opinions about the raw food diet
i find diet fads pretty interesting. mostly entertaining, actually - i got a big kick out of the Atkins craze ::)
i used to think the raw diet was one of the less harmful fad diets, because who can complain about a vegan diet that is based in veggies, fruit and seeds? seems pretty healthy to me! but while lurking around a raw food diet message board today, i found a post from a woman who was terrified because her hair was falling out and thinning considerably. i don't know how many people have experienced extreme hair loss, but it is really scary! the really scary part, though, was the responses by the other people. they all just told her to calm down - it's just your body releasing toxins!
i thought this was ridiculous! the poor girl is going bald! she probably has some kind of deficiency that could be really harmful to her health. i don't think it is rocket science to assume that when your hair starts falling out in handfuls that there is something wrong! i just though it was disturbing to read this. :-\
I think people can get deficiencies on any diet and that advice may be found on both sides of the spectrum for the same symptom. It is improtant to do a tonne of research from all aspects, then listen to what your body tells ya. And don't go to crazy in the process... :D
While I was spending too much time and too much money in Whole Foods one afternoon ::), I went over to the book section. I picked up a book about raw diets and skimmed through it. One of the things I found out is that eating a raw diet has nothing to do with being vegan. There are many that eat a raw diet that also consume raw eggs, raw unpasteurized milk, and raw fish. :P I've never been into any type of "diet" let alone a fad diet. I eat a vegan diet, eat whatever I want relating to it, and run and hike to stay fit. I find most diets are just that....a fad. One has to learn a healthy lifestyle in order to be just that...healthy.
Bobbi Luvs Broccoli, maybe this person was on a raw vegan diet. I've read some things, although I'm not sure if it's true, about people who tried a raw vegan diet and only ate raw nuts and plants and were very unhealthy and died fairly early in age. I could be wrong, though. However, I think a raw food diet that incorporates a well rounded diet, then its okay. I gues just not to the extreme where you can't eat anything. Who knows? :-\
I think it's fairly easy to adopt a strict diet (raw foodism, for example) without the knowledge of how to keep up the right amount of nutrition. hair loss like that is associated with extreme weight loss and/or malnutrition, which happens sometimes when entire food groups are omitted without anything filling in the caloric/nutritional void. if that's the case, education ought to solve the problem. that said, everyone's different-- some people are healthier following one lifestyle than others. a raw foods diet is surely not the best for everyone.
I have read a fair bit about raw food diets and I came to a few conclusions. I find that a 100% is not a healthy choice, certainly not for most people, but increasing consumption of raw foods is probably a healthy idea. It is when one moves to the extreme level that there seem to be problems. I read that only 3/10 raw foodists can really keep up the diet. Aside from it being even more time-consuming to prepare foods and more difficult to eat in public, many of the people trying these diets experienced diarhhea and illness. As Bobbi mentioned, these illnesses were all explained as toxins being cleared out of the body, even when the illness occured 2 years into the diet. I also read comments from raw foodists saying we are supposed to have that very thin look and the "natural, round" look of most people is actually because most of us are overweight. Of course there are healthy raw foodists out there, but I read reasons for both sides and I am not convinced it is healthier to go all raw because some foods are actually healthier for us once cooked because of certain things that are released when heated. By excluding heated foods you are excluding TONS of healthy foods that are great for the body. I did eat at a raw restaurant recently and it was fabulous. My server told me that by letting the almonds sprout they were 400X more nutritious! If I had a private chef cooking for me and making sure I got all the right nutrients, sure it sounds good. I don't think it is very realistic for the majority of people. I would recommend going 70% or something like that if it is something you are considered. Most people try to phase foods out and work towards 100%, but if your goal is health then perhaps finding a balance that works for you would be best.
i work at an organic farm, and almost everyone here has a modified diet.
A girl here follows a raw vegan diet, and like other posters examples above, her hair is very thin. She eats something like 10 bananas, 15 tomatoes, two heads of romaine, 10 oranges, and a watermelon, every day. She also does not use supplements, and is training for a marathon.
She tires easily and is in the restroom every 15 minutes.
Perhaps I should ask her more about her diet.
Sounds like this girl might be pregnant.
I knew some lovely artist hippies back in the day who almost lost their children to the state because all three were suffering from Rickets (Vitamin D deficiency).
