Excerpts from a raw food news article published in The Kennebec Journal (a local newspaper in Maine)…

Enthusiasts Flock to Raw Food, Saying It Contains Health Benefits
by Mechele Cooper

A cool breeze floated in through the windows as the group of food enthusiasts sat down to a gourmet meal.The breeze was welcome, but not because these food groupies had been slaving over a hot stove. This group — gathered as part of Northern Botanicals Lifestyle Center's wellness retreat — were enthusiasts of raw food. A raw-food diet consists of uncooked vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, sprouted grains, and cereals. None of the food is cooked, processed or animal-based. No sushi here. No steak tartare, either. Going raw, when it comes to food, is a growing trend in the United States, but it's relatively new to Maine, according to Bob and Pat Manning, owners of the lifestyle center on Cobbossee Stream.

Raw-food advocates say heating foods destroys the enzymes that aid in digestion and diminishes the food's nutritional value. They claim that raw foods help "detoxify" the body, prevent cancer and fight obesity. But detractors, including some nutritionists, say those who subscribe to a steady diet of raw vegetables and fruits miss out on essential proteins and minerals. And they don't buy the argument that cooking destroy's food's essential value. For some, the diet is no mere lifestyle choice. "I have a health condition, growths growing in my brain and right eye, and I'm hoping to shrink them down," Loran Griffin, 47, of Manchester said.

THE RETREAT

As the West Gardiner table was set and covered in a white linen tablecloth, glass serving bowls were set out, showing off the contrasting colors of the raw concoctions. The menu: apple, carrot and celery juice in stemmed wine glasses; zucchini and yellow squash spaghetti; pesto; fresh tomato marinara sauce; cashew pimento cheese; flax chips; and a mixed romaine salad with alfalfa sprouts, cucumber and red cabbage. For dessert, we can have banana-and-strawberry ice cream topped with a raw sweetener made from the agave cactus, and we have some dehydrated fruit cookies," said Pat Manning, who sat at the head of the table next to her husband.

The ice cream was made from frozen chunked fruit run through a Champion juicer with the solid slide in place. Equipment deemed essential for eating a raw food diet includes a Vita-Mix blender, a juicer and a food dehydrator. All the preparations share a key fascination: Preserve the enzymes. "Enzymes are like the spark that get all the other metabolic actions going," Pat Manning said. "(Eating raw food) helps you lose weight and have more energy. People who go through this program say they have so much more energy."

Besides five-day retreats, the Mannings also open their home once a month to an average of 40 raw foodists from as far away as Massachusetts. For $10, they serve up a raw-food gourmet meal that would command five times the price in a major metropolitan area.

INTEREST FROM AWAY

Friends told Carol Shain, 59, of Haverhill, Mass., about the program. "I used to be a vegetarian and wanted to get back into it," Shain said. "I know this is the way to live, even if I don't do it all the time." Pat Caggiano of Veazie and her 22-year-old son, Brian, a New England Culinary Institute student, came to the retreat together. Caggiano, a registered nurse, thought she could share what she learned with students in the healthy lifestyle classes she teaches in Bangor. "People want to feel better and lose weight," Caggiano said.

"There's a whole phenomenon with vegetables and raw foods that's happening in other states, and I think before long it will catch up here. We do have a high rate of illnesses in Maine,"she said. Raw-food enthusiasts point out that studies in rural China support the benefits of plant-based diets. Christopher Maloney, an Augusta naturopathic physician, said studies of Chinese diets also show proper nutrition could have a dramatic effect on reducing and reversing heart disease, diabetes, cancer and obesity. He said a raw food diet can decrease calories, lower cholesterol levels and improve rheumatoid arthritis symptoms significantly.

"Eating raw foods shows longtime anti-cancer effects and really counter balances the obesity epidemic in America," Maloney said.

