Hi everyone,

I hope you can all help me by giving me some advice. I want to start (slowly) on a raw vegan diet, but I have trouble deciding where (and how) to start. I'm the kind of person who likes to read thoroughly about food and nutrition; so far I have purchased 'The Raw Food Detox Diet', but nothing else yet. I have checked out a lot of websites and blogs, and am amazed by the amount of information, and all the positive stories I've read.
About my current lifestyle: I'm 29 and I've been a vegetarian for 23 years. I was vegan from the age of 19 'til 24, but had to abandon veganism due to a severe lack of B12. I eat a lot of fruit and vegetables, always have.

My main question is: what book(s) are highly recommended when starting 'raw'? I would like to read books that tell me what the basics are, how to start, what to beware of, etcetera. (I live in Amsterdam, and raw food is not as big here in mainland Europe as it is in the US)

Thank you in advance for your help!

I started by drinking green smoothies and felt so good I just kept going from there. Doug Grahams 80/10/10 mix is my daily goal. For some reading his website is:

[www.foodnsport.com]

This forum is also a good place to read about people's personal experiences when transitioning to raw and I have found that very helpful and motivating.

Hi Cheerleader,

My favorite author (and the one who got me into cooked food with her winning workshop) is Victoria Boutenko. She just updated her book, _12 Steps to Raw Foods: How to End Your Dependency on Cooked Food_ (Paperback - May 8, 2007), and not long ago, she wrote a newer book, _Green for Life_ (Paperback - Oct 20, 2005)

For really yummy recipes, I recommend _Raw Food Real World_ and _Ani's Raw Kitchen_. These have good pictures, accessible ingredients and some simple recipes that are still really good.

Have fun!

Betty

To get started all you really need to do is start adding raw food to your diet. I found raw greens and sprouts the easiest because they didn't interfere with my digestion of other things (they're low in fat), but nice and juicy - very pleasant and convenient. Other people find adding fruit easier.

Take the time to chew well, it makes a difference.

Some people prefer a more complicated approach, but I'm lazy, and I like to get the most nutrition from raw food so I don't like to cut it up until just before I eat it.

I highly recommend getting Dr Graham "The 80/10/10 Diet" from his website at foodnsport.com. This book has everything you need to know about eating a healthy and nutritious raw food diet.

There are different approaches to raw diet, and you'll need to decide what you want to do. Then if it doesn't work out, you can switch to another approach. Seems to me the main approaches, each a bit different, are in

Doug Graham's book with the 80-10-10

and/or

Dr. Gabriel Cousens book, Rainbow Green Live Food Cuisine

and/or

David Wolfe's book, The Sunfood Diet Success System

and/or

Victoria Boutenko's book, 12 Steps to Raw, especially the expanded and revised version, is awesome.

There are other great books -- by Storm (at [www.thegardendiet.com]) and Frederic Peternaude's book Raw Secrets. (I think of both Storm and Frederic as being more in line with Doug Graham.) There is also Shazzie's book published in the UK, Detox Your World, which is a great book and also has lots of recipes.

We are lucky there are so many good raw books out there. I have not listed half of the good ones, but these are the ones I think of as the most popular perhaps. I could be wrong.

By the way, Congratulations on your decision to go raw. Whatever it takes, it's MORE than worth it...!


I actually use advice from all of them, and am loyal to no one system, just working out my own.

Interesting Avocadess. Could you summarise the key differences between these 4 books?

Gary

Thank you all, for your help and advice. It is highly appreciated!

For the past 3 weeks I have started by 'just' adding more fruit, vegetables, nuts and sprouts to my diet. Most days I'm around 50% raw, but I already notice such a difference. The main reason for me to try this, is my bout with depression. I have been suffering from depression for two years now, and as I have not been taken any anti-depressants, it has been a tremendously hard time. But the past few weeks I feel 'lighter' in my head; clearer; more balanced. It must have something to do with the change in my diet.

The only minor thing is that I had hoped I would have clearer skin when going partially raw, but the opposite seems the case: for the past few weeks, I've been having skin problems non stop; blackheads, small zits. Could this be a normal, 'detox-like', reaction?

You know, for me, each time I have gone raw my skin (which is normally clear) starts to break out. I find this clears up at the 3 week point or so of being 100 percent raw. I think it is a detox symptom. Just focus more on how great you feel, and let the skin thing work itself out. I'm so glad your depression is starting ease up on you! Diet really can do wonders for mood problems.

I figured it would have something to do with the detox-effect... I'll try to be more patient, ha. Thank you, Selenes512
So far I've ordered a few more books, one of which is the '12 Steps...' book. I hope to arrive soon, can't wait to delve more into this!