* What’s New?: Raw Food Meeting in Memphis

* Feature Article: How to Indulge in High Fat Raw Recipes

Raw Food Meeting in Memphis

Next Wednesday, February 24 at 6pm I’m hosting a little informal raw food get-together.  I’ll start the meetup by discussing the basics of a low fat raw vegan diet and then move on to the importance of calorie consumption for optimal health.  Then there will be plenty of time for discussion and noshing on yummy low fat raw vegan fare.

For more info and to RSVP, visit this link.

So if you happen to be in the area February 24 at 6pm, be sure and drop by!

Swayze

How to Indulge in High Fat Raw Recipes

One of the most important aspects of eating a low fat, high fruit raw vegan diet is (you guessed it) eating low amounts of fat.

As I discuss in The Truth About a High Fat Raw Diet and has been covered extensively by low-fat promoters Douglas Graham, John McDougall, Jeff Novick, Joel Fuhrman and others, an *optimal* human diet consists of no more than 10% of calories from fat.

On a 2000 calorie diet, this works out to around 4 oz ( or 1/3 to 1/2) of an avocado or 1 ounce (2 tablespoons) of nuts/seeds.

However, I recognize that sometimes you may wish to have a little bit of extra fat.  Maybe you are attending a raw food potluck and want to try some of the dishes offered, but many of them are nut-based and you’re worried that they will push your fat intake over the top for the day.

Or perhaps it’s a particularly cold and rainy day outside (like it is today for me, actually) and you just really want a big, hearty salad with a nice diced avocado (or two) on top.

I’m sure we’ve all been in these situations (I know I have), given in to the extra fat and possibly (okay, most definitely) felt guilty as a result.

But is this guilt really necessary? Can’t we indulge in high fat raw recipes from time to time?

Yes, We Can!

I just cut right to the chase on this one, huh?

An important concept to understand is that the 10% or below fat ratio – as mentioned above – does not have to be followed every second of every minute of everyday.  Making sure that every meal you eat falls within these low fat guidelines is not necessary for optimal health.

What IS necessary for optimal health is that you follow a low fat raw vegan diet *overtime.*

Overtime, Not Everyday

You can indulge in high fat raw recipes as long as you remain within the healthy fat range overtime (say, over the entire month) and you will still be maintaining a healthy low fat raw vegan diet.

But how do accomplish this?

Easy!  Here’s an example:

Say you eat a 2000-calorie diet.  For five days, you choose not to consume any overt fats and so your fat intake stays around 5% of total calories.  On day six, you decide to eat one avocado for the day, shooting your fat intake up to around 20%.

No big deal!  If you average out the entire six days, you’ll notice that you have only consumed about 7.5% of your total calories from fat!

One Word of Caution

After a while you may experience some negative consequences from eating fatty recipes, even if it’s an infrequent event for you.

I know that in my early raw days, I could eat 2 avocados in one sitting on occasion without any ill effects.  Today, I can’t eat more than about a third of an avocado at a time without getting a headache and waking up nauseated the next morning.

And I have to be very careful to eat overt fats later in the day, as any morning or afternoon fatty snacking leaves me very groggy and irritable.

Easy, Right?

Hopefully I’ve shown how easy and guilt-free it is to indulge in high fat, gourmet raw recipes from time to time.  As long as you remain mindful of the fat you are consuming and average out your fat intake overtime, you can easily make sure that you remain well within a healthy range.

What About Salty Raw Recipes?

Great question!  And it’s one that I’ll give my take on in a future post so stay tuned!

Go raw and be fit,

Swayze

Happy Valentine’s Day!

In the spirit of the holiday, I have a little gift for you today. No, it isn’t a box of chocolates, a thoughtful card, or undersized lingerie (tee hee)…

It’s a raw food tip, of course!

