Jul 28, 2009 2:22 pm US/Eastern
Is The Raw Food Diet Right For Me?
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
Some say they're seeing unbelievable health benefits and dramatic weight loss from a revolutionary diet.
To succeed, you have to be willing to eat raw food, but this diet may pose risks for some people.
Lissa Sieja likes to experiment and try new things in the kitchen, and she wants her family to eat as healthy as possible.
That's why she says she put her family on the "raw food diet."
"We really believe in what we eat because it makes us feel better and its healthy," says Sieja. "We just wake up feeling more energized."
'ALL PLANT BASED'
So what exactly is the raw food diet?
Sieja says it consists of plant-based foods like fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds. Anything that contains living enzymes, but not meat.
"People are afraid that we're talking about eating pork and chicken raw and that's the furthest thing from the truth," she says.
"It's all plant based."
Sieja stumbled on the diet several years ago when she began having medical issues.
"I started out having mid-age problems like fibromyalgia. I started raw food and got rid of my symptoms."
Paul Nison has written several books about the raw food diet.
"The way we've been traditionally doing things is so unhealthy," says Nison. "That's why we have more disease than ever before in the world."
HOW IT WORKS
Nison says the diet works by removing processed and unnatural foods that actually shut down your body's natural defenses.
Then, by adding raw organic materials, you'll be fueling your body to fight off disease. And, he says, it tastes great.
"I would challenge anyone to have good, organic, ripe produce and dislike it because no one will. It just tastes delicious."
FOR EXAMPLE
Sieja describes several of the most common meals she makes for her family.
For breakfast, she mixes up a milk using almonds, pure water, nectar, and vanilla. She pours that over organic granola and blackberries.
For lunch, she makes pasta noodles out of zucchini then tops that with a walnut meatball, and a homemade marinara sauce.
And for dessert, Sieja homogenizes frozen organic bananas to make a banana ice cream.
NOT RIGHT FOR EVERONE
But experts warn a raw food diet may not be appropriate for certain people such as children, pregnant or nursing women, people with anemia, and people at risk for osteoporosis.
It may also cause certain nutritional deficiencies because you may not get enough iron, calcium, vitamin B12, protein or calories.
So before beginning a raw food diet, please talk to your doctor first.
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