What exactly is a healthy raw food diet?

I was going to start out with Joel Fuhrman - 4 fruits a day, 1 lb raw veggies, 1 lb cooked veggies - but thought I might have a problem with the cooked.

Then I found the Arnold's way videos, and thought - hey I could do this - a big salad and fruit and veggie smoothies.

Then I found the Brian Clement/Paul Nisson philosophy - fruits cause cancer.

So much conflicting information. If a raw diet is going to cause cancer, maybe I should just stick with the pizza and Mickey D's?

where does paul nisson or brian clement say fruit causes cancer sorry but ive never heard that

obviously if micky d's and pizza is working foryou , you wouldnt be here asking , so the answer is no

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

This is certainly all based on opinion. Rather than reading and doing a bunch of research which I initally did in the begginning and found it led me to more confusion and heartache. I just listened to my body and ate what I felt good eating, which was raw fruits & veggies (some lightly steamed at times) & smoothies. You have to come to a point where you realize every diet fact is far from fact..It is entirely ones opinion based on their research and or experimentation with foods. I will tell you Mcdonalds and all of that garbage does nothing good for you inside, and makes you feel even more lathargic than any other cooked foods I have eaten in my entire life.
Stick to the basics and maybe pick up a '15 minute or less' raw food cook book. Your body will tell you when to make progress with your diet, and when to slow it down...

Arrrrrrrg! If fruit causes cancer, I should be dead of cancer 6 years ago. I eat so much fruit, there is no way this can be true, since I don't have the slightest hint of cancer.

Fruit does not cause cancer. Eating certain cooked foods causes cancer. Eating animal products causes cancer. Eating SAD causes cancer.

Nobody got cancer from eating only fruit!

I agree with Bryan!

Some people have a hard time with fruits. Some people have a hard time with vegetables and greens (me). Some people have a hard time with nuts or seeds.

Best to find out what raw foods are suitable for you. You can check out an online nutrition calculator like fitday, nutridiary or nutritiondata (my own favorite), and then try to fill your nutrient needs with the foods that agree with you best, while trying to include at least a little from each group.

Recognize that your needs and your food choices may change as time goes by. It's all OK.

Never blame yourself if you can't meet your dietary goals consistently right away (almost nobody can!). When eating cooked foods, eat the healthier and more easily digestible cooked foods like steamed veggies.

Nuts and seeds should probably be eaten only in moderation by just about everyone. Different people will have different ideas about what "moderation" is. Basically, it means eating to feel good, not to feel bad.

And don't forget to exercise!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/03/2009 04:09AM by suncloud.

There is no conflicting information....only various tools for whichever stage you are at. When you find what is right for YOU...there will be no conflict...only giving. There are many long-term raw food folks like myself.....and many...like myself that have eaten only fruit for many years...with no ill effects or cancer. In any event, I don't recommend any extreme eating change...especially for a beginner. Simply switching out high cooked foods for a healthy diet of more fresh fruits, vegetables & raw nuts should help you immensely.

-In any event, if YOU think eating raw foods will help you...you should do it...and observe your results....and don't believe the hype.

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

There is a video on YouTube entitled, "Brian and Anna Maria Clement on fruits, sprouts and weeds," where they(he) are being interviewed, and he says that no more than 15% of the diet, if that much, should be fruit. I know I was watching a Paul Nisson video last night where he said 4 or 5 fruits a week.

The Arnold's Way videos are so inspiring and I though I could do that easy. But I don't think I can just eat greens and sprouts - unless my stomach really shrinks, which no doubt it will, and I eat very few calories. And I mean, maybe a few hundred a day. Even with the fruit I was wondering how many calories can one really eat on this diet. I mean if the honey mustard dressing and the croutons aren't on my big salad - well it doesn't amount to many calories.

eating a percentage of fruit and saying fruit causes cancer are 2 different horses .. do you have alink to the youtube vids that claim this cancer claim or ?

eating raw doesnt = calorie restriction some of us quite eat quite a few calories in fact, this is not some rabbit food starvation diet its a way of life

i can just as easily put away 500 calories as i could pack away 5000 calories eating raw and vegan

what exactly is your motivation for being raw ?

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

I agree with davidzanemason!

It seems to me that the beauty of a raw food diet is that a person's body becomes more sensitive to all the food that's put into it. So if you start out with fresh whole fruits and some great salads and a few raw nuts and seeds, you'll be well on your way from there! Your body will tell you how you're doing.

