Vegan Raw Food

[Tofu Monster]

This is something that I know very little about, so would be grateful if anyone could point me in the direction of some useful reading material/information. Cheers. :)

[foxytina_69]

http://www.shazzie.com

read her journals.

[eve]

Hi Tofu Monster - you'll find this website very interesting for raw foodies: http://www.living-foods.com/

[gertvegan]

gertvegan knows nothing about raw food diets, yet. Check out this site for links to almost everything vegan. The raw section is the 2nd column from the left, about half way down. http://myhq.com/public/s/u/susanv/ :)

[veganmike]

Don't forget to read the other side of the story, too.

http://www.veganhealth.org/articles/cooking

[Tofu Monster]

thanks for your input chaps, i shall peruse this info anon. :cool:

[phillip888]

hey tofu monster, I'm a raw vegan. I think raw secrets is a good read after you look at some other stuff. There's a fad element to raw food diets (a lot of raw 'recipes' are targeted at that world, all nuts and grains and other stuff people have no business eating in large volumes), and then there are plenty of opponents (refer to vegan mikes link for some typical anti-raw vegan propaganda). I've seen a lot of people claim that raw veganism is unhealthy, silly, cultish etc. Usually with the exact same language people use to dismiss anything they are uncomfortable (like vegan, vegetarian, socialism, etc..) with or to justify destructive behavior. Usually with an example of their own failure. Of course one can never be blamed for their own failure right?...

Anyway it's changed my life. The important thing to understand is that there are a few foods that aren't edible or desirable raw, you don't have to eat 100% raw foods to benefit, you will have to eat more (I see this as a positive aspect, I love to eat good food), and that it will scare the heck out of people around you who can not deal with change.

Oh, and I have noticed a drastic positive change in my health. One of the biggest is that I no longer have asthma attacks, but I also have athletic endurance that I didn't have in my twenties.

[eve]

I came across this Russian vegan/raw foods website: http://www.rawgarden.org/about.html

[foxytina_69]

thank u :D raw foodism is one of my intense interests.

[Mystic]

I am fascinated by raw foodism, but I must say, I don't really understand why you would do that. Being a vegan in society is hard enough on it's own. I don't mean to offend anyone...but I would love someone to tell me how they cope in society being a raw foodist...

[foxytina_69]

i dont see how it would be hard? i dont find it hard to be vegan at all in society. ud just have to eat salads when going out lol rather then sumthing cooked.

[Mystic]

I know that if I was a raw fooder I would probably be emaciated! I couln't live off salads...I would wither away into nothing - there is only so much nuts and avocados I could stomach!!!! I have tried Essene bread, and it is very yummy...but expensive. I also am not a massive fan of sprouts. I would love to hear from someone who is 100% raw and a normal weight. Do you ever miss cooked food? Do you ever feel odd or deprived? Is your entire social circle raw? If not, what if you get invited somewhere for dinner?

[foxytina_69]

u actually dont wither away to nothing =) your body stabalizes after a certain point once your body gets used to the diet, u gain weight.

[cedarblue]

i have friend whose partner is raw foodist and she admits that it does sometimes isolate him socially even more than being vegan can sometimes do.

friend is on hols at the mo but i will post the raw food site that she recommended to me when she gets back....keep looking here :)

[mattd]

i thought raw foods would be an extremely boring diet, but from looking at this cookbook from the library i changed my mind. there's tons of good vegan meals that can be "cooked" raw. all you need is a dehydrator. dehydrating does basically the same thing that cooking does, without destroying enzymes, minerals, and vitamins. it's been a while since i looked at the book, so i can't remember any recipes off the top of my head, but i remember they even had a raw vegan "cheese" made from nuts. one of the big downsides to "cooking" raw is that you usually need prepare everything the day before since dehydration takes a while.

[Sabster]

In terms of society, well it depends on how much you care. I don't really... when it comes to diet. Having said that I think it's interesting but I'm not interested in adopting it.

You should take a look at the calorie content & fat content of ready made raw food.... my eyes nearly popped out (ok I'm exaggerating)... a lot of the stuff looks good... but I imagine anything you dehydrate is going to be much more concentrated to get to the volume you have if it was liquid. A lot of prepared raw food is supposed to taste good... or so I've heard. But high caloric content so in the long term if you sat around eating a lot of that I'd think you'd put on weight not the other way around. But that's kind of an imbalance... a balance w a lot of raw fruits ... raw veggies that haven't been dehydrated... etc... and a meal or two of prepared raw foods would be about the same... or perhaps a little less.

I'm guessing... just a little logic... or my thought process. Granted the pictures on raw food cookbooks of some of the raw foodists is well ahhhh the picture of emmaciation. So, yeh.

