Anyone done a raw food diet at all?

[MonkeyJungleConga]

I'm thinking about doing a raw food detox and radically changing my eating habits long term (for long term health optimization following cancer treatment). This is a huge step away from how I eat normally but I'm confident I can do it but obviously this impacts on family life. I'm not planning on making everyone eat raw kale forever but I'm just wondering if anyone's done this and how it all worked in reality. I'm interested in anyone who either does this all the time or those who may have done s short term detox.

I've not done a raw food diet but I do know quite a lot about detoxes. The good news is that you don't have to go raw in order to get good results... your body will detox remarkably quickly via your liver and kidneys if you don't 'tox it up' in the first place. The main things you need are

• 'Real food' i.e. simple wholefoods (fruit, veg, grains, meat, nuts, seeds, fish, pulses, milk, herbs) and very lightly processed/low ingredient foods such as pressed oils, butter, vinegar, plain yoghurt. Organic where possible but not essential
• Lots of water and herb teas
• Avoid... caffeine, alcohol, preservatives, sugar, artificial sweeteners, colourings, heavily processed foods, salt, yeast
• Take some daily exercise and spend time outside.
• Get plenty of sleep
• Take a multivitamin supplement if you are over 50 and/or if your food choices are limited in variety.

The 'real food' can contain raw and cooked elements. Whilst some raw foods are very nutritious, cooking makes certain vitamins and minerals accessible to the body which would be unavailable in the raw state. The water is to keep the kidneys functioning efficiently. The list of things to avoid means you end up with a very natural (rather than raw) diet, and yeast can be problematic in large amounts. Exercise improves the efficiency of the digestion, helps liver function, and time spent outside boosts Vitamin D levels. Sleep is a natural repair function and the multivitamin recommendation is a 'safety net' measure to underpin the rest.

I have a friend who only ate raw foods. She did it for several years and made herself quite ill. She became very very thin and had no energy. She now eats a more normal diet and is healthy again. My mum has cancer and although she has followed this type of regime she has developed secondaries.

I suppose what I'm saying is I don't think it's particularly healthy to eat like that in the long term, there is a reason why we cook things, as cogito says! I would also agree that a more 'natural' diet is probably the way to go. Unfortunately I don't think any diet will ever give you complete protection against cancer, although the stronger and healthier you are, if the cancer does return you will be in the best possible position to fight it off.

Read 801010 diet by douglas graham or visit www.30bananasaday.com

most raw food diets are rubbish, too high in fat, with this one you eat lots and lots of delicious fruit, it's the fat that's the problem not the fruit.

Try the two week detox by Food Doctor/Ian Marber. You'll definately notice a difference and it's all pretty easy to do - it might even change your eating habits long term. You can also ask him very specific questions on Facebook (which you might have about what food is best to have after cancer treatment) and he is really helpful with his answers.

I eat a lot of raw foods I'm not exclusively raw. Raw foodists with no energy tend to be those who assume you eat loads of fruit and veg and nothing else. There's a lot of contradictory information out there about fats and in particular saturated fat being the enemy. Not true. Pure raw coconut fat is an amazing fat and has, I believe, the highest saturated fat contact of them all.

Would definitely avoid eating loads of fruit though - there's growing body of opinion that cancers and sugar (in whatever form) are a bad combo.

Would recommend you check out rawfor30days.com

If you find it hard to make a 100% transition,why not start just with a raw breakfast for a few weeks and then add another raw meal?