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Raw Food Articles

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Purely Delicious raw food magazine, is now available at the register at select newsstands and Whole Foods Markets. The sole purpose of this beautiful publication is to inform a growing audience of the benefits of the raw food lifestyle made popular by celebrities such as Uma Thurman, Demi Moore, Carol Alt and Jason Mraz.

Fort Lauderdale, FL (PRWEB) November 12, 2009 -- Purely Delicious, a raw food and eco lifestyle magazine, is now available on select newsstands and Whole Foods Markets. Previously available only via subscription, the quarterly publication is informing a growing audience about the benefits of the raw food lifestyle made popular by celebrities such as Uma Thurman, Demi Moore, Carol Alt and Jason Mraz.

By Michael Saripkin
November 05, 2009

DOWNTOWN — For weeks, prior to my trip to Santa Monica, I had been hearing about Planet Raw and how much everyone enjoys it. Well, having been raw for a while, I expected "just another raw restaurant." Therefore, I arrived prepared to order a nice salad, maybe a vegetable pâté, a possible smoothie on the side, and maybe even an appetizer or two.

Then came the surprise.

Upon entering Planet Raw, located on an innocuous corner of Sixth Street and Broadway, it looked like any other café. There were a couple of outside tables, a front counter for the hostess/cashier, a few scattered tables, a sit-down bar, and a few coolers and shelves with products, which the public may buy. That was where "any other café" and Planet Raw parted ways.

Hidden in a mass strip of buildings on Morse Boulevard that comprise downtown Winter Park lies Café 118°, an alternative to the saturated fat, overcooked foods we eat on an everyday basis. Café 118° serves up raw, organic food that is 100 percent free of animal by-products like milk and eggs.

The name of the cafe is quite literal. As it states in its paper menu, all of the food is prepared at temperatures of less than 118 degrees to preserve the enzymes, minerals and vitamins found in foods’ raw state.

Proponents of a diet of raw and uncooked plant-based foods say it can help the body heal itself of the most feared illnesses – including cancer, writes Clodagh Mulvey

WE HAVE BEEN bombarded for years by the marketing campaigns of the fad diet industry. Drink a slimming milkshake here and you’ll lose weight. Eat only protein there and you’ll lose weight. Eat pineapple morning, noon and night, and hey presto, you’ll lose weight.

Few, if any of these diets, have focused on the nutritional value of the food regime being employed by an army of people desperately trying to drop a few pounds before the summer bikini holiday or after the Christmas binge.

Even fewer have dared suggest that ill health and disease can be overcome by eating in a particular way. Yet this is precisely what Brian Clement, author of Living Foods for Optimal Health, is doing.

BERLIN | Organic, local edibles that are not only vegan but … raw? In the land of the greasy currywurst? Aber ja — but of course! Since March, Boris Lauser has been quietly spreading the raw-food word, serving gourmet uncooked meals out of his own apartment in a glassy new building where Kreuzberg meets Mitte. He’s also been gathering a following of curious Berliners looking to taste something new.

“I loved having people over for dinner when I live in Italy, so when I came to Berlin, I decided to serve people at home,” said Mr. Lauser, who first became aware of the subtle tastes of really seasonal food during a stint working for the United Nations in Rome. He got his first training in raw-food preparation in Asia; then went on to learn the craft more formally at the Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center in Arizona.

Raw vegan food is in. Kick the cow out of the pasture, the chicken out of its coop and don’t put that turkey in the oven.

Sylvia Heisey’s new restaurant, Beets Café, is on a mission: to bring raw food to Austin and to make it delicious.

In recent years, a number of Americans have embraced this diet.

A diet of raw foods, sometimes called living foods, involves eating whole, unprocessed raw foods. Most raw foodists are vegans, but some may eat meat, fish or dairy products.

Some may even eat a little cooked food, but most strive to get three-quarters of their food raw.

The diet is environmentally friendly because the produce is typically organic. It's also energy efficient, because it doesn't require stoves or ovens. But the main benefits are health and well-being.

In March 2008, Beth Berry was very sick. Her body was wracked with pain so severe she spent most days in bed. She suffered from a herniated disc, but more troubling, Berry's doctor diagnosed her with fibromyalgia, an autoimmune disorder characterized by widespread joint and muscle pain.

"I was given a 90-count bottle of Vicodin," Berry says. "I got mad. I was pissed, and kept saying: 'That's it? Just take narcotics for the rest of my life? I'm only 38 years old!'"

Instead of filling the prescription, Berry pored over the latest research on the benefits of diet and nutrition on autoimmune disorders and learned about the successes people suffering from symptoms similar to hers were having with raw food diets. "That's when the real journey began," she says. "Within three days of being on raw food, almost all of my symptoms had gone away."

Mimi Kirk is PETA's Sexiest Vegetarian Woman Over 50 of 2009. She's been a vegetarian for the last 40 of her 70 years and a raw vegan for a year and a half. An active lady who travels often, most recently around the US, Mimi occasionally stops by her home in Ramona, Cali., to tend her luscious garden and answer e-mails from jaw-dropped bloggers like SuperVegan's. (Hey, higher powers, would ya let me look half this good at 70?)

“We are ALL raw foodists,” said Ariane Glazer, a raw foodist for seven years and event organizer for the Chicago raw food community. “Who doesn’t pick up an apple or orange at some point?”

After all, thirty percent of Illinois residents consume fruits and vegetables three or four times a day according to the Centers for Disease Control.

Raw foodists come in various forms from raw meat eater to raw vegetarian. The purists do not eat animal products or byproducts and do no cook food. Raw foodists believe cooking above 115 degrees diminishes a food’s nutritional value.

Tim VanOrden, founder of the Running Raw Project, an experiment VanOrden began in 2005 to see if raw foodism would support a career as an athlete, perceives cooking as a damaging practice that destroys precious food enzymes.

Have you had enough of creamy clam chowders, greasy omelets and deep-fried seafood?

Then there’s a new option downtown. Grezzo, which opened this month on State Street, delivers a menu that is light years from the traditional New England fare.

The upscale restaurant with its copper tables, exposed brick walls and oil paintings of various vegetables, specializes in organic, raw, vegan cuisine. Here, a spicy, marinated watermelon radish has taken the place of pepperoni; summer squash and zucchini noodles act like pasta; and nut balls in a nut cream sauce play the role of gnocchi carbonara.

The gas stove range, which saw plenty of action while Bottega Toscana occupied the space, is destined for a long vacation as the raw and living food diet means the food temperature is always kept below 112 degrees. Diners will instead find dishes based on uncooked fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and sprouted grains.

NEWBURYPORT — It is said that the trend of eating raw and living foods is as old as the human race, maybe older.

After all, before man invented fire, raw food was the only food. But the cavemen's nuts and berries didn't have quite the same gourmet flair you can find around Newburyport here in the 21st century.

When you think raw foods, don't think undercooked steak and sushi. Raw foods include any food that is unprocessed and kept under 112 degrees so enzymes and the food's makeup aren't compromised.

The theory is that changes made to food through cooking or processing create chemicals and impurities in the foods that harm our digestive systems and, subsequently, our health. The building blocks of raw food diets are ingredients like fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds.

Last month, Jason Mraz notched the longest run of any song in Billboard's Hot 100 history. But he maintains that his chart-topping wedding staple, I'm Yours, isn't necessarily a love song.

"I wrote it between me and the spiritual world that I know nothing about. That's who I wrote it for," he admitted in Toronto.

… And it's that sense of gratitude that threads its way through his live show, which is based on a San Francisco raw food restaurant that quite literally changed how Mraz interacts with the world.

NEWTON — Chocolate pudding. Cinnamon mini-muffins. Cream of mushroom soup. Nachos.
All this tempting food is featured on the menu at the new Prana Cafe in Newton Corner. But there's a twist.

