Victoria Boutenko

[shelsmaha]

Hi all! To anyone that cares they are having a "Raw Mom's Summit" over at The Raw Divas. Victoria Boutenko is one of the speakers. I know Kathryn has referenced her before. To anyone who likes to eat green and would like to try raw these teleseminars that they put on are good! They are free for 24 hrs each. Here is the link.

http://tinyurl.com/lr7vsa

 

[LaughingWater]

Thanks for the link, Shellie. This looks interesting!

 

[kathryn]

Thanks for the link!

I have mixed feelings about Victoria Boutenko and her views of raw foodism.

Her books seem like a mix of researched info (in her more recent works, like "Green for Life"), personal anecdotes that are hard to believe and aren't supported by any documentation, second-hand testimonials from people who emailed her but also provide no supporting evidence that what they are saying is true.

She and her family also have a history of going to extremes in their raw journey (she says that at one point she was eating only 1 gram !! of fiber a day because she did so much juice, her son had something like a dozen oranges as a meal, for example). And she is pretty much in the '100% raw or bust' camp.

 

[shelsmaha]

Kathryn I've never read her book just alot of people reference her. I know she is in to monomeals...as evidence by her sons 15 oranges! I personally only really do the green smoothie part of the raw thing. And of course salads. I just read that now they say steaming is best for dark greens that it helps you to absorb vitamins better when it gets to your intestines...at least that's how I remember it I could be wrong!!

 

[LaughingWater]

I just discovered a guy online who I think claims to eat 20 bananas a day. (?!) Wouldn't you get constipated?

 

[kathryn]

I just read that now they say steaming is best for dark greens that it helps you to absorb vitamins better when it gets to your intestines...at least that's how I remember it I could be wrong!!

I'm assuming "they" is conventional nutritionists (or those who assume people prepare greens in the typical way most Americans would: in salads or cooking in some way).

From what I understand, the cellulose in greens does make their nutrients hard to access and absorb, but blending them in a high-powered blender like the vitamix shatters the cell walls, and makes the nutrients as available as would chewing to a creamy consistency (the Vitamix web site has info on some studies that were done to this effect).

 

[kathryn]

I just discovered a guy online who I think claims to eat 20 bananas a day. (?!) Wouldn't you get constipated?

You'd think so...or the opposite!

That just seems whack to me.
Okay maybe once in a blue moon (when near a banana tree in peak banana season, for example), but too much of any one food would lead to imbalances, IMO.


Another thing about VB: I have a couple of her DVD's (again, a mix of good info and some whacky stuff---I pick and choose what makes sense!), and in one where she says she's been raw for 9 years, she's still about 40-50 pounds overweight (and she still is overweight, from what I recall). How can that happen on a raw-food diet unless she's got a really high-fat diet? (I just donated her kids' recipe book to my local library, as it uses a LOT of oil---which I prefer to use in moderation, going more towards whole-food fat sources--and nuts. Some recipes use something like a cup each of two types of nuts PLUS 1/2 cup oil, for example.)