Experiment. Find out what makes you feel great, and also what satisfies you. Make a change here and there along the way if you need to.

I strongly suggest that you buy all your nuts and seeds organic, (due to unfortunate past experiences of my own). And make sure they're really raw.

Jgunn is right!

The raw food diet is not necessarily calorie restricting! There are lots of great raw food dressings you can put on your salads. For a long time, my favorite was cold pressed olive oil and lemon juice. And I'd sprinkle raw wheat germ on my salads. Lots of calories!

Or you can chop or blend some avocado with cucumber and lemon juice, or make up a dressing without a fatty base. Put some fresh cilantro in it. MMMM. Whatever you like!

And of course, nuts and seeds have lots of calories. Definitely, you can get way too many calories on a raw food diet. But your body will more often let you know it.

(Boy, I sure couldn't make it on 4 or 5 fruits a week, but each to their own. Trouble is, sometimes when people find something that works for them, they think it's the best thing for everybody! I guess I've been guilty of that myself. I think we should just follow the raw food diet that keeps our bodies clean of unnecessary wastes, while also leaving us satisfied and sufficiently nourished.)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/03/2009 04:53AM by suncloud.

I am really not a troll if that is what you are thinking. I am really wanting to know.

I want to go on a raw food diet, because I am wanting to 1) lose weight - and hope that alone will erase a lot of my symptoms because I think they are weight related. 2) Hoping that eating healthy can further reduce damage I may have done to myself from years of SAD.

I had started doing this because of the book Superfoods RX by a dr in California - and was losing weight and feeling much better by drinking berry smoothies and eating lots of spinach salads. But I had kitchen problems - water damage and couldn't use the sink. In that time frame I have been eating worse than my normal bad eating.

I can't find the specific reference where he says that fruit causes cancer, but there are numerous references to his feeling on fruit and in the archives of the Hipocrates newsletter - Volume 24, Issue 2, he (or the author) discusses how any kind of sugar - from fruit also, feeds disease and weakens the pancreas and immune system, and that at the Institute, they remove all sugars from the diet.

I cannot provide the link because I don't have a mouse to cut and paste - or a right/left click on my laptop and have not gotten the hang of MacBook in that regard.

Thank you for all the information.

Actually it is Volume 26, issue 4 - sorry

no i dont think you are a troll and im glad you have opened up

i cant find the reference by volume or issue so i cant comment on that

but i can bet that a macdonalds diet is far more likely to cause you cancer than a diet rich in raw fruits and veggies

just my 2 cents

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

boysenberry,

Everyone gives good advice here, as per usual. As far as cancer goes: Brian Clement takes a cautious approach in that his clinical research for whether active cancer is benefited by sugar consumption from fruits(as well as from other sources, which is well established) is inconclusive. Cancer is the result of acidosis, not sugar consumption per se. Anything that alters your pH levels forces your oxygen-based cells to either suffocate or to mutate into a rudimentary carbon dioxide-based cell that can survive an acidified environment. If the former occurs, the cell dies. If the latter occurs, you have cancer. Cancers cells are fueled primarily by glucose, which is present in our body at all times, and is metabolized from sugars in foods and through other metabolic processes. It is unlikely that glucose from fructose is captured as easily by cancer cells as from sucrose from a candy, for example. But no one is sure. So at Hippocrates, they err on the side of caution with diagnosed cancer cases by limiting their sugar intake from fruits; other sugars aren't allowed, of course.

On balance, fruit, because it is alkalyzing and contains many phytochemicals that in aggregate help our physiology to maintain chemical balance, does more to aid the body in remaining cancer-free, than it does to encourage cancer. The problem with science is that it works with isolates--no one is tracking the effect on a balstoma of eating whole fruits every few hours. Researchers just fraction off one chemical and work with that. But I bet if in vivo studies tracked whole fruit consumption in a cancerous state, we would find that the fruit actually increases cellular oxygen levels, which has a conclusive detrimental effect on the cancer. But that's my own opinion on the biology of cancer based on experience.

Read as much as you can to try to get a handle on the diversity of regimens there are in Raw, and try to eat as wide a variety of fresh, ripe, whole vegetables and fruits, with some organic nuts, seeds and sprouts, as you can. Don't let yourself go hungry, don't deprive yourself of rest or exercise, and see how you feel. You can make changes as you go. But be confident that not eating that crap we call the SAD is the smartest thing you can do for your health, no ifs, ands, or buts : )