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What's
the draw of going raw?
April 15, 04
Suzanne Havala Hobbs
How
about a nice big bowl of fresh, seasonal fruit for breakfast?
And a salad of garden-fresh vegetables for lunch. And for
supper.
Now imagine that’s what you eat every day. Every week.
For some people it’s a reality, as raw food diets have
become fashionable, especially in trend-setting big cities
like Chicago and New York and all over the West Coast. Magazines
have been reporting on the fad – profiling actors and
high-profile chefs and restaurateurs who have “gone
raw.”
What’s the draw?
A range of health benefits that “raw foodists”
attribute to properties of fresh, uncooked foods.
A raw foods diet, as practiced in the U.S., is usually a vegan
– totally vegetarian – diet of uncooked fruits,
vegetables and sprouted grains. They’re eaten as is
or used to make dishes such as uncooked pies, veggie burger
patties and layered lasagna-like entrees. Nothing is heated
to more than 118 degrees Fahrenheit, the temperature at which
raw foodists believe health-supporting food enzymes are destroyed.
Foods cooked by the sun – dehydrated fruit, for example
– are acceptable. But anything cooked the conventional
way – in a microwave, oven, or grill – is considered
“dead food” and is verboten.
Ideally, that is.
In reality, most raw foodists do eat some cooked food. The
intention or ultimate goal is a diet that is 100 percent raw.
That’s hard to achieve in a world in which cooked food
is the norm. Many raw foodists consider themselves “raw”
if about 80 percent of their diet is uncooked. Others set
the bar differently.
A typical exchange your might hear between raw foodists:
(John to Sally): “I’ve been about 80 percent raw
for three years. How long have you been raw?” (Sally
to John): “I was 50 percent raw for seven years but
have been 90 percent raw for the past three years.”
Sounds silly, but it shows the level of dedication and attention
to detail with which many raw foodists approach the diet.
I had the opportunity to attend and report on a weeklong international
conference of raw food chefs and practitioners in Jamaica
in 2000, and I have met others since then. Health drives most
raw foodists.
Many claim that “going raw” helped to solve long-standing
and often serious health problems, including gastrointestinal
conditions, allergies, asthma, arthritis, elevated blood lipids
and insomnia.
Raw foodists often say that they have increased mental clarity,
they need less sleep, and they have more energy than when
they ate cooked foods.
And most have lost weight on raw foods diets – usually
substantial amounts.
Important note: The health claims are largely anecdotal. Worldwide,
only a couple dozen papers examining health effects of raw
foods diets have been published in peer-reviewed scientific
journals. Some involved raw foodists who ate raw meats, such
as fish and liver (which may raise food-safety concerns).
So there isn’t enough evidence to suggest that any of
us adopt a raw foods diet any time soon. Nutritional concerns
about a raw foods diet include whether or not there is adequate
protein and vitamin B12 as well as rapid weight loss for people
with health conditions who may be on medications.
That said, there is surely a good argument for increasing
the proportion of our diets from fresh and uncooked foods.
All of us could benefit from eating more bananas and apples
and salad greens and fresh vegetables. Think of a salad bar
or the produce section of the supermarket – excellent
sources of foods in their natural state, free of added sugars,
salt, chemicals, and refined ingredients. We should eat far
more of these foods.
You may never introduce yourself as “I’m Sally,
70 percent raw.” But aiming for at least one big daily
dose of uncooked, fiber-rich fruits and veggies is a goal
worth reaching for.
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