MY EXPERIENCE WITH THE RAW FOOD DIET

This is my response to a question Marina posed in her blog in regards to raw food and its abilty to reverse diabetes natturally, and whether it was sustainable. As well as some of my own experiences being on a raw food diet.

I believe it is sustainable, if you just keep up the eating habit. Of course in this video, these individuals were at a facility/house where they were provided their meals everyday. Their environment made the process a little easier, since they had no other options to eat.

But talking from experience, being on a raw food diet can be difficult to maintain for many reasons, for example, temptation, financial, access, or lack of creativity. Even to begin the diet and make it a habit is difficult as we saw in the video.

But once someone makes a committment to change, this type of diet can do wonders. I currently have 4 friends that have been on a raw food diet for about 2 years now. They are extremely healthy and active people.

I believe one can definitely reverse diseases such as diabetes, but it will definitely come back if you revert back to the same eating patterns as before. So it is temporary if you choose to do the diet on a temporary basis. If you really want to make lifetime changes, I believe you have to make it a lifetime decision.

I was actually on an 80% raw food diet myself, and during that time it was the best that I have ever felt. My reasons for not sticking to the diet anymore is simply because I started to hang out with more people that weren't raw, therefore it was hard for me to maintain my raw food eating habits. It was my own weakness and addictions to cooked food. But for 1 year I maintained the raw food diet. I constantly tell myself that I want to go back and move more towards that kind of diet, because I know the positive effects it had on my body. I felt I had a lot more energy, and I hardly got sick. And since I was also working out, my body had never looked so great. It was actually during this time that I also lost a lot of weight. (I was a size 14 at one point, but as soon as I stopped drinking soda, I started loosing a lot of weight. Then i stopped eating red meat, and again the same affects. But the raw food diet really made me get down to my ideal weight. Size 7.) It is definitely possible to go back to those eating habits, but I just have to be diciplined about it. I think mostly during the time I was on the diet, it was because I had a strong support network. During that time most of my friends were either on that diet or were striving towards it.

Those that recommend the raw food diet, advocate that fresh vegetables and fruits, along with raw nuts, sprouted beans, or anything that hasn't been cooked (but vegetarian foods) have "live" enzymes that help your body process the food better, and maximizes your uptake of the nutritious contents of the foods.

But I do agree with Marina about having more investigations on this topic. I remember wanting to learn more, and I would enter raw food in OVID a few years back and I couldn't find much. Today, there were a few articles that I found. Here are some of them.

Some supportive evidence of positive health affects of eating raw food vegetables:
Salad and Raw Vegetable Consumption and Nutritional Status in the Adult US Population: Results from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.
Journal of the American Dietetic Association, Volume 106, Issue 9, Pages 1394-1404
L. Su, L. Arab

Hobbs SH. Attitudes, practices, and beliefs of individuals consuming a raw foods diet. [Journal Article] Explore-The Journal of Science & Healing. 1(4):272-7, 2005 Jul.

Abstract: OBJECTIVE: Describe dietary practices of U.S. raw foods leaders, examine diet rationale, attitudes and health practices of raw foodists. DESIGN: Nonexperimental, descriptive, using semistructured qualitative interview data. PARTICIPANTS: Purposeful (nonrandom) sample of 17 U.S. raw foods leaders, including 11 males and 6 females. Leaders were targeted to provide insights into practices modeled for larger community. PHENOMENA OF INTEREST: Attitudes, practices, and beliefs of individuals consuming a raw foods diet. ANALYSIS: Text analysis and simple descriptive statistics. RESULTS: Subjects averaged 13 years on the diet (range: 3-32 years). Twelve subjects reported a diet at least 85% raw. All diets were primarily vegan. Primary constituents included fruits and juices, vegetables, nuts and seeds, and vegetable fats. Subjects consumed no dairy, eggs, meat, fish, poultry, commercial sweets or alcohol in a typical week. Only one subject used a commercial, nonfood-based supplement weekly (vitamin B12). Six subjects consumed food-based supplements, and remainder used no supplements at all. On average, subjects met or exceeded recommended intakes of vegetables, fruits, and fats and did not meet recommendations for calcium-rich foods, protein-rich foods, and grains. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Those counseling raw foodists must understand the rationale and practices that characterize this eating style. Further research is needed on larger populations to validate findings and determine the extent to which reported health benefits may compare to those from other vegetarian diets. Further studies should examine food-handling and preparation practices in relation to food safety and raw produce

Reversing Diabetes Naturally

Six McDonalds-munching Americans eat 100% vegan live foods for a month. Medical results are fantastic. Doctors and experts are interviewed including Gabriel Cousens, MD and David Wolfe. Raw for 30-Days Raw for 30-Days will document the journey of five Americans suffering from Adult Onset Type II Diabetes, who undergo a radical 30-day diet and lifestyle change in the hope of reversing or reducing their insulin dependence. The film will show the eating habits that led to the development of this disease and will posit an alternative approach to living and eating, one in which foods can heal and hold the potential to reverse Diabetes. We will recruit subjects who have been subsisting on a standard American junk food diet and who are now insulin dependent and Diabetic. Those selected will journey to the Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center in Arizona to undergo a 30-day health regimen consisting of 100% raw organic living foods that are purported to heal Diabetes. We will select a diverse group of subjects, representative of the different segments of the population most affected by this epidemic. Examples include a Native American from a Reservation, an African American from an urban Northeast city, a Mexican American living in the western US and a Caucasian person from the mid-west or a Southern city such as Chattanooga, TN.

Spring '07 Semester has begun....

This blog is being started for a class requirement, but I do have to say that I am somewhat looking forward to it. Keeping a journal of my thoughts has always been difficult to do, I just always seem to get started and somewhere down the line I stop doing it.... then again I pick it up, and then again I give it a rest... So maybe as a class requirement, this process will be more consistent.

My first impression of our first day of class was good. Our professor seems really excited and committed in teaching this class. Plus he has numerous international professional experience, which adds to the lectures and coursework.

What I found very interesting from yesterdays lecture, were the changing trends in population. I am still a little unclear as to why the trend changes to a different shape. I find it interesting though because this has been a topic of discussion with some of my friends and I. My friend just found out that in Germany, the government is giving montly stipends for families that are having babies... I also just watched Children of Men, which is a great movie and I am recommending everyone go see. It was a bit eary, because its something that could happen, and probably is. I mean with the changes happening to our Mother Earth (global warming), and wtih things like radiation, our cell phone use (who knows whats these gadgets are doing to us in the long run), the hormones and steroids in the food we eat (that is unnatural and just WRONG), and all the genetically modified foods they are producing... I have even heard of rumors of corn being genetically modified to sterilize women (I'm definitely going to look this up now...). So its possible. Anyways, I feel like I have rambled, but I guess thats what this blog is for.

I'm really looking forward to this class. Its seems like its going to be a challenge, but I'm grateful for that. It seems that I learn the most from classes that are challenging. I can't wait for discussion as well.... and let me just say that I am really really looking forward to our discusssions on sustainable development. As some of my classmates know... I'm all about self-sustainable communities...