How to Stop Bananas From Ripening Too Fast

Go raw and be fit,

Swayze

In today’s video blog, I showcase a delicious recipe called Plantain Pudding (contributed by Ellen Livingston at www.LivingYogaNow.com) from my healthy raw recipe book:

“Low Fat, Fruit Filled, High Fun Raw Recipes”

Delicious and Healthy Raw Vegan Favorites for Every Meal

I also give some vital tips for preparing and eating the oft-forgot plantain.  For instance, did you know that plantains contain more calories per ounce than bananas?

Don’t miss it!

Plantain Pudding

Ingredients:

• 2 ripe plantains (black on the outside, soft on the inside)
• 2 bananas
• (Garnish): Celery, finely diced

Directions:

Blend everything until smooth and creamy.  Garnish with finely diced celery.

Swayze’s Tips:

When it comes to tasty plantains, you want them really black on the outside and super duper soft on the inside…the uglier the better!  Trust me, you do not want to dig into a sweet pudding full of unripe, chalky plantain.

Go raw and be fit,

Swayze

P.S. If you’d like more tasty and healthy raw recipes, be sure to check out “Low Fat, Fruit Filled, High Fun Raw Recipes” at the link below:

www.fitonraw.com/low-fat-raw-vegan-favorites

* Feature Article: Are Raw Sweeteners Really Raw And Healthy?

* Your Questions Answered: Is it Okay to Consume Macadamia Nut Oil?

Are Raw Sweeteners Really Raw And Healthy?

I find it quite ridiculous interesting that so many raw foodists are completely fruit-phobic and yet they have no qualms about eating tablespoon after tablespoon of refined sweeteners like agave and honey.

You would think that someone who severely limits their consumption of sweet fruit because the simple sugars “cause Candidiasis” would be even MORE careful about his or her use of concentrated sweeteners.

And now that we’re on the topic, what about raw sweeteners?  Are they really raw?  Are they good for us?  Are they even that tasty?

Agave Not Really Raw?!

There’s been some controversy over the past year or so about raw agave nectar.  Apparently, some manufacturers were not being completely honest about the “rawness” of their product.

For those who don’t know, agave nectar comes from the agave plant (usually the Blue Agave) growing in Southern Mexico.  It is a succulent (adept at storing water) similar to Aloe Vera and looks like this:

The plants are harvested, crushed and the resulting sap removed.  The sap is then heated to create the concentrated liquid known as agave nectar or syrup.

Fun little fact: Agave is actually the plant from which tequila is made!

Anyway, wanna know my first reaction to the whole agave scandal?

Ummm, DUH!

Agave nectar (even if it is not heated over 115 116 118 oh hell, whatever the temperature is!) is a refined product and, therefore, is NOT a raw food!

And this applies to ALL refined “raw” products, not just agave.  Dried fruit, dried nuts, even sun-dried tomatoes are not truly raw (i.e. unprocessed) by definition.

But Is It Good For You?

There are many ways one can define “good for you” or “healthy”.  Some people view those foods that make them feel good as healthy, while others simply follow the current health trend (one day eggs are full of cholesterol and bad fats, the next they’re rich in vitamin k and low in calories).

I classify healthy foods as those that are health promoting.  These are foods that are easy to digest, absorb, assimilate, eliminate and most importantly…delicious!

There is nothing present in agave nectar that cannot be found in fresh fruits and vegetables.  You can live your entire life without touching the stuff and be perfectly healthy.

In fact, since agave is a refined food, there is very much missing from the product.  Just as I brought up with regard to Fruit2Day a while back, processed foods have had much of the water removed and many vital nutrients along with that water.

You may hear raw agave nectar being touted as a low glycemic food, but as long-term raw foodist John Kohler mentions in this article, agave nectar has an…

…unusually high concentration of fructose (90%) compared to the small amount of glucose (10%).  Nowhere in nature does this ratio of fructose to glucose occur naturally. One of the next closest foods that contain almost this concentration of glucose to fructose is high fructose corn syrup used in making soda(HFCS 55), which only contains 55% fructose. Even though fructose is low on the glycemic index, there are numerous problems associated with the consumption of fructose in such high concentrations as found in concentrated sweeteners:

Kohler then goes on to list some of the various problems with consuming high concentrations of fructose, such as an increase in uric acid, blood lactic acid, and mineral loss in the body.

