cooked Vegan diet vs. Raw Food?

[TealClear]

Hi everyone...

I couldn't help but think the other day about Alicia Silverstone when she was on Oprah awhile back promoting her new vegan cookbook. She talked about having so much energy and sparkle to her eyes, if you will, once she started moving away from SAD (standard American diet). She did mention eating a lot of her foods as raw (think salads, smoothies, etc).

Do you think she's actually practicing a semi-raw food diet with a large portion of her diet being in the forms of raw food?

If so, is there any benefit to eating some vegan meals cooked?

Just wondering.... thanks!

[modernmonkey]

I thought Alicia Silverstone now openly endorsed a low fat, raw, vegan lifestyle?

[sport]

If so, is there any benefit to eating some vegan meals cooked?

Cooked vegan meals are better than normal diets but if you want the full benefits of raw then you should strive to be 100%.
You will still be healthy on mostly raw with some cooked vegan but will not reach your optimum potential.
If you can do without it then do so.

[Aleesha Sattva]

Teal,

I don't think you are going to find support to eat cooked food here...even if it is vegan and/or low fat.

We are here to share and offer support to each other according to Alissa Cohen's philosophy of eating raw live foods.

We can support you in your raw choices but not in your cooked... sorry... that's not what this forum is designed to do.

Raw RAWKS!
in light,
Aleesha
Moderator

[Errol]

I eat lots of raw, in the mornings I eat only fruits, fruit salads, fresh juice's, that is all until noon meal. At noon I love a really good salad with romaine, squash, cukes, onions, all the salad makings....but I also love broccoli and caulifower, but can not stand to eat those two things raw!! I have to lightly steam them then put a little almond butter on top! I do eat other veggies steamed, not totally cooked. I wonder if I am by myself when trying to eat broccoli and caulifower raw?

[Revvell]

I wonder if I am by myself when trying to eat broccoli and caulifower raw?

That's a tough one for many yet, have you tried Alissa's broccoli and cheese recipe? Sure changes raw broccoli for me! Have not tried it with cauliflower yet, I'm thinking if you maybe marinated it somehow and threw it in the "D" for a bit, you could eat it that way.

Good marinade anyone? Alternatives?

[streetsurfer]

Oh yes, I have marinaded and dried brocolli, cauli, and brussel sprouts. As most probably know, dehydrating can sweeten (concentrates sugars) while mellowing some flavors and intensifying others. I did like my dried brassica snacks, nearly as well as kale chips. I don't recall the recipe but it likely had some lemon juice, oil, salt, coconut vinegar and liquid aminoes, maybe a touch of honey.

[climbing]

I am not sure what Alicia does. But I know I've read quotes from her supporting soy and what not and other cooked stuff I do NOT think is healthy. So I don't entirely trust her, or anyone who advocates soy. Soy makes me and many other people I know very ill and I do not think it is a good food at all.

Perhaps some of these quotes I've read from her are outdated and she is a raw foodist now. Not sure.

[Aleesha Sattva]

Alicia who?

[Revvell]

Alicia who?

Silverstone. I asked the same thing then actually looked through the thread. Second post by MM. Heyyyy! We've got new smilieeeez!!!! :drool:

[Stina]

She's an actress who is to be commended for raising awareness of the vegan diet.

She tried and did not thrive on the raw diet and now does a vegan version of the macrobiotic diet.

[OnMyJourney]

Originally Posted by Errol
I wonder if I am by myself when trying to eat broccoli and caulifower raw?


That's a tough one for many yet, have you tried Alissa's broccoli and cheese recipe? Sure changes raw broccoli for me! Have not tried it with cauliflower yet, I'm thinking if you maybe marinated it somehow and threw it in the "D" for a bit, you could eat it that way.

Good marinade anyone? Alternatives?

I loooooove raw broccoli, even before I was into a raw lifestyle! I just had some for lunch! YUM! :eat :woot: hehehe

I've not yet tried raw cauliflower, though I've seen Philip McCluskey make "popcorn" with it by seasoning it with nutritional yeast, sun fire flavored sea salt and cayenne pepper. I keep meaning to try it!

[mcster]

I think it's great that high profile people are creating awareness about vegetarian/vegan/raw diet for a number of reasons.

That said, I'm not too concerned with the advice or opinions from these people. Just because they're high profile doesn't mean they know what they're doing. Angelina Joile is a great example of this.

If you want to learn more about the pro and cons of a raw vs cooked vegan diet, use google. You could spend months going through all the info out there. And when you're done, experiment with your own diet and see how you feel.

