So far my impressions are pretty positive, although I am not entirely convinced that upping the fat to 20-25% would be a disaster. I think he makes a great point about how even raw food diets can get high in fat if you are not vigilant. I have been to two raw food restaurants and the first one left me feeling so sick that I couldn't eat any greens for two weeks! I felt that the nuts may have been to blame, as many of those gormet dishes tend to have nuts. But to go the other direction is a bit much. For instance, avocados contain lipase so I believe the fat gets broken down and doesn't stay in the system like Graham claims it does. And then he started saying how bad vinegar is, but does he mean RAW vinegar, also? I think it's just too extreme and for someone starting out, it can be demoralizing. So I will take the best and leave the rest for now

A couple of other observations: Graham disses dehydrated foods, as well as sea salt and spices. While I totally get the idea of fresh produce being optimal, I think it's a tad extreme to suggest that dehydrated food has no place in a raw food diet.

Dehydrated foods may seem good at first, but after a while on raw one can really feel how dehydrated foods is hm dehydrating...


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I don't think wanting to feel or acheive optimal health is "extreme" at all. If you're used to convenience foods, cooked foods, processed foods, maybe not eating anything dehydrated sounds extreme to you, but if you'd never heard of cooked food and you ate raw yoru whole life, cooked food mgiht sound extreme to you. It's all about where/how you grew up and what you're used to that you consider "extreme." And certainly an "extreme" idea doesn't equal a bad idea.

If you don't want to stop eating dehydrated foods, salts, spices, etc. altogether, at least reduce them in favor of frseh food. that's what raw food is. I don't think vinegar is food, raw or not, btw.

The point I am making is not that we should eat dehydrated foods 24/7 but not fear them entirely. He gives the impression that we will keel over and/or experience horrible symptoms by eating something dehydrated. I just don't believe that, especially if you come to raw without having serious health problems. There are people who have compromised digeston issues that are not totally related to SAD. If you are familiar with Raw Radiant Health and Natasha's videos, it's amazing how many health problems she had! She was even born with a heart defect, but she got all kinds of other stuff. Even now she has to be on a very low-fat diet with raw because she's allergic to avocados or something and can only eat a very little bit. She cannot digest fats very well, apparently. But she's not so strict about what others do, probably because she realizes that her situation is different than others.

banana who,

If as a beginning raw foodist, you're eating 20-25% fat, that's great. When I started, I was eating in excess in 60%. But it serves to put your daily menu into a nutritional calculator like  fitday, nutritiondata, nutridiary, or Cron-o-Meter to see what your fat intake is.

As for the other stuff in the book, it is not necessary to get there on day one. If dehydrated foods feel good to you, then enjoy them. And at some point, if they don't feel good, then allow them to fall away.

Thank you, Prana! That is exactly what I needed to hear. I am not high-raw yet, but I find myself getting discouraged when I read these books saying that even if you're 99% raw, that 1% is holding you back. It may be true, but right now I have to make changes in that direction at my own pace and when I read that I cannot have anything dehydrated, it feels too restrictive to me. I agree with you, there may come a time down the road that I will just stop wanting such foods. But it's on my time, not others' time. Thanks again...