Raw food "lifestyle"... unsustainable?

Options
2

Replies

  • sjohnny
    sjohnny Posts: 56,142 Member
    Options
    ... . 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
    caribougal Posts: 865 Member
    Options
    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
    penrbrown Posts: 2,685 Member
    Options
    So what's your question?
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
    Options
    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
    caribougal Posts: 865 Member
    Options
    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
    NGMama Posts: 384 Member
    Options
    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
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
    Options
    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
    DebbieLyn63 Posts: 2,650 Member
    Options
    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
    75in2013 Posts: 360 Member
    Options
    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
    Cranktastic Posts: 1,517 Member
    Options
    Meh
  • FreedomReigns
    FreedomReigns Posts: 195 Member
    Options
    I :heart: meat!
  • emtjmac
    emtjmac Posts: 1,320 Member
    Options
    A balanced diet is the only sustainable diet. Ignore all fads and fake academics and stick with real nutrition science.
  • 75in2013
    75in2013 Posts: 360 Member
    Options
    A balanced diet is the only sustainable diet. Ignore all fads and fake academics and stick with real nutrition science.

    You can have a balanced diet while only eating raw. So?
  • chigau_me
    chigau_me Posts: 50
    Options
    I ate raw food for about 8 months, it was pretty cool :) it's not only bananas :) if you know how to plan your diet not to miss out on vitamins you'll be ok! i was full of energy, lost tons of weight, and just felt good. but i usually listen to my body need and after 8 months my body told me "enough! i want hot soup" :) so i started eating cooked foods as well. it's all individual, like with every diet - some people feel great eating raw, some people get very sick.
  • penrbrown
    penrbrown Posts: 2,685 Member
    Options
    A balanced diet is the only sustainable diet. Ignore all fads and fake academics and stick with real nutrition science.

    Define balanced diet. According to the food pyramid it's one thing but according to hard core health enthusiasts it's something else. So define.
  • Panda_1999
    Panda_1999 Posts: 191 Member
    Options
    My family does do meatless meals from time to time but we still cook most of it. But we eat meat, dairy, eggs, grains, as well as fruits & vegetables. We even do sweets, just less than we used to.

    I would have concerns eating mostly/just raw fruits and vegetables - what about pesticides, high nitrates (not to mention what fertilizer runoff does to the water table in some places where foods are grown, I think people forget there is processing in getting these foods to market, too)

    http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/nutrition/a/pesticides.htm
    http://www.livestrong.com/article/367209-a-list-of-vegetables-high-in-nitrates/
  • 20tulipgirl20
    20tulipgirl20 Posts: 99
    Options
    I think that the people( most, at least) who live the raw lifestyle believe that it is a guaranteed and quick way to lose weight. I don't know, I am probably wrong but that is my theory
  • pdworkman
    pdworkman Posts: 1,342 Member
    Options
    You don't avoid the pesticides, etc. by eating more animal products and less vegetable products. The animal eats the vegetable products and you get a higher concentration of them by eating higher up on the food chain, than lower down on the food chain.
    My family does do meatless meals from time to time but we still cook most of it. But we eat meat, dairy, eggs, grains, as well as fruits & vegetables. We even do sweets, just less than we used to.

    I would have concerns eating mostly/just raw fruits and vegetables - what about pesticides, high nitrates (not to mention what fertilizer runoff does to the water table in some places where foods are grown, I think people forget there is processing in getting these foods to market, too)

    http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/nutrition/a/pesticides.htm
    http://www.livestrong.com/article/367209-a-list-of-vegetables-high-in-nitrates/
  • CarmenSRT
    CarmenSRT Posts: 843 Member
    Options
    I'm not even remotely interested in a raw food diet, but I suspect it COULD be done in a healthy fashion. It would likely take a massive amount of research to be healthy, making it unlikely the average practitioner would do it well, but it does seem plausible.
  • JenKillough
    JenKillough Posts: 474 Member
    Options
    Over a period of about two years, I attempted a raw food diet... probably sustained a 75% raw diet. For about 3-4 months I was around 90% raw. It certainly wasn't satisfying. I don't think I'd ever attempt it again. It was fun/interesting though. I learned a lot of new food preparation skills, recipes, bought new kitchen equipment, raw food books and even maintained a raw food blog.

    I was mostly attracted to the more artsy complicated raw recipes... was cool to see how they transformed a cooked dish into a raw one. And very laborious.

    ETA: I bought Raw by Juliano way back in 2000 before "raw food" was even popular. Bought my juicer back then too.

Categories