Virginian-Pilot, 12/16/98: Raw Foodist Sings Praises of Crunching

[Guest guest]

" RAW FOODIST " SINGS PRAISES OF CRUNCHING

By Robin Robertson

 

The Virginian-Pilot and The Ledger-Star, Norfolk, VA

December 16, 1998

 

LOREN LOCKMAN LIKES to eat in the raw. In fact, he's been doing it

more than seven years. No, he's not a nudist - he's a raw foodist.

The raw-foods, or " living " foods, diet he enjoys is gaining

increased awareness from medical and nutrition professionals,

vegetarians and the public. People are becoming aware that whole

fruits and vegetables - as fresh as possible - are essential for

good health.

 

Lockman, who lives in the Washington, D.C., area, has been the guest

speaker at several Living Foods Potlucks held in Virginia Beach on

the fourth Sunday of each month. His 30-minute presentations often

stretch into hours with the question-and-answer sessions that

follow. On Nov. 22 he spoke at the Thanksgiving Potluck held jointly

by the Living Foods Group and the Hampton Roads Vegetarian Society.

 

Lockman explained that the raw-foods diet consists mainly of fruit,

leafy greens and other vegetables, soaked nuts and seeds, and

occasional soaked or sprouted beans and grains. He told us that all

primates are frugivorous animals, and frugivores consume a diet

based primarily on the items listed above.

 

Raw foodists believe that humans, too, are designed to eat this way,

based on our physiological structure, which is designed for fruit-

eating: our hands to pick it, our teeth to chew it, our weak stomach

acid, and our long, winding intestinal tract - all better designed

to digest plant food.

 

When asked why living-foods advocates consume their food raw,

Lockman told me: " We consume our diet entirely raw because cooking

food destroys its vitality, specifically the enzymes in the food.

Cooking also destroys most of the vitamins, returns most of the

minerals to an inorganic state, and coagulates the proteins, making

them unusable.

 

" Many people are surprised to learn that all plant foods contain

protein - up to 45 percent for some dark leafy vegetables. What's

critical to understand is that we only need small quantities of

protein and that consuming excess protein contributes to disease.

Also, when we eat concentrated proteins, our bodies have a lot of

work to do to obtain their useful amino acids. When we eat ripe

fruit, the plant proteins have already been broken down into their

amino acids, which we can then assimilate with very little work.

Like any other machine, the more work we force our organs to do, the

faster they wear out. "

 

When asked if there were any side effects from this diet, Lockman

answered: " Yes. There is one major one: glowing health. In my own

life I consulted doctors for two years to resolve an undiagnosed

general malaise which left me exhausted all the time.

 

" With no relief from traditional medicine, I started doing my own

research and ultimately changed to a raw frugivorous diet. I not

only quickly eliminated the problems I was experiencing, but I

reached a level of health I had never felt before. In the years

since, I have experienced no sickness at all. "

 

Whether or not you think the raw foods diet is for you, a certain

percentage of raw foods in the diet is generally considered to be a

good idea. This can be as simple as eating more fresh fruits, raw

vegetables and salads.

 

In a recent article in Vegetarian Voice magazine, Michael Klaper,

M.D., writes: " . . . you don't have to completely change your

dietary habits or `go raw' to reap the advantages of raw foods. It's

easy to include large portions of fresh raw foods at every meal -

it's just a matter of cultivating our appreciation for the taste of

whole, unadulterated, unfired foods - just as nature made them. "

 

If you'd like to learn more about the raw-foods movement in Hampton

Roads, call Jill Harrington at 437-9447. She can fill you in on the

Living-Foods Potluck to be held in Virginia Beach on Dec. 27

featuring Loren Lockman as guest speaker.

 

To prove that raw foods can be more than just biting into an apple,

try some of these scrumptious raw recipes and try eating in the raw

yourself.

 

(Copyright 1998)

 

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