I stumbled across a very interesting site about an all-raw 3,000 mile hike along the Continental Divide. The Raw Food Hike-A-Thon (created by Doug Walsh) wants to spread the message of raw food to the world and demonstrate that raw food can provide all the energy one needs for strenous activity (not to mention, just day-to-day living, which can also be pretty stressful at times).

Way to go Doug for coming up with such a unique idea to increase awareness of the benefits of raw foods. Learn more about what Doug ate on one of his past hiking trips.

For raw foodists who have very little time to fix food, you can order raw food meals from Raw Life Line. The food looks mouth-wateringly good. It's fast-food with a raw food twist…delivered right-to-your doorstep.

I'll have to try ordering from them. Has anyone tried this? The coconut creme pie, raw tabouli, raw sweet potato soup, and the raw flax seed crackers with (raw!) hummus look great. So does the cream of broccoli soup.

The BBC just published the results of a U.S. research study that compared people on raw food diets to people on regular, standard American diets. The article is re-printed below…

Raw Food Eaters Thin But Healthy

It has been suggested that eating only plant-derived foods that have not been cooked or processed might make bones thinner and prone to fractures. But a study in Archives of Internal Medicine found although bones were lighter on this diet, turnover rates were normal with no osteoporosis. The lower bone mass is down to raw food eaters being slim, the authors believe.

The researchers compared the bone health of 18 people who had been following strict raw food diets for up to 10 years with that of people who ate a more typical American diet, including refined carbohydrates, animal products and cooked foods. The raw food diet is different than more typical vegetarian and vegan diets, which do not exclude cooked, processed or otherwise refined foods. The groups were matched according to age, sex and socioeconomic status. To gauge bone health, the researchers looked at each person's body weight, bone weight and mineral density, markers of bone turnover, levels of vitamin D and inflammatory markers.

Bone Health

The raw food vegetarians in the study had lower body weights (BMI) and total body fat than the other volunteers. They also had lower bone mass and bone mineral density. "It is well documented that a low BMI and weight loss are strongly associated with low bone mass and increased fracture risk, while obesity protects against osteoporosis," said the researchers. But the people who followed raw food diets did not have any other biological markers that typically accompany osteoporosis and had normal rates of bone turnover. Lead researcher Dr Luigi Fontana, from Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis, said: "We think it's possible these people don't have increased risk of fracture but that their low bone mass is related to the fact that they are lighter because they take in fewer calories."

Dr. Fontana said the raw food diet group also had higher vitamin D levels than people on a typical Western diet, even though they did not consume dairy products which are known to be a good source of vitamin D. He said this was probably due to sun exposure. Dr Stephen Walsh, nutrition spokesperson for the Vegan Society, said it was to be expected that people who ate only raw foods would be slimmer and that this would in turn have an effect on bone mass.

Balanced Diet

He stressed that raw food vegetarians account for only a minority of people who are vegan and vegetarian, and that some might find it difficult to get enough calories to maintain a healthy weight eating only raw foods. "We recommend a varied, healthy, balanced diet which includes raw fruit and vegetables as well as other foods," he said. A spokeswoman from the Vegetarian Society said the study was interesting, but given that only 18 people were studied, its usefulness to those wishing to follow a vegetarian or vegan diet was very limited.

A spokesman for the National Osteoporosis Society said: "This is an interesting study which highlights the fact that low bone density is just one part of our overall risk of breaking bones. "We would recommend that raw food vegans make sensible food choices to ensure they are taking in an adequate amount of calcium from a variety of foods and ensure they obtain good amounts of vitamin D from sensible exposure to sunlight."

Elaine Bruce, experienced naturopath, homeopath and director of the UK Centre for Living Foods, said calcium was important for building bones, but that inorganic calcium in the form of supplements would not do the job. "You have to have organic calcium as it occurs in fresh green leafy vegetables." What we do in our programme is maximise that intake by having it in juice form." She said that the chlorophyll found in green plants and vegetables also contained right amount of magnesium that is essential for the uptake of calcium for healthy bones. "The chemical composition of chlorophyll and blood is very similar which further facilitates this uptake," she added.

