The WELLth Coach: Raw Food Recipes

From the Love_raw egroup 2-24-07:

The Raw Diabetes Story

Posted by: "Anne Kaspar" bodybybliss@gmail.com

Date: Fri Feb 23, 2007 7:50 am ((PST))

Why One Woman Stopped Cooking: The Raw Story

Aimee Perrin

February 2007

As a type 1 interested in nature's ability to heal, I ask, What is causing this so-called diabetes epidemic? Why is it expanding from Western countries to developing countries at the same rate that fast food and junk food are spreading?

The newly popularized raw-food diet is a diet of nutritionally dense plant foods that are naturally low in calories and low on the glycemic index

—

yet high in satisfaction. Many people following the raw-food diet can eat until well satisfied at every meal (as long as all of the food is raw), yet they still easily achieve their ideal weight and remain energetic.

A Popular Dietary Choice

Many people tout the virtues of eating a diet of uncooked and unprocessed fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and sprouted raw grains.

For baby boomers searching for improved health, the raw-food diet is becoming a popular choice.

The fundamental justification for eating a raw-food diet is the theory that food that has not been heated beyond 105 degrees retains all the enzymes that are naturally present in whole, unprocessed foods - enzymes that are destroyed during the cooking process.

Enzymes are the key to all bodily functions, and they exist in the body in a limited supply. If the body's enzymes are needed to process and metabolize foods that are enzyme-depleted through heating and processing, then there are fewer enzymes left for maintaining health.

Over time, this cycle leads to deteriorating health and, ultimately, disease.

Lowering My Insulin Requirements With a Raw Food Diet

While living with type 1 for 36 years, I tried many diets and natural treatments. Three years ago, I decided to try the raw-food diet. When I began the raw diet, I was taking 22 to 24 units of insulin daily, and I had good control on the low-carb/high-protein diet. I now need only six to eight daily units, with excellent control, and I am satisfied, free of cravings, energetic, and happy. Some may say the decreased need for insulin is a result of fewer calories, but the biggest change for me has been in long-acting insulin requirements, which demonstrates an overall improvement in the general diabetic condition.

Nutritionist Swears By Raw Food Diet

Fred Bisci, MD, a nutritionist from Staten Island, New York, has been a raw-food dieter for over 40 years and is now in his 70s. He still does nutritional counseling and takes 10-mile runs on the beach.

"Diabetes, as well as many other diseases, sees improvement on the raw-food diet," says Bisci. "The body shows many remedial capabilities and reversal of certain pathologies if the diet is done properly and under supervision."

Bisci is very cautious with his encouragement of the raw-food diet, understanding that it may not be for everyone.

"It is a commitment to a whole lifestyle change," he says. "The closer you get to the raw-food diet, the more dramatic the improvement."

On a raw-food diet, Bisci says, the body cleanses itself on a cellular level and is able to function better on fewer calories, garnering all needed nutrients from the nutrient-dense food. Bisci says that he has seen thousands of type 2s get off all medication by eating a diet that is 80 to 100 percent raw.

A Diet Still in Its Infancy

The raw-food movement among the diabetic community is still in its infancy. However, the promise that the raw-food lifestyle holds, though largely based on personal testimonials, is starting to be supported by a few studies (see below). There is no question that the raw-food diet warrants further investigation.

----------

From the March 28, 2006, issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine

A study was conducted by a team at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri. Eighteen individuals who had been eating a strict raw-food diet for an average of 3.6 years were compared to 18 others who ate a more standard diet. The raw-food dieters' average body mass index was 20.5; the conventional dieters were a little overweight with an average BMI of 25. The vitamin D level of the raw-food dieters was "markedly higher." In addition, the level of the raw-food dieters' C-reactive protein ("an inflammatory molecule that is becoming linked with the risk of heart disease, diabetes and other chronic disease") was much lower.

----------

Sample Menu for one day of the Low-Glycemic Raw/Live Food Diet

Each menu item is followed by nutrition facts detailing the content of proteins, carbohydrates, fats, and calories, with a percentage breakdown for each nutrient category. An overall daily breakdown follows the day's menu.

Note that although the overall fat content for the diet seems suspiciously high, the fats are all heart-healthy plant fats that have not been heated. The health-giving impact of live food can transcend the macronutrient content.

Both my husband and I are lean, fit, and muscular, with low body fat, excellent blood profiles, and superb energy despite the relatively high fat content of our diets. My most recent blood work was as

follows:

A1C: 5.8%

Total cholesterol: 169

HDL: 75

LDL: 82

Triglycerides: 88

----------

Breakfast: Low Glycemic Breakfast Cereal

Lunch: Very Large Garden Salad

Supper: Live Kale Salad

Low Glycemic Breakfast Cereal

1 T flax oil

1 T flax seeds

1 T hemp seeds

1 tsp maca powder

2 tsp shredded coconut, unsweetened

1 tsp raw cacao nibs

Salt & sweeten with stevia to taste, then mix thoroughly in bowl.

Protein 6 g; Carb 10.2 g; Fat 28.9 g; Calories 325

Very Large Garden Salad (Serves 2)

1 head dark green lettuce

1 large tomato

1 cup sprouts

½ red onion

2 ripe avocados

2 T olive oil

2 T apple cider vinegar

10 raw olives

Chop ingredients, then toss in large bowl. Season with salt and herbs to taste.

Per serving:

Protein 6.75 g; Carbs 26 g; Fat 39 g; Calories 482

Live Kale Salad (Serves 2)

(Modified from Chad Sarno's Vital Creations)

1 bunch kale

1 tomato, chopped

1 avocado, chopped

2 T olive oil

2 T lemon juice

2 T pine nuts

Blend by kneading with hands. Add salt and chipolte pepper to taste.

