The following is from a South African publication about raw foods, including raw meat eating. Seems hard to believe that anyone could even consider eating raw meat. I've omitted the parts of the article that discuss raw meat eating. That's just unsanitary (certainly not hygenic!).

Those Cavemen May Have Been Onto Something…
By Steve Boomfield

Cavemen may have thought nothing of sinking their teeth into the raw flesh of a freshly slaughtered animal, but things have progressed somewhat since then. Boiled, baked, griddled and grilled, almost everything we eat has been cooked in some way before it reaches our lips.
But all that is set to change. The raw food revolution has swept the United States – and now it is spreading around the world.

Forget the low blood sugar GI diet and the fry-up friendly Atkins. The only rule for the raw food diet is that nothing is cooked — whether it be beef or beetroot, lamb or leeks. A-list Hollywood actresses such as Uma Thurman, Demi Moore and Natalie Portman are devotees. A plethora of "cookbooks" is also being launched to promote the advantages of a raw food lifestyle, and several nutritionists and food experts have launched courses in how to make the switch to raw.

The fad became mainstream in the diet-conscious US after the appearance of a raw food restaurant in Sex And The City. There are now more than 30 eateries without ovens across the US — a trend set to take off internationally. The health benefits of going raw are, claim its proponents, numerous. Raw food has live enzymes that help provide more energy. If food is cooked at above 47,8°C, the enzymes die. Raw food will increase your energy levels and, according to those who eat only raw, will cut down the amount of sleep you need each night.

Gillian McKeith, who presents Britain's Channel 4's You Are What You Eat, and has written several books on healthy eating, said more people were beginning to include raw food in their daily diet. "The message is starting to get through because it really works. When you eat only cooked food you do not feel as alive. You will notice a huge difference. I have seen people who have complained of headaches and digestive disorders. They have started eating raw food with their cooked meals and suddenly realise such a difference in their health."

The first raw food restaurant in Britain has already opened, in London's Primrose Hill, and more restaurants are planned in the next two years. Katia Norain, the co-owner of the Little Earth Café, was converted to raw food after spending time in Hawaii with friends who ate nothing but uncooked. "It is an amazingly interesting way of preparing food; it is good to have live enzymes in your system and, most important, it is yummy," she said. "This is not carrot sticks."

Evangelists for the raw food diet are spreading the word through one-to-one coaching sessions and food preparatory courses. Karen Knowler, director of The Fresh Network, an organisation that promotes raw food, said interest in the diet had increased as awareness had grown of the dangers of obesity.

"The word 'raw' puts some people off," she said, "but it is about much more than lettuce or apples. Interest in raw food has increased enormously over the past two or three years. More people have a desire for a healthy diet these days. "The best thing is, you do not need to fuss about calories — you can eat as much as you want."

The following information about food combining is from Frederic Patenuade's raw food newsletter. I found the information very helpful, and I hope you find it helpful, as well…

Food Combining Simplified:

In my book, “The Raw Secrets,” I have simplified food combining to a few simple rules. Let’s take a look at those rules again…

1.) DO NOT COMBINE FAT WITH SUGAR

This is probably the most important rule to follow. The combination of fat (or protein) with sugar encourages fermentation. Some authors allow combining an acid fruit (such as an orange) with a fat (such as nuts or avocado). Although this combination isn’t the worst, it still isn’t
optimal and often creates digestive problems.

Examples of this combination: dates with nuts, dried fruits with avocado, avocado with sweet fruits, a fruit salad with coconut, etc.

2.) DO NOT COMBINE ACID FOODS WITH STARCH

Acid with starch is a pretty bad combination. The acidity literally stops the digestion of starches, or makes it much more difficult (and sometimes painful).

Examples of this combination: mixing tomatoes with (cooked) potatoes, the classic tomato-sandwich, but also mixing bananas with oranges. Oranges contain much acidity and bananas still contain starch, even when they are ripe. Bananas combine better with fruits that contain less acidity (sweet apples, mangoes, etc.).

3.) DO NOT COMBINE DIFFERENT TYPES OF FATTY FOODS WITHIN ONE MEAL

Fatty foods are quite difficult to digest. When many of them are present within a meal, digestion is considerably slower.

Examples of this combination: nuts with avocados, nuts with an oil, coconut with avocado, coconut with other types of nuts, etc.