If you're living in Australia, you should sign up for Raw-Pleasure's recipe testing program, where you get to try out new raw food recipes. The text of the press release from kntimes.com. is below…

Raw Food Diet Explodes Across Australia with Startling Health & Weight Loss Results

After a barrage of short term diets aimed more at boosting revenues than improving health, the raw food diet — or living foods as its often known — is a nutritional breath of fresh air. At last, pills, potions and protein powders have been dropped in favour of foods that doctors, nutritionists and common sense have been clamoring to be increased for years: fresh, unprocessed, fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds.

Living foods has taken this age old advice for improved health and taken it to the next level; famous chefs like Charlie Trotter, Roxanne Klein and Cherie Soria create sumptuous, varied feasts entirely from these ingredients -– no cooking required. Ordinary people all over Australia and the world have discovered the flavours and ease of living foods, often reporting a wide range of dramatic health benefits such as weight loss, disease remissions, increased immunity and improved complexions.

Sheryl and Piers Duruz, co-founders of Australia’s leading raw food education website Raw-Pleasure dropped 32 kg (that’s 70 pounds) and halved body fat from 21% to 9.6%, respectively, by changing their way of eating. “The weight loss was a wonderful surprise,” Piers relates “but feeling alive, energetic and alert enough to see the world as a wonderful place instead of tired and negative is worth more than I ever could have imagined before. It’s a truly hidden gift of life. Raw-Pleasure.com is our gift back to say thank you and help make it easy for others.”

Subscribers to Raw-Pleasure.com’s free Taste Tester recipe testing program regularly receive recipes such as curries, cakes, biscuits, sandwiches, cookies, snacks and more and are quickly developing a country-wide support network on their forums with a uniquely Australian flavour. Many doctors, such as Dr Doug Graham, are giving living foods the thumbs up. Dr Graham has trained many sports legends such as tennis Player Martina Navratilova, NBA pro basketball player Ronnie Grandison, track Olympic sprinter Doug Dickinson, as well as the United States Olympic Diving team and the Norwegian National Bicycling team.

Dr Graham states that “People thrive on the raw diet, often telling others how it has improved their health and their lives. Fruits, vegetables, and leafy greens not only contain sustainable amounts of carbohydrates, protein and fat, they have them in the percentages, ratios, and quality that are optimum for human health. When people integrate a proper raw diet with other healthful living practices, they rarely, if ever, develop weight control problems, chronic or even short-term illnesses.” Even conservative groups such as the US governments National Cancer Institute concur with living foods, such as fruit and vegetables, anti cancer properties stating “Fruit and vegetable consumption have generally been found in epidemiologic studies to be associated with reduced risk for a number of different cancers”.

“All I know is that it’s the most delicious, time proven way of eating out there… and we feel great!” says Piers. Maybe we would all benefit from taking another bite at nature’s original fare.

There's a new raw-food restaurant in NYC called Pure Food and Wine. It's pricey, and kind of "hyped-up," but the food looks very good. I don't agree with drinking wine, using miso, eating mushrooms, and using lots of spices in raw food. But aside from that, the restaurant looks interesting. Try it out, and let me know what you think.

I've included pictures of food from the restaurant. The pictures are courtesy of a mean-spirited, anti-raw "restaurant review" from Blacktable.com. The reviewer did not have nice things to say about Pure Food and Wine, and he mocked the entire concept of raw foods. Anyway, the raw food pictures are inserted above.

Yum! Zucchini and golden tomato lasagna with basil-pistachio pesto, sun-dried tomato sauce and pignoli ricotta from Pure Food & Wine Restaurant in NYC.

Spicy Thai lettuce wraps with tamarind chili sauce, mango, napa cabbage, ginger and cashews from Pure Food & Wine Restaurant (see blog entry below–photo courtesy of blacktable.com). This would be a healthy choice minus the chili sauce and cashews. I'm against using lots of hot spices, and cashews are known for having a LOT of mycotoxins. It looks delicious, but it might cause some digestive problems. Fruits (mango) + nuts (cashews) don't mix.

Would you like to connect with other raw foodists in your local community? Living Nutrition's website has a directory of raw-food potlucks across the U.S.

Find a raw food potluck here.

This is a great way to get support and encouragement from like-minded people.