The raw food diet is a simple concept to understand for most people - eating the way Nature intended: unrefined, pure, simple raw fruits and vegetables. However, it may not be so easy to put it into practice, as many have found out. Our eating habits are deeply ingrained from birth; psychology comes into play. Support is not always there; friends and family try to discourage us. The whole world eats differently and temptation is usually right around the corner. All these obstacles may seem gigantic, but are in fairly easily swept away by the power of strong, decisive will. Problems will often be an opportunity to learn more about oneself and solve other important, previously unattended-to issues along the way.

The main obstacles lining the way to healthy raw food eating are of a psychological nature - making mistakes, not knowing what to do and wondering why it is not working. Without someone experienced to guide you, you may wander around for a few years, trying figure things out on your own. The reading of a few books on the subject is usually not enough to gather enough practical knowledge, as this type of knowledge only comes from experience, rarely found in books which, more than often, just contain theory.

The other side of the debate

The contentious question often arises: "Raw versus Cooked: Which is More Natural?" Those advocating a "raw foodist" lifestyle tend to argue that cooking is unnatural. They often argue that since we evolved eating raw foods like the rest of the animal kingdom, we are better adapted to eat that way. In a landmark article published October, 2003, however, two Harvard anthropologists argue just the opposite. [Comparative Biology and Physiology 136 (2003): p.35]

First, they note that other than the new deliberate "raw foodists", there do not seem to be any current or historical populations, small groups or even individuals living for more than a few days without access to cooked foods. Then they take on the belief that cooking is a recent phenomenon for our species.

Mammalian species like ourselves can evolve adaptations in as few as 5000 years. Human beings have been cooking for at least 250,000 years, and perhaps as long as 1.9 million years - long before we were even Homo sapiens. They argue that not only have humans adapted to eating cooked foods, they argue that human beings have adapted so much that eating cooked food now seems obligatory for optimum health. Indeed, medical literature seems to back them up in several respects.

One of the few studies (and possibly the only study) of 100% raw foodists followed for years [Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism 43 (1999): p.69] showed that a third of the raw foodists were suffering from Chronic Energy Deficiency. Many were literally "wasting away". Most of the women suffered menstrual irregularities and half of the women lost their menstrual periods altogether, which could lead to devastating osteoporosis. Further, the sample consisted of modern urban people with relatively low activity levels who had access to high-quality, high-calorie produce from around the world year-round. How might our nontropical hunter-gatherer ancestors have lived through a single winter without cooking, especially with their extreme energy expenditure?

There have been major changes in our digestive biology over the past few hundred thousand years, and the researchers argue that these changes may have been due to the availability of cooked foods. 100,000 years ago, for example, the size of our jaws and molar teeth started to shrink, perhaps as an adaptation to softer, more easily-chewed cooked foods. They also suggest that perhaps other differences between our digestive systems and those of the great apes may also have been because of our adaptation to cooked foods - our smaller gut volume, longer small intestine, smaller colon, and faster gut passage rate.

They conclude that while well-supported individuals in an urban environment with a relatively sedentary lifestyle may be able to thrive on a raw food diet, it is neither natural nor necessarily desirable for optimal health.

Directions

• Avoid eating late at night or late in the evening. It takes a few days only to integrate this practice. Eat your evening meal not later than 7-8 p.m., and avoid eating anything else after that. Ideally, don't eat anything 3-4 hours before going to bed. By eating before going to sleep you are disturbing digestion and sleep, and putting food in your body when it is least capable of assimilating it.
   
• Avoid eating sweet fruit in the evening. Your evening meal should be composed of vegetables with either: avocado, olives, nuts or seeds. Eating fruit in the evening will disturb sleep, due to their (natural) sugar content. Especially avoid eating acid fruits in the evening, such as oranges or pineapple. The body is at this time too tired to neutralize the acids in the fruit, and they will disturb sleep and digestion.
   
• Avoid eating fat during the day. This works for a lot of people. The best time to eat fat is in the evening. During the day, prefer fruit and green vegetables for optimum digestion and energy.
   
• Pay attention to hunger, and don't feed your false appetite. We have to differentiate between hunger and appetite. Hunger is true physiological need, expressed by a strong desire for food. Appetite is false hunger, is very capricious, very demanding, and is never fully satisfied. Therefore, it is important that we learn to know what true hunger is, and avoid feeding merely our appetite.
   
