Dear Roy:

   As you will see from an earlier post, I also was interested in the
Tree of Life retreat.  However, this post addresses your supposition that
a "lack of calories" might be a problem for raw vegans.

   I agree that a raw-vegan diet will tend to be lower in calories,
unless one eats a lot of nuts and seeds.  However, only a
<bold>malnourished</bold> raw-vegan diet might lead to "problems".  In
fact, fewer calories, ie, a "low-calorie nutrient-dense" diet has been
proven to off-set most later life diseases such as arteriosclerosis,
cancers of the breast, lung, liver, skin, kidney disease, osteoporosis,
and many auto-immune diseases.  The key is nutrient-dense.

   As mentioned, zinc is a problem, calcium, B12, perhaps Vitamin E,
linoleic acid (get those flax seeds)and perhaps others.  We can certainly
use each other as resources to maximize our knowledge base.

   On my web site, we have an on-line USDA database search engine that
can help you figure out the nutrient density or value of the foods  you
eat the most of.

   Anyway, that is the main problem I see in my raw-vegan diet, only that
I should make every calorie count, then it may just be the healthiest
story around!

Lisa Walford
http://www.walford.com

>Regarding the time you spent at the tree of life. I'm curious as to
>your  general impressions regarding the emotional and mental stability of
> the raw vegans. I'm not interesed in rumors or even mentioning anyone by name,
> just your general impressions.   And what do you think is the biggest problem of
>raw veganism (lack of >calories?).
>Roy Siegel