Per serving:

Protein 6 g; Carbs 24.5 g; Fat 29.2 g; Calories 385

----------

Daily Profile

Protein: 18.75 g (11%)

Carbs: 60.7 g (34%)

Fat: 97.1 g (55%)

Total calories: 1200

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Aimee Perrin, a native of Tennessee, was brought up on the "Standard American Diet" until the age of 16, when she was diagnosed with type

1 diabetes. During the seventies, she became a vegetarian chef and began a quest for a nutritional solution for her diabetes. Through the use of whole foods, she was able to bring her daily dose of insulin from 36 units down to 24. Since 2003, she has eaten nothing but raw foods. She states that by doing so, she has succeeded in reducing her insulin dose down to only 8 to 12 units daily.

Table of Life

Posted by: "Anne Kaspar" bodybybliss@gmail.com

Date: Fri Feb 23, 2007 2:33 pm ((PST))

'Table of Life' serves it up raw

By Christine Morente, STAFF WRITER

Inside Bay Area

SAN MATEO - WITH pursed lips, James Hall carefully places two dolmas stuffed with parsnip and currant onto a dill cream sauce.

He stands back and admires his raw food creation sitting pretty inside a bento box, a Japanese-style lunchbox.

"I'm impressed with myself

—

not really," said the 47-year-old San Mateo resident with a touch of self-deprecation.

But he is proud.

Hall had just spent the last 24 hours not cooking over a hot stove, but pureeing, blending and dehydrating food.

Nearby, his partner Clarina Bradshaw taste-tested a heaping spoonful of salad made of corn, Asian pears, jicama and cucumbers.

"Do you like it?" Hall asked.

"Winner," Bradshaw said with a thumbs up. "It's nice and savory."

Once a month, for the last three months, Hall and Bradshaw have opened up their San Mateo home to raw foodists

— many of them strangers who've seen his post on meetup.com —

to share in a potluck he's named the Table of Life.

None of the food he served Sunday was cooked above 118 degrees Fahrenheit, nor did it contain processed sugar, processed starch, dairy or meat. Raw food advocates say uncooked food carries live enzymes that help digest themselves and leaves the body's own enzymes to rest. Hall is taking the trend to the next level in San Mateo County and proving people can do a lot with raw food. He wants to strip away the belief that raw food is hippy food.

"They all seem to be Birkenstock or very vanilla when you go into (raw food restaurants)," he said. "I'm kind of looking at blowing people's minds a little bit. But in a good way."

Hence Sunday's international bento box theme, which also featured flaxseed tacos stuffed with guacamole, mango and jicama with a Mexican chili vinaigrette sour cream sauce. All the items were displayed on a

14-foot-long dining table with a checkerboard-style top.

Dinesh Hebbar of Santa Clara brought mango smoothie to the shindig.

The 27-year-old has maintained a raw foods diet for a year and a half.

"You eat guilt-free basically," said Hebbar, who used to eat rice, roti and curry. "The body becomes so natural. It instinctively knows if the food is right for the body or not. A lot of the senses get heightened and it increases sexual energy."

Lisa McCortney said she experiences a natural high when she eats raw food.

"I feel more positive and happier," the Los Altos resident said. "With cooked food, I'd feel weighed down."

A raw foodie for two years, McCortney said Hollywood has helped propel the movement.

"People say they become more beautiful and younger looking,"

McCortney said. "But mostly people want to heal themselves."

That was the attitude in the 1990s, when more people were looking to raw foods to find a therapeutic way of getting well.

As all diets go, nutritionist Nori Hudson of Radiant Vitality in Berkeley said there are pros and cons.

"The raw food diet is legitimate," she said. "We have a certain pool of enzymes in our pancreas and as we age, it doesn't seem to be as populated. When we eat raw foods, we give our pancreas a break."

But the lifestyle may not be right for those who have a weak digestive system and need cooked food. Much-needed nutrients such as zinc, vitamin B-12 and iron also are missing from the raw food diet.

"I'm of the school that people need to listen to their bodies,"

Hudson said. "No one diet is good for you all the time."

Hall was quick to enjoy eating raw foods, but found that Bradshaw's need to eat raw is limited. He first started preparing raw food in August, after she complained of sluggishness.

"She was getting tired of digesting food, basically," he said.

Hall decided to share his meals with others when it gave Bradshaw more energy. Last year, he sold his computer systems integration company. Before owning his business, he worked as a sous-chef at Le Papillon and La Foret, both in San Jose.

After six months of being in the raw foods world, he's found plenty of preparation is required.

"Most raw foodists are very simple in the way they eat," Hall said. "But if you eat the way I like to do it, which is a little bit more gourmand, you're always preparing for tomorrow. You have to use the dehydrator and think about the next day."

Today, Hall is figuring out if opening a raw foods restaurant or a to- go eatery would make sense in the county. So far, there is Que seRaw seRaw in Burlingame and Cafe Soulstice at the Equinox Fitness Club in San Mateo.

"What I'm finding out is that (opening a restaurant) would be costly because of the organic produce and nuts," said Hall, who spent $300 on the Sunday potluck.

"With the quality of food I like putting out, I'd have a difficult time making money out of it. I'm not saying 'no' to opening a restaurant," he said. "I'm still in the process of doing my research."

But for now, Hall will continue doing his potlucks and perhaps cater once a week. Basically, he said he just loves to cook.

"There's a spiritualness to it," Hall said. "That's what I love about being in the kitchen. I can pray over the food while I make it and give it a good vibration."

Staff writer Christine Morente can be reached at (650) 348-4333 or at cmorente@sanmateocountytimes.com.

The WELLth Coach

About

Recent Posts

The world's first bionic burgers...!

Pecan Raisin Balls Recipe

A Raw Diabetes Story