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Local raw food movement grows PDF Print E-mail

The Truth - Health and Fitness


The local raw food movement is gaining converts to its holistic approach to nutrition.

GOSHEN -- "Don't eat it unless it will rot, and for heaven's sake, eat it before it does."

That's one of the mantras of a growing movement of local raw foodists, who share a lifestyle centered around eating raw, unprocessed and mostly organic foods for holistic health and environmental reasons.

"If it's not going to spoil and decay, I don't bother, because it's not real food, it's a chemistry set," says local raw foodie and yoga instructor Darlene DeChant.

In December, DeChant joined a multigenerational group of diet and health-conscious people for a raw food retreat hosted by Maple City Market and held at "The Chouse," a historic downtown Goshen church home owned by Lon and Judy Miller.

Retreat participants made raw, soft gingerbread cookie dough, dehydrated nut loaf -- a cooked meat substitute -- and lingered over lunch. Also served: mini pizzas on sesame seed and flax dough and topped with marinara sauce, tomatoes, and cashew "cheese"; and Caesar salads with romaine lettuce and spinach, sun-dried Peruvian olives and local organic sweet onion. After lunch, the group rolled out yoga mats for a deep breathing and stretching class, watched a documentary about raw food as medicine and walked a few blocks to Maple City Market.

HEALING HERSELF?

Elaine Cowden and her husband, Larry, traveled to the retreat from Buchanan, Mich., to meet other raw foodies and share stories and recipes. Three years ago, she was diagnosed with colon cancer. Half of her colon was removed, but at first, doctors diagnosed her debilitating gastrointestinal pain as a bad case of constipation, Cowden said.

"I thought I ate healthy. I ground my own flour to make bread, but I was addicted to sugar. That was my downfall," she said. "After I was diagnosed with colon cancer, it seemed like everywhere I turned I learned that sugar feeds cancer."

After her surgery, Cowden was still in severe pain with a cancerous growth blocking her colon so food could not pass. When talking with her surgeon about chemotherapy, his advice was a relief, she said. "He told me, 'You can do whatever you want, but I wouldn't have chemotherapy if I was you.'"

NO MORE SUGAR

Cowden, 55, canceled chemotherapy treatments and began researching holistic diet and lifestyle changes while praying for direction on natural healing methods, she said.

She replaced sugar with sweet agave nectar, dates, raw honey and dried fruits while adopting a meat-free, vegan diet and "gradually going raw."

Cowden took nutrition classes at Morning Glory Market in St. Joseph, Mich., and now hosts raw food retreats. She says her husband, a pharmacist, "got all sorts of flack from everyone in the medical profession," but he supported her choices and is now a dedicated raw foodie himself.

The couple's daughter also adopted the lifestyle. Today, the slim mother and homemaker walks 3 miles a day, cross-country and downhill skis and feels no symptoms of illness.

"Maybe I'll go back to the doctor and have it checked again, just out of curiosity, but I just don't see how I could feel this great and still have cancer," Cowden said.

IN THE RAW

Mariya Voytyuk is a certified, private raw food chef and grocery manager at Maple City Market. She has a business degree from an Austrian university in Ukraine and spends time in other people's kitchens, and teaches the philosophy and practice of raw foodism at retreats and classes.

"It's based on food that has not been modified or tampered with and therefore has all the nutrition, enzymes and life force intact," Voytyuk said. "It's the quickest and easiest way to extraordinary health and well-being because it's about eating as close to nature as possible."

"Food is supposed to be our medicine," she said.

Much of the food is not eaten in a fully raw state, she explains. Voytyuk teaches cooking with food dehydrators at temperatures below 115 degrees. When food is cooked at higher temperatures, it is depleted of many vitamins and minerals, she said. In turn, the body and mind seek to make up for inadequate nutrition by subconsciously leading people to excessively overeat, she said.

"When food is cooked above 118 degrees, the natural enzymes die, which makes it hard for the body to digest," she said. "The body then has to use its own metabolic enzymes, which leaves you feeling sluggish."

The raw food diet is a close cousin to the vegan way -- which excludes all meat and animal byproducts and emphasizes a variety of fruits, vegetables, sprouted grains and legumes, seeds and nuts.

Story Link: http://www.etruth.com/Know/News/Story.aspx?id=502880
 
Raw ambition: Freshest foods changing diets and kitchens PDF Print E-mail

By CHIARA ASSI

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

There’s been a lot of talk about raw foods lately. Vegetarians. Vegans. And now raw foodists. They insist that everything you eat should be eaten, you guessed it, raw or “living.”

But what does that mean? The “living” part refers to the enzymes naturally present in fruits, vegetables, grains and beans. Enzymes don’t do well in the heat — they start dying as soon as the cooking temperature reaches 102 degrees. By the time the food you are cooking reaches 126 degrees, they are all gone. And since enzymes aid your digestion, destroying them is something you want to avoid, according to the raw food movement.

But that’s not all. Raw foodists believe in eating an uncooked, unheated, unprocessed and organic plant-based diet. Local private chef Sal Montezinos has recently joined the movement and is eager to share his knowledge with the people in Naples.