A Newton husband and wife started a restaurant that serves raw, organic and vegan foods. It is several doors down from Prana Power Yoga, a yoga studio they have owned for the last seven years.

Taylor and Philippe Wells opened The Prana Cafe, at 292 Centre St., earlier this month. The restaurant includes a wide variety of foods, such as pizza with spicy cilantro pesto, nut cheese and marinated peppers; warm coconut and almond porridge; and chocolate cake with creme anglaise.

OKLAHOMA CITY -- A new restaurant in Oklahoma City is changing the way people think about food while bringing world-wide attention to the state.

105Degrees serves nothing but raw food dishes and was designed for a healthier lifestyle. The restaurant also combines the country's first ever state licensed raw food culinary school, which has already brought in food enthusiasts from around the world.

Business owner lauds nutrients of raw food

By April Bailey, Staff writer
9/5/2009

Preparing food using conventional cooking methods destroys more than 80 percent of that food's nutrition, said Sandra Hubbs.

A certified raw foods chef and teacher, Hubbs recently founded Eat Raw, Live Long, a new business that offers cooking classes for raw foods, a raw food chef certification course and raw food meal delivery and catering services.

"The problem with the American diet is that we're eating too much processed and refined food filled with chemicals. That's not the way our ancestors ate," said Hubbs, who is also owner of the catering service, Aiken's Finest Catered Affairs.

…
"What I'm finding is in America, we're dieting more, we're exercising more and taking more prescription drugs more than ever before," said Hubbs. "Yet we're overweight, our children are overweight, we're seeing medical doctors more often and developing more disease than ever."

…
"As long as you eat a balanced raw food diet, you are going to lose weight period," she said. "It's good because you don't have to count calories."

As a college student studying nutrition in the late 1990s, Michael Bedar developed an interest in raw food and the importance of a healthy diet. But when he met Dr. Gabriel Cousens in 2003, that interest turned into an obsession, leading Bedar on a six-year journey that saw him move to southeastern Arizona, launch a company to tout the benefits of raw food and produce a film that highlights its positive impacts for diabetics.

"I was pretty impressed and ready to give it my all," said Bedar, 31, of San Rafael. "I took all the talent and practice I had in filmmaking and put it to work."

The result of Bedar's quest is "Simply Raw: Reversing Diabetes in 30 Days," a documentary that takes the formula established by Morgan Spurlock's "Super Size Me" - in which he ate nothing but fast food for 30 days - and flips it on its head.

WHEN I THINK of raw food, it doesn’t usually get my salivary glands working. In fact, many people appear to have an aversion to the non-cooked, vegetarian, dairy-free fare that makes up a raw diet.

But at Rockin’ Raw, Luis Salgado has made it his goal to prove naysayers wrong by serving up a rich menu filled with Peruvian, New Orleanian and Creole-styled cuisine—all raw.

Imagine the stove as your useless accoutrement to a lifestyle long past. On hot summer days a food processor and the fridge are all the necessities raw foodists Joslynn Beischer and Jennifer Wear need to create a tasty cheesecake — or more precisely not-cheesecake — and a refreshing rawgarita.

Pamela Johnson was looking for a way to keep up with her newfound love of raw foods.

The Downers Grove resident has spent the last year, as she says, "embarking on a raw food journey" in an effort to get healthy.

She was among nearly 10,000 participants taking in the food vendors, discussion panels and cooking demonstrations at Saturday's Veggie Fest in Naperville.

Free radicals, oxidative stress, antioxidants ... these key words that sound as if they could be used by political activists are actually significant in the war against aging.

BE Healthy magazine offers information about the science behind raw food, and some recipes to make the most of it.

"If you ignore your health it will go away," says Shelley Fitzgerald, of Everything Fitz. Fitzgerald is a former biology teacher, a nurse and a mother who is currently a wellness coach and certified health educator. "Whole food nutrition, plant-based eating is the right way to go for quality of life and preventing disease."

This “green smoothie” may not look appetizing but those who have tried it call it surprisingly delicious.

Raw food caterer Barbara Maccaroni prepares power balls, biscotti, almond burgers and spicy almonds at her Hamilton, Ont., home. In May, Maccaroni opened B.Love, which delivers weekly raw food meals to clients and offers classes to teach people how to eat raw.

Barbara Maccaroni, proud owner and operator of B.Love -- Hamilton's new raw food catering business -- prepared it fresh for guests as an example of a healthy wholesome beverage in a raw food diet.

BOSTON (WBZ) —
Some say they're seeing unbelievable health benefits and dramatic weight loss from a revolutionary diet.

To succeed, you have to be willing to eat raw food, but this diet may pose risks for some people.

Lissa Sieja likes to experiment and try new things in the kitchen, and she wants her family to eat as healthy as possible.

"We really believe in what we eat because it makes us feel better and its healthy," says Sieja. "We just wake up feeling more energized."

CHENNAI: Can we survive on just raw food? Well, it's quite possible and making the food a feast for the stomach, palate and eyes too! Over 20 participants at a workshop on raw food experienced that possibility along with Ananthi Vaithialingam as they had Kambucha for an energy drink, mango ground with raw spinach and even a cake that was mixed with just raw fruits, seeds, nuts, nut milk and honey.

It seemed everyone at Bliss Fest on Saturday in Parkville had a story about overcoming a life-threatening illness or plain old bad health by eating raw food.

Others were once obese but dropped hundreds of pounds by eating a totally raw vegetarian diet — like kale chips, cashew ice cream covered with pecans and syrup made from cacao tree seeds, or wild rice and red corn chili, and pizza made with hydrated sunflower seeds, flaxseed and onions. None of it cooked, of course; this was a raw food event.

The American Meat Institute has urged a New Jersey court to dismiss a lawsuit from vegan advocacy group Cancer Project that claims hotdogs should carry a cancer warning label.

The Cancer Project, an affiliate of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, said it is acting on behalf of three New Jersey residents and has filed a class-action consumer fraud lawsuit, arguing that hotdogs should carry the following label: “Warning: Consuming hot dogs and other processed meats increases the risk of cancer" on the back of recent studies that have linked the consumption of processed meat with higher cancer risk.

Barbara Maccaroni, proud owner and operator of B.Love - Hamilton's new raw food catering business - prepared it fresh for guests as an example of a healthy wholesome beverage in a raw food diet.

Filmmaker, longtime Novato resident and Novato High School graduate Michael Bedar keeps it real by keeping it raw.

Sitting on his parents’ deck overlooking the Novato High School baseball diamond, an assortment of fresh-from-the-garden veggies in front of him, Bedar recalled his first spark of interest in eating naturally.

“It all started with my dad’s garden. That initial exposure put me in touch with the value of fresh, organic raw foods. Not only do they taste better, but they just make you feel better,” said Bedar.

Bedar’s interest in raw foods and healthy living, both physically and mentally, grew.

Diagnosed with diabetes when she was 2, Pamela Reilly spent most of her adult life trying to find ways to reverse the disease. Then about a year ago, she adopted a raw food diet.

Raw food conjures up images of steak tartare, sushi and salad, but the burgeoning raw-food movement goes beyond that. Many adherents eat no animal products, instead consuming little or no food heated more than 118 degrees.

Raw foodies believe that if food is cooked above 118 degrees, the heat degrades the food's enzymes and minerals, detracting from its nutritional value. In addition, they say, raw food helps cleanse the body of toxins, leaving it in a healthier state.

Jul 15, 2009 (The Oklahoman - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) A raw food restaurant and culinary institute will open in September in the new Classen Curve shopping center, becoming the first confirmed tenant in the retail area near Chesapeake Energy Corp.

The project, called 105degrees, will feature a cafe with a dining area in front of a large, open kitchen, 14-foot bamboo ceilings, a large oval juice and wine bar, and an outdoor patio facing the interior of Classen Curve.

Though many know her as the sprightly, ballet-dancing fairy on the Venice boardwalk, Suzanne Glasper has many colors. Performing in Venice is only part of her weekly routine; the rest of her time is spent helping people live their healthiest lives.

