mainstream article in Newsday on raw food diet

[Guest guest]

Uncooked Food Moves Mainstream And Upscale

 

 

By Tania Padgett

STAFF WRITER

 

October 22, 2003

 

Six years ago, David Norman, a real estate developer, was battling a

weight problem, high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol and hair

loss.

 

Norman's health problems were particularly frustrating because he

didn't smoke, drank alcohol only occasionally and he ate a vegan

diet, avoiding meat, fish, poultry, eggs and dairy products.

 

Desperate, Norman decided to try an even more restrictive diet, one

consisting mostly of fresh fruits, uncooked vegetables, nuts and

grains made edible with soaking. Within a year, he shed 35 pounds

and was able to toss out his blood pressure and cholesterol

medications. His hair stopped falling out, he said, and even his

poor eyesight improved.

 

" My doctor advised me against doing this diet, " said Norman, who

hails from Texas. " But when my blood tests came back normal, he

said, 'Keep doing what you're doing.' "

 

Move over, South Beach Diet and Atkins. The latest diet may not be

hot, but it's gathering steam. As more people become health

conscious, many are turning to the raw or living foods diet that

advocates eating mostly fruits, vegetables, nuts and grains, but

eating them uncooked. The diet also has become more popular as more

celebrities endorse it and gourmet chefs, Charlie Trotter for one,

add an epicurean flourish to it.

 

But just as the diet is taking off, allegations that it is

unhealthful and in some cases dangerous also are growing. Dietitians

argue that the diet, which allows no meat or meat byproducts such as

eggs or dairy, is too low in protein, a much-needed building block

for the human body.

 

Raw foodists argue that the diet, or even the more healthful

lifestyle that often results, has healing and rejuvenating benefits.

Many people who go on the diet do so because they don't feel well or

have illnesses that haven't responded well to traditional medicines.

Uncooked fruits, vegetables, nuts and grains have more nutrients and

digestion-aiding enzymes than cooked food, adherents say. Raw

foodists spurn any food that has been heated beyond 116 degrees

Fahrenheit, the temperature at which most enzymes are said to be

destroyed.

 

Susan Pensack, a 48-year-old Manhattan resident and an editor at

Columbia University Press, said symptoms from a thyroid problem

disappeared once she went raw four years ago. Susan Halperin, an

opera singer from Manhattan, said a nagging sinus condition and

severe allergies cleared up shortly after she embarked on a raw food

lifestyle 19 months ago. A Long Island housewife with breast cancer

who wished to remain anonymous said her condition improved

dramatically after spending two months at a spa that promotes raw

foods and juices. Others, particularly celebrities and models, rave

about speedy weight loss, more youthful-looking appearance and

increased energy levels after going on the diet.

 

" Cooked food is toxic, " said Rhio, a longtime raw foodist who has

written a book on the subject, " Hooked on Raw " (Beso Entertainment),

and who operates raw foodinfo.com, an informational Web site. " There

are no enzymes or nutrients in it, which is why people get so sick. "

 

But living the raw foods lifestyle is not easy. The diet is one of

the strictest around. Most adherents advocate buying the pricier

organic fruits, vegetables or bottled water to avoid pesticides.

Food preparation - particularly without a blender, juicer or high-

powered mixer - can be long and arduous, because most raw food

recipes demand constant cutting, chopping and blending of fruits,

vegetables and nuts. Also going out to most restaurants, even

vegetarian ones, can be difficult since most menu selections are

cooked or have some meat, dairy or milk in them.

 

Norman said that when he started the diet, he " lost some friends "

because his eating habits became " annoying. "

 

That doesn't mean, however, that dieters will be subject to homemade

meals of bland, unappetizing foods. In fact, one reason for the

diet's popularity is the explosion of living foods cookbooks,

restaurants, Web sites and packaged raw food products, particularly

in California and now New York.

