The raw truth about raw foods

When I began eating a raw food diet in 2002, concerned people told me that I couldn’t survive eating all raw foods and that it was a fad diet. Roughly 10 years later, I don’t agree with them.

The popularity of the raw food diet is growing. Salt Lake City has one all-raw restaurant, Omar’s Rawtopia in Sugarhouse, and five other vegan restaurants with raw food options.

When I personally began eating natural foods people would ask, “Don’t you get tired of just eating salads?” The answer is yes, I did. That is why I started creating recipes. I was missing some of my old favorite foods and was getting bored of the recipes that were available at the time. After a while and a few potlucks, people started asking me, “How do you make that wonderful food?”

It comes with time and experience. When I started learning how to make raw foods I would attend food demos, buy recipe books and say, “I can do that!” When I got home, I either didn’t have the equipment or I just didn’t understand what the instructions meant and I would think, “I can’t do this.”

Karie Clingo invited me to a Kitchen Fun. The best way to describe a Kitchen Fun is that it is a potluck, but instead of bringing a completed dish with you, you bring the ingredients and make the food during the potluck.

Even though I had been cooking for years, I had to literally be walked through my first recipe. My friend said, “Cut the avocado open, remove the pit, scrape the meat into the blender.” She even had to tell me to turn on the blender. Something in that experience clicked and I have been creating recipes and written four recipe books.

Here are some of the most frequently asked questions about raw food diets:

What is a raw food diet?

There really is no mystery to a raw food diet. A raw diet consists of eating 70 to 100 percent of food intact in a raw state. It is simply eating your food without cooking it, preferably fresh from the garden.

Science has shown that probiotics, enzymes and nutrients are very heat sensitive. Raw food is prepared in ways that protect the food’s nutrients.

Why eat raw foods?

Research from many different health organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the American Cancer Society have shown that fruits and vegetables are extremely important for health and that most people need to eat more of them. The American Cancer Society suggests that people consume at least 2.5 cups of vegetables and fruit daily.

What do you eat on a raw food diet?

There are many philosophies concerning how and what raw foods should be eaten. Typically a raw food diet consists of fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and grains. Some people only eat fruits while others will consume non-pasteurized or raw dairy products.

No matter what foods are chosen it is important to remember to eat a variety of food. Doing so ensures that a full range of nutrients is being eaten. Dark, leafy greens, for example, are low fat, extremely high in protein and calcium and are rich in phytochemical.

Is eating raw foods expensive?

Any change can be more expensive, particularly in the beginning stages of the change. After eating this way for a while it becomes less expensive because you’re getting the nutrients you need and eating less food.

One of the benefits of eating food in season is that it is less costly. Eating the fresh food from the garden is less expensive that eating gourmet raw foods.

As Hippocrates said, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” I try to remember that when buying food, I’m also purchasing my medicine. If I spend a little bit more on food, I’m spending less time away from work or the doctor’s office due to illness. I have found that when I am eating the right food I have the energy to do the things that I enjoy doing and I feel happy.