Comments on: Raw Food Gets Served

By: NatashaRawFood

NatashaRawFood — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 03:26:49 +0000

Hello, I like finding good ideas about raw food worth reading for my researches, I found few great comments and suggestions already that will help me, thx.

By: Matthew

Matthew — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 13:12:29 +0000

SSSsome of you so called facts are not facts. Raw food can be spiritual and that is the fatc. All you have to do is read the essene gospel of peace to find out how. Also all of your so called facts are only theorys if you include evolving from gorillas(A very mindless view). Gorillas are gorillas and humans are humans. Here are some facts that everyone should know about.

-Einstein said “Humans are the only species smart enough to cook their food but dumb enough to eat it.” Go ahead and argue Einstein and look like a moron.

-Live raw food contain bioelectricity and cooked food contains very litte.

-Eating raw adds life energy while eating dead takes energy.

-Digesting raw food is ten times easier and you get almost all the benefits while cooked food takes ten times longer and you get 10% if you are lucky

-digesting cooked protein is like trying to digest leather. Where do cows get their protein?

-If you say we are not cows to argue the last staement then you obvioslyt so not understand nutrition.

-all of your statements are bogus and you should go back to school for real nutrition

-Garbiel Cousins(raw food doctor) Is 70+ and looks 40 while he can do 600 pushups at once. No meat eating cooked protein brute has these characteristics.

-People who eat because they like the taste only, end up in caskets after suffering from terminal illneses.

Get the real facts and not some poor explantion to make excuses for eating cooked food and meat. That was the worse explination I have seen yet.

By: Lscoop

Lscoop — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 06:00:57 +0000

This is indeed an interesting debate going on here. I didn’t get to see all of the replies (even the ones made before mine) until just now.
I should note that when I was young I tried going vegan several times….every last time I had a notable increase in colds. Clearly there was a problem when I didn’t get enough protein….back then there weren’t nutritional programs around where I could check my nutrient levels and I’m sure I was way off base from what I needed.
Interestingly enough, during the years that I was low-carb, eating about 100 g of protein a day, although I felt generally well I had an average amount of colds. However, I’m blown away by the fact that I never seem to get them any more since going (85% or so) raw. I’m relentless about getting my 50 grams of protein. I know that’s enough for me…maybe partly because of my size….5′2″, 112 lbs. If I were a large man maybe I’d need 100 grams like you suggest, Mark, so you were missing that piece of info. Also, I should note that unlike some raw foodists, I completely believe in taking quite a few food supplements along with my raw foods, and, among other things, they include very high quality Calcium along with other supplements needed to assure their absorption, as I am indeed concerned about losing bone density. I also believe that one of the biggest flaws in the raw food movement is the preponderance of some folks to eat a load of sugary (agave nectar, dates, ultra-sweet fruits, etc.) and oily (nuts & oils to an extreme) foods. Raw Chef Dan (above) got it right that raw food, in its simplest and healthiest state, is the easiest food in the world to prepare. It’s the nut-crusted, fatty, ultra sweet concoctions meant to mimic some of the S.A.D. diet’s desserts that take a lot of work and probably aren’t that much healthier than the orginal thing. When I was eating low-carb I was always looking for low-fat, low-carb versions of the originals and there is no doubt in my mind that these were probably healthier options than some of the raw desserts out there. These days I make my own raw chocolate….raw cocoa butter, raw vanilla, a bit of organic powdered or non GMO lecithin as an emulsifier, a pinch of salt (for white chocolate), plus the addition of raw cocoa powder for dark chocolate.
Now, as for the sweetener, when I make the stuff for at-home use I use xylitol that I powder myself or xylitol syrup. When making it for raw food potlucks I use agave nectar because many of them are not educated as to the benefits of xylitol on the teeth and won’t even try it with the xylitol!
For fats, I pretty much keep it low….a few olives (I have an olive tree and make my own), some flax crackers and occasionally a few nuts, plus some supplements such as fish oil and evening primrose oil and the fats that occur naturally in my raw meat/fish protein)….but living off the land to some extent is what makes this diet so much fun! I also have a great raspberry crop that I bring into winter by freezing and/or dehydrating, a year-round rangpur lime tree (looks like a mandarin orange, tastes like an orangy lemon), decorative bushes that produce voluminous amounts of pineapple guava in the winter months, and seasonal fruits/vegetables that I plant annualy in pots (due to gopher/mole problems–sigh) such as tomatoes, squash, lettuce, kale and chard.
Ok, back to the subject of xylitol…many raw foodists that load up with nutty, sugary concoctions find their teeth deteriorating in record time…I noticed that was starting to happen to me and adjusted my diet accordingly. I have replaced agave, dates and honey with xylitol–not raw, but great for the teeth and tastes very good, and I eat lots of berries and very few sweet fruits. For those raw foodists reading this post, I also discovered the miracle of dental health by throwing away toothpaste in favor of Tooth Soap and Tooth Powder (tooth soap you can buy online or, cheaper but not quite as good, you can simply use Dr. Bonner’s castile soap–just don’t swallow the soap after brushing! For Tooth Powder simply mix 3 parts baking soda with 1 part himalayan crystal salt and 1 part xylitol). In less than a week ALL plaque on my teeth was gone and over the last month or two my receding gums have completely mended themselves! I also believe that tongue scrapers along with this–and flossing and using a water pik if possible–help keep bacteria in the mouth down and are likely to make me even less likely to get colds than I am now (and even now I can’t remember the last time I had a cold!).
Well, I’m rambling and will stop here. I hope that maybe some of you have found something that might pique your interest though!