A practitioner of what she preaches, Glasper adheres to a raw foods diet and maintains a lifestyle that includes invigorating physical activity balanced with relaxation routines that calm the body and mind. She is a yoga instructor, certified ballet teacher, and a Reiki healer. A dancer at heart, Glasper has taught everything from ballet to tap in New York, London and other major cities. She completed a dance certification program at the Royal Academy of Dance in Britain, subsequently teaching and performing in the U.S. and U.K. The healing arts entered her life when constant movement left her feeling physically imbalanced. After training with Jon Monks, creator of Yogamonks – a yoga style that centers on the body’s relationship with the earth and the air – Glasper earned certifications in raw food nutrition and Reiki. Of the raw food diet, she said it’s best to begin slowly.

Raw food. To many, the term conjures salad and fresh fruit. Certainly not spaghetti or pizza.

Yet that doesn’t mean raw foodies have to make crudités a food group. Margabandhu Martarano has been eating raw for 25 years without confining himself to a diet of fruit salad and celery sticks.

"This is meatloaf," he said to a group of 10 women at a demonstration in Fair Lawn, holding one dish containing a beige cake. "I made it out of sunflower seeds."

NORTH RICHLAND HILLS (CBS 11 / TXA 21) —
Some North Texans say they're seeing unbelievable health benefits and dramatic weight loss from a revolutionary diet. To succeed, you have to be willing to eat raw food. Before you make a face, read on. The meal options may surprise you.

Lissa Sieja of Watauga likes to experiment and try new things in the kitchen. She also wants her family to eat as healthy as possible. That's why she's put her family on the Raw Food Diet.

When people first encounter the concept of a raw diet they often become overwhelmed in with pictures of endless, tasteless salads. Sure, it sounds great for health, but really, what is one going to EAT? A raw food diet is probably not exactly equivalent to the movies that are playing in your head. In fact, here are five reasons why a raw diet would be a beneficial and enjoyable experiment, even for you!

An insightful look into the re-emerging lifestyle trend of vegan live/raw foods presented by vegan live food educator and chef Adam Graham.

Don’t let the name fool you. 105degrees isn’t nearly as hot as you think. In fact, this trendy new combination culinary institute, café, boutique, and food brand is completely raw!

105degrees is the world’s first state-licensed raw food, also known as living cuisine, academy, set to open this September in Oklahoma City, Okla. Named after the optimal temperature for raw food, 105degrees caters to the raw food movement that is now becoming mainstream.

Michelle Schulman, head chef of Arnolds way raw food cafe in Lansdale, P.a. has a marvelous story to share about the powerful healing benefits of being on a raw food diet. She can be found daily working behind the counter preparing simple and delicious raw food meals for the cafe. Michelle also has a stunning voice being a classically trained opera singer and you can check her out in action here.

For years I had been hearing about raw foods from a spiritual teacher, the founder of the Foundation of Human Understanding, Roy Masters. Roy wrote a book on raw food called "Eat No Evil." I had read this years ago. He proclaimed that God gave us raw unadulterated foods to live from and man corrupted them. People with obesity problems and problems controlling food were advised by him to eat raw. Roy planted the seed. Then, about 10 years ago a girlfriend told me about a raw food retreat called "optimum health institute" or O.H.I. in San Diego because she knew I had always struggled with my weight and also struggled terribly with binge and compulsive eating, and she thought this retreat would help me, as a friend of hers had gone there and lost a lot of weight quickly. At the time, the retreat was also very inexpensive, so I decided to go for 4 weeks and I'd meet my friend there. As it turned out, she never showed up, she was unable to come, but the retreat left an indelible mark as the raw diet indeed freed me from feelings of compulsion with food as Roy had suggested would happen.

Using only organic, whole foods Charles Marble talk's to a raw food class attendees about the mineral and nutrient value of each ingredient used in their chili recipe. Every Tuesday night Bethany Tait left, 23, host a raw food class to the community interested in learning more about the health benefits of eating a raw food diet. Tait started eating a raw food diet for medical reasons and found she could eliminate all medication she was taking for various health problems.

But go to a raw food preparation class with Bethany Tait and you’ll leave feeling inspired to try chopping, blending and creating a new, uncooked meal at home. Because that’s what raw food is: 100 percent uncooked food.

If you’ve been to the Middlebury farmer’s market recently, you might have noticed the small tent draped in blue and pink tulle, with a chalked sign proclaiming “Love Bites” at the entrance. Perhaps your eye was drawn by the platter of truffles and plates of smooth, shining cakes. Or maybe you noticed, instead, the woman behind the table.

Her name is Elcin (pronounced El-chin) Oflaz, and this Wednesday morning she sports a crocheted green dress and a Mad Hatter-esque top hat made of yellow straw. As people walk by and eye the decadent desserts, she calls out to them in a strong Turkish accent, suggesting that they try some. Some approach curiously. More shake their heads.

“But I haven’t eaten lunch yet,” is a common refrain. More common: “I don’t need any more calories.”

The whiteboard at the front of Oflaz’s tent advertises homemade truffles, zucchini pasta and cheesecake. Not advertised, however, is that the chocolate cake contains no sugar, the cheesecake contains no cheese, and that every one of the foods is raw, made with produce, nuts and plant-based extracts.

Ani Phyo is pure sunshine. The raw, vegan chef’s glowing skin, radiant energy, and gracious outlook bespeak the inner health she has found eating a raw, plant-based diet. She has written two recipe books and recently visited Portland to share more from her newest publication, Ani’s Raw Food Desserts.

"Raw foods are rocket fuel for our bodies," she said to a packed house at Powell’s City of Books on Sunday, May 31. She began with a health lesson on antioxidants, shared her inspiration for going raw, and opened up about her upbringing in the late ’60s and ’70s.

As the author of a vegetarian dining guidebook, I’ve had the pleasure of eating many exceptional meals over the years. But one of the most memorable meals I’ve ever had was not at a restaurant. Rather, it was a raw foods potluck a decade or so ago at a friend’s house here in Seattle.

It was my first official raw foods meal. I brought a big bowl of gazpacho, the Spanish tomato-based raw vegetable soup. Others brought salads, simple or elaborate; burgers made of raw carrots and sprouted lentils; crackers made from nuts and seeds or sweet potatoes; a Phad Thai with noodles made from fresh young coconut and an almond-chili sauce; and raw fruit- and nut-based desserts.

What was striking was not just how delicious the food was but also how terrific we all felt afterward.

(HealthNewsDigest.com) - Did you know that a species—living in the pristine wild and eating natural, uncooked food—typically lives to seven times its maturation rate? By these standards, you should live to be 140! So what went wrong? Why are humans getting sick, often at half our potential lifespan?

Most dieticians are trained in creating diets according to the person’s health issues. However, few of these diets stray far from the standard American diet (whose acronym is appropriately “SAD”, which is mostly cooked, pasteurized, or otherwise heated. This is because most dieticians haven’t a clue about some of the most important studies which reveal how toxic a cooked food diet is.

There’s a myriad of reasons why I stopped eating meat in the first place — foremost is the cruelty I believe animals face before they make it to our kitchen table, and ultimately our stomachs. If you peeked behind the closed doors of most slaughterhouses, you would find animals that have spent their entire lives in crowded feedlots, or filthy, small wire cages. Needless to say, I think about the food I eat, and in my ongoing (albeit sporadic) research into vegetarianism and nutrition, I’ve come across the raw vegan diet time and time again.

Recently I started to feel a little lethargic, somewhat bored with my regular meal plan and a bit bloated after eating. So, I decided to detox on a raw vegan diet for a month and see whether I noticed any changes in my mental and physical health.

