In What World is This Raw Recipe Healthy?!
Excuse my crudeness, but most raw food diets suck.
Why? Because most raw food diets include recipes like this one:
Raw Gluten Free Almond Bread
- 4 1/2 cups packed almond pulp
- 1 1/4 cups olive oil
- 1/2 cup flax seeds
- 2 tsp Celtic sea salt
Now, I have no problem with people who eat and enjoy such recipes. You’re free to eat whatever you like!
But promoting this dish as healthy and nutritious? That’s something I definitely have a problem with.
Most people see the words “raw”, “gluten-free”, and “vegan” and think, “Geez, this is healthy! I can eat as much as I want!”
What they don’t realize (and the raw food gurus neglect to tell them) is that this recipe is almost 100% fat!
That’s right. Almost every single calorie in this bread comes from fat. In fact, the only ingredient that isn’t a high-fat food is the sea salt!
In total, this recipe is roughly 8% carbohydrates, 6% protein, and 85% fat! If you were to eat just two slices 4×4 inch slices, you’d take in over 600 calories and 60 grams of fat!
And if you were to make a so-called healthy raw sandwich with those two pieces, including your typical raw fillings—avocado, sun-dried tomatoes, a bit of lettuce—that’s just more calories and more fat added on to your day.
Compare that to home-made wheat bread—typically less than 20% fat and 200-250 calories for two slices—and you’ll see why I’m so mortified by unimpressed with the fat-filled “raw” recipe above. Even with turkey, mayo and other ingredients, your standard sandwich comes no where close to the insane amount of calories or fat in this dish.
Oh yea, and the “healthy” vegan version is higher in sodium too. Two slices contains over 450 mg of sodium whereas cooked wheat bread contains less than 150 mg.
What Does This Tell Us About the Raw Food Movement Today?
Recipes like the one above tell us something very important. They tell us that the mainstream raw food movement isn’t about what’s healthy.
Like most fad diets, the majority of raw food diets are about what sells and what sells is tasty and comforting recipes that replicate all our old tasty and comforting (yet totally unhealthy) favorites…like bread, for instance.
And this really makes me mad because the people who follow such diets are bound to fail; such a fat-filled, nutrient deficient way of eating is not sustainable. This is why it’s so common to see people go raw for a short time, have crazy cravings for carbs or just calories in general, and go back to cooked food.
It doesn’t have to be this way! There is a wrong way (lots of wrong ways, actually) to eat raw and a right way to eat raw. If you do it right, you’ll feel satisfied after every meal, get plenty of nutrients, and won’t have to worry about cravings or cooked food binges.
And if you didn’t already guess, the right way puts no emphasis on dehydrated, fat-filled concoctions like the “raw” bread recipe above. All of the focus is on fresh, whole produce with minimal amounts of nuts, seeds, and other overt fats.
Whew, it feels good to get that out! 
Now What About You?
What about the raw food movement (or health in general) really gets your goat? Go on, get it off your chest in the comments below!
Go raw and be fit,
Swayze
P.S. You can find the actual recipe for the totally not raw, totally unhealthy bread recipe here. View at your own peril!!! 
P.P.S. Looking for raw food recipes that not only taste great, but are actually healthy? Be sure to check out my raw recipe e-book…
“Low Fat, Fruit Filled, High Fun Raw Recipes”
Delicious and Healthy Raw Vegan Favorites for Every Meal
www.fitonraw.com/low-fat-raw-vegan-favorites
To learn more about the book and order your copy, click below:
20 comments
The biggest mistake I made in trying to go raw was getting involved in programs that promoted an immediate 100% approach. It was too much too fast. I’ve never made it stick and recommend against the all-or-nothing to anyone who says they’re trying to go wrong. The more gradual approach you advocate in “How to Conquer Your Cooked Food Cravings Once and for All” makes much more sense. I’ve just started following the other excellent guidance in the ebook and hope to move successfully to low fat / high fruit raw vegan. (Thanks also for the great audio version. Took it running with me yesterday even after reading the ebook.)
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Swayze Reply:
August 22nd, 2011 at 5:52 PM
Awesome, Caryn!