By: anina.net

anina.net — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 17:50:50 +0000

hey! have you seen raw chef dan’s new blog? check it out! http://www.rawchefdan.typepad.com

By: Geoff

Geoff — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 23:19:26 +0000

Extremely interesing article and comments. This is one of the best articles I have seen on the “raw food” debate, Mark.

Whether you agree or disagree with any particular diet or lifestyle, the important issue is to do what feel right and trust your body. I have personally experienced a renaissance of health and vitality over the past four years simply by eliminating fast food (I was a bonafide junkie — aka Subway Jared!), processed foods and simple sugars. I shed 50 lbs (220 to 170) and have easily held this weight for the past two years. Exercising consistently (8 hrs / week) helps too! Like Chef Dan, I too have not been sick at all since I changed my diet and lifestyle.

I am always looking for the ultimate “Fountain of Youth” and the raw food diet is very compelling. I’ve begun to swing my diet even farther towards the raw side, since I do believe plants can provide all of the “raw” ingredients that your body needs to assemble whatever proteins it requires.

What no one has mentioned here is this important point: When you sprout a seed or bean, the proteins that are bound up inside are released as nature converts the proteins into the basic building blocks of life — amino acids. (Take Wheatgrass, for example). When we consume the raw food (Wheatgrass juice), our body can assimilate those amino acids directly, instead of having to break down the proteins. This is incredibly efficient and the end result is that our bodies do not have to do “double duty” to get the muscle-building-brain enhancing-blood supporting amino acids that we require.

I have personally tested this concept during the final two weeks of my Triathlon training last August. I did a total body cleansing for two weeks, subsisting entirely on juiced organic fruits and vegetables, flax and borrage oils, nut milks and lots of water (Avg. daily caloric intake = approx. 1500 KCAL). Oh, and of course my daily 8oz. shot of wheatgrass juice from the local juice bar. I continued my normal training regimen including 3 x 1hr strength training sessions, 3 ea. swim/bike/run sessions and my weekly yoga and massage.

The results? I felt a little weak around days 2 and 3, but after that I felt incredibly strong and energetic. I even placed 4th in my age group in the sprint event — a personal best!

Mark, my point is that even though I agree with you about getting a good variety of clean, wholesome foods (including lean, organic meats and wild fish), I think there is something to the “raw food” thing that might warrant further research. I for one will be delving into this subject (and the sumptuous dishes) and keeping tabs on how I feel! It can only get better from here!

Your’s in health!

By: Andrea

Andrea — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 23:45:00 +0000

I think that IF I found truth and value to the idea that heating food beyond a certain temperature is bad for it and bad for me, then I’d consider eating that way.

However, to “properly” practice rawism I’d have to do a few key things, one of which is EAT RAW MEAT. Eggs, organ meats, fish in particular. Getting the high enough levels of both protein and fat I think would be very important to health on such a diet.

But, YMMV (your mileage may vary).