Raw foodist Angela was featured on CNN today, a great outlet to help others learn about the true power of the raw food diet in not only losing weight, but regaining optimal health.

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Probably a no-brainer, but further evidence that eating more fruits and vegetables reduce your chances of gaining weight and obesity. I've never seen a study that contradicts this, and also have never seen a study that proves eating more meat, dairy or fish and less vegetables reduces your chances of gaining weight.

To enhance your experience and get more benefits from your fruits and vegetables, look for organic as much as possible and eat as much of it raw and fresh, or at the most, lightly steamed. Once a vegetable is warmed over 120 degrees it starts losing enzymes, vitamins, minerals and other nutrients. The longer you cook, the more the loss. Enzymes are essential for proper digestion and you want the nutrients as well. So eating overcooked, soggy vegetables do very little good for you, nutritionally speaking. Best choice is raw, second best is very lightly steamed (just a minute or two). Good eating!

National Library of Medicine: "Changes in intake of fruits and vegetables in relation to risk of obesity and weight gain among middle-aged women."

"RESULTS: During the 12-y follow-up, participants tended to gain weight with aging, but those with the largest increase in fruit and vegetable intake had a 24% of lower risk of becoming obese... For major weight gain (> or =25 kg), women with the largest increase in intake of fruits and vegetables had a 28% lower risk compared to those in the other extreme group. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that increasing intake of fruits and vegetables may reduce long-term risk of obesity and weight gain among middle-aged women."

Most of those interested in the raw food diet are looking to lose weight... to release extra weight. But some are concerned about maintaining their weight when transitioning to a raw food diet.

Here's a question I received recently:
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We know how delicious and good fruit is for you. Here's a study showing another benefit... seeing.

A recent study published in the June 2004 issue of the Archives of Ophthalmology indicates that eating 3 or more servings of fruit per day may lower your risk of age-related macular degeneration (ARMD), the primary cause of vision loss in older adults, by 36%, compared to persons who consume less than 1.5 servings of fruit daily.

In this study, which involved over 70,000 women and over 40,000 men, researchers evaluated the effect of consumption of fruits; vegetables; the antioxidant vitamins A, C, and E; and carotenoids on the development of early ARMD or neovascular ARM, a more severe form of the illness associated with vision loss.

Food intake information was collected periodically for up to 18 years for women and 12 years for men. While, surprisingly, intakes of vegetables, antioxidant vitamins and carotenoids were not strongly related to incidence of either form of ARM, fruit intake was definitely protective against the severe form of this vision-destroying disease.

To your best health,

All good things!

Mark

One of the ways I've found to save on your grocery bill (next to shopping at your local farmers market) is to grow your own garden. As I show in this video, you don't need a lot of space to grow just about anything you enjoy. You can dig up a small garden, or use the square foot garden method to grow just about anywhere around your house. You can also use containers as I do if you're short on gardening space. All it takes is getting some compost locally (I found some at my local Whole Foods) and seeds. Here's an update on our home garden:

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One way to get fresher and more nutritious produce is to shop locally. Not your local grocery store , but local farms, co-ops and farmers markets if available in your area.

Here in Arizona we're in the midst of citrus season (among other crops) and it's easy to find plentiful oranges, grapefruits, tangerines and lemons. We recently had the opportunity to visit a friend near Phoenix that grows all the above and it was a memorable visit. Our friend informed us that he fertilizes the trees with an organic compost every season and waters regularly. We tasted most of the fruit and noticed how dramatically different it was from even the organic produce at our local co-op. Fresh off the tree taste can't be duplicated.. just delicious! We went home with bags full of fresh fruits and have enjoyed them for weeks.

Our friend's dogs are also vegetarian... they eat all the fruits off the trees and any other vegetable growing in the garden. The neighboring mule 'Burrito' also enjoys the grapefruits and oranges. It's amazing how animals thrive eating what nature has to offer instead of man-made 'byproducts' and other animal products that give them 'man-made' diseases just like humans get. Coincidence?

Enjoying the tastes of local produce, I also found a nearby farm that is currently growing a mixture of green vegetables, including green onions, mixed greens, brocolli and assorted green lettuce. The tastes are equally fresher and it's a pleasure to support local farms in growing sustainable, organic and fresh fruits and vegetables. With the massive proliferation of factory farming, it's more important now than ever before to support your local farmers and keep them growing!

To find a farm or farmers market near you, visit LocalHarvest.org

To your best health!

Mark

Recently I noticed a lively conversation over at Kevin Gianni's Renegade Health Blog about thoughts on a complete 100% raw food diet.

Kevin mentioned since he wasn't 100% raw, he couldn't comment on some aspects of the diet and invited others to share their thoughts.

Being 100% raw for over 3.5 years, I thought I could share some insight. Basically, here's what I wrote.

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