The Fat in Raw Food Diets and what to do about it

By Andrew Collinson

http://rawfood-now.com

If you have gone over to eating just raw vegan food it may come as a surprise to you that you fat intake is still high. However if you are eaten lots of nuts or adding Tahini to your salads then you could be eating as much fat as the burger and chips crowd. Many raw food makers would have you believe that fat from raw food is OK and can stand dehydration without going rancid. But this is not the same as eating fresh fruit fats as they occur in nature. So you could still end up with heart disease even if you go raw. Increasing your fat intake reduces the oxygen carrying capacity of your blood too and increases the demand for insulin from your pancreas which eventually breaks down leading to high blood sugar levels. So if you must make a choice between a low fat cooked meal and a high fat raw meal then go for the cooked meal. So where does all this fat come from? A nut loaf for example has a fat content of 83%. Flax crackers have a high fat content too and what do we put on the cracker? Something like guacamole I expect. Raw chefs will often avoid bread as it is cooked but will use nuts as the “dough” of some raw pie. High fat again. Coconut also figure prominently in raw recipe books but again this has high fat content up to 80% for mature coconut meat. A green salad with tomato and cucumber is great to have and is low in fat but add some olive oil and the fat content goes through the roof. A fruit that has become very popular amongst raw food eaters is the durian

which come from Thailand where it is considered a delicacy. But you must consider this an indulgence as it too is quite high in fat, in the region of 20% to 30%. Also remember that as this fruit comes all the way from Thailand it will have been frozen and saturated with pesticides so it can hardly be considered fresh. So stick with oranges bananas lettuce papayas and tomatoes as they all have enough calories for your daily quota but are low in fat. Just because you have gone raw don’t think all your health problems are over. You need to be eating mostly carbohydrates and only 10% protein and 10% fat. Eat nuts seeds olive oil and coconuts very sparingly and you will keep your fat level close to or right on 10%. And if you are considering going raw then head over to http://rawfood-now.com and grab my free ebook which gives you lots of compelling reasons for going raw.