• Exercise to create true hunger. Vigorous exercise is an essential component of a healthy lifestyle. While health cannot be achieved alone through fitness, it cannot be separated from it. Regular, vigorous exercise may be the missing piece in your health puzzle. By exercising vigorously, we create true demand for food and prepare thus the ground for superior assimilation, upon which radiant health depends.
   
• Limit the quantity of fat in your diet. Most raw-foodists go overboard on raw fat. Avocados, oils, olives, nuts and seeds tend to dominate in the diet. This can be a major cause of fatigue and lack of energy while on a raw-food diet and some recommend limiting fat consumption to as little as 10% of calories. In a 2000-calorie diet, this would mean only 22gm of fat (since 1gm of fat contains 9 calories) per day. To put it in perspective, half a medium avocado contains that amount. Of course, younger people who exercise more will tend to eat more calories, and could eat more fat.
   
• Eat only one type of fat per meal. Here are the different concentrated, fatty foods in the raw diet:
  
  • Avocados
  • Nuts (Almonds, pistachios, pecans, etc.)
  • Seeds (sunflower, pumpkin, sesame, etc.)
  • Nut butters
  • Oils (Olive, hemp, flax, etc.)
  • Durian
  • Olives
   
  These foods are all very satisfying, but also difficult to digest. That is why if you mix them with each other you will experience digestive difficulties. Eating only one type at a meal, and ideally only one type a day, is a good rule to follow. When eating a salad with avocados, for example, don't add any oil to it - and certainly no nuts. If you eat durian one day, that's likely to be enough fat for the day. Have your salad plain. Also, you should know that oils and nut butters are refined foods and not ideal. It is better to have them only occasionally.
   
• Eat simple foods. The raw food diet is by definition simple - unprocessed, unadulterated, whole, in its natural state. Eating foods that are simply uncooked is a step in that direction. The next step is to start eating mostly whole foods, simple fruits and vegetables, unmixed and unseasoned. But what's wrong with seasonings? Mostly, they are stimulants. That is, they contain toxic substances that irritate. For example, onions contain mustard oil. If you don't believe that mustard oil is irritating, try to eat a whole onion on its own! Hot peppers contain an even more irritating substance, called capsaicin. The body reacts to it so strongly that it will raise metabolism in its efforts of eliminating it.
  
  Eating spices and seasoning (salt included), in addition to causing unnecessary stimulation, irritate the delicate intestinal tract and interfere with digestion, also lead us to overeat - as they mask the taste of natural foods and encourage us to eat more. Also, when we mix a lot of foods together, we tend to complicate digestion and will be encouraged to overeat.
  
  It's perfectly alright to enjoy some gourmet raw food cuisine once in a while, but try not to make a habit out of it. Instead, go in the direction of simplicity. You will find that you will enjoy your food much more, finally tasting the subtle but complex flavors of natural foods.
   
• Eat a variety of fruits and vegetables. Eating a variety of fruits and vegetables doesn't mean eating many types of food in one meal, and not even in one day. It means varying your food choices over the course of the seasons. By varying your diet, you will not only make sure you get a full spectrum of nutrients, but also will avoid the harmful effects of making one food the center of your diet, which could have a few downsides you are not even aware of. It is also quite natural to eat with the seasons. Why eat melons in the winter? Melons are a summer food. In the winter, we eat apples, oranges, carrots, etc. So vary your diet and eat mostly what's in season, without making a religion out of it.
   
• Get support. It's almost impossible to do this on your own. We need to be able to share our experiences with others. If you don't know any other raw-foodist, found a support group or start your own potlucks. You will be surprised to know how many people are interested in the raw-food diet once you start your own potlucks. There are hundreds of people in most cities that are just waiting to meet other raw-foodists and share their experiences with them.
   
• Avoid eating cold fruits and vegetables during the winter. Why freeze in the winter when you don't have to? To avoid getting cold, submerge your fruits and vegetables in hot water for a few minutes before consuming them. And while we're at it, drinking hot water is not forbidden on a raw-food diet. In fact, it will help you a lot to maintain your internal heat without resorting to cooked foods or stimulating hot baths and showers.
   
• Secure a good food supply. You don't want to be caught left with only a few ribs of celery and a couple unripe oranges, while your roommate is cooking a stir-fry and filling the apartment with pleasant, tempting aromas. Why put yourself in a situation where the easiest thing for you to do is to eat whatever you are trying to avoid? Instead, be fully prepared and armed. This means shopping for varied, quality fruits and vegetables and buy them by the box if you need to.