What I Learned From High-Fat Raw Gurus
So I’ve been busy reading some material from prominent high-fat raw food gurus lately.
Here’s what I’ve learned so far:
1. A whole and natural raw food diet means one full of dehydrated, processed, powdered, and packaged foods.
2. Eating multiple avocados containing over 70% of calories from fat in one day is totally cool and even healthy!
3. Satisfying my sweet tooth means concocting recipes full of fat, cacao, and refined raw sweeteners. Just eat sweet fruit, pshaw!
4. A raw food diet is the most nutritionally dense diet around. That’s why we need lots of supplementation, DUH!
5. Every raw recipe must: a) take hours to prepare and b) rival all my cooked food favorites in fat and salt content.
6. Fiber is super important for digestion, which is why we should get rid of it all by juicing our food!
7. Food combining, Schmood combining.
8. As long as I stay raw, I can spend as much time lounging around the house as I want. SWEET!
9. We can get all the nutrition we need from ridiculously small amounts of food as long as we chew each bite for hours on end.
10. I’ll be able to spend as much time as I want being lazy by sleeping less and less each night.
11. There’s no way I’m getting all the vitamins and nutrients I need if I’m not spending an arm and a leg on supplements and superfoods.
12. The more water we shoot up our butts with a tube, the better.
All this without indigestion, crazy cooked food cravings, and overall poor health!
Wow, who would have thunk it? 
In all seriousness, I have a few choice words for all the raw food gurus out there promoting (and supposedly following) these Hollywood “raw” diets of supplements, condiments, stimulants, irritants, fats and grass.
A Message to the Raw Food Gurus
I refuse to name names, but you know who you are…
Shame on you for promoting unsustainable diets. Shame on you for encouraging severe calorie restriction. Shame on you for ignoring exercise, sunshine, and restful sleep as necessary components for long term health. Shame on you for basing your dietary actions on faulty science and poor reasoning and encouraging people to follow the path you set out.
And DOUBLY shame on you for claiming to support a whole, plant-based diet and then pushing naïve newcomers to pay you EXORBITANT amounts of money on “necessary” foods like dried sea algae, bee vomit, and royal jelly.
You are all helping to turn these well-meaning newbies into scrawny, lazy binge eaters. And the ones who know enough to see through the bull are simply thumbing their noses at raw veganism for good.
Shame, shame, SHAME on all of you!
Just the Facts, Ma’am
If you really want to go raw and be healthy, you don’t need to pay out the rear end for supplements, superfoods, or a tube up the…oh, you know…
If you *really* want to see phenomenal results, here’s what it takes:
1. Adopt a species appropriate diet, i.e. a low fat, high fruit raw vegan diet composed of lots of fruit, moderate greens and non-sweet fruits, and limited fat.
2. Adopt a solid exercise routine. Move your body EVERYDAY for AT LEAST 1 full hour.
3. Get adequate sleep. If you wake up groggy, you need more sleep.
4. Get adequate sunshine. About 15-30 mins a day should do ya.
Would you look at that? Solid, common sense, PRACTICAL information that you can put to use RIGHT NOW and you didn’t have to pay me a single penny!
You’re welcome. 
Go raw and be fit,
Swayze
P.S. Since I’ve been so generous today with all the free advice, how about rePAYING me the favor by purchasing my low fat raw vegan recipe book?
See what I did there? 
18 comments
[...] What I Learned From High-Fat Raw Gurus [...]
I couldn’t agree with you more on this!!
Swayze, you are so awesome! Loved this!! Esp. the boy’s face…LOL
And I already did buy your low fat raw vegan recipe book! And your book about Cravings. Both are so helpful and worth it!
Janel Reply:
March 13th, 2010 at 10:28 pm
I right there with Ellen. I bought both of your books and they are great. I look forward to getting your emails every week. Keep them coming.
Swayze Reply:
March 15th, 2010 at 7:07 am
I’m on it!
Swayze Reply:
March 15th, 2010 at 7:07 am
Thanks, Ellen! That picture is priceless…
It really is sad. It’s sad that people are so misguided, raw or not. You just want to tell the whole world all these things, even bigger than diet. A daunting task, to say the least. I’m so glad that I found this blog; you’re really making a difference, Swayze! I’m only 14, but I’m CERTAIN that I’ll have my kids on the correct diet.
Swayze Reply:
March 15th, 2010 at 7:07 am
Wow, 14?! Good for you, Genevieve!
Whew! Thank you, Swayze! Your no nonsense approach keeps me moving toward the target. I really notice a difference in the way I feel when I eat cooked now. Changing the old habits is a challenge, but I won’t give up and I rely on your publications and emails to bring me back to center. Thanks again!!!!
You tell it like it is! Good job!!! Thanks!
Very funny, I love it. I never did get the high fat raw “gourmet” food movement. I think they prey on people who are confused and looking for anything to lose weight, when all they need to do is eat naturally and your body will do what it is going to do: BECOME NATURAL. I mean how natural is it to soak and sprout nuts/seeds for days just so you can digest them? Crazy.
Swayze Reply:
March 15th, 2010 at 7:09 am
Or how about assembling a “raw” dish full of 20+ ingredients that’s supposed to resemble a cooked beef patty? Natural? I think not.
thanks for the info swayze! I completely agree with everything you’ve said, there’s so much contradiction from those guys it’s rediculous!
Melissa
I’m a lazy cook and 80-10-10 is right up my alley. Easy, simple, tasty. Travels well.
And I love your direct and humorous approach. Helps keep me on track. Thanks!
I'm so bad; I make and eat raw dishes that resemble the cooked stuff. However, most of my diet is full of fresh produce, mostly greens. I just like to mix things up a bit sometimes.
Well, I do make a mean raw pasta. I guess we're in the same boat!
The gourmet hour by hour preparation of dehydrated food is the reason why I failed before when trying raw vegan. There is something very liberating about just eating fruit and veggies the way they are and getting full. Because of just minor success for me, others want to do what I'm doing and the advise I can give them is simple. Eat fresh ripe fruit and veggies til your heart is content!
Raw pasta doesn't sound too bad. I fall victim to raw cupcakes. At least I don't eat them as much as everyone thinks. It is definitely not an everyday treat.