That’s it! Those are the rules when eating a raw/hygienic diet. Of course, we could come up with more rules, but they would be for combinations that wouldn’t be appealing. For example, I doubt that fibrous vegetables (such as broccoli) would mix well with fruits (mangoes, etc.), but this combination is naturally unappealing, so it’s useless to discuss it."

Here's a simple, quick, and great-tasting raw food breakfast recipe for you. I threw this together this morning.

Quick & Easy Breakfast Smoothie

• Throw 1/2 a quart of organic strawberries into the blender. (I think it was 1/2 a quart. The container holding the organic strawberries didn't say what size it was.)
• Add two organic bananas and 1/2 a cucumber (leaving the cucumber skin on).
• Blend all ingredients together in the blender.
• Add a small amount of water if necessary (to make the mixture more smooth).

Initially, I didn't add the cucumber. I only blended the bananas and strawberries. However, the smoothie was too sweet for me, so I added the cucumber. I've noticed that I have a higher sensitivity to sugar after eating mostly raw for a year. What I used to consider not sweet (bananas and strawberries) now seems extremely sweet to me.

I'm still participating in Frederic Patenaude's raw food cleanse/challenge. It's going very well. I have managed to avoid all fat so far.

Eating Fruit

"Always eat fruit on an empty stomach; wait three hours after a salad meal. Best is fruit in the morning."

– Rene Beresford, Coordinator of the Fruitarian Raw Food Network

According to a recent news article, a West Virginia woman placed second in a national recipe contest using a (mostly) raw food recipe. The article below was published in The Charleston Gazette on May 18th. The woman featured in the news article isn't totally "raw," but at least she's headed in a healthy direction.

In the Raw: Local woman’s mostly uncooked recipe places second in national contest

Stacey Angel entered the world of raw foods preparation and dining after a pamphlet caught her eye. It explained the concept and gave a telephone number for further information. She called it and hasn’t looked back. The Charleston woman recently talked about her initiation one year ago into this new way of eating and viewing nutrition: “I took Sally Miller’s raw foods class that she conducts in her home in Sherwood Forest. It was four hours of a broad overview of raw foods. Sally is a wonderful resource and great mentor. I went to her because, after looking at all the food fads out there, I was confused about what could be considered ‘good’ for you. The safest and single–most universally agreed–upon approach seems to be fresh fruits and vegetables.”

Angel acknowledged that she’s not always totally in the raw. She applies some cooked food to a basic uncooked recipe to appeal to a wider range of palates. And to her own. “In winter it’s hard to convert cooked to raw because we all want warm food, especially after a difficult day,” she said. “Everyone loves homey, comfy food and the feeling we get when we enjoy it. My cooked noodles with raw vegetables may offer the best of both worlds.” She developed the recipe after she and her husband, Brooke Brown, had a craving for “something Thai.” She kept playing with ingredients until the dish was perfected. So perfect, in fact, that it’s a recent national award winner.

“My mother, Mary, is a big fan of QVC shopping network,” Angel said. “She got me hooked. I suffer from insomnia and find that QVC is a good cure—it’s repetitive, therefore comforting to me. However it was Mom who saw the cooking contest invitation and encouraged me to enter. It wasn’t one for raw foods, but I sent my Thai recipe anyway and just received the letter from QVC telling me that I placed second.” Angel said as much or as little raw food can be incorporated into your daily diet as you desire. Those who embrace it 100 percent are 100 percent vegans.

Why raw foods? She explained that there are enzymes in raw vegetables, fruits and nuts. When heated beyond 115 degrees, those enzymes are lost and, in order to digest, our body has to produce enzymes, making it work harder. If you cause less stress to your body, there’s more energy for it to perform other tasks. Allowing consumed enzymes to meet the challenge of digestion, giving the body a slight rest, seems in direct contrast with popular cooked-food diets that would have your body toiling to burn excess undesirable stored material. Two of Angel’s three daily meals are raw.

