the following is a portion of an article I posted on the (new) veg-raw
list. I am posting the material here as it may be of interest to some who
are on this list but not the other.

[My comments address the topic of diet: individual needs vs. the dogma of the
one 'perfect' diet.]

I recommend eating a variety of foods: prevents boredom, and reduces cravings
(cravings are a major problem on high sugar diets like fruitarianism.) Eating
a variety of foods also means you will get a larger variety of nutrients.

The most healthy diet will vary by individual; in my experience there is no one,
single diet that is somehow 'best' for everyone. For example, some people might
benefit from eating a lot of spices (like hot peppers), while too much hot
pepper would burn me up (I can eat mild spices, they're OK for me). This
principle also applies to raw/cooked: while most people will benefit from having
a lot of raw, unprocessed foods in their diets, there are people who have better
health on cooked foods. The most dramatic example of a cooked foods diet that
can be of benefit is the ketogenic diet, a therapeutic diet that is very high
in, of all things, cooked animal fat. The diet is of value, because it stops
epileptic and other brain seizures. So, raw fooders (and vegetarians) do not
control the market for healing diets, and we do not have a monopoly on the
truth. Diets can and should vary, to support the individual. Individual health
is paramount; dogma, whether raw/cooked, veg/non-veg, is not as important as
your health.

Tom Billings
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