–End excerpt–

From News 14 Carolina…

Raw Food Detox Diet

Are you sick of counting carbs? There's a new diet trend on the market — it's called a raw food diet. It consists of eating foods that are close to nature and mainly raw. But can you stick to it? One nutritionist says it's easy and you can even have dessert. Ice cream, dark chocolate, and cookies� You can eat them and still lose weight? Sure, but they have to be raw. It's part of a diet designed by nutritionist Natalia Rose.

"Like most women, I had my own body battles, and I was determined not to have to spend the rest of my life on a stairmaster or counting calories." The Raw Food Detox Diet is about eating close to nature with the belief that easily digested foods are eliminated more quickly. Rose says: "Fruit is one of the easiest things that moves through the body. It only takes 15 minutes in the stomach to digest fruit." Rose says beginners to the diet should start out slowly — eat 75-percent raw foods.

"You can eat avocadoes, you can eat whole grain pasta, you can eat sprouted grain breads — which means breads have been sprouted to become easily digestible." Like many people, Danielle Reda had a hard time losing weight — until she tried the raw food diet. She says: "I lost weight rapidly. I lost about 15 pounds in three weeks. That kept me going. I had a lot more energy. I felt vibrant."

Skeptics say raw food diets may be deficient in certain minerals, but Rose says you can do raw done right. She says juice raw vegetables to get enough calcium. You can also have goat cheese, nuts, and almond milk. "It's easy to stick to because you're satisfied. If you love what you're eating and losing weight, it's a win-win scenario." And many grocery stores carry raw foods in the organic section. Although Rose says this diet is for everyone, you should always check with your doctor first before starting a new diet program. Rose says Reda's weight loss is not typical. It's usually more gradual.

For more information, contact:

Natalia Rose
The Rose Program
natalia@therawfooddetoxdiet.com
Raw Food Detox Diet

From Vegan Society…

Healthy Choices on Raw Vegan Diets
by Stephen Walsh, PhD

A raw food vegan diet may be defined in various ways, but usually entails at least 80% by weight being raw plants. Many people report feeling healthier and more energetic on adopting such diets, but there are too few long-term raw food vegans for direct evaluation of the success of raw vegan diets versus other diets. We can, however, evaluate such diets against known human nutritional requirements to gain a better understanding of the ways in which appropriate raw vegan diets could benefit health. Raw vegan diets comprise three key food groups: sweet fruit, high-fat plants and green leafy vegetables. Raw food authorities differ in the proportions recommended, some suggesting that 2% of calories from green leafy vegetables (about 300 g of lettuce per day) is sufficient while others recommend that about 30% of calories should come from green vegetables. Similarly, recommendations on high fat foods such as avocados, olives, nuts, seeds and cold-pressed oils range from a few percent to about 40% of calories. The Hallelujah diet founded by George Malkmus puts particular emphasis on carrot juice and barley grass, which contribute about 15% of calories.

Getting 30% of calories from green vegetables is probably unrealistic for most people, even with the use of blended salads and juices. For instance, 900 g of lettuce plus 450 g of kale provides just 300 kcal or about 15% of calories. Fortunately, however, such high intakes are unnecessary for nutritional adequacy. Green leafy vegetables and broccoli contain higher levels of zinc, calcium and protein than fruit and are therefore an important part of raw diets, but about 500 g per day of green vegetables, including a mixture of lettuces, broccoli and darker leaves such as kale and spinach, is sufficient to bring mineral and protein intakes into line with general recommendations. Such vegetables also provide vitamin K, which promotes healthy bones. Other raw vegetables can be useful: for instance, carrots are a good source of calcium and peas a good source of zinc and protein.

The best balance between sweet fruit and fatty foods is probably a matter of individual constitution. Some people experience dental problems with a very high fruit intake. This can be a particular problem for young children. Many people will struggle to maintain weight if they do not include significant amounts of high fat foods. More than 10% of calories as polyunsaturated fat is not recommended. Olives, avocados, almonds, hazelnuts and macadamias are all dominated by monounsaturated fats, which are the safest fats to consume in large quantities. Obtaining up to 40% of calories from these foods according to individual energy needs should be perfectly healthful. It is also important to include a good source of omega-3 fats such as crushed flax seed or its oil. Selenium can be low if the food is grown in selenium deficient soil, so a Brazil nut a day provides a useful insurance policy.

