Star Tribune, 4/98: Vegetarian rawists eat only the foods they consider alive

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Vegetarian rawists eat only the foods they consider alive

Copyright 1998 Star Tribune

Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)

 

April 15, 1998, Metro Edition

 

In the name of health, a new subset of vegetarians is emerging

called " rawists. " Operating under the assumption that the body is

meant to consume only raw foods, rawists subsist solely on a diet of

what they deem " living " foods: organic, uncooked fruits and

vegetables, and sprouted grains.

 

The body, they claim, treats cooked foods as " dead " and fights them

like a disease, diverting cell energy from combating real illness.

 

Just how many full-time rawists are there? Well, there seem to be

enough to keep a 35-seat San Francisco restaurant called Raw Living

Foods in business for the past two and a half years.

 

" People feel the difference after just one raw meal, " says the

restaurant's 24-year-old owner, who calls himself only

Juliano. " Customers tell me that after a meal here, they feel like

dancing. "

 

And what gustatory offering could cause such delight? Uncooked

versions of traditionally cooked foods, such as raw wild rice (it's

soaked), raw mushrooms (soaked again) and pizza (raw veggies with a

soaked and living sprouted buckwheat " crust " ).

 

Dancing or not, the health benefits of rawism are questionable to

say the least; on an exclusively rawist diet, it might be difficult

to consume enough calories and essential nutrients to maintain

health. But, of course, the occasional raw meal could be considered

very healthful indeed. It's called salad.

 

- Eating Well magazine. Distributed by United Feature Syndicate.