. An alkaline body fights off disease and SHEDS FAT THAT IS NO LONGER NEEDED.

Chlorophyll cells, found in green leafy vegetables, for example, are almost bio-identical to red blood cells and have roughly the same pH [alkalinity]. When half [or more] of your diet consists of green, leafy vegetables, you are eating the one food that is the easiest for your body to assimilate and turn into energy and healthy red blood cells. The state your blood is in, is a direct reflection on your state of your health. The state of our blood is directly affected by what we eat. Red blood cells carry oxygen to the rest of your body. White blood cells fight disease. Blood cells [red and 5 kinds of white blood cells] live in a liquid environment which is part interstitial fluid and part plasma. If you look at this environment under a microscope, it should be relatively clear. For most of us, that is simply not the case.

When this environment is alkaline, as a result of eating alkaline foods [rather than acidic foods], it is impossible for viruses, bacteria, yeast, mold, fungus and other foreign bodies [including cancer cells] to live in that environment. They simply can't exist. The body's best fighting chance is to ensure that its interstitial fluid/plasma is an alkaline environment. That way, the red blood cells form perfectly and white blood cells can fight at their optimum level of performance and fight disease efficiently and effectively. Also, if your blood is alkaline, your white blood cells are better able to expel toxins, such as heavy metals.

When there are no toxins, no viruses, bacteria, yeast, mold or fungus in your blood, your body no longer requires fat cells. Fat cells are formed to protect the body's internal organs from these invaders. Fat cells hold the toxins and foreign bodies that we ingested by eating an acidic diet. Did you get that part? Let me repeat it. When the body is no longer acidic, or begins to become alkaline, it SHEDS fat cells it no longer requires. For me, that's the BIG benefit of a raw diet.

When the blood starts to become acidic [from ingesting acidic foods], the first invaders to appear are viruses and bacteria. As it becomes more acidic, yeasts are allowed to exist. With more acidity, fungus and mold can exist. When the blood gets to this stage, it is the perfect breeding ground for systemic disease: MS, fibromyalgia, cancer, etc. The good news is that this acidity is reversible. We can reverse the acid environment into an alkaline environment by ingesting mainly alkaline foods. I hate to say it, [and it really burns me to have to say it] but we really are what we eat. If only more people understood and accepted this fact, so much suffering could be avoided. Not just the suffering that the overweight experience, but the suffering that the overweight, sick and dying experience.

What is an acidic diet? The SAD diet [Standard American Diet] is generally acidic. Acidic foods include the usual baddies: white flour, sugar, fructose [processed, not that found in whole fruits], dairy, meat, etc. You can find alkaline/acid charts on the internet if you want more detail. What's left? Veggies, fruits, nuts and seeds. It's not as restrictive as it sounds and after a while, it becomes what we crave. Why do we crave it? Because it is what the body really needs. I like nothing better than a blanched collard green wrapped around fresh veggies [alfalfa sprouts, tomatoes, grated carrot, lettuces, peppers, onion] with a coconut butter/mango sauce, dipped in a spicy almond dip. It is amazing, filling and as good as any wrap you've ever had. I also drink green smoothies, drink vegetable/fruit juices and enjoy nut and seed crackers, sauces and spreads. Oh. And chocolate. Couldn't live without chocolate once in a while. Raw chocolate treats are OMG to die for. Do I feel deprived at all? How could I? I've never felt better in my life. Gone are the 2:30 sleepies, the all-night aches and pains and here to stay are energy+ and amazing skin. And fat cells. Tons of fat cells. Down 27 pounds in 9 weeks.

Keep in mind a raw food diet does NOT have to be 100% raw. I eat about 70% raw foods. It is perfectly okay to eat cooked food and some foods that would be consider acidic, once in a while. For example, I would never say no to prime rib or filet mignon [fortunately, it doesn't get offered very often]. There are no hard and fast rules. You can make your own rules and there's really not point in debating one 'style' of eating against another. The decision is ultimately your own. My body, my science experiment. There are some people that eat 100% raw, but those folks are usually very well researched and know which supplements they also need to take in order to maintain their health. There's always the odd idiot that screws it up and makes themselves sick by not taking B12, for example, but those are few and far between and have NOT done their homework. And as for the woman with the baby...her intentions were good, but I think she needed to do more homework and be more flexible. It's so easy to get legalistic when it comes to food. Bad idea.

If you are truly curious to know what is REALLY going on inside your body, and want to base your nutritional decisions on reality, rather than conjecture, myth, profit-motivated misinformation and the status quo, consider visiting a live blood analyst. They will SHOW you and explain what is actually going on in your blood, not just send your doctor a report that you don't understand and for which there is rarely nutritional advice prescribed. It really is an eye opener. Here in Victoria, Canada, www.ListerNutrition.com is the one I recommend.