DEMI MOORE, WHOSE TAUT body and flawless skin belie her 47 years, proudly goes raw. So do Alicia Silverstone and Beyonce, Angela Bassett and Donna Karan. Famed Chicago chef Charlie Trotter has devoted a whole book to the subject.

The raw food movement has become a hot — uh, make that cool — form of vegetarianism that champions uncooked vegetables, fruits, seeds, nuts, grains, beans and seaweed as the staples of a healthy diet.

In recent years, restaurants devoted to raw food have opened around the country. Vibe Cuisine (formerly Veggie Magic) in Sarasota is the closest one to Southwest Florida, but raw fare is cropping up around the area, appearing on restaurant menus, starring in (un)cooking classes and sparking the formation of groups in Fort Myers, Cape Coral and Naples through which members share meals, recipes and information about the raw life.

BAYFIELD, Colo. (AP) — If you eat only raw foods, can you still call it cooking? Kirsten Baca says yes. She's the owner of a new raw-food delivery business called Raw Bloom. She thinks of her work as cooking, although none of her creations are heated. "'Uncooking' sounds funny to me," she said.

Raw Bloom will deliver a full day's worth of freshly prepared "living cuisine" to people for between $32-39.

Raw food is based on fresh fruits and vegetables, uncooked whole grains and nuts. In this type of cuisine, there's no meat, eggs, dairy, gluten, processed sugar or wheat. But Baca's food is less about what's absent and more about what's present -- including a more conscious way of eating.

It is easy to eat raw (food)," says Evansville dietitian, Linda Ruff, "it's just not easy to give up cooked.

When you think about it, most people eat raw food all the time without really thinking about it: Leafy salad greens, fresh fruits, vegetables like carrots, cucumbers, peppers, celery, radishes, broccoli, cauliflower and tomatoes and even raw nuts and seeds count as familiar foods.

But giving up cooked food eliminates a lot more that most people are quite attached to: Meat, poultry and fish, for sure, but also our beloved breads, familiar hot cereals and grain products (sprouts are OK), dairy and eggs in addition to traditionally cooked-before-consuming root vegetables like potatoes.

BALI has always been the perfect place to rest and rejuvenate, a haven where one can recharge the batteries before heading back to the big smoke. So it's not surprising that the raw food movement, dedicated to eating ingredients fresh from the earth in a bid to maintain nutritional value and minimise environmental impact, is taking hold here.

I am in the kitchen at Como Shambhala Estate amid bucolic rice terraces near Ubud to learn the secrets of turning nuts, seeds, fruits and leafy greens into desirable raw dishes, courtesy of executive chef Chris Miller, a Sydneysider and a staunch advocate of raw food, also known as living food.

For someone who loves to cook, Natasha Kyssa's Ottawa kitchen is strangely bereft of appliances. What she cooks -- so to speak -- is raw.

Raw pasta with bright flavours, creamy raw "mashed potatoes," raw carrot cake with cashew "cream cheese" icing -- all made from vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds that are blended, soaked, pureed and fermented courtesy of a food processor.

ORLANDO, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- It's being called the next big trend in dining … raw foodism. Celebrities like Demi Moore and Woody Harrelson have tried it and now raw food restaurants are popping up around the country. Meet one chef who doesn't cook anything.

Olive Mackey went raw seven years ago. She eats only uncooked fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and sprouted grains, believing that cooking kills needed enzymes.

THE VILLAGES — When Shirley Snyder was diagnosed with breast cancer more than 20 years ago, doctors told her she probably didn’t have long to live.

Instead of giving up, Snyder decided to take her health into her own hands, and she soon discovered the concept of a diet based on eating raw foods.

A raw food diet focuses on plant-based (preferably organic) foods that are consumed in their fresh, nonprocessed state.

Today, Snyder is cancer-free, and she said she gives the credit for her good health to her raw food diet.

When Bill and Jessica Baccus sit down to dinner, there may be meat on the table, but their 11-year-old son Elijah never eats it.

That's because Elijah, like many other American kids, has decided to become a vegetarian. His mom says he made the choice at only 3 years old.

"I had a big, local, organic chicken ... and he saw me cutting it, and it looked like a chicken," Jessica Baccus said. "And his little face crumbled. And he said, 'I thought chickens were our friends! I don't want to eat my friends!'"

"I ask my mom, 'What is this animal?' and she tells me, and then I don't really want to eat it," Harlow said.

Growing up in rural Marysburg -- 15 kilometres north of Humboldt -- Litz said her four food groups were "meat, potatoes, bread and gravy." Now, years later, the former academic researcher has become a champion of the raw food movement here in Saskatoon.

Raw fooders, as Litz calls them, avoid eating food that has been cooked or processed. Advocates of the diet often favour organic foods and most, but not all, are vegetarian.

About eight years ago, a friend of Julie Rodwell's invited her to attend a raw foods retreat hosted by author and "raw fooder," Victoria Boutenko.

Not a practicing vegetarian or "raw fooder" at the time, Rodwell attended the retreat and was amazed by the great taste of the foods she tried.

A few days into the retreat, Rodwell halved her portions because the food was so filling. By the third day, she realized she'd lost some weight and felt more energized.

Determined to adapt the diet, Rodwell returned home, rid herself of all her canned goods, bought new appliances and accepted a raw food diet.

Signing autographs in a different time zone each week. Waking early to make small talk on morning radio. Snarling as a dirty, corset-wearing character in front of thousands of shrieking teenagers from a sold-out stage at Madison Square Garden. Sometimes even I think it's play. But it's my job.

I've been dancing professionally for 17 years. I was stretching splits at age seven. I was tapping time steps under my seat in kindergarten. I was counting crunches in the womb (or at least that's what mom said it felt like). And sometimes even I have to remind myself of the broken rib cartilage, torn hamstrings and transverse fasciae latae insertion tendonitis to remember that professional dance isn't all passion and play. It's a job. And it's a sport.
…
Fondly, they called me 'rabbit' and I set out without precedence and without doubt that if there were a way to eat raw vegan on the road while performing the most physically strenuous show of my life, then I would find a way.

COLUMBIA — Columbia resident and raw foodist Jane Smith is not shy when it comes to espousing the benefits of a raw food diet.

"It was an expensive couple of years; I had to buy a whole new wardrobe," Smith said, after she lost 37 pounds. The change in diet also allowed her to get off of two blood pressure medicines and she noticed an immediate positive change in her energy level.

Smith is the founder of the Columbia Raw Food Meetup Group, a Meetup.com group that gathers once a month to eat, socialize and share tips and insights on raw food living. Smith’s online name is "Blazin’ Jane," a nickname from when her husband was in the Navy, stationed in Naples, Italy and she used to run marathons — she claims she was always coming in last. The name stuck thanks to her children, and she said a friend notes that it’s appropriate: she’s "blazin’" a trail here in Columbia in the raw food world.

Raw food enthusiasts believe that a raw food diet, which involves not cooking food so that it retains its natural benefits and flavor, is the healthiest way to eat. Smith “went raw” in 2006 after she was introduced to it by her granddaughter, Leah, partly out of interest but also to support Leah. Even though she was already vegetarian at the time, “I went raw for one day and didn’t die, so I thought I could do it again,” she said.

On Easter Sunday last year, the Star-News ran a personal account written by former City Councilwoman Pat Delair about her struggle with Stage IV ovarian cancer and other issues. We illustrated the story with an extreme close-up of her, bald and without eyebrows.

“I do not believe the cancer is going to shorten my life,” she wrote. “I have further work to do, maybe not here politically, but perhaps speaking up for ovarian cancer awareness or some other cause. It will find me.”

Delair says she’s healthier today than when she wrote those words. Her hair is back, though more salt-and-pepper than blond these days.

She spent nine weeks in West Palm Beach, Fla., in the health educator program at the Hippocrates Health Institute, learning to teach people how a healthful diet and balancing the needs of mind, body and spirit can result in improved health.

