Raw diet helps woman lose 160 pounds

by Bethany Sanders (Subscribe to Bethany Sanders's posts)
Sep 30th 2008 9:00AM

Categories: Diet & Weight Loss, Nutrition & Supplements

At 300 pounds, Angela Stokes had no interest in dieting. Then a friend lent her a book about a raw food diet. The next day, Angela quit eating anything animal-based, cooked, or processed and eventually, she lost 160 pounds.

What is a raw food diet? People who choose this style of eating choose whole foods in their natural form. Losing weight on a raw food diet makes sense; once you rid your diet of processed foods and depend mainly on fruit, vegetables, nuts, and seeds for nutrition, it's hard to overeat.

Though a raw food diet is rich in vitamins, fiber, and antioxidants, nutritionists don't agree that it's necessary for good health. Though raw foodies believe cooking destroys nutrients in food -- and their correct in that belief -- so do the acids in your stomach. But we could all do better by ourselves by including more plant foods in our diet. Angela herself says that beginners can start with eating 50% raw foods, and even if you can't get past that point, she thinks you'll still be doing well by yourself.

I could never go completely raw myself, but I am working hard at eating more fruits and vegetables every day. But I also know that fish and eggs are an important part of my diet, and eating the occasional piece of fresh baked bread just makes me happy. What about you? Could you survive on a raw diet?

What can you eat on a raw diet?(click thumbnails to view gallery)

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Comments (2)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Natalie 9-30-2008 @ 11:37PM

I think eating some raw foods is a good idea, but I've never understood what is so unhealthy about eating cooked foods. In other words, how is the cooking actively harming you? Can't you eat a bunch of raw foods and still have a chicken breast and reap the benefits?

... 10-07-2008 @ 3:18PM

Sashimi: Just because it's raw doesn't mean it isn't meat.

Also, you're being silly: the acids in your stomach break down the food differently than the cooking process. If you let your stomach acids do it, it's more likely that it'll let the right stuff through. If the nutrients are broken down before you even eat it, your body never gets a chance at getting the nutrients.

That said, I would never go on an all-raw diet because some nutrients are unlocked by the cooking process. 50% raw / 50% cooked sounds like a healthier strategy than 100% either way. Also, I think it helps if the 50% shifts.

Research shows that we get a different set of nutrients from cooked foods than from raw foods, so having it raw one day and cooked the next will probably get us the best mix of nutrients. I think it's good for the budget and environment too: buy bulk (which saves money and packaging), eat it raw for a few days, and then freeze the rest. After it's frozen, it will probably no longer taste good raw, so cook it. By doing this, we naturally end up with a mix of raw and cooked nutrients merely by being cost-efficient and environmentally responsible.