She saves semi-cooked dinners to have with her husband in their East End apartment. He is supportive of her efforts and shares her enthusiasm for the dishes she prepares. Has she totally conquered most no-no cravings? Not quite. She cheerfully confessed her weakness for unsanctioned foods. Her particular downfalls are pancakes, once-a-week salmon, French baguettes and an Endangered Species-brand extreme dark chocolate bar called “Black Panther.” Angel says it’s so good and deeply chocolate that she has recommended it to others and now they are addicted. It’s sold at Healthy Life Market in area Drug Emporiums, along with white and milk chocolate varieties.

She hasn't turned a cold shoulder to commercially prepared hot dishes, either. For eating out, Sitar of India is her most tempting restaurant and the biggest treat. She indulges in their cooked vegetables as her cooked meal of the day. Delish on McFarland Street also gets her nod as having excellent vegetarian items. To prove her cuisine doesn't consist of one salad after another, Angel, a spirited home cook, developed a recipe for chocolate truffles. They're made from raw cocoa nibs, ground to powder and processed with soaked walnuts, dates and coconut. The mixture is shaped into balls and rolled in cocoa powder or coconut. She pointed out that all nuts have to be soaked 8 to 12 hours, then dried before using because they naturally contain enzyme inhibitors. Soaking removes the inhibitors.

From macadamia nuts, she makes a cheese substitute that has the consistency and texture of a ricotta. Her frozen-fruit pie is an amalgamation of two recipes: a raw banana-coconut ice cream to which she adds fresh pineapple; and a maple-walnut crust. Raw zucchini or yellow squash “noodles” may be substituted for the cooked pasta in the Thai recipe. Put the squash through a spiral slicer or cut long, thin strands by hand.

Angel graduated from George Washington High School in 1988, and later from Marshall University with an anthropology degree. She works for Bryan Boyd Creative Group — a marketing and ad agency — as director of client services. She wants to enhance her education and cooking interest by attending The Living Light Culinary Institute in Ft. Bragg, Calif. It's a three-week focus on gourmet raw foods. “If I'm going to do it [raw foods], I'm going to learn how to make it taste good,” she joked. There's only one slight impediment. The 21-day intoroductory course and chef training/certification costs $4,000. Her plans aren't completely funded at the moment, but she's saving to go to the small-town school north of San Francisco.

“Food is a big part of pleasure in life,” she said. “It brings us together. I want to make it pleasant for my friends and family through these classes. I'd like to work as a raw foods chef where I get to be creative and have fun. I think raw lends itself better to experimentation than cooked — no spoiling, no cross-contamination. I introduce people to raw food when I have the opportunity by bringing something to a gathering for everyone to taste.” For those who want to learn more locally about raw foods, there is Sue Miller's $75 basics class. In addition, Miller holds specialty $50 hands-on cooking classes with themes of “Raw Lunches,” “What's Raw for Dinner?” and “Sprouting.” A potluck meal support group meets the first Sunday of every month with a guest speaker each session. Membership is open.

The May discussion was of attempts to start a vegetable co-op and instructions on growing organic wheat grass, an important component of a raw foods diet. Angel gets most of her ingredients from Miller. She says Miller also stocks delicious raw cookies, crackers and snacks at her business, Eats of Eden. Miller's e-mail address is eatsofeden@charter.net. Angel's email is s-angel@verizon.net.

“I want to get the message to others that there are classes, ingredients and a support system for raw food enthusiasts. Even though I don't do raw foods exclusively, I can tell the difference in how I feel when I eat more uncooked foods. I feel better. There's enough of a difference in my body to make me want to continue this eating lifestyle.”

There is way too much emphasis placed on protein by so-called "nutritionists." Surprisingly, research reveals that too much protein compromises the immune system and is detrimental to your health.

A great book on the dangers of excess protein, and the importance of the acid/alkaline balance is Your Health, Your Choice by Dr. M. Ted Mortmer. In addition, "Your Health, Your Choice" has one of the most simplified, easy-to-understand explanations of the digestive process.

Cancer and other diseases thrive in an acidic state within the body. Many people do not know that all food eaten leaves a residue of acid-ash or alkaline-ash in the body. The human body will do whatever it takes to counteract the acid-ash residue left from the SAD (Standard American Diet) we are used to–this includes pulling calcium from the bones to neutralize the acid in the system.

Drinking homogenized milk only aggravates the acidity (milk leaves an acid-ash residue which must be neutralized). According Mortmer, the ideal PH of the body is 7.5 which is alkaline, and the human body goes through ENORMOUS lengths to maintain this PH level. Alcohol, coffee, flesh-based protein (i.e. meat), and stress all create acidity within the body and should be avoided.

