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Thanks for posting that Angie. The author seems to glide over the pros and focus on the cons, many of which are easily debunked.
Some nutrients, notably lycopene, in tomatoes, are actually rendered more absorbable by cooking. While this may be true, a tomato is an entire nutritional package. Heating to get the lycopene is destroying other nutrients.
Eating raw meat and eggs increases your risk of food-borne illness Most raw foodists are vegan and those who aren’t are very conscientious about where their food comes from and generally seek out the freshest raw animal products possible.
And producing “cheese” and “mayonnaise” out of nuts and seaweed requires a fair amount of commitment and time. Producing animal based cheese and mayonnaise takes a fair amount of time to make as well. I think the author doesn’t realize that plenty of raw foodists are not gourmets and generally only eat seed cheeses at raw restaurants and events. Those that do make seed cheeses generally enjoy what they are doing and put their heart into the food so the time isn’t an issue.
Some have also noted that raw food diets tend to be shockingly high in fat because of extensive use of nuts and seeds to substitute for, well, everything Same raw food diets are very high in fat but some are very low in fat as well. Someone worried about fat content could try 811rv or a fruitarian diet. Fat phobia is not a reason to avoid raw foods.
...enjoyed the read…thank you!
You’re welcome.
justine – You should join the site & post there what you posted here :)
I have heard the argument so long that I don’t get involved.
I think the more raw food you can eat and less processed or unnatural foods the better off a person will be.
It’s often people that have less than desirable health touting meat and dairy.
Nutritiondata.com is a USDA ‘approved’ and sponsored website – therefore I am not surprised at the sadly misguided slant of this article and all of the inaccuracies reported.
No disrespect meant to you for sharing though Angie. Au contraire – it is always interesting to see how tightly mainstream sources hold on to falsehoods…
Thanks, Angie. On that Lycopene issue—no one ever compared the ccoked tomato with the truly sundried tomato. KAPOWWWW! Way loaded with lycopene. See “Lycopene Content and Antioxidant Activity of Fresh and Processed Tomatoes and in vitro Bioavailability of Lycopene” Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture vol 87, issue 12.
That cheese and mayonnaise comment just shows how ridiculous it all is – it’s funny to me. If you are eating raw, you don’t necessarily NEED cheese and mayonnaise. Mayonnaise makes sense in a turkey sandwich but not in a green smoothie or salad. Regardless, it isn’t ever a necessity – even if a non-raw diet it isn’t necessary – some SAD people happen to hate chese. When people take those types of shots at a way of life, you know they are full of it – of all the things to attack, you come after the food prep time? Yeah, let me be less healthy so that I can save some time in the kitchen.
HAHAHAHA! Let me be less healthy so I can save some time in the kitchen – heehee That’s a funny one! (Especially since eating raw gives me more time – I sleep about two hours less per night on raw)
More re: lycopene Watermelon is one of the richest sources of lycopene. A 180 gram (6.3 ounce) serving of watermelon is said to provide between 8 and 20 mg of lycopene. One half cup spaghetti sauce has @20+ mg of lycopene. How much watermelon can you eat compared to tomato sauce? Other food sources of lycopene include guava, pink grapefruit, apricots, persimmons, and papaya. Raw tomatoes have close to 4 mg per tomato. I’d be willing to bet that most raw fooders eat a heck of a lot more total lycopene than cooked eaters.
Heck, even the USDA is spending lots of research on watermelon as a lycopene source these days.
Thanks, guys, for all the info. on lycopene :)
i’m not entirely sure what takes so long about throwing some seeds into a food processor with salt, lemon juice, olive oil and herbs. i wouldn’t even know where to start making real cheese or mayo but i don’t see making aged cheddar as being a quick process. i also never make cheese of out seaweed…anyone else?
How’s that baby schanuzer, Lalala?
Thanks Izhpt about the sundried tomato! I didn’t know that! I looked it up and found it:
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/1142…
Keywords lycopene • tomato • sun-dried tomato • canned tomato • in vitro bioavailability • antioxidant activity
Abstract BACKGROUND: Lycopene, a phytochemical, has attracted a great deal of interest over the past few years. This has triggered research on the biological properties of lycopene and on the numerous factors that control these properties. Therefore, the aim of the study was to investigate lycopene content and antioxidant activity of fresh, sun-dried and canned tomatoes. In addition, in vitro bioavailability of lycopene was determined.
RESULTS: Lycopene contents of fresh, sun-dried and canned tomatoes were found to be 1.74, 5.51 and 3.55 mg 100 g-1, respectively, on a fresh wet basis. The highest lycopene bioavailability was obtained for sun-dried tomatoes (58.05%) and this was followed by fresh (28.67%) and canned tomatoes (21.83%). Fresh tomatoes showed the highest antioxidant activity against ABTS radical oxidation. This was followed by sun-dried tomatoes and canned tomatoes. The inhibition effect of intestinal dialysates of the samples on ABTS radical oxidation was between 51.34% and 92.96%.
CONCLUSION: Maintenance antioxidant activity and existence of lycopene following an in vitro digestion process were the main findings, which might contribute forthcoming studies in this scientific field. Copyright © 2007 Society of Chemical Industry
I think the one point I have seen about the bioavailability of lycopene is omitted from all these comments. Lycopene becomes more bioavailable when combined with an oil such as olive oil. It is fat soluable. This would explain why canned tomoatoes did not measure up and tomato paste consistently has higher lycopne bioavailability. It isn’t because the tomatoes have been cooked (although when oil is added to a food it is usually cooked). Perhaps studies would reveal that a food like raw gazpacho (includes oil) would deliver all the behefits of raw and the bioavailability of lycopene.
A few vitamins are more readily absorbed when cooked. The science on this has been validated by more than one source and doesn’t indicate that raw isn’t a prefered diet program. I think it is dangerous to dismiss fact or legitimate studies that may not support our choices or beliefs. Everything should be open to question.
Meditating – True, very true. I got upset at the whole thing at first, but now I’m enjoying reading all the different things people have written. For me, raw is usually most important, and I get the missing/unavailable nutrients from another, also raw, food. I love to know about all different things, though, because I may come across someone who needs the information that wasn’t the best thing for me, and how could I help that person if I ignored anything that wasn’t a part of my diet already. Or, my needs may change. I live on a major fault line. Gas prices are high and grocery delivery drivers may go on strike any minute because they can’t afford the fuel. There may come a time when I can’t grow my own food, or when stores run out of raw foods, so then what? I starve because I’m unwilling to share my neighbor’s can of cooked beans? Or I use the information I have read about nutrients in food and eat the available cooked foods containing the best variety of nutrients. That doesn’t mean that I shouldn’t/can’t/won’t eat raw right now, but I definitely like to have my bases covered. Thank you for the reminder. :)