And to anyone and everyone who has purchased “How to Conquer Your Cooked Food Cravings”…There’s going to be another update to the program in the near future. Expect an email from me in the next couple of months.
Swayze
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Good article Swayze, especially as raw is receiving more and more press. “As long as it’s raw, it’s healthy” is a dangerous phrase. Too many people increase their fat consumption drastically when they “go raw” and can’t figure out why they’re lethargic, spotty, bloated, gaining weight, etc.
High fat raw foods are ok VERY occasionally but not every day, and certainly not every meal! One raw food chef even says that you can have “pie” for breakfast, “pizza” for lunch, and “enchiladas” for dinner…..!
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great article, swayze!
as always, i tell people you need to eat VOLUME of fruit to be satisfied and feel full and can’t tell me, “i ate one banana,” you need more like 10 bananas to be satiated
also, you can’t get full on vegetables/greens and there are some raw centers/schools are against fruit and i have been to one and they serve lots of salads and bean sprouts (they are not digestible even in this way and need to be cooked) and also use fats/oils in dressings and spices – i have eaten there before, but it doesn’t work for me and our bodies were meant to eat fresh, raw, ripe, organic and high water content foods
i love eating lots of fruit and in southern california, where i live we have great farmers markets and i load up on the fruit there and get great deals – summer time is the best time and i miss when there are no more peaches, plums, nectarines, pluots, watermelons, figs and i can get fresh dates now at my c0-0p (AMAZINGLY MOIST AND SWEET)
keep up the great work and let’s all keep sharing with others how to eat raw the optimal and healthful way!
namaste!
much luv, hugs and gratitude
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@Mindy. You are saying that veggies and sprouts are not digestable and need to be cooked? I have heard that some veggies are more digestable cooked a bit – cruciferous and kale, I hear that carrots do not release the beta carotene they have until cooked, I have heard different things about spinach. I have always understood that sprouts were awesome to eat because of the their nutrient content and since they were sprouted the phytic acid has been released and you basically get a head start on digestion. Please tell me what you know. The concept of eating fruit until your full is foreign to most people, they are used to it as a snack, and being able to afford all the fruit (especially for a family of seven) I am not sure how feasible it will be…in more ways than one. Thanks.
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stillewaters Reply:
August 24th, 2011 at 12:00 PM
Some people warn against the regular use of sprouts , and especially the regular use of alfafa-sprouts , because they contain an immature amino acid , called :
L-canavanine sulfate
which is able to create health problems , and especially for people who are already fragile to its effects
google a bit around to find articles , maybe look at
http://www.sciencemag.org/content/216/4544/415.short
hope the link is correct ,
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Jelle (mostlyraw.eu) Reply:
August 24th, 2011 at 2:08 PM
Well I thought, that’s interesting I want to read that article, but it seems I have to pay US $15.00 to be able to access the paper… that way to much…
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stillewaters Reply:
August 26th, 2011 at 11:48 AM
I gave this link just as a quick example , not as the best article there is
With a search engine you will find lots and lots of other articles : some people will warn against the use
of sprouts …. and some people will praise sprouts into heaven !
The right sensible middle way is maybe to use sprouts only occasionally and not overuse them in your daily diet
Jelle (mostlyraw.eu) Reply:
August 24th, 2011 at 2:37 PM
I can see logic in a young plant (sprout) protecting itself from being eaten (with toxic L-canavanine sulfate) until it matures and is able to reproduce… The same logic can be applied to eating nuts and seeds, why would nature want us to eat the nuts and seeds that should be used to created new plants. (so try eating them in very limited amounts) If alfafa sprouts do contain L-canavanine sulfate in an amount that makes a difference to the human system, I would definitely stop eating them. I still have 100g of organic alfafa seeds ready to sprout though
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canavanine
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Joelle Reply:
August 24th, 2011 at 4:51 PM
This is where I get confused…kind of like a chicken that produces so many eggs. There is an abundance of them (nuts, seeds, eggs, what ever) if the abundance continued to populate, would you not be over run by whatever it was (kind of like what has happened to people). Was this abundance not meant to be consumed, and the only thing we can consume are the ones that have the seeds inside them – so they were meant to eat so that the seeds can be used? (That is unless nature starts the tree from the fruit that has fallen to the ground)…Not trying to “be” any certain way here, just trying to understand.
