Before I describe the cons of the raw food diet, I must say that I am still strongly in favor of eating at least 80% raw foods for life. The Raw Food Diet Experiment is ABSOLUTELY one of the BEST things I have done for my health. I wasn’t sick before, but the physical, mental, and emotional improvements that resulted from going on the raw food diet are unbelievable. You have to try it for yourself!

Although I strongly support the raw food diet, I’m not going to talk about just the positives. I’m sharing the cons here so that you can see some of the obstacles you’ll encounter if you decide to try the raw food diet. I find it highly unusual that some people will only share the good stuff. I believe you should be positive and optimistic in life, but to ignore anything that’s not positive reeks of a lack of consciousness. That’s not how I roll, so I’ve decided to include the Raw Food Diet Cons:

Weight loss: For 64% of the people in the US, losing weight would be a major pro, but for me this was a major con. If you decide to go on this diet, you will lose weight. How much you lose and how fast you lose it will depend on your current diet and lifestyle. I’ve always been on the skinny side, 155 lbs at the beginning of my senior year in collage, and 189 lbs (it took much work to achieve this weight) at the start of this experiment. So this is a con for me because I didn’t want to go back to that skinny body. Unfortunately, I went down to 173.2 lbs, which is skinner than I wanted to be. I’ve regained some of that weight though and I feel I’m at a good weight now.

Loss of “swollen” look: That “swollen” or “buff” look will be lost if you go on this diet. At the start of the raw food diet, I had that, “I just finished my workout” appearance. By my 12th day my “balloon buff” biceps and chest were much more toned and trimmed, and also looked like someone had let some air out of my muscles. By Day 30, I looked noticeably smaller. Keep in mind I went up in strength during this time, but still I look like a smaller version of my past self and it will take some time to get used to it. If your life long dream is to be a pro body-builder, I would avoid this diet. I have seen pictures of raw body builders, and while they are still ripped and muscular, none are super huge. Needless to say, I didn’t like losing the swollen look very much.

Increased eating time: In order not to drop in weight too much (there will be some dropping regardless) you have to be willing to eat a lot. Most of my meals weighted at least a couple of pounds. More food equates to more time spent eating that food. It takes way more time for you to consume the same amount of calories from raw food than from a burger or pizza, so be prepared to eat. Contrary to popular belief, I was hardly every hungry -which is what some people fear when starting this diet.

Cravings for cooked food: Meat is my master and he certainly beckoned me a few times. During my December 08 trial, I caught myself sniffing cooked lamb chops at Whole Foods for 30 seconds. The deli guy kept asking me if I was sure I didn’t want any (the audacity!). The insatiable lust for cook meat possessed me a few times during my April 09 trial as well. This happened both at the beginning and end of the trial. The cravings will most likely be for things you normally eat on your standard diet. With that said, there’s a good chance you will crave cooked foods that are different than the ones I craved.

Dry hands: As I got deeper and deeper into the experiment, my hands got dryer and dryer. On Day 3, I noticed my fingers didn’t have the oiliness they usually do. Then my palms got dry, then the back of hands got dry. Then my skin started cracking a bit. I immediately started eating more pumpkin, sunflower, and flax seeds. Most of the seeds were ground in green smoothies which helped me chew them. Aside from the seeds mentioned, I also added more avocados to my meals. This helped counteract the effects of the dry skin and after a couple of days the dry skin returned to a more manageable state. I also used more coconut oil after the experiment and that helped to return my skin to a softer state. I did not try any lotions during this time, but that might be an idea for the future.

Not cheap: I read that you can find farmers’ markets in your area that help make this diet amazingly affordable. Cheaper than what your standard diet would cost. I have looked for them in my area, but there is only one farmers’ market and the farmers are there only once a week. On top of that, it’s inconsistent. The farmers are usually there on Saturdays, but not the same farmers and they certainly don’t have the same produce. If I want some peaches, I can’t depend on the peach farmer to be there when I need him. I also can’t depend on him to stay a peach farmer. He’s a selfish one, that peach farmer.

If you are lucky enough to have farmers’ markets in your area, use them! I do most of my shopping at Publix Supermarkets and Whole Foods. While they have quality products, the cost of said products is not cheap. I spent an average of 80 dollars every 5 days and not all the food I bought was organic. On the other hand, if your look at what health care is going to cost you if you don’t take better care of your health long term, then this diet can be had for pennies on the dollar.

Increased prep time: Washing, cutting, packing, mixing, and blending take longer than ordering something or popping something in the microwave. For me this was not really a con, because after Day 9, I had decided to eat more whole raw foods as opposed to cutting them and then eating them. I still had occasions where I did prepare things, but for the most part I tried to eat my meals whole. I would just take the food out of the fridge, weight it, wash it, and consume it. Fast, easy, and simple.

Hell week: The first week is when your body will go through a major detox period. The more processed food you normally consume, the worse this period will feel. That’s because during this week, it may possibly be longer, your body will purge itself of any major toxins in your system. Your body will also be adjusting to eating fruits and vegetables, something it may not be used to.

My stomach was a mess the first 3 days of the raw food diet. As if that wasn’t enough, I also had gas problems until Day 5. I didn’t post about the gas problem in the journal because I figured I’d just take care of it here. Plus it’s not a pleasant topic - for either of us.

Another symptom during hell week is the down time. Basically you’ll be out of commission for a couple of days during that week. When I started the first trial, I was taken hostage by drowsiness and laziness, along with their ugly cousin sloth. I didn’t do too much on days 4 and 5.  Just laid around and slept. I also spent plenty of time staring at my walls. Fun!

Stigma/social outcast: This diet is hard to maintain when you are surrounded by people who nuke everything they eat with ovens, BBQs, and microwaves. Telling someone you are on the raw food diet and having them stare at you funny is one thing. But what will truly drive you crazy is not being able to enjoy a nice meal out because there are very few items on your standard restaurant’s menu that will cater to a raw food diet.

Besides salads, there’s not anything else on most restaurant menus that you’ll be able to eat. This will have an impact on whether you can go out to restaurant and eat with your friends and family. If you decide to bring food from home, you will bypass the social stigma, but bump into cooked food cravings and temptation. If their brother, peer pressure, also joins them, you’ll never get out of there alive (get it? raw food diet…alive!). I guess you can have your friends try raw foods and most people will “try” it once or twice, but converting people permanently is hard and until you do, you’ll be eating raw food mostly by yourself.

*****

That about does it for the cons. I wanted you to be aware of them, but hope they don’t deter you from trying raw foods. Even after composing this list, I still believe the pros vastly outweight the cons.

This entry was posted on Friday, May 29th, 2009 at 10:09 pm and is filed under Diet, Health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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• Raw Food Wisdom
• Raw Food Diet – Pros
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• Raw Food Diet – Cooked Food Cravings