Strict raw foodies are a subculture of high maintenance health nuts. Sprouting, soaking, dehydrating, juicing, food processing, blending, chopping, and cooking (at 118 degrees or below), raw foodists are not simply upholding a lifestyle, but managing a full time job. When practiced by the books, rawism is an all-consuming lifestyle. Raw foodies morph into innovative culinary experts and nutritional gurus, assuming an impressively health-conscious, bordering-on-obsessive identity. The days of swapping favorite restaurant spots and indulging in holiday treats are no more. The new norm is talking shop about the best juicer on the market, exchanging creative recipes, idolizing raw experts, speaking of denaturing enzymes, and proudly bragging to raw food comrades: “My juicer juices more celery sticks than yours.” Expensive gadgets and trendy raw products infiltrate the mind of the raw foodie. I know. I’ve lived it. So, what motivates this radical lifestyle?
Well, why does anyone take on any diet? Health. Weight loss. Wellness. The same goes for this plan, but why the extremity? A minority assumes the rawism due to extreme medical conditions: cancer, diabetes, arthritis, obesity, autoimmune disorders, etc. See Gerson therapy). I, myself, whimsically traveled the raw food route, thinking it would spare me from an unwanted surgery. Guess what? It worked. Coincidence? Maybe. Yet, why are people of average, even superb health, jumping full-fledged into this extraordinary, life-altering diet? Is it a fixation with achieving a perfect health status quo? Just like you can never be too rich, thin, or beautiful, you can never be too healthy. But can too healthy be unhealthy? Restriction to one, highly regimented form of eating has proven implications, not only biologically (vitamin and mineral deficiencies, anorexia, etc.), but psychologically. In fact, a new condition coined Orthorexia has surfaced to account for the “too healthy”, obsessive-compulsive eating regime. So, if you are pursuing a raw food diet with zero wiggle room, be mindful of going overboard. Remember the old saying: “All things in moderation.”
It’s inevitable to fall off the healthy eating rocker. It’s even natural. Food, in theory, should be consumed for reasons of nutrition, but that’s not the case. In modern society, food is celebration and tradition. As a gung ho raw foodie, be prepared for isolation. Wave farewell to holiday dinners with Mom, Pop, and Grandma Sally. Frankly, most people will think you’ve gone over the deep end.
In moderation, raw food undoubtedly reaps benefits, including weight loss, increase in energy, clearer skin, detoxification, immune strength, etc. Humans today, with their massively inflating bodies and astronomical consumption of meat, refined sugar, and buckets of utter junk, could strongly benefit from an increase in raw foods. My advice is this: gradually incorporate raw meals into an organic, seasonal food program. Add in one raw meal per day – perhaps a green smoothie for breakfast or a raw salad for lunch. Work in the direction of a 70% raw diet. Bring delicious raw dishes to potlucks to increase awareness. Don’t forsake all conventional ways of eating. Be cool with straying away from your sprouted beans and dehydrated kale chips to indulge in a holiday treat or a sliver of meat. Be mindful and for food’s sake, don’t end up stuck in a hardcore, obsessive oblivion subsisting on raw juice and gogi berries! Stay sane.
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