Since flesh-foods leave an acid-ash residue, it's best to get your protein from plant-based foods which leave an alkaline-ash. Unfortunately, many people are ignorant and believe that you can't get protein without eating meat. This is entirely false. Read more about The Protein Myth.

News article published via TimesUnion…

Raw Power: Uncooked Food Diet Blends Health, Taste and Texture Into a Way of Life

Teshna Beaulieu typically starts her day with watermelon or sliced avocados and cucumbers topped with lemon juice, sea salt and tomatoes. Her beverage of choice is fresh coconut milk. The East Chatham chiropractor's routine doesn't change much as the day goes along. She eats a variety of salads for lunch and dinner, often adding fresh vegetables or seaweed. She snacks on nuts. Beaulieu almost never uses her oven or stove. The blender is the kitchen appliance she turns to most.

Welcome to the raw food diet. Beaulieu prefers to call it the raw food way of life, because diet implies a weight-loss program. For Beaulieu, who started eating raw foods 15 years ago, and many others, it's a lifestyle choice. "As the years go by I do it more and more. I feel better with it," she says. "When I eat raw food I don't feel tired after a meal. When I eat cooked food, I feel heavier and more tired." Raw food means exactly that — almost. Proponents of a raw food diet primarily eat uncooked fruits and vegetables. They also consume nuts and grains, oftentimes made edible with soaking that in some cases causes sprouting. However, many raw food enthusiasts use a dehydrator to "cook" certain foods.

Dismissed by some as a fringe fad or extreme vegetarianism, raw food entered the mainstream during the past decade when exclusively raw food restaurants began popping up in California and New York. Raw food received a ringing endorsement in 2003 when heralded Chicago chef and restaurateur Charlie Trotter co-authored a gorgeous cookbook called "Raw" (Ten Speed Press). A celebration of food in its natural state, "Raw" contains 70 color photographs of beautiful, mouth-watering dishes that were prepared without cooking.

"I believe that in the not-too-distant future all serious chefs and home cooks will have a decent understanding of how to prepare raw and living foods and have at least several raw dishes in their repertoire," Trotter writes in the introduction to the cookbook. "This is a way of eating that embraces healthful living, of course, but it is also a wonderfully exciting approach to food preparation that opens up fresh ways to celebrate flavor and texture."

An Alternative

While considered cutting edge, the raw food movement has in fact been around for half a century. Ann Wigmore, a self-taught nutritionist, began promoting it at her Midwest alternative health institute in the 1950s. It wasn't until the past decade, however, that raw food proponents found themselves on the covers of national publications like the Sunday New York Times Magazine. It always helps, of course, when celebrities are on board. Supermodel Carol Alt, musician Wynton Marsalis and actor Woody Harrelson are among the most prominent names touting the benefits of raw food. Raw food is actually more involved than its name implies, especially when the goal is to prepare dishes that are as appealing to the eye as they are to the palate.

The recipes in "Raw," for example, can't be considered easy to replicate. Even if you do have access to fresh, organic fruits and vegetables, try whipping together a dinner of stuffed squash blossoms with curried parsnip puree and tobacco onions the next time you're yearning for a quick meal. In addition to blenders and juicers, most raw food advocates employ a dehydrator to "bake" bread and other foods. Nothing is heated above 118 degrees, however. This is critical to the raw food way of life. The theory is that essential enzymes are destroyed at temperatures above 118, and these enzymes need to be properly digested. This is where raw food proponents run into trouble, so to speak. As pure and impressive as fruits, vegetables and nuts are in their unadulterated state, the nutritional benefits of not cooking is controversial at best.

Katherine Tallmadge, a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association, has called the diet "dangerous." She believes certain segments of the population — pregnant women, children, the elderly and people with compromised immune systems — would be well advised to limit their intake of raw foods. "The idea that cooked food is toxic is absurd. There's absolutely no science to back that up," Tallmadge says. "The (raw food) diet is protein-deficient and nutrient-poor." [This is not true or accurate.]

