Are raw food potlucks helpful?

One of the first things I learned about when getting interested in raw foods was the raw food potlucks. They were recommended to me to learn more about the lifestyle, meet other raw foodists and learn new recipes.

After a few months I did learn those things; met others at all points of their journey to better health, learned new recipes, resources and lifestyle ideas.

Over the years, I made an important distinction. Long term raw foodists don't normally eat the foods brought to a raw food potluck.

Why?

I've determined that raw food potlucks are most beneficial to those new to the lifestyle, those looking to make a change for their health, making new friends or those curious and wanting to learn more.

Long term raw foodists can be helpful to those that are new and provide guidance, although do not normally eat much at the potlucks. Since many who attend are new, they create dishes that are high in fat, lack proper food combining principles or are gourmet style recipes (all of course are great once in a while). For those experienced in raw foods, this type of meal is affectionately called "combo mambo" since the food combining is not the best and there are all sorts of foods mixed together when you try a little of this and that.

I noticed after about a year that eating at potlucks was no longer pleasurable. It often brought indigestion, gas and uncomfortable feelings. You see, as you progress in eating raw foods, you start to prefer simpler meals and normally combine foods naturally. Eating a combination of different foods that are normally high in fat (nuts, pates, seeds, avocados, coconut oil, etc) and normally more than just a bite can easily upset a digestive system that has been already cleaned and prefers simpler foods.

In fact, as I now bring simpler dishes, interestingly enough, they are not as popular as the more 'gourmet' meals I once brought. Most seem to enjoy the fancier foods that resemble cooked food dishes - just with raw ingredients.

So are potlucks helpful?

Absolutely!

First, they are a great support network for those interested in learning more about better health, raw foods and recipes. Second, as you learn and become more experienced, you can be helpful to others just starting out and looking for answers. Many long term 100% raw fooders I notice don't eat much at the potlucks and spend most of the time sharing with others. I've learned to do the same, and often eat prior to attending and bring a simpler meal for others to enjoy.

You also make new friends and can build long term relationships with like-minded individuals in your area... which can be very helpful when making changes like this in your life.

You can learn more about the potlucks in your area by visiting: http://www.livingnutrition.com/potlucks.html
http://www.rawfoodnetwork.com/potlucks.html
http://www.rawfoodinfo.com/directories/dir_rawpotlucks.html

To your best health!

Mark

If you're wondering why eating more raw and living foods is beneficial, view this insightful video from Brenda at Living Foods Institute and find out about cancer, doctors, prescription drugs and more. Select 'click to play' below. Enjoy!

Mark

I often get asked what one book I would recommend for advice on eating raw and vegan.

Although there are many excellent resources, there are two I'd recommend today, you can choose the one best for your situation.

The first resource is The Garden Diet by Storm and Jinjee. Storm has been eating raw vegan for most of his life and you can see the benefits by just looking at him. His entire family is an inspiration. He and Jinjee share their research on the benefits of a raw vegan diet, their experiences along with delicious and easy to make recipes. One note, they don't use or recommend a dehydrator (often used by many raw foodists) so their recipes can be made and enjoyed simply and quickly. I would recommend their entire collection of ebooks which includes the Garden Diet, Anti-Aging, Raising Healthy Children, The Orange Juice Diet and several other related titles (ten in all). This collection is all meat, no fluff - direct and to the point. You get to know Storm and Jinjee throughout the books as well as learn about the benefits of a raw vegan lifestyle.

Note, this collection is in online and downloadable format. I would recommend downloading and then printing your copies for reading at your convenience. I've found that printing the recipes, hole punching, slipping them inside plastic sheet protectors and into a 3 ring binder works best for reference when preparing meals in your kitchen. Read more about the Garden Diet.

The second resource I recommend is the The Raw Food Detox Diet by Natalia Rose. Natalia offers a flexible and sensible approach to adding raw food to your diet. The background on the benefits is not extensive, but offers the main one, detoxification, as the primary reason for eating raw. By eliminating the buildup of toxic and unused waste from your system, you regain the balance your body needs. She focuses on elimination, and for good reason. If your system eliminates quickly and easily, there is no ongoing buildup to clog your system and it can deliver and use the nutrition your body needs. Natalia offers different levels of the raw food diet which may be helpful to some. She offers a good set of recipes, and a special section for children and family eating. She is flexible in her approach and offers a plan that most readers can relate to and follow easily. Compared to The Garden Diet, I would describe Natalia's book the "light" and introductory version of learning about how raw foods can benefit your health.

As much as I recommend the book, there are a few issues I don't agree with Natalia on.

First, she recommends the use of Splenda as a sweetner. I don't agree. Splenda (sucralose) is a man-made abomination that has been linked to dozens of health problems including enlarged kidneys and liver, migranes and reduced red blood cell count among others. Read more about the effects at Healthy Living Talk. So skip the Splenda and enjoy the rest of the book!

Second, Natalia doesn't specifically advocate a vegan diet. I believe the benefits outweigh the occassional eating of fish, meat or dairy products and although not for everyone, I highly recommend it. Once you get used to fresh, organic and raw foods, your body no longer craves the processed foods you ate in the past and instead craves more fresh, raw and nutrient dense foods.

This book is a hardback although also available in a download version from Amazon.