 

" Raw food has definitely been going mainstream, " said David Wolfe,

who operates rawfood.com, which hawks organic foods, supplements and

books. " Hits to my site have increased enormously in the last year;

raw food restaurants are popping up everywhere and it seems as if

everyone is writing a raw book. "

 

Indeed. Six months ago Charlie Trotter, one of the country's

foremost chefs, began offering raw food delicacies such as unheated

shiitake mushroom soup with lime radish and winged beans (a tropical

legume) and portobello mushroom pavé with white asparagus

vinaigrette at his Chicago restaurant. His latest book, " Raw, "

published by Ten Speed Press and co-authored with California raw

food chef Roxanne Klein, will be out in November. Actor Woody

Harrelson and raw food chef Renee Loux Underkoffler's book, " Living

Cuisine: The Art and Spirit of Raw Foods " (Avery Penguin Putnam),

will be released in December, and supermodel Carol Alt also is

working on a book for publisher Clarkson Potter, due out next year.

 

In the past year, the raw food movement in New York has gained

momentum. The city's five exclusively raw food restaurants often are

filled to capacity at dinnertime. More vegetarian restaurants are

getting the hint and adding raw dishes. And, in the past six months,

the raw food gourmet class at Manhattan's Natural Gourmet Institute

for Food and Health has become so crowded that students had to be

turned away, said Jenny Matthau, school president and director of

chef training.

 

At Dr. B. Well Naturally, a Plainview health food store, Raweos, a

raw food cookie, and Luscious Lemon Swirl cake are fast sellers,

owner Peter Roth said.

 

The raw food or living food diet has been around since the 1950s,

when Ann Wigmore, a self-taught nutritionist, began popularizing it

through her health institute. But the diet really didn't take off

until the late 1990s, when high-powered chefs and celebrities

rediscovered the diet and began singing its praises.

 

Felicia Watkis, a raw food caterer who has prepared food for jazz

musician Wynton Marsalis and Essence magazine editorial director

Susan Taylor, said it's important for food to look and taste good.

 

" Raw food meals really didn't taste too good, until gourmet chefs

starting coming into the picture, " said Watkis. " Most people enjoy

it now because we try very hard to replicate the taste and textures

of dishes that people love. "

 

At Quintessence, a raw foods restaurant with three locations in

Manhattan, owners Dan Hoytand and Tolentin Chan worked to develop a

menu that duplicated the flavors and textures of popular foods.

Flavorful burritos are created out of crunchy fresh cabbage leaves

and crammed with nut butters, olives and almond creams; spaghetti is

made from thin strips of yellow squash; and lasagna is created out

of eggplant and spices.

 

Despite the claims of raw foods enthusiasts, many doctors and

dietitians scoff at it. Katherine Tallmadge, a spokeswoman for the

American Dietetic Association, said she thinks the diet

is " dangerous, " particularly for pregnant women, children, the

elderly or people with compromised immune systems. " The diet is

protein-deficient and nutrient-poor, " said Tallmadge, who also is

author of " Diet Simple " (Lifeline), a book promoting weight loss by

making only a few changes to the average diet. " The idea that cooked

food is toxic is absurd. There is absolutely no science to back that

up. "

 

Tallmadge is not alone in her assessment. Five months ago, Florida

authorities said the death of 5-month-old Woyah Andressohn probably

was the result of malnutrition brought on by a raw food diet.

Investigators also found that Andressohn's four brothers and

sisters, who also were allegedly on the diet, were severely

malnourished.

 

The news brought a wave of anti-raw foodists, including doctors and

chemists who said the science behind raw food diets was specious.

Dietitians argue that the body produces enough enzymes that the

extra enzymes raw foodists insist the body needs are unnecessary.

They also argue that cooking helps kill off many germs and that

uncooked foods can be breeding grounds for bacteria.

 

But many raw food enthusiasts maintain that any initial discomfort

of the diet is worth the tremendous health benefits. And that

eventually many people become huge supporters of the lifestyle.

 

In two weeks, Norman, with the help of a raw food chef, is opening

Bonobos, a gourmet raw food restaurant

 

" I have so much energy, " said Norman. " Typically, after my friends

and I go out to eat, they are too tired to do anything afterward.

But me? I'm raring to go. "