In selecting fruits, there is no need to rely on unusual or exotic items. Bananas are a good energy food, being relatively low in fibre and high in potassium. Oranges are rich in calcium, folate, potassium and vitamin C. The high potassium and low sodium content of raw vegan diets reduces the need for calcium by reducing calcium losses and can be expected to reduce blood pressure and risk of stroke.

The various raw vegan dietary schools differ in their approach to B12. Some recommend that B12 supplements should not be taken unless clear deficiency symptoms occur. David Wolfe (Nature's First Law) recommends seven different potential B12 sources, including unwashed or wild plants, nori, spirulina, fermented foods or a probiotic, with a B12 supplement as an alternative if these are not available. George Malkmus has recommended regular use of a B12 supplement since a study of Hallelujah dieters showed signs of inadequate B12 in most of them and showed that a B12 supplement or fortified nutritional yeast corrected this reliably while probiotics did not.

The confusion in this area arises from a conceptual error. Many raw food or natural hygiene advocates believe that our evolutionary diet and that of our great ape relatives did not include an external source of B12 and then conclude that humans shouldn't need such a source. In fact, all the other great apes — even the gorillas — consume insects incidentally along with their normal diet of fruits, shoots, leaves and nuts. Chimpanzees show particular enthusiasm for collecting and eating termites, which have high measured levels of B12. After capture, the blood B12 levels of most primates drops rapidly when they are fed on a hygienically grown and prepared plant-based diet. It is therefore not surprising that humans also need an external source of B12.

Many of David Wolfe's proposed B12 sources have been directly tested and shown to be inadequate. Nori and spirulina failed to correct deficiency in macrobiotic children and did not maintain adequate blood B12 levels in a Finnish raw food community. Probiotics did not consistently correct low B12 availability in Hallelujah dieters. A UK raw food vegan went B12 deficient while growing his own food and eating it unwashed: based on measured B12 levels in soil this is unsurprising. Other proposed sources have not been tested so directly, but the only two published studies of B12 levels in raw food vegans both showed inadequate B12 levels.

Low B12 levels give rise to elevated homocysteine levels with an associated increased risk of many illnesses, including stroke and heart disease, without any classical B12 deficiency symptoms. In children the onset of full-blown deficiency can be very rapid with much greater risk of long-term damage or even death. At least 3 micrograms per day of B12 from fortified foods or supplements is needed to minimise homocysteine levels in adults. Breast milk is an adequate source for infants only if the mother's intake is adequate.

The main argument for the desirability of high raw diets derives from comparison with our evolutionary diet and the diets of our great ape relatives. All the great apes eat diets centred on raw fruit (chimps, bonobos, orangutans, lowland gorillas) or raw leaves (highland gorillas) and including a mixture of fruit (including large amounts of seeds), leaves, shoots, insects and often nuts. Use of cooked foods and large amounts of grains is unique to humans. It is further suggested that a return to a diet more like that of our ape relatives would bring great benefits to health as it is the diet to which we are evolutionarily adapted. This is a plausible argument and the nutrient content of such a diet matches modern nutritional knowledge in many ways: e.g. high folate, vitamin C, vitamin K, potassium and magnesium intakes along with low saturated fat and cholesterol. However, there are important limitations to using the plant content of great ape diets as a model for ideal human diets.

Firstly, insects cannot be part of a vegan diet and are probably the key source of B12 in most primate diets. As all B12 comes from bacteria, the absence of insects is readily compensated for by using B12 produced by bacteria in commercial fermenters and used in fortified foods and supplements.