Search for The Raw Food Detox Diet at eBay
Search for The Raw Food Detox Diet at Half.com

May your journey to enjoying fresh, raw foods be filled with health and happiness!

All the best for your health,

Mark

According to new research, breastfed babies typically won't have to be deceived into eating fruits and veggies like recent popular cookbooks encourage. Instead, if their mom regularly eats fruits and vegetables, the baby will acquire a taste for healthy foods.
Read more...

Greetings from my first 'raw roadtrip'! I'm currently in Amarillo, Texas traveling from Chicago back to my home in Arizona and the first roadtrip since starting my raw journey.

Many of you have written to share your experiences when traveling and here's how I'm doing it.

My first stop before leaving Chicago was Karyn's, the popular raw vegan cafe, restaurant and marketplace. Picked up a few ready to eat meals (garlic pizza and california rolls... both were great choices) along with some pumpkin seeds, raw crackers and small salad from the buffet. I dropped these into a cooler with some ice packs and went on to Whole Foods Market just minutes away.

At Whole Foods I picked up spring water, 5 bunches of bananas, a quart of fresh strawberries, a bag of dates, and some apples (all organic). Dropped everything in the car and with plenty of food for 2.5 days of driving was ready for my first raw road trip!

In addition to the food I picked up, I had placed an order for the Phi Plus (raw whole food) I've mentioned before and had several bags ready to go.

I started the day with several glasses of water and then several hours later added a few bananas and strawberries. Throughout the day I added dates and grabbed a banana whenever I got hungry. At dinner time I pulled out one of the prepared meals from Karyn's along with some raw crackers. Evening snacks included Phi Plus and dates. I drank less water than I normally do to minimize the stops along the way!

I'm in my last day of travel now, feeling great and still have plenty of food. Eating fresh whole foods I brought along made it easy to eat whenever I was hungry, make fewer stops and gave me lots of energy to be able to drive as long as I wanted.

Share your travel experiences by leaving a comment!

Thanks for reading and all the best for your health...

Mark

Welcome! Curious about becoming vegan? Or raw? Interested in losing weight and more importantly, keeping it off for life? Want boundless energy? Better health? Would you like to feel great all the time?

Through the content here I hope you'll find what you're looking for. You'll find posts on the vegan and raw lifestyle, reasons why I believe a vegan, raw diet is the best way to regain health, stay healthy, lose weight and maintain a healthy weight for the rest of your life, my opinions, experiences and ramblings as well as resources for raw foodists and vegans and those that would like to become raw vegan.

Enjoy!

Do you know whether the almonds you buy are raw or not?

The label may say 'raw' but because of a new mandate by the Almond Board of California, which oversees almost 100% of the almonds grown and eaten in the United States, will falsely label almonds that have been pasteurized as 'raw'.

The reason for this mandate seems to stem from 2 outbreaks of salmonella in almonds in 2001 and 2004. From my sources, these incidents didn't involve organic almonds. Why mandate all almonds, both conventional and organic? There have been dozens of salmonella or other outbreaks in other meats and vegetables, should we pasteurize and cook all meats and vegetables as well? Is this overkill?

It's widely accepted that foods heated over 108 degrees are not considered raw. Pasteurization heats foods in temperatures that range from 150-280 degrees for varying time periods. The purpose is to kill micro organisms, but unfortunately it's not a selective killer. It also kills the enzymes and nutrients in the food which are then considered 'dead'.

It's a scientific fact that foods heated over 108 degrees lose their nutrient quality and the amount of nutrients available are significantly diminished. Studies also show that these heated foods also transform and mutate and cause distress to the human body, in particular blood cells. Some studies also show carcinogenic effects of heated foods.

In as early as 1930, research was done in Switzerland showing what processed and cooked food did to the leukocytes, the white blood cells in humans. Prior to this research it was noted that upon eating there would be an immediate increase of the white blood cells which was called "digestive leukocytosis." Digestive leukocytosis means that there is a rise in the number of white blood cells after eating.

It was not know why the cells would increase after eating and this increase usually meant that the person had been exposed to a harmful substance such as toxic chemicals, a trauma or infection.

Then at the Institute of Clinical Chemistry, Dr. Paul Kouchakoff found that eating unaltered, raw food or food heated at low temperatures did not cause a reaction in the blood. Kouchakoff also found that if the food was processed or heated beyond a certain temperature it caused a rise in the number of white blood cells. He found that foods that had been refined, homogenized, pasteurized, or preserved causes the greatest increase in white blood cells.

Of course, there's the issue of truth in labeling.

If a food is pasteurized, it certainly isn't raw. The definition of raw (from the Random House dictionary) is:

1. uncooked, as articles of food: a raw carrot.

2. not having undergone processes of preparing, dressing, finishing, refining, or manufacture: raw cotton.

Mislabeling is not only wrong, but can be criminal. Consumers ought to have an informed choice, to know how the food was altered, or not altered. This seems to go against any 'truth in labeling' movement and deceives the public.

The mandate is planned to take effect in the fall of this year (2007). Enjoy your raw and living almonds now, after the fall they may not be available. To contact the Almond Board of California and share your views, visit their web site at:

http://www.almondboard.com/utilities/FORMContactUs.cfm

or call them at: (209) 549-8262

Also, the Weston Price Foundation has put together a great background and list of people to contact.

To your BEST health!

Mark

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