The “living foods” lifestyle goes further than vegetarianism, urging people to eat their food raw. She says it takes three weeks to cleanse the body of toxins.

It seems to be working for her. She’s energetic, animated in conversation and just as opinionated as ever.

She says corporate and political forces combine to perpetuate the Standard American Diet, but that SAD diet is neither healthy nor nutritious.

The Fairy’s Tonic can be purchased at Noah’s Natural Foods and The Big Carrot, or from www.thefairystonic.com for direct delivery ($15 per 750ml, with a two-bottle minimum; $55 per gallon). Wellness appears in this space monthly.

Kombucha, a fermented tea with deep roots as a health tonic in Russia and China, is an acquired taste for some. Even Zoey Shamai, the owner of local kombucha company The Fairy’s Tonic (www.thefairystonic.com), says that she wasn’t a fan the first time she tried it. “I didn’t love the taste; it was odd,” she says. “But then the next day, I had this incredible elimination. It completely cleaned out my system. I had to find out more about it.”

Raw sprouted beans and uncooked cauliflower don't sound like my idea of a good scran, but there must be something in the raw food movement if others are convinced? One famous follower is Woody Harrelson, who published a book related to the subject, and other stars like Demi Moore have also been known to 'indulge' in the raw diet regimen.

So what's it all about? The diet is based literally on raw foodstuffs, but that doesn't mean beef carpaccio or sushi, we're talking organically grown from Mother Earth; fruit, vegetables, nuts, seeds, spices, sprouted beans and natural sweeteners. And, according to nutritional advisor and wellbeing coach Barbara Louvrou (thewellworks.co.uk), eating like this is likely to be one of the most nutritious diets we can have.

'Food in its natural state is packed with all the nutrients which are often lost in the cooking process,' says Barbara. 'Heating also causes harmful changes in the chemical constituency of food, such as the production of acrylamide – a toxic carcinogenic substance, so people who prefer a raw food diet are avoiding these.

Bland, boring, gas-inducing food may come to mind when thinking of a vegan diet. This assumption couldn't be further from the truth after experiencing a meal at Cafe Gratitude.

Each square inch of the "I Am Sensational" buckwheat crust pesto pizza with olive tapenade, cashew ricotta, chiffonade basil, cherry tomatoes and micro greens is saturated with flavor. The "I Am Elated" enchiladas, which combine the "I Am Bueno" spinach tortillas with a sun-dried tomato, chile and pumpkin-seed pate, are also a testament that vegan food is nothing but gourmet goodness.

Located in San Francisco, Cafe Gratitude's premise that food is medicine and medicine is food invites guests to enjoy a mindful, reflective and profound eating experience.

Raw material
Proponents of uncooked edibles gain adherents, but health benefits haven't been documented

Raw-diet proponents think food should be eaten as nature made it -- not baked, boiled, fried, broiled, braised, grilled, steamed or sauteed.

Anything that takes the temperature of food higher than 118 degrees, or just above the warmth of the tongue, is verboten for the raw, or living, "foodist."

Alex Seyer, cook for The Daily Juice, places dessert trays in a display for the Valentine’s Chocolate Party on Saturday. The newest Daily Juice is located on 45th and Duval streets in Hyde Park and is the third location for the local smoothie shop and cafe.

The all-vegetable and fruit sushi smothered with pesto is an “exceptionally delicious” Daily Juice item.

The raw food revolution of the late ‘90s is making a comeback in Austin at a local juice bar that also serves as a smoothie shop and cafe. Daily Juice opened its third location on 45th and Duval streets in Hyde Park.

The store offers customers both more than the recommended amount of liquid fruits and vegetables, and provides regular restaurant options. The juice bar has expanded past fruit-derived delights and delved into the raw, gluten-free, organic and vegan realm.

When most people think of raw food, they think steak tartare, sushi or oysters on the half shell.

But with a vegan approach and innovative culinary techniques, the raw-foods movement is turning nuts into lavish cheese, butters and creams. Fruits and vegetables are slowly transformed into elegant pastas. And dessert is shedding its guilt.

Cafe 118 in Winter Park is a showcase of how good raw food can be. And it's just not for vegans anymore.

It is never too late to get the figure you always dreamed of and I am living proof that it’s possible not just to lose weight even in the midst of the menopause but also to rejuvenate oneself.

People say that once you are middle aged it is much harder to shift the pounds. I shifted stones, effortlessly. I also made dramatic improvements in my resting heart rate and peak flow (lung capacity). My body fat/lean ratio, blood pressure and cholesterol levels are also spot on! I’ve lost weight before, when I’ve starved myself, but never achieved my ideal weight and never managed to keep weight off for more than a few months. This way I dropped four dress sizes, almost without noticing, in a matter of months and whilst still eating as much as I wanted. I lost three and a half stone and metamorphosed from a size 18 into to a size 10. I sleep like a baby, have no ailments and I am always happy. The world is my friend and the Universe conspires in my favour. I live in joy. I achieved all this by changing to a raw food diet.

Eating healthy is a priority in today's society. Dieting and eating well can be as essential to being happy with yourself as exercise or sleeping.

There are many different types of diets out there. Those who choose to diet have their own reasons for doing so. There are low carbohydrates diets, the South Beach Diet, or even all-meat diets.

Junior nutrition major Jenice Bartee said she thinks many college students take nutrition to an entirely different level during their college years.

"Most college students eat cheap fast food and don't really think about how unhealthy it really is," Bartee said.

These diets all entail the idealism of eating right and healthy for the betterment of your body. What about your mind and soul?

Raw foodists argue that humans have been developing an evolutionary addiction to cooked foods for thousands of years. Our internal processing, indeed programming, tells us that we need processed foods to survive. Vegans and vegetarians, however, defy that myth, especially those who pursue the raw food diet.

“Raw is war,” Alfred declares. “Cooking food changes its chemical composition…as soon you ingest toxins, your body starts detoxifying; therefore, if you’re not consuming those toxins, your body won’t be forced to go through that constant repair process.”

The 2005 Journal of Nutrition found that raw food consumption lowers total cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations. A raw diet is generally low in sodium and high in potassium, magnesium and fiber. Raw foodists tout everything from increased energy to mental clarity and even gray hairs restored to their original shade.

Tonya Dahl was at one of life's lowest points three years ago after watching Ray, her love of seven years, die of lung cancer.

A two-pack-a-day smoker herself, her diet and lifestyle were less than desired. The wake-up call and the personal loss was harsh, but strangely liberating.

"His death inspired me," she says. "I immediately stopped smoking. Quit cold turkey. Then I started researching how to prevent cancer. That's when I stumbled on the raw food movement."

The Down Low: It’s easy to scoff at raw food. I mean, really easy. The whole reason fire was invented was to get food hot, and camping’s not nearly as much fun with uncooked hotdogs. Yet there is a mystique to the claims that raw food retains vital nutrients and promotes good health. And you’ve gotta be curious how a place like Café 118 at 153 East Morse Blvd. in Winter Park can make a lasagna without animal products or heating the ingredients past 118 degreest (the magic number which gives the place its name).

Raw food, by definition, is never cooked, but it may be fermented, pickled, dehydrated, blanched or juiced. Those who prefer their food as nature grew it have a variety of techniques for blending and accenting the flavors and textures of fruits and vegetables.

Where raw foodists draw the line, in preparing a meal, is at 118 degrees. Exposing food to that temperature or higher will, they believe, destroy enzymes that make digestion efficient and healthy.

NEW YORK (WABC) -- A lot of people use the new year to get healthy and get their bodies back on track. One option is a diet of just raw food.

And that doesn't mean you can only select food in the fruit and vegetable section of your market. In fact, those who eat raw get really creative. And we met with two who are so passionate about the raw lifestyle, they're spreading the word.

The Organic Avenue Kitchen is a little different than most. There is no oven, no stovetop, and no microwave, because nothing there gets cooked.