Secondly, human exposure to sunlight at high latitudes and when spending most of the day indoors is greatly reduced compared with our evolutionary exposure. During the UK winter, vitamin D from foods fortified with the vegan form (ergocalciferol, D2) can help to compensate for limited light exposure. A trip to sunnier climes during the winter allows the vitamin D to be topped up more naturally. Infants are particularly vulnerable to vitamin D deficiency due to the high rate of bone building taking place and should always receive a vitamin D supplement in winter. Breast milk is not an adequate source: we are designed to live nearer the equator.

Thirdly, the human gut is smaller overall than that of the other great apes and the human colon takes up just 20% of the digestive system compared with 50% in the other great apes. This results in a dramatically reduced capability to process fibre, indicating that humans are adapted to a lower fibre diet than the other great apes, who consume several hundred grams of fibre per day. Our palaeolithic ancestors consumed around 100 g of fibre per day. Simply copying the other great apes is therefore not an option.

There are three candidate explanations for this reduced capacity to process fibre: increased reliance on soft fruit, increased consumption of meat, and increased food processing. The former is unlikely to have been the primary factor as it represents a restriction of diet rather than an expansion. Increased meat consumption probably started with homo erectus about 2 million years ago, but may only have become a major factor about 20,000 years ago with an explosion in sophisticated hunting techniques. All the great apes show some use of food processing. Chimps often use stones to crack nuts and chew fibrous foods to remove the juice before discarding the fibre. Stone tool use by human ancestors became common about two million years ago, but most forms of food processing would leave little trace, so it is difficult to verify how big a role such processing played.

However, it is plausible that food processing, including cooking, played a major part in the changes in the human digestive system compared with the other great apes. Humans may have evolved to rely on food processing. Food processing destroys some nutrients, but can also inactivate toxins and increase the availability of other nutrients. Conservative cooking such as steaming or boiling causes only modest loss of some nutrients, such as folate, while enhancing the bioavailability of others, such as carotenoids. Lycopene, which appears to have profound protective effects on health, is better absorbed from cooked than from raw tomatoes. Liquidising or juicing also increases carotenoid availability from carrots.

Cooking increases the energy available from starchy foods such as potatoes and grains and inactivates certain food toxins, thereby increasing the range of foods available to us. Whether such foods belong in an optimal diet remains to be established. The longest-living population in the world, the Japanese Okinawans, make extensive use of cooked grains, sweet potatoes, vegetables and soy products and little use of raw fruit. However, there is no large group of long-term raw food vegans to provide a direct comparison.

There is good direct evidence that large amounts of refined grains are associated with increased risk of heart disease and diabetes in Western populations. However, higher consumption of whole grains is associated with reduced risk of heart disease and diabetes, so this evidence suggests that grain should be consumed in unrefined (whole) form rather than eliminated altogether, at least for most people. A few individuals have life-threatening adverse reactions to gluten (present in many grains but notably absent from rice). The established effects of gluten range from allergies and coeliac disease to varying degrees of digestive discomfort. In addition, some individuals appear to metabolise gluten poorly with high levels of opioid protein fragments appearing in their urine.

This pattern, which also occurs with casein from animal milks, has been found in some studies to be more common in autistic and schizophrenic individuals and the symptoms of such individuals sometimes improve on elimination of gluten and milk. As a raw food diet is often a gluten free diet, it is possible that some of the people finding such diets particularly beneficial may be gluten intolerant in varying degrees.

Raw food has particular environmental advantages in that it often comes from trees (avoiding soil loss from tilling) and requires little packaging and no cooking. These characteristics benefit the health of the planet and all who share it. On the other hand, raw food often requires long-distance transportation and commercial banana production is an environmental disaster with high pesticide use affecting plantation workers and local rivers. The trade-off is not clear cut. It is likely that local sourcing of cooked foods (e.g. Scottish oats) has the environmental edge over Jamaican bananas or airlifted strawberries, but seasonally available local fruits and nuts have the edge over both.

