Causecast

by KAREN MURPHY, Contributing Writer

Whether you know nothing about the raw foods diet or you’re ready to take the plunge today, we’ve rounded up everything you need to know about eating raw.

What Is It? Raw foods, also known as “living foods,” contain natural enzymes in their uncooked state. According to raw food theory, eating food that has been heated to over 104 to 116 degrees Fahrenheit destroys enzymes and changes a food’s molecular structure. Enzymes assist in the digestion of food and are considered to be what gives food its life force. Further, it’s argued that a raw diet is what human bodies were designed to consume—although as a species we’ve been cooking some foods for 40,000 years, the majority of the human diet has consisted of raw, plant-based foods throughout most of history.

A person is considered a raw foodist if at least 75% of what they consume is raw. It’s easy to assume that a raw diet contains only plant matter (primarily vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, and sprouted grains)—and most raw foodists are also vegans—but many raw foodists also eat raw meat, eggs and dairy products.

Why Raw? There are a number of reasons to go raw:
•Weight Loss. Raw plant foods contain a high proportion of fiber and water, making it difficult to overeat. In addition, plant foods are nutrition-dense, meaning that the body is naturally satiated when eating an adequate amount of these high-nutrition foods, whereas with high-calorie but low-nutrition foods, the satisfaction rate is low, leading one to consume more to compensate. In addition, unless you’re eating primarily nuts and seeds, a raw diet is low in fat. Many raw foods also are digested more easily than many cooked foods, making digestion more efficient. A pound of raw vegetables takes up far more space and has far fewer calories than, for instance, a pound of potato chips or a pound of steak. On a raw or mostly-raw diet, your body will almost certainly find its natural “setpoint.”
•Increased vitality. Raw foodists report increased energy on a raw diet. In addition, there are reports of increased muscle strength and stamina. Many top athletes have made the switch to a raw diet and there are numerous forums and other resources dedicated to discussing the experience.
•Increased Health. Raw foodists make a variety of claims about the health benefits of eating raw, including the healing or prevention of cancer and other diseases. While these claims have yet to be proven, certainly there are benefits from eating a large amount of fruits and vegetables. Especially if switching to a raw diet is a change from the consumption of the Standard American Diet, then the change would lead to an improvement in overall health.
•Detox. Moving to a 100% raw or mostly-raw diet can have detoxification effects, helping to remove toxins from the body that can cause liver damage. Most detox diets are based on the consumption of raw foods.
•Better for the Environment. Raw foodists eat primarily organically-grown foods so as to avoid ingestion of pesticides and other harmful chemicals. In addition, there’s relatively little energy used in the preparation of raw foods as opposed to foods that need to be cooked. Raw foodists, by definition, avoid processed foods. Most are also vegans or vegetarians and their personal carbon food footprint is correspondingly low.

Types of Raw Diets. There is astounding variety among raw foodists, with several different schools of thought on the matter. A selection:
•Fruitarian. Just what it sounds: the consumption of only fruit.
•Sproutarian. Do you like sprouts, a LOT? This diet is for you.
•The Primal Diet. A diet consisting of fatty meats, organ meats, dairy, honey, minimal fruit and vegetable juices and coconut cream, all raw.
•The Paleolithic Diet. Also known as the Hunter-Gatherer Diet, this is a real throwback to the old days. Includes consumption of meat, chicken, fish, organ meats, eggs, fruit, vegetables (especially root vegetables, but not including potatoes or sweet potatoes), nuts, and berries.
•The Raw Food “Gourmet” Diet. This involves intricate preparations of raw foods created to simulate or approximate cooked foods. It’s delicious and it’s healthy, but it’s also a new way of cooking that has a learning curve.
•The Typical Raw Diet. Raw foodists who are also vegans or vegetarians tend to run in two schools of thought: the high-fat path (lots of nuts and seeds) to get adequate caloric intake, and the high-fruit path (eating lots of, well, fruit). Vegetables alone, in their raw state, have relatively few calories and a relatively high amount of fiber, so some consideration to nutritional density should be made.

Side Effects of Eating Raw. Even if you’re already a vegan or vegetarian, moving to a completely-raw or mostly-raw diet will have some effects.
Expect the following:
•Detox symptoms. Mild headaches and nausea are common for the first few days. One can’t just stop eating McRibs lickity split and expect to get off that easy.
•Weight loss. This can be either positive or negative depending on the state of your body now. The rule of thumb is, if you think you’re losing weight too quickly on a raw diet, try increasing your caloric intake (adding calorie-rich fruits like bananas and mangoes, for instance).
•Cravings. These generally disappear after a few days or a couple of weeks. After about two weeks, your body will have adjusted to the raw diet.

Who Should Avoid a Raw Diet. It’s a good idea for people in the following groups to avoid a raw diet:
•Children
•Pregnant or nursing women
•People with anemia
•People at risk for osteoporosis—A Washington University study found that people following a raw food diet had lower bone mass. Bone turnover rates, however, were similar to the group that ate a standard American diet.