That means everything made there starts raw and ends up raw, and that's the way Doug Evans has been eating for 10 years.

After sweating it out in an intense yoga class or finding your powerhouse in Pilates, what do you grab to eat? I find that the best foods for sustaining energy, ideal weight and a positive attitude are vegan, raw and superfoods.

It's been less than a year since I began regularly incorporating these amazing, delicious and nutritious foods into my diet, and not only do I feel a difference (I have more energy and never feel bloated or tired after a meal), but this new found joy and admiration for food has changed my outlook on life in a profoundly positive way (and I was no "debbie downer" before)!

Good news, raw foodists: the group Your Radical Health Albuquerque meets once or twice a month at ever-changing locations.

You can keep up with their meeting places at Meetup.com/abqraw to share raw food recipes and eat raw food dishes together.

Raw foods are classified as uncooked and unprocessed foods. Nothing can be heated above 120 degrees.

Organizer and UNM student Kaylee Tejeda said eating raw food takes more time and planning than school sometimes. Anyone is welcome to attend and is encouraged to bring a raw food dish, or a $5 donation.

Tejeda said reducing his carbon footprint was his motivation to try eating raw. Tejeda said eating raw food cut costs on many levels such as energy used to cook, prepare and keep food fresh.

"It's interesting to think that our No. 1 use of energy consumption, even more than transportation, is cooking our food," he said. "The No. 1 thing we put in our landfills is food packaging. So if you're eating raw food, such as bananas on a bunch, you've eliminated both of those."

Aging may be natural but that doesn't mean you have to give in to it. You can still look good as you grow older. A big part of that is having skin which looks younger. How do you do that? Well, you can start by checking out the raw diet and how that can help your anti-aging efforts.

For the 21-year-old, what’s cooking isn’t ingredients but the philosophy of raw food. It’s been four years since the Houston artist switched off her stove for good. Now the only tools she needs to prepare dinner are a sharp knife, a food processor, a high-speed blender and a spiral slicer.

She’s among a growing number of “raw foodists.” What they call “living food” is unprocessed, often organic fruits, vegetables, legumes, grains, nuts, seeds and herbs, which cannot be heated above 116 degrees. (Purists such as Carillo-Bucaram even forgo the use of a dehydrator, which dries food with currents of warmed air.)

ATHLETICS: Ultimately, correct running style takes practice, and lots of it. Once it's achieved there is no turning back, but it may mean getting out there every day, writes Ian O'Riordan

ACCORDING TO a poll just carried out by the San Juan Daily News, the three most fashionable New Year's resolutions for 2009 were to lose weight; to stop smoking; and to spend less. These, I suspect, are the same New Year's resolutions least likely to survive past the first couple of weeks of 2009.

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Cerutty grew up in extreme poverty and in 1942, at age 47, his health had failed so dramatically he decided to do something dramatic about it. He adopted a raw-food diet and embarked on a violent exercise regime. Five years later, at 52, he ran a marathon in exactly three hours.

Less than a year ago, Alanis Morissette found herself in a heavy situation: the once-svelte rock star had packed on weight, and the processed food she’d been eating left her feeling unhealthy.

Determined to get back on track, Alanis turned to Dr. Joel Fuhrman’s book Eat to Live, a plan that recommends consuming fruit, vegetables, beans and nuts, and avoiding meat and dairy products.

Alanis’ vegan diet — one of the more popular in Hollywood these days — has helped her shed 20 pounds since she began the new regime in September.

LAFAYETTE, LA (WAFB) - A federal judge must have secrets, like case negotiations and sealed testimony. However, Federal Judge Tucker Melancon of Lafayette has decided to make something personal very public.

"I didn't realize it was possible for a man to get breast cancer," Judge Melancon says. "And I had noticed that on my left breast, the nipple had kind of gotten somewhat inverted."

He had been working as a negotiator in what would be the end of the East Baton Rouge school desegregation case when he was diagnosed. As Judge James Brady signed the settlement agreement in 2003, Tucker Melancon was fighting for his life. He had stage 3 breast cancer, a mastectomy, radiation, and chemo therapy. Treatment was aggressive and painful. His wife, Diana Moore, did not know how long he would live.

So, what’s the deal? Well, here it is: juicing takes all the fiber out of your favorite fruits and veggies so all that’s left is the good stuff.

64 Dupont St., Toronto. 416-515-2002. Dinner for two with wine, tax and tip, $80.

Eating at Live Organic Food Bar would have been a terrible shock, except that I had just come back from a holiday in the American Southwest. Both vegan and raw food have been around for a while, but I have been fighting both tooth and nail. As an unrepentant Francophile, I say: Why would the goddess have given us stoves (and copper pots and cast-iron skillets) if she didn't want us to cook our food?

The parameters for healthy eating continue to change as health experts report new findings about diets that will change your life, giving you a healthy glow and a burst of energy. With every movement come a few trendy and purist restaurants, touting the benefits of the latest restriction. Proponents of raw foods, or “living” foods, eat little to no cooked food. Instead, they eat various combinations of raw vegetables, fruits, grains, and nuts—all completely unprocessed. This way of life, as many refer to it, is associated with numerous health benefits including increased energy and longevity.

As food manufacturers around the world step up their focus on producing new products that can cater toward a growing demand for healthy products, an Australian company has become the first to create a fruit snack bar without using puree, juice or additives.

Cheeky Chewz has devised a method to produce 100% dried fruit bars that, unlike most bars, are not made from fruit juice or fruit puree. Only the stones/cores of the fruit are removed, with the whole fruit, skin and all, naturally preserved as a raw food. They also ensure products have no added sugar, sulphur or preservatives.

Greener Than Thou
Boston’s eco-zealots pick up where the Puritans left off

The kid at the Italian market across the street scoffed when we told him we were going to Grezzo, Boston’s first full-on, vegan raw-food restaurant. The eatery specializes in fare that can only be described using quotation marks. Everything is made from organic, non-animal-derived ingredients, none of which are ever heated above 112 degrees because to do so destroys their “life force,” also known as “enzymes”—a word repeated so often in Grezzo that it starts to recall “precious bodily fluids” in Dr. Strangelove.

Instant Parma
It's gonna get you: What started as a Central Point husband's favorite condiment has blossomed into his wife's business, with 30,000 containers sold over the past year

Shannon Schnibbe scoops walnuts in her home-based commercial kitchen in Central Point to make her vegan parmesan seasoning, called Parma.

CENTRAL POINT — What started as a small entrepreneurship to keep Shannon Schnibbe home with her family and earning a few extra bucks has grown to a nationally marketed product, vegan Parmesan, and sales of some 30,000 containers over the past year.

Parma, made of yeast, Celtic sea salt and organic walnuts — which Schnibbe orders 100 pounds at a time — was born in her Central Point kitchen four years ago.

I’ve been missing out on a tradition the past half-dozen years: the Thanksgiving feast.

No, I’ve not been protesting the Pilgrims, though I do question their hats. My diet is the culprit.

I’ve been a vegetarian since 2002, a vegan since 2006, and a raw vegan since 2007.

A raw vegan diet consists of no meat or dairy products, only raw fruits and vegetables.

So, it’s yet another year without turkey and stuffing for me. But I’m starting to get the hang of it. In fact, I’ve never felt healthier. For one thing, stomach problems that plagued me since high school have diminished almost completely.

On a recent weeknight, two San Francisco omnivores went on what they proudly referred to as a “healthy date” to Café Gratitude. A raw vegan restaurant, Café Gratitude serves, with a few exceptions, nothing that has been heated to over 118 degrees Fahrenheit, to keep the food’s vitamins, minerals, and enzymes intact.

The man had “nacho cheese” made of cashews, and the woman had “pizza,” also with nut cheese, and raw vegetables, piled on top of what looked like a big Wasa cracker. For dessert they had a slice of banana cream pie, whose creaminess was the result of coconut milk and coconut butter, sweetened with agave nectar, with a crust made of coconut and dates. There was no doubt in their minds that they were giving their bodies the temple treatment. Imagine their surprise if they were to have learned that, in the eyes of some raw foodists, they were nearly eating the equivalent of McDonald’s.