[Gorilla]

i like the idea of raw food, but i don't know much about it. i'm hoping to learn a lot more from sites like these. at the moment it seems to me to be cutting out a whole load of important food groups like some vegetables and cereals ???

i'm also concerned about the ecological aspect of eating diverse fruits and nuts that can't be grown in the locality - i don't think i could live just on mushrooms and tomatoes grown in my own tiny back garden, and i don't believe there are many suitable foods that can be grown in the UK.

i'm open to being corrected...!!! :)

[foxytina_69]

i think dehydrating is more for adjusting to the raw food diet, as u arent getting full nutritional benefits from dried food. its mostly supposed to be fresh and raw. there are many recipes for raw, u can make anything raw. u can make cheese yes, and pates, and deserts and smoothies and juices and soups and cheesecake and milks and anything. u just have to know how to work with the foods :)

gorilla, the only vegetables it cuts out are the ones that need to be cooked. like potatoes for example. and cereals arent important. they are just processed with a bunch of vitamins thrown in. id much rather get those vitamins from fresh fruit and veggies :)

[Mystic]

Raw, on the outside sounds ideal to me, but (sorry I forget who it was) said that the calorie value of some raw dishes are very high...The high calorie content would be from something like nuts and avocado...those are things that I find quite rich and sickly in those sorts of quantities. Also, by eating loads of dry fruit on top of fresh fruit, veggies, nuts and seeds and sprouts, wouldn't you be getting waaaaaaaaay too much fibre???? I already have too much fibre and I am by no means a raw fooder!!!

[foxytina_69]

thats why u go raw slowly, 50%, 60%, 70%, until u get to a hundred. that way your body adjusts to the fibre and it doesnt affect u. u do this as slowly or quickly as u feel the need to.

[ConsciousCuisine]

at the moment it seems to me to be cutting out a whole load of important food groups like some vegetables and cereals ??? :)

The raw foods diet need not be restricted to any specific groups of foods. It is a matter of preference and belief as to what is healthiest. I even have met some raw foodists who eat raw meat, eggs and dairy! Thank goodness, 99% of the raw fooders I know are vegan or at least honey-eaters who eat no other animal products...

I do know raw fooders who eat raw potatoes (even though it's not advisable) and I personally eat/prepare everything you can think of (except potatoes) raw!

I have a few raw clients that I prepare weekly Raw Cuisine for who love when I sprout buckwheat and hard winter wheat berries and rye and other grains to make raw cookies, breads, breakfast porridge and more!

Nomi Shannon's "The Raw Gourmet" is one of the most balanced, gentle and appropriate introductory raw foods books I know of!

Just as there are all types of vegans, there are all types of raw fooders. Some believe that fruits are what should make up the bulk of the diet...some believe it should be green veggies! There are distinct differences and many approaches to a raw lifestyle...The Ann Wigmore, Hippocrates and Optimum Health Institute all have similar views on food combining and the like, however even within these common beliefs, there are differences. For example, Brian Clement of The Hippocrates Institute said this to me about fruit: "An apple a day will keep the Doctor away- if you use it to throw it at him!" and then went on to talk about how fruits are hybridized, unneccessary, unhealthy and so on. The Nature's First Law group tends to believe the opposit! So, as you can see, opinions differ even among these groups.

When I am completely raw, I prepare all food at home, period. There's just no other way to ensure the quality of what you are getting unless you are at an organic vegan establishment! When I am partially cooked, I eat at one of 2 places outside my home- both vegetarian places, I might add. I could fill pages with nightmare findings and cross-contamination from the times when I was NOT eating at exclusively vegetarian places. No thanks. I will never eat at a place that serves meat again, if I can help it! That resolve is strengthened even more when one is 100% raw. It is a blend of sadness, disgust and temptation that I feel when I am around cooked food and I am raw!

[eve]

This is one of the articles in the latest Emagazine:
The smell of fresh-baked bread or sizzling onions may soon go the way of the dodo in some American kitchens. Will the oven itself become a passé appliance as increasing numbers of health-conscious individuals decide to eat most of their food uncooked? Raw foods are being touted as one of the newest ways to eat healthfully and have a low impact on the environment, but can a person get all the nutrients they need without cooking their food?
The article in full is at http://www.emagazine.com/view/?1860
(sorry about the bold print!)

[eve]

Did I post this url on raw food somewhere? It's good : http://www.emagazine.com/view/?1860

[cedarblue]

tofu, try www.thegardendiet.com

[Gorilla]

thanks guys, that's all very interesting. but it's still very confusing to me as ConsciousCuisine you mention there are many different opinions about raw food. i'm eating a lot more raw fruit than i used to so i'm making a start, i suppose i thought veganism was too difficult at first but took it at my own pace and i'm doing fine.

i'd still be interested if anyone can suggest how i can eat as much raw local produce as possible, and without the means of growing my own...???