So is really raw agave really a health food?

No, not really.

What About Raw Honey, Sucanat, Yacon Syrup, etc…

Same deal.  None of these ingredients are truly raw and some of them, like evaporated cane juice, yacon syrup, and maple syrup, are heated above the 118 degree threshold.

And if remaining vegan for ethical reasons is your issue, then honey isn’t a viable option anyway!

So Raw Sweeteners Are Evil?!

Okay, time to cut the not-really-raw sweeteners some slack.

While I continue to stand firmly behind fresh fruit as the best sweetener of all, I see no problem with including small amounts of agave, honey, what have you in some raw recipes.  They can be a great way to add sweetness and help balance out a savory meal without changing the overall taste and texture of the dish.

The key, of course, is “small amounts.”  Think 2-3 spoonfuls at the max.

Personally, I rarely ever use these raw sweeteners.  I can’t remember the last time I used agave and I don’t eat honey.

Why?  Because I think they’re yucky!  They just taste overly sweet and fake to me.

Plus, they can be pretty expensive.  Why pay for a refined product out of a bottle to sweeten your food when you have much tastier, healthier, AND cheaper ingredients on hand all the time…

SWEET FRUIT!

Go raw and be fit,

Swayze

Is it Okay to Consume Macadamia Nut Oil?

I received an email just this morning from reader Erica.

Erica asks:

I’m of the mentality that a small amount of fat is vital for our bodies, and often try to get that fat from avocados. I do, however, love to add 1/2 T of macadamia nut oil to my salads just for it’s wonderful taste. Do you think this is detrimental to my health? I try to use oil as sparingly as possible, but I can’t get enough of my macnut oil drizzle on my salads.

Just like the raw sweeteners discussed in the above feature article, oil is not truly a raw product and is not a health food.  There is nothing in macadamia nut oil – or any cold pressed oil – that is not present in the whole, fresh food from which it originates.

And because oil is a refined product, much of the vital nutrients have been REMOVED in the process.  That means you are actually receiving LESS nutrition than you would if you simply ate the food (macadamia nuts, in this case) in its fresh, whole state.

Plus, oil is 100% fat!  One measly tablespoon of oil contains about 100 calories of pure fat.

That said, it certainly will not kill you to eat it sparingly.  Having 1/2 tablespoon with your salad is not a large amount.  As long as this is the only overt fat you eat for the day, you will still be well within a healthy fat intake range for the day.

Hope that answers your question, Erica!

Swayze

P.S. For more information about the dangers of eating a high fat diet, be sure to check out my article:

The Truth About a High Fat Raw Food Diet

P.P.S. If you have any questions for me about living a healthy raw food lifestyle, feel free to leave a comment below or email me at swayze@fitonraw.com.

* What’s New?: Videos!

* Feature Article: Too Much Fruit On a Low Fat Raw Diet?!

Videos!

That’s right, more vids!  Since so many of you enjoyed the recent salad recipe video I posted, I’ve decided to keep making more…

Starting with today’s feature “article”!

So if you don’t mind, please leave a comment or email me at swayze@fitonraw.com with your feedback and suggestions for future vids!

Swayze

Too Much Fruit On a Low Fat Raw Diet?!

“Wow, that’s a lot of fruit! Isn’t that too much?  How can you possibly eat all that?!”

These are just some of the comments I receive (A LOT!) about eating a low fat raw vegan diet, so I thought I’d spend a few moments talking about the “too much fruit” issue in a video.

I think the quality in this one turned out much better. Enjoy!

Go raw and be fit,

Swayze

P.S. If enough people express interest, I’ll type up a short summary of what is covered in the video for those of you who are too lazy don’t have time to watch.