Saf restaurant has branded itself as ‘botanical cuisine’, which is an up-market way of saying it sells raw vegan food. Last week I went on a raw food course for the Independent run by executive chef, Chad Sarno. Handsome, boyish, enthusiastic and a tad obsessive, has been a raw foodist for 13 years, only eating raw food, without anything as hot as a cup of tea, for six. The restaurant itself is an eco-haven complete with fine wines and decadent cocktails: I’m looking forward to trying The Guilty Husband, a concoction of flowers and champagne. Raw foodists believe that heating food past 48 degrees destroys the enzymes and makes food less nutritious. Detractors say that cooking kills toxins in some vegetables, like aubergines, and makes simple carbohydrates more easy to digest.

When we talk about a "diet", we often mean a weight-loss regime. Many people who are perfectly happy with their weight are on "diets", though, which aren't intended to limit total food intake but to exclude certain types of food.

I'm going to give you the run-down on a few popular diets that involve eliminating certain foods, the reasons why people may adopt each, and some tips for catering for guests on each of these diets:

As the raw-food chef at the health-food store called In My Father's Garden, at 10601 U.S. Highway 441, Higgins creates meals using raw, organic, unprocessed vegan foods.

Fred Bellows is in the aviation business. He's a pilot for a construction company and works as a broker, buying and selling small airplanes. Beth Fishman runs her third-generation family real estate company, managing properties in Brookline, Cambridge, and Allston.

A couple for the last 16 years, Bellows and Fishman recently have been spreading the word about the raw food movement, which they say has given them a new lease on life.

Raw Pesto Pasta
Apple Sauce
Avocado Boats
Watermelon Gazpacho
Avocado and Herb Salad Dressing
Spicy Chips
Noasted Turkey
Apple Berry Fruit Leather
Ann Wigmore’s Banana Cream Pie
Raw Mudslide
Cold Buster

It sounds like something superheroes might drink but the "green smoothie" is gathering a growing - and, if the hype is to be believed, glowing - following.

Fans of this home-blended fruit and vegetable drink say a regular dose will do everything from improve your sleep to amp up energy levels, eradicate skin conditions and basically make you feel great.

The founder of raw food education company Raw Power, Anand Wells, has been a fan of the green smoothie for more than two years.

"I think it's the greatest invention of the century," he says. "It's like we have found a magic bullet."

While talking to a pastry chef friend of mine recently about the upcoming plans for Thanksgiving dinner, she mentioned that she was going to whip up a dessert for her mother using only raw foods. When I raised my eyebrows over the words “raw foods” she explained that a few years ago her mother found her stomach distended so far she could barely stand and ended up spending a year in and out of the hospital having multiple tests to figure out what the problem was. A diagnosis was never made but knowing that something must have triggered her gastrointestinal problems, she turned to the one thing she could change: her diet. After trying the raw food regimen, she hasn’t had another health problem.

Rick and Gayle Asche eat raw foods about 85 percent of the time to ensure that nutrients and enzymes aren't killing in the cooking process. They recently shared their culinary knowledge at a series of vegan cooking seminars in Tualatin.

“Some people call it vegan. We call it plant-based. We’re trying to remove the stigma of veganism,” Rick Asche says of the lifestyle he and his wife Gayle have been following for the last three years.

Rick, who has a family history of heart disease, found himself struggling with his health and went from traditional doctors to naturopaths looking for a solution. Gayle says she had ongoing issues with weight gain, upset stomach and arthritis. Rick’s sister told the couple about the Hallelujah Diet, a plant-based and mainly raw diet based on Genesis 1:29. When Rick read an e-mail from Hallelujah Acres correlating longevity and eating habits, something clicked.

The woman with a tiny carbon footprint
Forget planes, trains or automobiles - if Joan Pick wants to go anywhere, she runs. And she eats nothing but raw food. Is her lifestyle extreme or the future we must all face up to? Emine Saner meets her

We all know we are meant to be reducing our carbon footprint, but I suspect that many people wouldn't be prepared to go as far as Joan Pick. She hasn't driven a car since 1973 and has only been in a petrol-guzzling vehicle twice since then (once in the hearse at her mother's funeral, the other time when an ambulance came to pick her up after she dislocated her shoulder). Her gas supply was cut off sometime when the last Labour government was in power, and her electricity usage is minimal. She eats only raw food and the only items she ever buys are new trainers - because she gets around by running everywhere. Pick is 67 and claims her lifestyle keeps her healthy. "I've been living on nothing for the past 35 years," she says.

If anyone happened to read "Rawsome in LA," this is an ongoing series of blogs following my rocky transition to eating only whole, life, raw food. To recap, I decided as a part of my sustainable examination of LA, to start with myself as the first place I could go 100% green. Just like when the natural foods movement was in its infancy, the live or raw food movement is one that conjures up visions of unappealing, uncooked dishes created to mimic our home cooked favorites. Sometimes that happens to be true, for instance when I went to a raw restaurant and ordered "rawsagna." Not only did it not look like lasagna, the only thing about it that resembled the real thing was the name. At that point I decided to go on line and look at the raw cookbooks, perhaps a better term is uncooked books. Being a bit impulsive when Amazon shows me used books that are like new for pennies on the dollar, I ordered several. I figure if I make it myself then I can tweak ingredients and modify recipes to my own tastes.

Pam Girouard prays as people take a bite of her avocado puddings, nut-sauced zucchini noodles and carob coconut fudge:

It’s the oldest diet in the world – eating a vegan menu of raw food and nothing else.

"It’s really not as hard as it seems," said Robin Treptow, who has been on the diet for years. She now owns Refreshingly Raw, an Austin-based raw foods business, and teaches classes to others.

"People notice huge amounts of increased energy and mental clarity (on the diet),’" she said. "There are super brain power benefits on the diet. Also, emotionally you’re a lot clearer.”

CANBERRA (Reuters Life!) – Inspired by a documentary about eating only McDonald's for 30 days, Jenna Norwood decided to go for the opposite and only eat raw, organic food for a month with the result sparking major lifestyle changes -- and a movie.

Each Saturday, as if sprouting from the earth, a raw and organic foods market springs to life at the corner of Grand Avenue and Margaret Street in Miami’s Coconut Grove section. It’s the Coconut Grove Farmers’ Market at 3300 Grand Ave., a weekly tradition for seekers of prepared raw vegan and certified organic food.

Some of the market’s patrons walk there, but most come greater distances – from as far away as the Florida Keys, the Palm Beaches, and even the Tampa Bay area. Many regulars are cancer survivors who credit a “natural” diet for their survival.

A change in diet could mean a change in your health. The best part is--you don't even have to cook.

A backyard garden contains almost everything Angela Stokes needs to put together her daily diet.

It's simple and natural, eating food straight from the earth, there's no rocket science, no mystery. The mainstay of it is nuts, seeds, vegetables and fruits in an unheated, unprocessed condition.

Angela says she used to eat junk food and weighed 300 pounds. Six years ago she made a drastic change in her diet, stopped consuming meat and other animal products and starting eating only raw food.

Allen began making raw food ten years ago when her husband, Joey, became passionate about living a healthier life.

Raw food is just what it sounds like. Nothing is cooked above 115 degrees and no processed foods are used, everything is all natural. If 60 percent of a person's diet is made up of raw foods they are considered a raw foodist or as Allen and her husband prefer - a living foodist.

Three of the six raw food recipes I made for Andrew Zimmern on his Los Angeles episode of Bizarre Foods on the Travel Channel were raw food Hemp Sun Burgers, Chocolate Mylk Shakes, and Rawzagna.