A Long Debate

Try and convince a raw food enthusiast of that and you may be in for a long debate. Alexandra Miller is a private chef in central Vermont who learned the art of raw cuisine while working as a spa chef in the Caribbean. She adopted it for herself, but during a recent pregnancy found that she couldn't maintain an exclusively raw diet. Dry toast was one of the few foods she could keep in her stomach during bouts of morning sickness. Now that she's breast-feeding she's back to a full-fledged raw diet. "I get all of my iron and calcium through seaweed and nuts and nutritional juices. There's a lot of calcium in lemons and yellow and red peppers."

Miller believes she can tell a raw food follower when she sees them. It's that obvious. "When people are all raw they tend to glow. Your energy level is so high because your body's not clogged up trying to process all this food," she says. "You see things and see things clearer." The restaurateur most credited with making raw food popular is Roxanne Klein, the co-author with Trotter of "Raw." In 2002, the Californian opened a high-end raw food restaurant north of San Francisco in Larkspur called Roxanne's. It quickly became one of the most difficult reservations in a restaurant-rich region and was the most serious raw-food restaurant in northern California. The following year, Klein added a to-go outlet to the restaurant which became even more popular than Roxanne's. Last August, she closed "Roxanne's" while keeping open the raw food to-go venture.

Neither Beaulieu nor Miller is actively trying to convert friends to a raw food lifestyle, although each is raising her child on a raw food diet. "When people come to my house, they know they're going to get a big salad," Beaulieu says. "For dinner, I might make some winter squash for guests or some steamed greens. I don't like cauliflower and broccoli raw too much. I prefer them a little lightly steamed. Asparagus, too. But all of these can be eaten raw."

Corn-Jicama Salad with Avocado Puree

Makes 4 servings
From "Raw" by Charlie Trotter and Roxanne Klein (Ten Speed Press)

Ingredients

SALAD:
1/4 cup jicama cut into 1/8-inch cubes
1/4 cup sweet corn kernels
1/4 cup unpeeled English cucumber cut into 1/8-inch cubes
1/4 cup peeled Asian pear cut into 1/8 -inch cubes
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
4 teaspoons freshly squeezed lime juice
1 tablespoon minced jalapeno pepper (optional)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

AVOCADO PUREE:
1/2 avocado, peeled and chopped
2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lime juice
1/4 cup filtered water

LIME VINAIGRETTE:
1 1/2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
4 lime segments, membrane removed and cut into thirds

GARNISH:
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 teaspoons micro mint leaves
2 teaspoon finely grated lime zest

Directions

SALAD:
Combine jicama, corn, cucumber, pear, oil, lime juice, jalapeno, mint, and parsley.

AVOCADO PUREE:
In a high-speed blender combine the avocado, lime juice, water and puree until smooth.

LIME VINAIGRETTE:
Whisk lime juice and olive oil in a bowl. Stir in lime segments.

ASSEMBLY:
Spoon a line of puree down the center of the plate. Spoon 2 additional lines, perpendicular to the first line across the plate. Spoon some of the salad parallel to the first line, left on where the lines intersect. Drizzle the vinaigrette over the salad and around the plate. Sprinkle with the parsley, mint and lime zest.

The Morning Call, a Pennsylvania newspaper, published an article about Arnold's Way Vegetarian Raw Cafe. If you live near Landsdale, PA and you're a raw foodist, you've got a new restaurant to try out. Unfortunately, I don't live near PA, but for those who do…this is for you…

Raw Restaurant Offers Tasty, Inventive Vegan Fare
By Pervaiz Shallwani
Of The Morning Call

Veggies, I like. But a Lansdale eatery that prepares traditional all-American dishes using only raw vegan ingredients?

Will it be tasteless? Or will the dishes be a throwback to the scrumptious eats I encountered during a short stay in the country's unofficial vegetable mecca, San Francisco?

Gotta find out.

My friend Steve and I head to investigate Arnold's Way Vegetarian Organic Raw Cafe. If nothing else, Steve's puerile personality could make for an amusing afternoon. (He was puzzled and disgusted by a self-help book on display about the healthy benefits of consuming your own urine.) This tiny cafe and cluttered health food store sits tucked inside a shopping mall on W. Main Street. It is designed to be a one-stop shop for healthy, earth-friendly living, complete with organic toothpaste, sandals and shoes.