Special Tools. Most raw meals can be made without special tools or equipment, but a few basic kitchen essentials make the raw life a little easier.
•You’ll want a blender for preparation of smoothies, practically a raw food staple that can contain fruits and vegetables for an exceptionally nutritious dish. Many raw foodists swear by the Vita-Mix.
•Some rawists also use a food dehydrator to make things like crackers, bread, cookies, or to dry meat for jerky, etc. The dehydrator doesn’t heat the food but instead relies on air circulation to dry it, making crackers crisp, for instance.
•If you’re a juicing fan you probably already own a juicer, and creating fresh raw juices is another way to pack in nutrition.
•If you’re sprouting your own grains and legumes, you’ll want some large glass containers; they’re non-reactive and provide a good environment for soaking and sprouting.

What You Can Eat. There’s an amazing variety of foods that fall under the raw category. Choose from the following: fruits, vegetables, sprouts, nuts, seeds, grains, sea vegetables, and other organic/natural foods that have not been processed. In terms of beverages, you can drink water and freshly-made juices. Use cold-pressed, unheated oils. Try raw nut butters. Use raw cacao powder for chocolate flavor.

What You Can’t Eat. Basically, anything that’s been processed at over 101-116 degrees F, including: cooked or processed foods, coffee, tea, condiments (ketchup, etc) that have been cooked. In addition: sugars, artificial sweeteners, butter, any pasteurized dairy products, jam, chocolate. Here’s a great raw food conversion chart to help you get started.

How to Eat Raw. Now you know the why’s and the wherefore’s of raw eating, and you’re ready to get started. What do you do with all that great fresh local organic raw produce you picked out from the farmers market?
•Smoothies. There’s nothing easier to make than a smoothie and you can experiment with different proportions of fruits, veggies and greens. Bananas, mangoes, and berries make a great base for experimentation. The flavor of your smoothies will change with the seasons, depending on what you put in.
•Nut butters and milks. Seeds contain essential fatty acids, and nuts contain monounsaturated fats that help build cell walls. Soak your organic seeds for a few hours, then use these techniques to make milks, “yogurts,” and butters. For cheese, you can have unpasteurized raw goat cheese, but the ideal would be to make your own nut cheese.
•Salads. You know how to make a salad already, but try these variations (sea vegetables! bok choy! kale!) or even more recipes. Vinegar is a raw food no-no, so you’ll want to make your dressing with a fresh juice base.
•Soups. Move beyond gazpacho with easy-to-prepare blended soups like Cream of Cauliflower and Spicy Mango Ginger.
•Entrees. These get trickier since you’ll be approximating familiar cooked foods in many cases. For instance, make raw angel hair pasta by spiral-slicing zucchini into thin strips or veggie burgers by blending soaked seeds with vegetables, forming patties, then dehydrating in a food dehydrator. Creating satisfying entree-like dishes that utilize only raw foods is an art form and requires different cooking techniques than you are probably used to. Make allowances for a steep learning curve.
•Desserts and “baked” goods. Again, using new techniques that often require your special tools (blender or dehydrator), you can approximate many desserts and cookies. Once you master basic techniques of chopping/blending/dehydrating, you can successfully experiment.

Eating Raw at Restaurants. Don’t have a raw vegan restaurant in your town? No problem!. Salads (without meat, croutons, etc) are good bets or ask for a selection of crudités.

Get Raw Food Delivered to Your Door. If you have some extra bucks to spend on your new diet, you can have a box of prepared, organic raw foods sent to you. The box includes two savory soups, four gourmet entrées, four side dishes and two desserts for about $120 from RAWvolution. You can also receive everything you’ll need to eat for five weeks from Pure Raw Cafe for $1040 (not including shipping).

Bottom Line Must-Read Before Going Raw. The ultimate resource is often found in someone else’s experience. In this case, self-help guru Steve Pavlina’s must-read blog goes into detail about his experiences with a 30-day raw food trial: how he did it, what he tried, past failures, new successes, and his decision to stay raw indefinitely. Steve opted not to delve into learning new cooking techniques and instead, relied heavily on his blender to eat all of his foods in their natural form.

Raw Food Criticism and Caveats. You knew there’d be some, right?
•Nutritional deficiencies. Raw foodists run the risk of developing deficiencies in adequate calcium, iron, vitamin B12, protein and calories. Studies have shown that raw foodists have, overall, lower bone mass, so pay attention to calcium intake.
•Food safety. Raw food critics wonder about the safety of foods that are unheated. Certainly if you’re planning on consuming raw meat you’ll want to choose the best quality possible (i.e. organic, grass-fed, etc), but all raw foods should be high-quality and organically-grown if possible. Be careful with foods like spinach that have a history of issues with e.Coli; always choose locally-grown foods if you can. Practice common-sense food handling techniques and wash your food before you eat it.

Bad science. The jury’s still out on whether or not many of the theories behind the raw foods movement holds up. Make the most educated decision you can for you and your body.

Raw Food Resources. Get help when you need it: Check out Living and Raw Foods for an extensive recipe collection and a huge selection of community resources. The Best of Raw Food provides recipes, an informative blog, tips on getting started and food safety guidelines.

Photo by Geoff604, flickr