Yes, these were indeed vegan, vegetarian, uncooked, raw foods made using vegetables, nuts and seeds. Andrew was convinced. Now, let me show you that healthy can taste delicious!

My Hemp Sun Burger is made by processing together fresh garden vegetables like celery and bell peppers with hemp, flax, and sunflower seeds. A super healthy and good-for-us burger, this recipe provides tons of omegas, protein, vitamins, minerals, and enzymes to keep us looking and feeling great. Omegas are known to make us feel happier. So, eat up and bliss out.

Bathed in a homemade sauce, I scarf down my “raw fajita”. The vegetables are crunchy and fresh, the collard green in place of a tortilla holds the succulent flavor of the red peppers, avocado and portobellos. To think just minutes ago this was a few vegetables sitting on the table, now the are sloshing around in my belly, while my mouth waters for more.

Raw foods are considered a “new age” diet that most would roll their eyes at. Being an open minded aspiring "foodie," I jumped at the chance to learn how this interesting phenomena manifests its self inside the organic filled doors of my neighborhood Whole Foods.

What do you get when you mix pineapple with celery and mint? How about when you pair mango and shiitake mushrooms?

What may seem like odd combinations to most people are the foundations of an innovative new menu featured at Cafe 118°, which is slated to open in downtown Winter Park by the end of this month.

The cafe, so named because 118° is the temperature at which most nutrients and enzymes are destroyed, will be home to foods that are entirely raw; no animal products used.

Thanksgiving can be a tricky food day for vegetarians, hard for vegans and especially challenging for the raw foodist, who doesn’t eat meat, dairy, processed food, wheat, white sugar or food that gets warmer than 118 degrees.

Yet it was Thanksgiving two years ago when Jane Smith had the first urge to "go raw." She and her husband, Bob, were visiting children and grandchildren in Omaha, Neb. Granddaughter Leah, then 15, made a Thanksgiving dish of raw sweet potatoes, dried cranberries, raisins and raw walnuts and a dressing of raw pine nuts and lemon juice. "It was divine," Smith remembered.

BELVIDERE, Ill. - Wondering what to cook for dinner tonight? Brenda Richter’s suggestion would be nothing.

That’s because Richter, a certified raw-food chef and instructor, believes that cooking the fruits and vegetables that make up the diet of a raw-food lifestyle decreases or, at least, alters the nutrients in them.

“It’s becoming more commonly known that a lot of peoples’ illnesses are actually caused by what they eat or don’t eat,” said Richter, who hopes to turn her knowledge and interest into Raw Energy, a series of classes and private consultations for people who want to get more fruits and vegetables into their diets.

She's raw and loving it
Kitchener native spreads message of how raw foods improved her life

Rose Vasile's life has taken some interesting twists in the past decade, from intense insurance executive and pack-a-day smoker to laid back advocate for the raw food movement. It's a life path that has earned the affable 57-year-old the nickname RawRose.

Born and raised in Kitchener, Vasile now lives on Vancouver Island and is the author of the self-published Uncooking with RawRose: Your Guide to Raw Foods (www.rawrose.com). She was in Waterloo Region recently as part of an Ontario and B.C. book tour.

Raw success: 200 pounds lost
A Medford man goes on a raw-foods diet, and now 170 local people have signed up to follow his lead

Clent Manich shows off the pants he used to wear when he weighed over 400 pounds. The Costco employee lost over 200 pounds by going on a raw food diet.

Clent Manich's new diet likely sounds familiar to anyone who's tried to lose weight: Eat mostly fruits and vegetables and replace one or more meal with a shake or smoothie.

The regimen seems sensible enough until Manich gets to the part about not cooking, as in consuming everything entirely raw.

"I'm never going to eat cooked food again," says the 39-year-old Medford resident.

Customers are served up delicious and nutritious, organic, raw food at Sal Anthony’s City Gardener.

Much like how Central Park is a breath of fresh air and nature in the middle of the concrete jungle that is New York; Sal Anthony’s City Gardener on 17th Street near Irving Place gives off a similar feeling of refreshment on a smaller, more exotic scale. It is a feeling of being outdoors in a garden somewhere near the Mediterranean, surrounded by trees with open doors and little benches welcoming you as you pass by. The aroma of fresh fruits emanates from the juice bar as they are smoothed and mixed to wet your thirst and satisfy your hunger.

This place used to be “The City Gardener” and Anthony decided to keep the ambiance with the addition of a nice menu of healthy, organic raw food prepared by the famous Italian Chef, Anthony of Sal Anthony’s, Lanza, and S.P.Q.R.

Yes, Anthony decided to go Raw. After 41 years of cooking Italian and owning and managing three famous restaurants

College isn’t exactly easy on the waistline. Thanks to beer binges and pizza chowdowns, the pounds pile on seemingly effortlessly.

The biggest change that comes with eating raw is how you feel physically. There are times of the day when I feel euphoria. A wash of happiness comes over me. I feel very clean, knowing I'm not digesting a lot of additives. If you eat raw food, you're putting pure fuel into your body. I used to feel stuffed. Now I can be satisfied without overloading my system.

    * Story Highlights
    * Angela Stokes, 30, was miserable, unhealthy, weighed 300 pounds
    * She began a raw vegan diet after reading a book about its health benefits
    * Stokes lost 160 pounds in two years, improving her emotional, physical health
    * Now weighing 138 pounds, she's authored several books on "raw foodism"

Angela Stokes, 30, lost 160 pounds in two years after she adopted a raw-vegan diet. She now weighs 138 pounds.

The real raw deal
Ashland Food Co-op class dispels myths about the raw-food diet

Fed up with a chronic sore throat, Maria DiMaggio traded hot, steaming liquids for cool fruit juice, smoothies and salads. More than a year later, DiMaggio's throat is no longer raw — but her diet is.

Imagine indulging in the delicacy of sushi without breaking the bank, counting carbs or fidgeting with chopsticks. Inside a small dim-lit vegan café just off The Commons, diners can order rice-less sushi, a naturally blended Green Smoothie or a taco salad for a delightful afternoon pick-me-up.

Everything Wellness, located at 118 South Cayuga Street, is a hidden treasure that makes it evident the raw food fad is not just for starving celebrities. This cozy vegan restaurant — meaning no meat, no dairy — uses entirely organic ingredients from local farmers through GreenStar Cooperative and the Farmer’s Market.

Everything Wellness ensures that each ingredient is fresh and everything on the menu is made on the premises, with the exception of the tortillas. Smoothies are made with almond milk, which is soaked, blended and strained by the restaurant’s employees. Unlike the restaurant’s neighboring pizza places, Everything Wellness offers diners an ample amount of fruits and veggies — and more breathing room.

A crisp apple, a green salad or, if we're really being fancy, a bowl of gazpacho is what most of us consider food in the raw. For SaBoora Yusef, however, eating raw has been a life-changing commitment, one that she approaches each day with dedication and creativity.

Around this time of year, I usually spend my free time sipping on cocktails at BBQs, reveling in every minute that the warm weather is still here and complaining about how December is right around the corner. But I decided to bring this summer to a close on a healthier note: more yoga classes, private pilates sessions and a rekindled interest in nutrition. I owe my new attitude to a weekend full of spa treatments, yoga classes, gourmet raw food, raw cooking classes and much more and by this time next year, Chicagoans will be able to do the same.

Melbourne caterer Paul Mattei insists he is thriving personally on a stringent, uncooked diet that would make standard vegetarianism seem indulgent, writes Ann Pilmer.

AT A recent function, caterer Paul Mattei served marinated daikon with Warrigal greens and goji berries, lukewarm cauliflower soup with aged balsamic, red onions and wilted lettuce, and a main course of marinated brocco flowers, finely-cut carrot and grapes marinated in lavender and aniseed myrtle, with curry oil.

They might not be everyone's plats du jour, but he used the meal to push his passionate belief that we should all eat more fresh food and less processed or what he calls "empty" foods.