warning, this is long...
...it's my day off, and I'm procrastinating before correcting papers and cleaning!
I've toyed with the idea of a raw food diet off and on for years, and read a lot of books on it. It intrigues me, and there are some convincing arguments for eating more raw, but I've never been 100% convinced that 100% raw is doable, healthy or necessary.
I have gone 100% raw for limited time periods (2 weeks in the 70's following a juice fast after getting my wisdom teeth out, when I use the opportunity to experiment with a lot of foods, and decided that if a plant isn't edible raw---like eggplant!--I didn't want to eat it cooked; 2 weeks a couple of summers ago, when I tried out a variety of techniques and recipes. Some good, some not-so-good!).
What I've taken from it is some ideas for foods, recipes and techniques to use to add more variety to my veggies and to eat more raw foods without actually being a 'raw fooder' (ie: soaking raw nuts then draining and either dehydrating or making milk out of them. Almonds--if you can find real raw ones nowdays: for the past year, most almonds labeled "raw" have actually been steamed or, if not organic, treated with a chemical--make a great raw milk. And all nuts are sweeter after soaking.)
My take:
I think it's an excellent idea to incorporate more raw foods in the diet, from 60% to 90% raw, depending on the season and your individual needs (and what foods are available).
I don't think that 100% raw is necessary, or even that good of an idea (unless perhaps you live in a tropical region with access to a variety of foods).
To incorporate more raw foods, make sure to have a large raw salad before each lunch and dinner (starting with raw foods can help provide enzymes), snack on raw foods.
I think it's harder (and less natural) to go raw food in the colder months (ideally, I'd be 60% raw in winter, 80% in summer).
A higher % raw food diet is good for shorter periods, like mid-summer when fresh organic produce is availalble, or for an alternative to fasting.
The problems I see with many raw food diets are:
1) too high fat content (lots of nuts and avocados) supposedly for 'protein,' but these are much better sources of fats than of protein, but also in order to get enough calories.
2) too much emphasis on fruits (there's some dude who claims that an 8o% fruit raw-food diet is ideal. But that would be too high in sugars for most folk, IMO.
3) I'm not sure how many 'rawfooders' are actually 100% raw, or how many call themselves 'raw fooders' and are actually at 80%-90% raw. On
www.veganbodybuilding.com there is a raw fooder who claims to eat just oranges on some days and maintains his weight and builds muscle. But he give somewhat elusive answers to some questions, claiming that he personally knows "many" raw fooders who thrive on the diet, but aren't very vocal about it because they are ridiculed by others. It all seemed rather suspect to me.
4) some of the raw food proponents seem like total nut jobs, with no basis in reality or reason (others, though, have a medical or scientific background that they use to promote their ideas on raw foods).
5) some raw food 'gurus' don't look that healthy to me. Alissa Cohen used to look great, but last time I saw her on TV (doing some kind of diet challenge on Tyra?) her face was strangely bloated. And Victoria Boutenko is about 30 pounds overweight and it's NOT muscle.)
I do think a 'high-raw' diet of 80% raw to 20% cooked is doable and can be healthy.
Since spring and summer are coming, you could transition to a high raw diet for summer by starting adding more raw foods to your diet, and at the peak of summer, going all raw for a week. This experiment/journey can help you learn how raw foods fit for you, and introduce you to some new recipes and ways of using raw veggies.
There is quite a range of raw food 'recipe' books availalble.
Some are based on Anne Wigmore's and Victoris Kulvinskus' (sp?!) work on sprouts and fermented raw foods.
Some, like Alissa Cohen, have some elaborate and time consuming recipes that use the dehydrator and Spiralizer (makes cool raw zucchini 'pasta'!) a lot to make foods that ressemble cooked foods.
Others, like the author of my favorite raw-food recipe book (we can't really call them 'cookbooks" can we? LOL!)
http://www.amazon.com/Raw-Food-Made...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1233851713&sr=1-1 present recipes that are usually easy to make and tasty as well.
Victoria Boutenko and her family have several books out, but she generally comes off to me as someone in the 'kind of a whacko' group who is just making things up. I do, though, really like this book by her:
http://www.amazon.com/Green-Life-Vi...=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1233851991&sr=1-2 that has a lot of interesting ideas for green smoothies, AND actually has some references to scientific studies (like those on nutrient levels found in organic vs. conventionally grown produce) rather than just what seem to be her lala land personal take on things. (It doesn't help my opinion of her that I find her to look unhealthy and about 30 pounds overweight).
HTH!
I also believe eating processed foods are a part of cancer causing illnesses. There are so many chemicals in the processed foods. I can't figure out why they arn't banned from society.