Raw Food & Weight Loss

One universally recognised effect of a high raw diet is weight loss, and many leading exponents of raw diets report being overweight on a conventional diet but achieving a desirable weight on switching to a raw vegan diet. This effect is no mystery as raw plant foods are generally low calorie density high fibre foods which are very filling – ideal for weight loss – and was confirmed by a six-month trial in South Africa. A common reason for abandoning raw food diets, however, is excessive weight loss. Including sufficient tropical fruits such as bananas and avocados, or nuts and seeds and cold pressed oils, is important for maintaining a healthy weight once any desired weight loss has been achieved.

Increasing the consumption of raw fruits, nuts and salad vegetables considerably beyond current UK average intakes can be expected to be benefit individual health and to benefit the environment if locally produced. However, evidence to date does not justify a general recommendation of raw vegan diets in the sense of more than 80% of food being consumed raw, particularly for children who need a relatively high calorie density.

The Vegan Society recommends the consumption of a wide variety of plant foods, including raw fruit and salads and cooked foods including a wide range of vegetables and whole grains. It also strongly recommends the consumption of 3 micrograms per day of vitamin B12 from fortified foods or supplements for all vegans and the use of vitamin D supplements for infants during the winter.

An Example of a 2,000 kcal. Raw Diet For One Day.

• Fruit: 100g red peppers, 200g tomatoes, 300g oranges, 200g apples, 500g bananas, 100g pears, 50g peaches, 50g raspberries, 200g kiwi fruit, 100g strawberries, 50g mangos.
• Green leafy vegetables and broccoli: 200g lettuce, 100g kale, 100g spinach, 100g broccoli.
• High-fat foods: 200g avocado, 30g almonds, 20g hazelnuts, 10g flaxseed, 3g Brazil nuts
• Other: 100g carrots, 100g peas.

This provides 700 mg calcium, 700g magnesium, 9mg zinc, 50 g protein, 100µg selenium, 3 g omega-3 fatty acids, 8,000mg potassium, 1100µg folate, 2 mg vitamin B1, 2.4mg B2, 6mg B6, 1100mg vitamin C, 30mg vitamin E, 6000µg of vitamin A (from carotenoids) and about 1000µg vitamin K. It may be too high (80g) in fibre for some people, particularly the very old or the very young, and it contains arguably too little sodium (270mg).

The iodine content may also be low, depending on the soil where the produce is grown. The balance of fatty acids is excellent. The diet contains no cholesterol or trans-fats and just 4% of calories as saturated fat while providing 5% omega-6, 1.5% omega-3 and 18% monounsaturated fat. Intakes of carotenoids, vitamin C, folate, vitamin K, vitamin E, magnesium, selenium and potassium are all much higher than in conventional diets and can be expected to promote health.

Zinc and protein intakes are adequate. The calcium content has been adjusted for the low availability of calcium from some of the foods, particularly spinach, and is probably adequate. Vitamin B12 and vitamin D must be addressed separately.

Yet another article on Pure Food & Wine in NYC (from Detroit Free Press)…

Chefs Can't Stand the Heat–Take on Raw Food Preparation

Just a few years ago, chef Matthew Kenney was ascending to the height of success and celebrity, with a string of thriving New York City eateries, two well-received cookbooks, and, early on, a ranking by Food & Wine as one of the "Ten Best New Chefs in America." But after Sept. 11, 2001, his empire collapsed in the economic fallout. And the French-trained chef took a surprising turn.

After a three-year culinary journey, he and his partner (in life and in the kitchen), Sarma Melngailis, have coauthored a diary cookbook, "Raw Food/Real World: 100 Recipes to Get the Glow" (Regan Books, $34.95), and opened a raw food restaurant, Pure Food and Wine in New York City.

Unlike many health-oriented cooks, Kenney, 40, and Melngailis, 32, both graduates of the French Culinary Institute, approached their raw food adventure from the standpoint of taste, after hearing about the culinary style while they were pondering their next project. But the couple became hooked on a personal level, as the health benefits became evident. They had more energy, slept sounder and felt great. After a year of navigating the nutritional maze, Kenney and Melngailis reached the point of deciding to share their newly developed food style with others.