Especially when children are involved, a 100% raw foods diet makes it difficult to get all nutrients necessary to thrive and grow. You really have to know what you are doing. For real.
Extremes are always dangerous, especially if you don't have firsthand, well-founded info. A friend of mine "went veggie" just after talking to me for awhile and I discovered she was basically living on lettuce and wholegrain bread. Not!! I pointed her in the direction of this board, plus some other excellent resources.
I think raw foodism without consulting a qualified nutritionist would be like doing extreme physical workouts without consulting a trainer or someone like that...you can hurt yourself through lack of knowledge.
I was pleased when I was in our one-and-only organic store on Tuesday when the girl at the cash desk responded to my query about Bach's flowers with these words: "I know they're very good for a lot of things but I wouldn't dare just advise you on this or that one without checking with our natureopath. She really knows this stuff, I'd just be repeating what she said and I might get it wrong."
I'm kind of getting "anti-raw" vibes from this thread. I urge you before dismissing a raw diet to actually Research it, instead of basing your decisions of heresay and half-truths ( think about what omni's "know" about vegans........)
(And that wasnt direceted at anyone in particular)
I've met a women who has followed a raw vegan diet for YEARS and she's insanely healthy. No thining hair with her. But she also sprouts grains and eats helluva diverse foods....
I'm kind of getting "anti-raw" vibes from this thread. I urge you before dismissing a raw diet to actually Research it, instead of basing your decisions of heresay and half-truths ( think about what omni's "know" about vegans........)
(And that wasnt direceted at anyone in particular)
I've met a women who has followed a raw vegan diet for YEARS and she's insanely healthy. No thining hair with her. But she also sprouts grains and eats helluva diverse foods....
I agree with you Ashley. A raw vegan diet is probably one of the healthiest lifestyles one can live by. There is nothing that says vegetables or fruit need to be cooked before it is consumed. Cooking actually takes away some of the vitamins and nutrients. The girl that lost her hair and was having other health problems may have had any number of reasons for it. She might have been eating some lettuce and a carrot everyday, and that's it. I do know that way back before I became vegan, when I first became a veggie, I was eating all the wrong stuff. I lived on bagels, pasta, and pizza. I didn't know what to eat and I did not read anything about a proper diet. i just knew I did not want to eat meat any longer. I gained weight, was tired all the time and didn't feel I had the right amount of strength. I did read, and learn, and got much healthier. Now being vegan, and eating an organic diet I am in better shape now then when I was 18. I feel better. Those that I have become acquainted with that are on a totally raw diet seem to be some of the healthiest individuals I have ever met. I really have no desire to move to a raw diet myself. I'm vegan for animal rights issues, and environmental issues. I just get to enjoy the fringe benefits that come along with the diet/lifestyle I chose.
First off I wouldn't call a raw diet a fad any more than a vegan diet. I am friends w/ several completely raw vegans that are amazingly healthy. I personally will go months at a time totally raw and feel healthier than just vegan. You have to get your nutrients from a variety of places not just watermelon and tomatoes.
One of my good friends healed her diagnosed fatal pancreatic cancer w/ raw food. After being told by her doctor that there was nothing left that they could do she stopped all 'treatments' and started researching alternative medicine. She used Chinese herbs and raw veganism and is still here three years later w/ no recurrence.
Looking at the average American and the illness that surround them, focusing on raw as what is unhealthy verses people not making good decision seems insane.
I'm not saying that a raw diet cannot be healthy - i have heard so many stories of people curing their so-called incurable diseases just by becoming raw foodists. I'm sure that when done right, a raw food diet can be extremely healthful. what i found so disturbing was that this girl was obviously not following a healthy diet - and the only explanation that she was getting was that her body was releasing 'toxins'
maybe i just don't know much about 'toxins', but that does not seem like a satisfactory explanation to me. usually, when your hair falls out it means you have some kind of deficiency. i think sometimes raw foodists get really dogmatic sometimes about their diets, and sometimes deny serious health risks that come with a raw lifestyle. for those people who are raw and healthy and loving it - more power to you!
maybe i just don't know much about 'toxins', but that does not seem like a satisfactory explanation to me. usually, when your hair falls out it means you have some kind of deficiency. i think sometimes raw foodists get really dogmatic sometimes about their diets, and sometimes deny serious health risks that come with a raw lifestyle.
