This may well be a contentious issue, but I think it's important to talk about it none the less. I've had a ton of success keeping my raw diet low fat. Besides the medical benefits, I just feel so much better.

I wrote up this article: [www.raw-food-health.net] talking about why it's important to eat low fat.

Many raw foodists are of the opinion that if fat is raw it's ok, but science is pretty clear that high fat diets are not healthy.

What do you think?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/03/2009 12:00AM by RusticBohemian.

As much as I have tried, I have never found a single reputable source for the "candida" problem.

I think it's just something to scare people into buying something and it always seems to be connected to some questionable alternative health practitioner's pitch.

I completely agree with Rustic. When I was following the low fat 80/10/10 (I admit, I fell off the wagon a bit during December) I felt the best in my life. My skin was clear, I was losing weight, I had so much energy, and slept better than ever. I've found that even when I tried 'snacking' on pistachios or other nuts at parties, they're just not as appealing as they used to be--same with other high fat foods. I guess everyone's different in that respect, but I would encourage anyone in the season of making New Year's resolutions to at least try a month of eating low-fat raw and see how you feel. (And read the article above. It's pretty good.) Cheers!

I'm not going to say much more than what has already been said, but since going low fat I feel even better then when I initially went raw and lost 100 lbs.

david

Couldn't find the 1998 mice study (reference 6) at Duke University but found this article..

"In the (Duke) study of a genetic strain of diabetes-prone mice, the researchers found that cutting fat from 40 percent to 10 percent of their total caloric intake caused complete reversal of their diabetes, regardless of what stage in life the mice began the low-fat diet. And while the mice lost weight, the researchers found that weight loss alone could not account for the reversal, Surwit said."

[www.scienceblog.com]

..so the study is on "diabetes-prone" mice? And why were they feeding mice a diet with 40% fat, and what type of fats were they feeding them?.. seems odd since mice in the wild would not naturally encounter that diet..

..and are these responses to a low-fat diet in diabetes-prone mice comparable to responses expected from the average human raw foodist? I checked PubMed and couldn't find the study referenced, which means to me it is not widely used..



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/03/2009 03:50PM by loeve.

.. the problem with many mice studies (besides vegan ethical considerations):

"The survey results are described in a commentary published in the April 2008 issue of the journal Cell Metabolism. The commentary discusses research utilizing high-fat mouse diets that was published in 2007 in the journals Cell Metabolism, Diabetes, The Journal of Clinical Investigation, Nature and Nature Medicine.

These studies' major failing, Warden said, is comparing mice fed high-fat "defined" diets, often consisting of 60 percent lard, 20 percent sucrose and 20 percent casein or milk protein -- the mouse equivalent of "pork rinds, ribs and Coke" -- with mice fed a vegetable-based high-fiber "undefined" diet called chow composed of varying amounts of carbohydrate, fat and protein."

[www.medicalnewstoday.com]

Yeah, there's a big difference between whole foods diets and purified diets in mice and in humans. Mice on purified diets get a lot more cancers than mice on whole foods diets, when the pfc ratios are kept the same. Not that I am defending fat.

I feel better when I eat a couple of small avocados and a young coconut everyday (not all at the same time).

I feel better when i eat about 20-30% of my daily calories from fat. It may seem alot, but in my typical day, its about 3 tablespoons of flaseeds and one big tablespoon of some oil... I eat more vegetables than fruit too, so there is no such thing as "A raw diet is either high in fat or in sweet fruits"...

There is a middle...

That's funny, Mira, because I've been trying to figure out an "amount" of fat that is right for me, and I know for sure it's not 10% right now. I don't feel well on that low, for whatever reason. And you said 3 T. and then 1 T. and I actually just realized about a week ago that 1/4 c./day of some fat, whether it be oil or high-fat hempseeds or whatever, which is the same as 4 T.

I don't have an issue with low-fat diets and I'm glad you all feel well!!!

mira

Quote

and one big tablespoon of some oil

I wonder if separated out fats like oils are used better by the body then fats that are still part of whole foods ?

Certainly not, that is why i prefer eating seeds or nuts rather than their oil. But i like the texture oil gives to my raw sauces. But sometimes i'll just mill sesame or some other nut/seed to put in my sauces...

My favorite pasta sauce is made of butternut squash, sundried tomatoes and ground sesame seeds...hmmmm

I feel best on low-fat raw thus far. I don't have any stable length of time on any raw modality to really say much though. Science wise, makes the most sense, and I have felt the best thus far...

I am trying no fat now and I feel a cloud lifted from me.

it seems to me, how i feel it, in long-term maintaining of stability, combining the "high" fruits (much fruits) with "high" fats is the way to go... ---with "fats" in this case i mean fats originating from natural whole fruit foods: organic avocado and unprocessed inshell nuts, - such as: brazil nuts, hazel nuts, macadamias, etc..., OR a few tea-spoons of organic cold pressed olive oil or flax seed oil might be OK too...