Customers flutter through in a steady stream, some eating wraps — rolled with seaweed, not a flour tortilla — others sitting on a love seat with a "banana whip" or chocolate mousse, which actually is carob, bananas and dates ''served a la chocolate Sunday style." (It was not my favorite.) One thing is clear: Owner Arnold Kauffman is serious about raw, organic, vegan cuisine. Seated, we are greeted with a sample of flavored banana whips, a sweet treat of frozen and pureed bananas that create the smooth consistency of ice cream or frozen yogurt.

"Yogurt?" Steve asked after the first spoonful.

"No yogurt, ever," Arnold blurted from behind the counter.

"Why not?

"Don't go there."

Arnold is convinced "the No. 1 reason for all diseases is based on dairy products."

Arnold, 57, has been experimenting with a raw diet ever since a heart condition forced him into a hospital more than 13 years ago. He had stuck to it 100 percent but has slipped to 95, including some boiled potatoes. "When I was 45, before I knew I didn't know anything, I started developing chest pains." The pains got so bad that Arnold had to make a hospital detour while driving his daughter to school one day. "I didn't think I was going to make it."

Obviously, Arnold did make it, but he wanted a healthier lifestyle. Thirteen years ago that quest led to the original Arnold's Way in the glitzy Manayunk section of Philadelphia. "[Eating raw] is hard for people to do. What you eat for breakfast, what you eat for lunch and what you do for dinner has to be re-evaluated," Arnold preaches.

"The thing that turned me on the most is that if you change the way you eat, you can pretty much reverse the aging process," swears Arnold, who looks his age and a little wiry.

He is trying to regain sight in one eye by drinking 80 to 100 ounces of carrot juice daily. He was accidentally poked by his grandson. Doctors told him surgery would cure the problem in a half-hour, but Arnold is waiting eight months, hoping to fix it naturally. Arnold moved to Lansdale in 2002 because "I live around here and my rent had skyrocketed four times."

The recipes were developed by Arnold and his daughter, Maya, many of which while doing mundane chores. A meatless ''stake," surprisingly red and close in texture to steak, and with its own juicy flavor, came about while driving down Bethlehem Pike. "I thought I need something red because a steak is pinkish in color," Arnold said. "You want a juicy steak. Beets and carrots are for color and consistency and cashews help hold it together."

The wraps: Arnold was in line at the restaurant supply store and the restaurant owner in front is "famous" for them. Immediately, he thought "nori" — paper-thin seaweed used to roll sushi. The "living bread" is a variation of a recipe that includes "a little oil and salt to make it Americanized." It's made using pulp after a carrot is juiced. The pulp is mixed with flaxseed and buckwheat that has germinated for a night. Together they make a loaf, which tastes moist and looks fittingly compact. The menu, unheated and uncooked, has grown to more than 60 dishes including burgers, pizza, spaghetti, nachos and the region's gastronomical staple sandwich, cleverly spelled "cheze stake."

The Pick-Me-Up soup — pureed carrot, celery, broccoli and red cabbage — is a forest green hue with a little spice to give it heat. It was OK. The Polynesian delight, a salad with frozen mango and pineapple mixed with shredded coconut and chopped almonds, is crunchy, sweet and pleasantly exotic in appearance and flavor. A "cheze burger" has "cheese sauce" of pureed sunflower seeds, but who would have thought a burger could be served at room temperature? It's a little dry, but the plate was cleaned, although I still don't like raw mushrooms.

Sally's red salad, a mound of minced beet, red pepper, tomato, carrot, red cabbage and green olives served on a bed of lettuce, looks like a mini red hill that Steve swears was "great." Yogurt or not, he had another whip. He just about licked it clean on the drive back.

Reversing the aging process? OK, maybe. But we'll pass on "Urine Therapy: Nature's Elixir for Good Health."

"Even if I lived 200 years, I am not going to drink my own urine," Steve remarked.

Neither would Arnold.

"That's where I draw the line."

Since this blog is dedicated to everything related to raw foods, I'll start posting about upcoming raw food events…

Rawstock is an annual raw food festival that will be taking place from August 26th-29th, 2005, in Sebastopol, CA. I've never been to this festival, but supposedly, it's pretty good.

I'll sure you'll learn a lot about raw foods by attending. The entry price is $130-150, but they do offer a work/trade deal.

