Taking the (delicious) Raw Food Challenge!

Steamed, fried, baked and poached: We sure do nasty things to the morsels we put into our bodies. Julia Suryakusuma bids goodbye to her frying pan to eat her food as nature intended.

I know what you’re thinking:  Raw food? Ewwww!  Vegetarianism, now that’s different. In fact, vegetarianism has become mainstream, what with the sobering lessons of bird flu, mad cow disease, mercury-laden fish and salmonella-infected eggs.

But raw food?

Most people want to be healthy, but few of us are able to do what it takes when it comes to our diet: It’s hard to change eating patterns established since childhood. So, for most people, getting healthier, slimmer and staying youthful just ain’t enough - it’s got to taste good as well!

Raw foodism isn’t just an endless stream of boring salads.  In fact, it can be utterly delicious. But don’t take my word for it! Stop reading this article now and try out this incredibly simple recipe. If you like it (you will!) then continue reading.

Raw Chocolate Pudding that Tastes Cooked

Meat of 2  semi-hard coconuts
6 dates
4 tablespoons pure cocoa powder

No need to switch on the stove; just put all ingredients in a blender or food-processor, pulverize everything together, scoop into bowls, chill and serve. 

Yummy, huh? Recently I made lunch for friends interested in trying raw food (half the food was cooked, to ease them in gently). When I served this dish, one of them said he would pass, as he was trying to lose weight. I said, “Try it, it’s raw”. He stared at me in disbelief but ended up having a third helping. Now he’s a raw food enthusiast.

My own conversion to raw food was not as simple. I decided to try natural healing in 1997, when I was diagnosed with breast cancer.  I saw it as a challenge - to save my life by changing my lifestyle. 

All the advice I was given pointed to raw food as the solution.  Although cooking was actually developed as a means to preserve food in non-refrigerator days, not only does it make food “dead” (losing 85 percent of its nutritional value), it’s also addictive! That’s because your body’s not getting what it needs, so it demands more.  You eat more ... and more, and end up heavy, malnourished, unhealthy and disease-ridden.

I was enthusiastic about raw food, but the very basic and unimaginative raw food recipes I could find back then were a big disappointment. Being an inventive cook, I found ways to make my diet interesting and stuck to it for five months, before getting better and slowly introducing other, more conventional meals.

Since then, the tumor that started all this has not reappeared and my interest in cooking extended to food preparation for its nutritional aspects. I read up on the subject and adapted a diet that I felt comfortable with.  It includes some cooked food and occasionally fish (sashimi) and a small amount of (cooked!) chicken, but it’s still basically raw. 

And it’s all a lot easier these days.  Popular awareness of the importance of healthy living is much higher now than before, and this has led to raw food (the original diet of humankind!) making a comeback. Today there are a number of raw “uncook” books, and even raw food restaurants.

So, here are a few facts about the raw food diet and getting started:

• Begin gradually, eating as much raw food as you can with cooked food, or by incorporating a few uncooked meals every week. You may want to start by going on a cleansing fast. The effects will be speedier, but the detoxification process – from eating all that (red) meat,  junk food, processed, preserved and fried food, cakes, sweets, etc – will also be more painful (headaches, dizziness, nausea) as the body eliminates all the poisons it accumulated.
• Be patient, and committed. It’s a learning process. Take time to research foods and understand their unique properties; read books on the subject. Invest in time and a juicer-cum-food processor and experiment with recipes!
• Develop your body intelligence: in time, your body will become more sensitive and know what it – not your ego – wants!
• The good news: It’s OK to cheat and indulge yourself once a week (not more!), and certainly during Christmas, Chinese New Year or Idul Fitri. Just make sure you go back to your routine afterward.

Just give it a month – you will see the benefits for yourself!

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