Loren:
>I also know many people around the world who are longtime raw vegans,
>and all enjoy perfect health, as soon as they get all the years of debris
>out of their bodies.

Tom:
In my experience, most successful long-time raw vegans are less than
100% raw. In the *strict* 100% raw vegan category, success is very
rare
in the long run.

Loren:
>People often fail on this diet because they don't get all the crap out if
>their system from years of eating animal products, and dead cooked food.

Tom:
If you read my bio on the Beyond Veg website, you will find that I
went thru major detox, yet still had problems with 100% raw vegan
diets. The detox excuse is also unfalsifiable, and can be an example
of
circular logic.

Loren:
>True carnivores don't just eat the muscle, which is the most
>acid-forming ... I could give you lots more reasons why we're not
>carnivores, but there have been many books written on that subject

Tom:
The "humans are not carnivores" argument is really a straw argument.
Humans are omnivores/faunivores, we are not true carnivores.

Loren:
>Most people will lose significant amounts of weight when they go to
>a raw...The weight will come back on over time, if the

Tom:
The raw vegan promoters make this claim, but people who lose then gain
most of it back are rare. (If you eat enough avocados - basically,
3 meals of avos per day - then you might gain weight. At least that is
what worked for me.) Some of the folks making this claim are dubious,
to put it politely.

Loren:
>Around 1000 calories per day.  Sometimes more, and
>sometimes less, but always far less than someone my size is supposed to
>require.  But most nutrition "science" is based on typical animal and
>cooked food bodies, and is meaningless.

Tom:
You started this post by saying you are a nutritionist, now you tell
us that nutritional science is meaningless?  :-)  Note: I do
agree that as raw diets are so different from SAD diets, one must
be cautious in extrapolating the results of research.

Quite frankly, I find the 1000 calories claim to lack credibility. If
you are emaciated and spend all day in bed, it might apply, otherwise
it
is very hard to believe. See the article "The Calorie Paradox of Raw
Veganism" at http://www.beyondveg.com ("Frank Talk" section).

PS I find it amusing when raw "experts" mention their knowledge/study
of nutrition, then proclaim that the calorie "theory" is wrong, or
that protein is "toxic," or denigrate nutrition as "cooked science,"
or make other imaginative claims.  :-)

Tom Billings