If you live in CA, you should look into this. At the very least, you'll be able meet other raw foodists, network, and learn new information.

This article is from The Rocky Mountain News, and it's focused on Doug Walsh's raw food hike (which I've already written about in an earlier entry).

Raw Food Power Behind This Hike
Advocate tackling Great Divide to spotlight eating style

Between the sleeping bag, tent and extra socks in Doug Walsh's backpack, there will be a tiny, 4-ounce food grinder and half-pound seed sprouter. Not your average backpacker's load. But this is not your average backpacking trip, either. Eating only raw foods, with a mission to raise awareness for his alternative diet and money for some of its biggest advocates, Walsh set out last week on Earth Day to hike the entire Continental Divide Trail over the next five months, starting in New Mexico and ending in Canada.

Walsh has been a raw-foodist, someone who does not eat cooked or heated foods, for the past 10 years. He is determined to prove that even the most stringent of regimens can be supplemented with a raw-food lifestyle. "There's no comparison. I feel better at 41 than I did at 24," he said about his health. In addition to raising funds and drawing attention to the benefits of raw foods, the outdoorsman also will be fueling his love of the wilderness and passion for exploring it. "I'm in love with the Earth," he said. "So I like to eat food that's full of the Earth's energy."

Walsh will use his miniature grinder and sprouter to preserve and produce raw foods that have what he describes as the "life principle." He used a sunflower seed as an example to explain the concept. In raw form, the seed can sprout into a plant. After it is cooked, he argued, the seed won't sprout. "There's some kind of information present in raw foods that is no longer there when we heat it," he said. "It's something that's essential to our life."

Walsh, a graduate of the Living Lite Culinary Arts Institute in Fort Bragg, Calif., a gourmet chef's school for raw foods preparation, is walking to raise money for the school's new building. He has raised more than $5,000 and wants to give his alma mater as much money and attention as he can. During the 3,000-mile trek along the trail, Walsh will stop at 30 previously planned resupply points. His food will be shipped to him at post offices at those locations. "I'll just hitchhike into town and pick up my box of new food," he said. Staples for the trip include nuts, dried fruits and sprouts.

Walsh made himself crackers – by mashing nuts and other ingredients into a paste, spreading them thin and drying them out in a dehydrator – as well as raw bread and even pizzas. Walsh will be carrying a digital camera, cell phone and portable e-mail device to send updates to sponsors and fans. Walsh expects to encounter snow and cold, dehydration and heat, unmarked trails, numerous stream crossings and other unexpected wilderness adventures during his time on the divide. While he's taking his raw-food diet to the extreme, Walsh said anyone can enjoy the same without being an adventurer.

Steve Phillips, a raw-foodist and owner of the Longmont Co-op Market, has been eating raw foods exclusively for about a year and a half. He said they are as appetizing as cooked foods, and better for you. The secret is developing proper preparation skills, Phillips said, noting he and his family made a wonderful pizza recently with dried tomatoes on top. "Yes, it takes a little time, but once you figure out how to make a few things, you just go from there," he said.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

Here's an interesting article about how raw foodists are thin, but healthy. Excerpted below from The Times of India.

Raw Food Vegetarians Are Thinner But Healthier

People on strict raw food vegetarian diets are thin but healthy, US researchers reported on Monday. Although nutritionists and the food industry have warned that a diet without dairy foods can lead to the bone-thinning disease osteoporosis, the team at Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis found the vegans they studied had many of the signs of strong bones.

Dr Luigi Fontana, who led the study, said they had thin bones but none of the other signs of osteoporosis. "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," Fontana said. He said he would continue to follow them to see if they develop osteoporosis later.

"Raw food vegetarians believe in eating only plant-derived foods that have not been cooked, processed, or otherwise altered from their natural state," Fontana's team wrote in this week's issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine. "Because of their low calorie and low protein intake, raw food vegetarians have a low body mass index (BMI) and a low total body fat content. 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."

Fontana's team studied 18 strict raw food vegans aged 33 to 85. All ate a diet that included unprepared foods such vegetables, fruits, nuts, and sprouted grains. They had been on this diet for an average of 3.6 years. The team compared them to 18 more average Americans. The raw food group had an average body mass index of 20.5, while the average group were slightly overweight with a BMI of 25.