Is it all hogwash? Well...my blood is changing. I've seen it happen. With my own eyes. I see normal red blood cells now. In my first analysis, there weren't any. None. They were all clumped together, thin, poorly formed [oval and sometimes like pies with bites out of them and they were therefore not able to transport oxygen efficiently. My white blood cells are not as sluggish and confused as they were. Now they're actually starting to do their job. After 2 months eating a mainly alkaline diet. Imagine what it will be like in 6 months!

For the sake of your health, consider going at least partly raw [pun intended].

Hollycat :flowerforyou:

sjohnny

... . IF you did a raw food diet you would want to still count calories... eat a lot of nuts, beans, tofu, soy milk, oatmeal, rice, high calorie foods.. Unless any of these fit out of the "raw" category lol.

Raw rice is too crunchy.

Chief_Rocka

... . IF you did a raw food diet you would want to still count calories... eat a lot of nuts, beans, tofu, soy milk, oatmeal, rice, high calorie foods.. Unless any of these fit out of the "raw" category lol.

Raw rice is too crunchy.

coming and going

sjohnny

... . IF you did a raw food diet you would want to still count calories... eat a lot of nuts, beans, tofu, soy milk, oatmeal, rice, high calorie foods.. Unless any of these fit out of the "raw" category lol.

Raw rice is too crunchy.

coming and going

YOW

caribougal

That 30bananasaday website is a bit loony tunes. To read the forums there is a journey into the wild side. But, as my doc says, no one gets diabetes from eating too many fruits and vegetables.

I don't eat raw, but I do love the wonderful raw foods products at the health stores. They fit into a Paleo diet really well... minimal ingredients, grain free, dairy free, soy free, etc. I don't go crazy with them, because they're super expensive and they often include lots of honey. But they're nice for a treat.

I love these:
Coco-Roons: http://mycocoroons.com/ You can really only eat one at a time, and calorie/carb-wise that's plenty.

Wild Mountain: these are my go-to crackers when I'm eating tuna salad or pate: http://www.wildmountainfoods.com/index.html

Veggie-Go's: These are great when you just want something to chew on: http://nakededgesnacks.com/
Actually, I'm not sure if they are raw... maybe not, but they're in the raw foods aisle.

I love that there are plenty of raw foodies in my town... keeps the aisles in Whole Foods stocked with interesting new items that are Paleo friendly, and I know I can get a Paleo treat at a raw food street cart (yes, we have them, too).

penrbrown

So what's your question?

rml_16

I'm confused. I don't do the raw food diet (and have no interest in it), but I never heard of 30 to 50 bananas a day having anything to do with it.

And I love bananas. Just wanted to say that.

caribougal

I'm confused. I don't do the raw food diet (and have no interest in it), but I never heard of 30 to 50 bananas a day having anything to do with it.

And I love bananas. Just wanted to say that.

30bananasaday.com
Raw food website.

NGMama

I think you have a raw foods diet confused with the 'fruitarian". If you're talking about the blonde woman (I can't think of how to spell her name, she puts out some pretty angry vids), she talks a lot about eating a bajillion pieces of fruit a day. People who are on a "high raw" diet eat regular amounts of food, just mostly veggies and fruit and none of it cooked over a certain temp. They do lots of dehydrating to make things like crackers and granolas.

I can appreciate the logic behind eating lots of raw fruits and veggies but, for me, anything over about 60% would be too tricky to try to navigate.

rml_16

I'm confused. I don't do the raw food diet (and have no interest in it), but I never heard of 30 to 50 bananas a day having anything to do with it.

And I love bananas. Just wanted to say that.

30bananasaday.com
Raw food website.

That is an awful lot of calories!

DebbieLyn63

I dated a guy once who ate 16 bananas a day. But when he asked me to help him smuggle steroids across the Mexico border, I dumped him.

But seriously. I love a lot of veggies, but prefer them cooked most of the time. What harm does steaming veggies do? Does it raise the PH?

For me, cutting out sugar and most grains has helped my arthritis/autoimmune symptoms tremendously. I don't drink milk very often due to the high calorie and sugar amount, but I do eat cheese most days and a lot of grilled chicken and fish.

75in2013

What's wrong with eating raw if you can meet your food goals (calories, macronutrients, micronutrients etc.)?

Besides lol broscience I haven't heard a good scientific argument against raw food. FWIW raw doesn't necessarily mean exclusively fruits and veg. You can eat fish and meat raw too. (I have seen raw liver recipes.)

Cranktastic

Meh