I became vegetarian when I was six. I've been relatively healthy most of my life and I've specifically been watching what I eat this past year. I started a cleanse at New Year's so technically I've been raw for about a month but eating normal raw food not even a week. In this short a time, I've experienced a phenomenal transformation even though I ate a relatively healthy, mostly vegan diet (loved cheese and ice cream) before. I too was on the fence about going 100% raw but I can't see myself going back after experiencing the benefits first hand. Just my personal experience...

[luckylibra]

I'm working on becoming 100% raw. I need to get me an raw recipe book and purchase the items need to prepair raw meals.

I don't think she is 100% raw.

[EscapeArtist]

The increased grain consumption in a vegan diet will ruin your health. From what I've been through, grains normally are a torture to the body, that I know.
Though I often wonder what would happen if a person were to have twins and put one on a raw diet and the other on a diet involving everything that the raw twin ate except cooked... Not that anybody should treat their children as experiments

[klomasius]

I was a vegan for 7 years before I became a raw vegan, there is a MASSIVE difference in health levels!

I was eating a SAD vegan diet for most of that time, but gradually switched to a healthier one, but even a healthier vegan diet had nothing on a raw vegan diet health wise. :)

[mcster]

I was a vegan for 7 years before I became a raw vegan, there is a MASSIVE difference in health levels!

I was eating a SAD vegan diet for most of that time, but gradually switched to a healthier one, but even a healthier vegan diet had nothing on a raw vegan diet health wise. :)

A lot of us who started out veg/vegan have experienced the same thing. Basically veg/vegan = SAD - meat/animal products but it's still just a variation of SAD. Raw means full nutritional value of foods because they are not cooked.

[Aleesha Sattva]

i have a friend who's daughter is vegan - she lives on pot chips, junk food and soy products. she refuses to eat a veggie.

it's amazing what some people consider healthy choices... :rolleyes:

[Revvell]

i have a friend who's daughter is vegan - she lives on pot chips, junk food and soy products. she refuses to eat a veggie.

it's amazing what some people consider healthy choices... :rolleyes:

Actually, I used to go to a vegetarian dinner club and as long as a dead animal wasn't involved (as far as they knew superficially), they'd eat it. People who call themselves ethical vegans care more for animals that they do 'bout their own health. :eek:

[klomasius]

A lot of us who started out veg/vegan have experienced the same thing. Basically veg/vegan = SAD - meat/animal products but it's still just a variation of SAD. Raw means full nutritional value of foods because they are not cooked.

That's EXACTLY what I say, I wholeheartedly agree with you!

I had a funny experience that really brought home the disconnect between people's expectations and their actual diet. I told a vegan friend of mine that another person I knew, also a vegan but an older one (60 plus) had gone to hospital for some ailment. She said to me with shock 'But he's a VEGAN!' Oh lordy I just don't understand sometimes. P.s. the guy who went to hospital is a cooked vegan who ate like me pretty much when I was cooked vegan.

The truth of the matter is that you can live off soda, processed mock meats and white bread and call yourself a vegan, doesn't mean it's healthy!


Actually, I used to go to a vegetarian dinner club and as long as a dead animal wasn't involved (as far as they knew superficially), they'd eat it. People who call themselves ethical vegans care more for animals that they do 'bout their own health.

This is so very true for many (not all, I'm one of them) of the ethical vegans I know, mostly in the animal rights movement. To me when I go to events and fundraisers, they seem hellbent on getting as many cupcakes, fried mock meats and other pap down their throats as possible and it defies logic, after all we ourselves are animals, and the time taken to care for our health means far less or no medications taken as we get older and less call for these products that are extensively tested on animals.

Thankfully a shift in consciousness is occuring amongst them and they are becoming more and more open to raw foods. I've had several stalwarts of the animal rights and animal welfare movement attend my raw food classes or talk to me about raw foods with some really positive attitudes. Things are gradually changing! :throwhearts:

[Revvell]

This is so very true for many (not all, I'm one of them) of the ethical vegans I know, mostly in the animal rights movement. To me when I go to events and fundraisers, they seem hellbent on getting as many cupcakes, fried mock meats and other pap down their throats as possible and it defies logic, after all we ourselves are animals, and the time taken to care for our health means far less or no medications taken as we get older and less call for these products that are extensively tested on animals.

True that.

[Himanot]

i have a friend who's daughter is vegan - she lives on pot chips, junk food and soy products. she refuses to eat a veggie.

it's amazing what some people consider healthy choices... :rolleyes:

I'm finding a lot of that myself. That is not my idea of going vegan.