They opened their restaurant in June 2004 in the Flat Iron section of New York City, with a raw vegan menu that runs from sushi to stylized beet ravioli, green curry coconut noodles to flatbread pizza with hummus. Kenney and Melngailis don't miss "cooking" at all, he says, as they find preparing tasty raw food even more of a challenge. Raw food recipes can be as simple as blender pureed soups or drinks. Their Watermelon-Tomato Gazpacho, for instance, which uses watermelon, tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, scallions, cilantro, ginger and jalapeno, can be easily blended "to taste."

Other raw food preparations can be labor intensive and ingredient-heavy (and not necessarily low-cal). Nuts and grains are made more edible by soaking and sprouting. Some foods are slowly "cooked" at low temperatures by dehydration. The payoff is no greasy pans to scrub. As for equipment, all you'll need, says Kenney, are a dehydrator, a powerful blender and good, sharp knives. The food processor is also useful. "And a juicer is good to have," Kenney says, "though I never got into juicing much. I just use a blender." Committed raw foodies can turn their ovens into storage space and use skillets for sprouting.

As exciting as the food is, it's the satisfying desserts that tend to lock in converts, says Kenney, items such as a dark chocolate ganache tart — one made with organic cacao beans but without the usual butter, eggs or sugar. The new eating style may seem drastic, so Kenney suggests easing into it. "In the beginning, keep it simple," he says. "Take little bites of the philosophy. Go slowly. It can seem overwhelming. It did to us."

A recent raw food article from The News & Observer…

Eating in the Raw

The cookbook section of most bookstores offers a staggering selection of books that show you how to cook. But take a closer look and you'll find a small but growing number of books that focus on "un-cooking," that is the benefits and how-to's of eating raw foods. To most raw-food proponents, "raw" simply refers to food that hasn't been cooked or even heated above a certain temperature. Foods that have been heat-smoked, as well as those that have been heated during processing such as canning or pasteurization–like pasteurized milk or salsa in a jar–are not considered raw foods.

What Happens When Food is Cooked?

You may be surprised to learn that heat above 107 degrees or so begins to inactivate such nutrients as vitamin C and folic acid, and can cause minerals such as calcium to become less readily absorbed by the body. In addition to affecting vitamins and minerals, heat from the cooking process can also destroy enzymes in food.

Enzymes perform many important functions in the body. They act as protein catalysts, help to produce energy to fuel cells and jump-start our digestive process. Our immune cells also use enzymes to attack viruses and bacteria. Although our bodies can make many of the enzymes that we need, raw food supporters contend that we can get "premade" enzymes by simply eating raw foods that are full of their own enzymes.

If you would like to begin eating more raw foods, this is the perfect time of year to start. Area farmers markets are bursting with fresh fruits and vegetables right now.

–End excerpt–

The news article includes a raw food recipe involving cabbage, and advises sprouting beans, nuts and seeds.

An introduction to the world of Raw Foods from Happy Cow…

What is Living and Raw Food?

Plant-based foods in their original, un-heated state are considered raw & alive. Raw foods may include fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, sprouts, grains and legumes in sprout form, seaweeds, microalgae, and fresh juices. These live foods contain a wide range of vital life force nutrients (vitamins, minerals, amino acids, oxygen) and live enzymes. Their nutritional properties are essential to the proper maintenance of human bodily functions.

Who Are Raw Foodists?

"Raw-foodists" (also called "Rawists") are those who thrive on live food energy by consuming a diet of mostly un-cooked whole plant foods — usually at least 75% though some say 100% is the only true path. Some contemporary famous raw foodists include raw chef & author Juliano, actress Demi Moore, and raw entrepreneur & author David Wolfe.