I agree with you. I would guess that these people are suffering from some underlying eating disorder that would probably show up in any diet though. Just my opinion. Many people use these 'special' diets to cover up a more serious problem.
usually, when your hair falls out it means you have some kind of deficiency.
A bunch of my hair fell out when I started menopause. Ockham's razor says that you're probably right and the woman was not getting proper nutrition from her dietary choices. But as at least one other poster has suggested, the hair loss could coincidentally coincide with the diet changes.
I, too, worry about any health concern being dismissed as simple "detox."
Supposedly, there was some study on raw food diets (are there enough raw foodists to do one...?) where basically what was found is they had a lower bone density, but it wasn't clear if this meant a greater fracture rate/all the unpleasant effects of osteoporosis.
Any diet has to be "well-rounded" to be healthy. You can be an unhealthy vegan by drinking soda all day (natural as it may be) and eating french fries; you're still vegan, but you're not healthy.
It seems like it's harder to get a "well-rounded" diet as a raw foodist because most raw food you find in a grocery story including fruit, vegetables, maybe some nuts, and dried fruit. This alone isn't enough for adequate nutrition; namely you're missing out on the starchy things in life, meaning grains and beans. The way I understand that you can eat these as raw is only by spouting them (otherwise they're not really edible raw). But you can't buy sprouted barley or the like in a regular grocery store; it means you have to do it yourself.
I've heard both stories of "help! my hair is falling out!" from new vegans AND new raw foodists. (usually vegans though). It always seems that they made the diet change by excluding the taboo foods but not by adding anything to replace them nutritionally. I'm sure a raw food diet with an effort to get all the nutrients necessary can be healthy.
That being said, and this is just hearsay, but I've heard that sprouts aren't totally good for you. Apparently when seeds/etc are sprouted (or perhaps certain seeds), they create toxins. The reason why is a spout is basically a baby plant, and it's a defense from getting eaten (like any good poisonous or bad-tasting plant). It makes sense, but I'm not sure if a toxin would be present in a significant level, or how much you'd have to eat to get an effect.
faunablues, could you provide the source where you read that thing about the sprouts? it that is true, that they are toxic, (which does make sense) then a huge part of the raw vegan creed is actually not true. i have heard raw vegans say over and over that once a grain has sprouted, it has hundreds of times more nutrition than unsprouted. :o
i have another question though, and maybe no one can really answer it, but here it goes: maybe you can be healthy on a raw vegan diet, but why would you want to? there are lots of healthy regular vegans out there, and even plenty of healthy omnivores. if it is so much harder/expensive to be healthy on a raw vegan diet (not to mention all of the social difficulties a raw vegan would face) why even bother with such a limiting diet in the first place? granted, being vegan is hard too, but most people are vegan because they feel that it is wrong to harm animals. i don't think too many people become raw foodists because they feel sympathy for cooked veggies. ;)
granted, being vegan is hard too, but most people are vegan because they feel that it is wrong to harm animals. i don't think too many people become raw foodists because they feel sympathy for cooked veggies. ;)
Unless they heard "Carrot Juice is Murder" and have no sense of the ridiculous... ;D ;D ;D
Some sprouts are okay to eat raw, like alfalfa sprouts or lentil sprouts, but some sprouts release toxins, such as kidney bean sprouts, and they need to be cooked first before eaten. It depends on the certain sprout. I googled sprouts and got a lot of info.
I'm glad this is here...sorry I didn't see it before I started the new thread.
I have met only 2 raw foodies, but they were both really healthy. I'm not sure I could be 100% raw, because I couldn't afford all the appliances needed for being strict. I haven't tried sprouting, but I want to give it a go. When I first became a lacto-ovo when I was 16 I ate real poorly, but I'm much better now that I'm vegan. I guess it's being conscious of what you need to supplement until it becomes habit.
I just watched a trailer for the upcoming documentary "Raw for 30 days". There are some other videos on youtube that you might find interesting:
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=raw+for+30+days&search=Search
The first one is the one I just watched. I'm hoping that when the documentary comes out that it goes to netflix soon after!
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