[RawLibrarian]

This is so very true for many (not all, I'm one of them) of the ethical vegans I know, mostly in the animal rights movement. To me when I go to events and fundraisers, they seem hellbent on getting as many cupcakes, fried mock meats and other pap down their throats as possible and it defies logic, after all we ourselves are animals, and the time taken to care for our health means far less or no medications taken as we get older and less call for these products that are extensively tested on animals.

ITA!!

Even vegan magazines like VegNews are full of recipes for, and ads for, things that are vegan versions of SAD. Fake meats, vegan TV dinners to throw in the microwave ... you could easily be vegan and eat hardly any fresh produce. Someone I know works at a Whole Foods and she says she is just shocked at the 'organic' junk food that flies off the shelves--chips, sodas, cookies, etc.

If you're not getting the majority of your nutrients from fresh fruits and vegetables and raw nuts and seeds, but eating a lot of processed microwave meals and Annie Chung noodle soups and the like, you might be vegan but nutritionally, it's not really a whole lot different than SAD. Dr. Joel Fuhrman in his book 'Eat to Live' writes about treating patients who were vegan and vegetarian but ate almost zero fresh raw fruits and vegetables and were in terrible health--some were even morbidly obese. Once they switched to eating the majority of their food as raw fruits and vegetables and cutting out processed crap, their health markedly improved.

[climbing]

Oh God. Those fake meats are so beyond belief disgusting and illness causing. Yuck. I work at a grocers and it's always sad to me to have to stock the shelves with the most horrible stuff, I feel guilty. And people buy it thinking it is health food and I'm not allowed to say anything, it kills me at times. :( Especially since I got really sick when I was cooked veg eating that sort of thing.

[klomasius]

I used to LOVE those fake meats, and I still totally understand why people eat them.

They themselves aren't the problem, it's the fact that people think they can live on them that is, i.e. they think that eating these as a meal has given them something nutritionally. And to be honest, for me it's still better that people eat fake meats rather than real meat, just a tiny step better.

My friend has this theory about 'food' and 'non food'. 'Food' is fresh raw fruits, veg and greens while 'non food' is things like cooked foods and junky food. As long as he is eating food to nourish his body, he can have a little non food as well.

If people employed something like the 80/20 rule, 80% of their food is fresh fruit, veg and greens etc and 20% is junky, they would be a lot better off!

I have a lot of veg*ns tell me 'I don't eat a lot of junk food, I only eat fried foods about once a week, and I get mock meats about twice a week, then I have cup cakes and sweets about twice a week" etc. etc. until they'e finished and I (and possibly even they) have realised just how much junk food they actually eat when it's all listed out!

We have to try and change attitudes, it's up to us to help people realise the connection between raw foods and their particular passion.

The animals = eating healthier means less medication and therefore less need for products that are extensively tested on animals and use HUGE amounts of animal lives because people have eaten crappy all their lives. Plus it means that someone is alive and healthy for far longer, meaning they can be a living example to non veg*ns and continue to fight the fight long after they might have been able to.

The environment = eating raw foods means FAR LESS packaging and processing, which means far less energy used, less resources, less petrochemicals in the production, shipping and packaging of the foods. In my talks I give at sustainability events, I offer the example of a simple pot noodle. The flour, additives, salt, etc for the noodles get processed elsewhere and then shipped to the manufacturing plant in trucks, in their own separate packaging (which then gets discarded once it's opened and the noodles are made). The same thing happens for the flavour sachets, all the vegetables, chemical additives, salt, oil, etc. get processed elsewhere and then shipped in separate packaging to the manufacturing plant (and again the packaging gets discarded) and finally all the noodles are made (and packaged heavily) with lots of processing energy etc. So the packaging we see on the pot noodle is a TINY tip if the iceberg of what went into the making of it, same with the energy and resource usage.

Our health = This is really a no brainer, anyone who has hung around rawbies or raw food boards has heard (or experienced) countless stories of people healing from illness, getting off medication and becoming far healthier, often better than they've ever been!

So really, it's up to us to educate, same as it is with compassion and wisdom and lots of things lacking in our modern day society. :)

[proteus]

i'd rather eat raw meat than cooked vegetables.

[sport]

i'd rather eat raw meat than cooked vegetables.

Not me. I am a compulsive vegan. Can not help it.

[klomasius]

hehe, compulsive vegan, love it! Me too! Steamed veg over meat any old day!