I know I’m in the minority—I want to GAIN weight–& have a hard
time to do it! My shaking Parkinson’s (using a lot of energy)
doesn’t help. Wouldn’t recipes (like almond bread) & raw recipes with nuts, more fat, etc, help me?
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Swayze Reply:
August 23rd, 2011 at 8:39 AM
If you are underweight, meaning you’re body fat is at an unhealthy level, you simply aren’t consuming enough calories. These extra calories do not (and should not) have to come from fatty foods. Too much fat in the diet is always unhealthy, no matter what the source.
If you are under-muscled, you need to adopt some sort of resistance program.
Swayze
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What makes me curious is what happened to natural hygiene (Shelton and hay) and when the raw food movement came to be… By me everything felt in place when I read about Shelton’s work and food combining, applying this to the raw diet works for me., I don’t do this all the time but it’s definitely my guideline.
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stillewaters Reply:
August 24th, 2011 at 11:49 AM
Hallo Jelle,
I have always followed the separation of starches and proteins in one meal , as proposed by Hay and Shelton , but i have discovered some recent other french healthy nutrition writers Eric Darche and Robert Masson are warning against this strict separation of starches and proteins in a meal
From what i understood : the strict separation works out well for people who are overweight,
but not for underweight people and especially is dramatical for young upgrowing rawfood vegan children
I eat now starches ( like potatoes or corn) followed by beans or nuts ( in very moderate amounts ), and i don’t notice any digestive problems at all
The scientific argumentation these 2 writers give is several pages long in their books and are too complicated to explain here on this post
Other food separations i do always follow ,
like strictly separating strong acids and any food rich in starches or protein
So , for example no tomatoes or lemon-juice ( in dressings) with potatoes or beans , … ( a classical food combining mistake )
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Jelle (mostlyraw.eu) Reply:
August 24th, 2011 at 2:26 PM
I tried finding some related information about Eric Darche and Robert Masson, but everything was in French and the translate engines I tried failed. I can say, that complete separation of both starches and proteins is not possible, since they are for example present in whole vegetables. Being on a mostly raw diet excluding most of the foods that are not naturally available or can not be eaten without being processed (including cooking), the exclusively high starch foods remaining are very few. The separation will almost happen naturally… So far I have not read any prove that following food combining and a raw food diet is dramatical for young up-growing children. But please share the research indicating otherwise.
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stillewaters Reply:
August 25th, 2011 at 10:33 AM
hallo jelle,
the info about not separating starches and proteins
i have mainly found in their french books , and some briefly mentioned in other books on cereals, maybe there exist somewhere an english article on the net
Until now i never experienced digestive problems , but i do emphasize that the amount of starches and of beans/nuts i use is very moderate !!
I also practise ” sequential eating ” : first the starches
( more easy to digest ) , only then followed by the proteins ( more difficult to digest )
Excellent article ! You right on ! Eat like all other animals ,pick it and eat it . Why would you dehydrate all the water out of perfect already food. Just go to the produce section by some greens and a lot of fruit and eat it. The only thing you need is knife cutting board and maybe a blender. That’s the way I’ve been eating for almost 3 years and its definately the way to go. Tons of energy and no pain and feel great everyday ! Keep on going Swayze great stuff !
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I’m a bit surprised that you are still on the low-fat diet craze. That was so 10 years ago. I also eat a raw food diet, but fat from nuts, oils, and fish makes up 40% of my diet. Fat doesn’t make you fat or cause heart disease, carbs do. And trans fat obviously is to be avoided.
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“hmm..someday they will come to know.., our bodies already had and ever will bear witness to the truth of our natural diet..lets persist and wish them well, truth outlasts persecution…thanks,good day…”
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Well – it’s easy – all man-made much too complicated creations with cereals, fats and nuts … in all kinds of strange wrong combinations with all kinds of wrong kinds of fats …. i have no craving for them anymore
Just the celebration that nature creates is more than enough for me : colorful tasteful fresh fruits, greens and vegs, some nuts and seeds …
In the supermarket , i look to come from another planet with nothing else than fruits and vegs ….!!
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Leave a comment, beautiful.