“I’ve worked with raw food for about a year now, but only in the last two weeks I’ve started eating everything raw,” he says. After cooking — and eating — meat, seafood and the likes for most of his life, Montezinos has decided to make a change and embraced the raw food movement. After only three weeks, the results, he says, are incredible.

“I can already feel the difference. It’s something difficult to explain to someone who has never done it. You feel clean and full of energy like never before,” he says.

Eating organic, unprocessed and uncooked food has strong detoxifying powers and, according to Montezinos, after only a few days it also limits your cravings. When your body receives all the nutrients, vitamins and enzymes it needs, you no longer long for that glass of wine or piece of chocolate. When you eat what is right for you, you feel full and satisfied longer, which leads to more energy and natural weight loss.

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Enjoy a new, raw food diet for the new year PDF Print E-mail

 
The Times

Maureen Terrey of EZ Raw Potlucks in Abbotsford is offering 'uncooking' classes to those interested in a raw food lifestyle.
CREDIT: file photo/Times
Maureen Terrey of EZ Raw Potlucks in Abbotsford is offering 'uncooking' classes to those interested in a raw food lifestyle.

If you've enjoyed some of the culinary excesses of the holiday season, now might be a good time to try a raw food or vegan diet.

Maureen Terrey offers a series of pot luck gatherings and 'uncooking' classes in Abbotsford.

EZ Raw Potlucks in Abbotsford are open to anyone interested in the raw living food diet and lifestyle.

If you love eating raw or you are curious about the benefits of raw food, potlucks are the perfect place to learn through experience, she says.

Participants are asked to bring their favourite raw food dish or dessert to share at the potluck meals, where they can sample some scrumptious food, enjoy presentations and meet other enthusiastic people.

"We are so much more than what we eat, but it sure helps to eat healthfully," says Terrey.

Each person must bring: a raw vegan dish (that is organic if possible) to serve eight or more people, an ingredient list for your dish, your own serving utensils, dish, bowl, mug and cutlery.

No animal products and no cooked ingredients please.

The next raw potluck meal is on Jan. 17 from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., with food sharing at 6 p.m. and presentation at 7:10 pm.

The cost is $5 per adult.

Terrey, who calls herself a 'raw chef,' also offers 'uncooking classes' that she calls "RAW...EZ as 1-2-3."

This new series of three classes is designed to teach the basics and get folks on their raw foods journey.

Each class builds on the concepts learned in the previous class and helps build a transition to living foods.

Terrey demonstrates how to prepare raw vegan recipes that are wheat-free, dairy-free, and gluten-free.

Each class includes hearty samples of the food participants prepare.

Class 1 is an introduction to raw food basics;

Class 2 cover appetizers, snacks, soups, and more; Class 3 gives you a complete raw meal (appetizer, salad, entr?e, and dessert.)

Call Terrey at 604-854-3310 or at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for location, information, and schedule of monthly Potlucks, and to confirm your attendance for each EZ RAW Potluck.

 

Link to original article:  http://www2.canada.com/abbotsfordtimes/news/community/story.html?id=f1583d02-6072-47f8-b31f-c8656cbc2b42

 
The raw truth revealed; No-cook dishes offer healthful alternatives.; 'Eating this way adds something special to diet,' caterer says.

C.W. Cameron; For the AJC -- The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, January 7, 2010 Thursday Main Edition


It's likely that the No. 1 New Year's resolution is to get healthier: exercise more, reduce stress, eat right. Enjoying more fruits and vegetables is high on the list of ways to build a more healthful diet. Eating less processed food and getting more fiber are also on the checklist.

So maybe this is the year you'll dabble a little in the world of raw foods, a philosophy of eating that emphasizes uncooked and unprocessed fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and sprouted grains and beans.

Raw food doesn't have to mean a plate of carrot sticks and a handful of sunflower seeds. "Raw foodists," as they're known, have developed a world of recipes that turn those carrots and seeds into creative dishes that are delicious in their own right.

Debra Jill Mazer's company, Vibrance, offers catering, recipe classes and a weekly menu of raw food dishes available for pickup or delivery. Her clients come from all walks of life.

One of the things she appreciates about the Atlanta area is the multicultural community that enjoys raw food and vegetarian diets. "That's something special we have here where we can be an example to other places," she said.

Mazer remembers her reaction when she first met people who were devoted to raw foods. "I told them that was really great, but there was no way I could ever do that because I love food," she said with a laugh.

Still, hearing people speak of the health benefits of raw food, she decided to try it for a week.

Mazer found that the raw food diet made her feel energized and seemed to help with some of the small health challenges like allergies that had long been a part of her life. "I wanted to nurture that feeling and do more of eating to live versus living to eat."

 

Last Updated ( Friday, 08 January 2010 01:16 )
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Raw Foods Class Podcast
Raw Food - Raw Info
Written by Scott Jackson   
Saturday, 05 December 2009 16:42

 I am offering to my readers a copy of my Raw Foods Class that I gave at Colorado Free University.  I have edited out the food prep part and left the main class.   I hope you enjoy the audio. You may listen to it streaming or download it for your mp3 player.   It is the complementary class to my book Raw-licious Healthy and Delicious Recipes that is available on Amazon.

 

 Right Click here to download Podcast (large file 103 mb)

 


Last Updated ( Thursday, 07 January 2010 17:55 )
 
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