One thing I notice with 100% raw foodists is that many of them ultimately
end up having strong cravings for cooked starches. This is not surprising,
seeing as how starch foods/complex carbohydrates are a true biological need
for most of us. However, people crave them cooked, for that is all their
bodies remember. And this is why many people drop 100% raw and go back to
eating some cooked foods - most often cooked starches.

The key: Eat these concentrated starch foods raw. I'm referring to such
foods as yams, sweet potatoes, regular potatoes (many varieties), beets,
carrots, turnips, corn on the cob, soaked grains, squashes, etc..

Many raw foodists get very strong cravings for starches, and eat them cooked.
Many don't realize that they
 can, and should, be eaten raw. This is another
reason which helps explain why people end up binging on sweet fruits - which
itself has big time repercussions due to the sugars, etc.. And yes, this is
a big reason why many of these (fruitarian) "raw gurus" are binging on
cooked foods (starches) in secret, or binging on fruits. There is a bigger
picture here, and I believe I've isolated it. The reason is NOT a "need"
for cooked food, nor is it "cooked food addiction", in most cases.

One factor out of many when it comes to raw vs. cooked starches is the fact
that cooked starches spike the blood sugar rapidly and this is very
destructive. However, raw starches have an opposite effect, and have a very
gradual effect on blood sugar. Cooked grains, contrary to popular belief,
not only do NOT exert a stabilized effect on blood sugar, they actually
rapidly spike it. Same goes for tubers, etc., but I t
hought I'd make the
point regarding grains, since many people believe (and have been told that)
grains stabilize blood sugar. It has been shown that cooked starches actually
have a more rapid effect on blood sugar than does fruit sugar, and even
refined white sugar.

As far as I'm concerned, cooked starches are toxic until proven otherwise.
I personally have had the experience of skin eruptions and sinus congestion
correlating with cooked starch ingestion (such as boiled or baked tubers).
This indicates to me that these foods when COOKED are toxic (to me at least),
and the body is detoxing them via the skin, sinuses, etc.. I also noticed
that the cooked starches seemed to seriously spike my blood sugar. I would
feel brought down and heavy and weakened/lethargic after a cooked starch
centered meal.

This evening, I had a meal of all raw sunflower seeds, a sweet potato, beet,
carrot, corn on c
ob, cabbage, and romaine lettuce. I feel simply phenominal.
Energy, strength, stamina, etc. is superb. The combination may not sound to
have been ideal, but I ate each food one at a time in sequence (sunflower
seeds first). My digestion was incredibly rapid. I could literally feel the
food being quickly broken down and liquified in my stomach, which fully
emptied within about a half hour. This was obviously due to the food enzymes
self-digesting the food. I recall how cooked starches would feel -- sort of
like a big heavy lump sitting in my stomach for an hour or considerably
longer!

Anyway, my point: raw concentrated starch foods are a crucial factor in most
any 100% raw food diet, and are highly recommended. Don't fall for the
flawed logic which states ALL starches are bad news...It's only the cooked
ones!

Check out this very interesting link regarding this topic:
http://www.newveg.av.
org/raw/staffoflife.htm

One other thing about the raw tubers, roots, etc. -- they're very warming!
I know many people get cold in the winter on a raw diet, but I know that
this is primarily from excess fruit consumption (fruits have a cooling effect)
in conjunction with minimal if any, concentrated starch consumption. In this
vein, raw fats/oils play a vital role in heating the body as well. (Nuts,
seeds, eggs, flax oil, etc.). Another factor is that the raw starches and
raw fats help ensure one doesn't lose much, if any weight - as many/most
100% rawists do, and end up emaciated. This is usually due to the high
fruit consumption and lack/deficiency of starches and fats/oils in the diet.
Simply stated: most 100% raw foodists' diets are not very well balanced, and
do not contain the full range of foodstuffs suitable to a long-term high
level of health, energy, strength, stamina, e
tc.. Overemphasizing fruits is
one of the biggest pitfalls of many raw food diets.

Also, on another note... I feel that raw animal protein may be a necessary
addition to avoiding deficiencies on long term 100% raw. I personally use
and am thriving with free range eggs. I blend them with bananas and some
pure water, as part of a "smoothie". Very delicious, by the way!

Regarding calories in the diet: while I believe raw calories are obviously
superior to cooked calories, and are much more efficient and so forth, I
still am getting a minimum of about 2,500 calories per day in my diet, and
this is with normal eating patterns (no overeating).

It is my belief that while we may be adapted to eating some cooked foods,
we can be much healthier and live much longer, eating only raw foods.
Adaptation to cooked foods may be very incomplete in my view. My experiences
with a mostly raw diet supplemented with c
ooked food, seems to drive this
point home for me. I was 75-90% raw for about 9 months, prior to my stopping
the cooking of my food (the cooked of which was primarily eggs and starches).
While people can live on cooked foods, and this indicates we've adapted to
cooked foods to some degree, I still don't believe we've adapted to cooked
foods fully, as we obviously are with raw foods. If we ate only raw foods for
perhaps millions of years, and only ate cooked for maybe a half million years,
this would certainly make sense; although this is obviously a lot of
speculation and conjecture on my part. Why take chances with cooked food? A
well executed 100% raw food diet can be, and is (in my opinion) superior to
any diet containing cooked food.

I hope this info has been of some value.

-- Wes (21 year old Holistic Nutrition/Naturopathy student)