Raw enthusiasts proudly proclaim their break from an addiction to cooked & processed foods. They tell us that incorporating a few raw meals a week is a good start that will bring immediate changes to the body to feeling better and having more energy. Even if you have a busy schedule, you can still find easy to prepare raw & whole foods at your local health & natural food markets.

Why Go Raw?

Raw foods are easy to digest, and they provide the maximum amount of energy with minimal bodily effort. Studies have shown that living foods have healing powers that can alleviate many illnesses from low energy, allergies, digestive disorders, weak immune system, high cholestrol, candida, to obesity & weight problems, etc… Research and real life experiences have also shown that a person can prevent a body's healthy cells from turning into malignant cancerous cells by consuming a diet consisting of mostly raw & whole foods.

What's Wrong With Cooked Foods?

Heat changes the chemical makeup of food. Foods that have been heated have lost all of their life force, and their beneficial enzymes are destroyed. The digestive system has to work harder and longer to process cooked foods to get nutrition & energy from it. Once cooked, a food can lose up to 85 percent of its nutritional value. Raw foodists call that "dead food." Since we are essentially what we eat, consuming the dead energy of dead foods make our bodies feel heavy and stagnant, and contribute to increased illnesses.

Below you'll find a press release about the 2005 Organic Athlete Conference…

Vegan Athletes Flex Their Muscles
The OrganicAthlete Conference will highlight examples of successful vegan athletes.

In a recent interview, Olympic track star Carl Lewis, who was a vegan during his best years, says he believes that “most athletes have the worst diet in the world, and they compete in spite of it.” Members of OrganicAthlete’s “Vegan Pro-Activist” team are out to prove that a plant-based diet is the best diet for optimal health and performance, and that they can succeed at high levels in sports because they are vegan.

Many people are resistant about becoming vegan because of dietary myths like not getting enough protein, but elite vegan athletes and health professionals are participating in the 2005 OrganicAthlete Conference to dispel these myths. Scheduled for September 24th, the goal of the conference is to share information about the benefits of a plant-based diet. “At first other athletes told me I should really start eating meat,” says Brendan Brazier, a professional tri-athlete and vegan for six years. According to Brazier, those same friends now realize, based on his outstanding athletic example, that a vegan diet is optimal for high performance athletes.

The conference schedule includes talks from endurance athletes like Brazier and Christine Vardaros, a world class cyclo-cross racer, who has risen to the top of her sport as a vegan. But even in the protein-crazed sport of bodybuilding vegans are finding success. Kenneth G. Williams, a bodybuilder who placed 3rd at the 2004 Natural Olympia, and Charlie Abel, a raw vegan muscleman and personal trainer, will both speak at the event.

Leading nutritionists Dr. Doug Graham, Rozalind Gruben, Dr. Ruth Heidrich and Dr. Rick Dina will join the athletes in explaining the science of vegan nutrition. Dr. Graham, who has trained many Olympic caliber athletes, explains: “Every nutrient known to be essential for human health is available, in proper concentration, in plant foods. This is not so with animal-based foods, as there are many essential nutrients totally absent in them.”

The conference will be held at Sports Basement’s Presidio store. The $65 fee includes all educational seminars, food demos, training sessions, lunch and a gift certificate to Sports Basement. The World Vegetarian Day Celebration will be held the following day in Golden Gate Park.

More information about the OrganicAthlete conference. You can also call 707-360-8511 to find out more information about the event.

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."

The raw food event listed below was published in The Beachcomber, a daily newspaper for Vashon Island and Maury Island in Washington (just outside of Seattle).

Enjoy Raw Food At The Village

The Village invites Islanders to join them for a raw food event at 5 p.m. Saturday, June 11. Guests should bring all the ingredients for one or two raw dishes, and then everyone will prepare the food together, share recipes and ideas about living food and then enjoy a shared meal.

The event is free to Village members. Non-members pay $2/person or $4/family. The Village is at 9412 Gorsuch Road. For more information, call Jessa Zimmerman at 567-5804.