I have a lot of respect for those who follow a raw foods diet. Although I'm not a "raw foodist" per se, I do try to incorporate at least 50 to 75% of my diet from raw vegetables/fruits every day.
That being said, some raw foods recipes I've seen posted or referenced in the always intriguing "NotMilk" column (1), (2), (3), prompted me to articulate a major concern I have from reviewing many such recipes in popular cookbooks and online. Once again, it's fat... added fat. One recipe for "vice cream" called for 2 cups of raw cashews (the final concoction around a quart of the frozen mixture (won't even get into the 1 cup of maple syrup). Let's do the math:
Putting this into further perspective: the only researchers to successfully reverse (and probably prevent) heart disease through 20 years of peer-reviewed research recommend around 14 grams of fat PER DAY... around 1400 or so calories (depending upon your size).
What does this mean? That one serving of "vice cream" contains close to 4 times the recommended fat PER DAY by Drs. Ornish, Esselstyn, Barnard, and McDougall. Near HALF the total calories. It's not healthy. Just because it's "raw" and "plant-based" doesn't make it nutritious or advisable for even occasional consumption. Sure, nuts in small amounts if you've no symptoms of heart disease are okay, but this recipe is, imho, extreme.
It gets worse: a "non-dairy vegan ice cream store" has opened in New York, where they use nuts, seeds, and coconut milk to make these heart attack specials. How many people will unfortunately believe they are consuming a "healthy" ice cream? Doing the math, once again:
It's vital to understand that just because it's raw, doesn't make it good for you. Altogether too many raw food recipes call for "1 cup of olive oil" or "1 cup of tahini" or "1 cup of peanut butter" and so on. One cup of oil contains 16 tablespoons of oil, equal to 1600-1800 calories and 224 or so grams of pure fat. That's reality. Besides, oil isn't even a food, let alone a raw food.
I'm not debating whether raw food has been proven scientifically to be better for one's health than cooked food, but rest assured, it's been proven that added fat, and too much fat, invites heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and a host of other problems. I'm not sure if eating that much fat in "vice cream" is any better than the animal fat, pus cells, and hormones in dairy-based ice cream. I choose to avoid it all. It's ironic that the author of "Vice Cream" doesn't use "soy milk" in his recipes as it's "cooked." Be a helluva lot healthier if he did.
People, we need to stop being deluded by the idea that "raw" is always good. It ain't, and that's the truth. You can lose the taste and desire for fat just as you have for meat and dairy, it just takes the knowledge, discipline, and willpower. I mean, how much harder can that be, really?
"One cup of oil contains 8 tablespoons of oil, equal to 800-900 calories and 112 or so grams of pure fat."
Actually it is worse than this. There are 16 tablespoons in one cup. So the calories and fat gram content are twice what you report.
[Gack... I erred there (although in later posts I got it right). Thanks for pointing this out. Will fix immediately. Best, Mark]
Posted by: Diane Rose | 2009.02.12 at 12:21