What exactly does a raw foodist eat? Fruit, vegetables, nuts, and seeds. That's the basic formula.
BUT... there can be many different types of raw diets from this basic formula. And some of these diets are clearly healthier than others.
Raw plant foods tend to run low in calories. Fruit generally has under 10% calories from protein. According to cron-o-meter, persimmons are around 2%, bananas and grapes 4%, and oranges around 6%. Even avocados, which are a fruit, only 4% calories from protein.
Leafy greens tend to have a little more protein, romaine has 17% calories from protein and spinach is a real champ at 30%.
Nuts and seeds are mistakenly believed to be high in protein... but actually, they contain far more calories from fat than protein. Pine nuts are 7%, walnuts 8%, cashew nuts 11%, almonds 13%, and pumpkin seeds 17%.
Compare to roasted chicken (78%) or silken tofu (45%).
Why is this important? Well, since raw plant foods tend to be low in protein, we must obtain calories from either fats or carbohydrates to survive. A high fat raw diet consists mostly of nuts, seeds, and avocados. A high carbohydrate raw diet consists mostly of fruit.
What about a moderate fat, moderate carbohydrate diet?
High levels of fat in the bloodstream reduces the effectiveness of insulin (this hormone is important for shuttling glucose into the cells where it can be used for energy or converted to glycogen for storage). Reduced insulin effectiveness = high levels of circulating glucose, and this can lead to neuropathy and heart disease (among other things). Persistently elevated blood glucose can also lead to systemic candidia infection, as this fungus likes to feed on sugar. The culprit in disorders involving blood sugar imbalance appears to be FAT, not SUGAR. More reading is available here at Doug Graham's excellent website.
So it's either high fat or high fruit. But which one?
This seems to be a hugely controversial issue amongst raw foodists. I personally am in the low fat camp because I agree that humans are physiologically designed to eat a high carbohydrate diet. Our muscles and organs run most efficiently on glucose. On the flip side, a high far diet is associated with health problems like obesity and cardiovascular disease. More information about this is available on Dr. Graham's website and at 30 Bananas a day. Our bodies digest carbohydrate foods very quickly, which allows rapid extraction of energy and nutrients. Some fruits, like melons, can digest in under half an hour. High fat foods, on the other hand, can take up to six hours or more to clear our stomach.
Dr. Gabriel Cousens and Dr. Robert Young (amongst others) tout the benefits of a low sugar, high fat diet. In a nutshell, they suggest that a high fruit diet causes acidity in the body, which leads to degenerative illness. In my personal experience, I felt pretty good on a high fat raw diet, but I didn't start to THRIVE until I switched to a high carbohydrate raw diet.
In my opinion, the reason why people do well when transitioning from a cooked diet to a (usually high fat) raw diet is because of the foods that they have eliminated from their body - namely, animal products and processed foods (e.g. bread, tofu). However, in the long term, I don't think a high fat raw diet is sustainable.
What about "gourmet" raw? As raw food has grown in popularity, raw food restaurants and raw products have proliferated. Menus are still based on fruit, vegetables, nuts, and seeds... but often also include questionably raw condiments such as salt, agave nectar, oils, etc. Go to a raw food restaurant and you can eat enchiladas, burgers, and pasta... with a big piece of raw cheesecake or pie to finish. Creative, yes. Fun, sure. But healthy? I wouldn't base my diet on gourmet raw foods. Perhaps an "occasional treat" just like a non-raw burger or cheesecake would be. One high fat meal can certainly fit into a low fat raw diet, provided that the preceeding and subsequent meals are kept low fat.
How does one go about eating a low fat raw vegan (LFRV) diet? It's pretty simple. Doug Graham's book The 80-10-10 diet is a great read and provides many answers to questions that people have about the LFRV diet. The prescription is: eat as many fruits as you care for at breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and follow the dinner meal with a salad if necessary. The crucial words here are "as many as you care for" - we're not talking about an orange or a handful of grapes. No, it may be twelve oranges or ten cups of grapes. Or ten bananas blended up into a smoothie. Or an entire watermelon. Or seven mangoes. Etcetera.
One thing I love about this way of eating - there's no deprivation. It's about abundance. And before you ask "but won't I get fat eating all that fruit" - just check out the folks at 30 Bananas a Day.
For me, personally, this has been SO MUCH MORE than a "diet" or a "way of eating". LFRV has truly changed my perspective on the world, myself, and my relationships. That's definitely an entire blog post alone, so I shall save that for next time.
Peace.
