by Frederic Patenaude
QUESTION: “Your E-Zine is a superb source of information to me but another leading raw-fooder has done a lot of research and claims that we all need a little regular pasteurized animal products (cheese, milk or dairy) in our diets and those who can thrive long term as raw vegans are very few. She claims most of the "leaders" don't succeed on the diets they promote and mentioned that you included some cooked food in your own diet.
I don't want to attack anyone. Neither do I wish to include any animal products. I would really appreciate hearing what you have to say about this.”
ANSWER: First, let me say that this is an issue I have pondered for a long time. I have invested probably hundreds of hours of research in order to find the truth about whether or not we need animal products in our diet. As my oldest readers know, for a period of time I experimented with some animal products as I was researching different nutritional issues that were mostly related to the following question: how come we see such a high-rate of failure in the raw-food movement?
My conclusions can be found in my book “The Raw Secrets” second edition, as well as my free report, “The 10 Deadly Mistakes Made by Raw-Foodists,” which can be downloaded for free on my website (http://www.fredericpatenaude.com).
Basically, I support the concept of a diet based entirely on fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds. This diet should be fairly simple, while containing a wide variety of foods. This diet should also be low in fat and contain enough fruit to meet our caloric needs, as well as enough green vegetables to meet our mineral needs. On this type of program, we find that people succeed and do not experience the problems most raw-foodists run into.
For some time, I was still eating some egg yolks (raw) as well as some fermented dairy products. I'm no longer drawn to those foods and did not find real benefits in their consumption. I'm not saying that I'll never eat any animal foods again, or that I'm absolutely anti all forms of animal products, but simply that I prefer plant foods and I encourage people to eat a diet of plant foods.
I did not find from my own experience that using animal products is necessary or desirable. From all the research that I did, the conclusion I came to is that most people fail on a raw or mostly raw vegan program because they eat an inadequate diet. It is not because they suffer from a deficiency of nutrients which can only be found in pasteurized dairy products, or other such things.
As far as cooked food is concerned, I do not claim to be a 100% raw-foodist.There are times when I eat steamed vegetables or a baked potato. But my diet is of fruits and vegetables, and certainly I find with time that I prefer to eat all-raw. For example, I've been eating all-raw for quite a while and do not desire other foods -- as long as I eat sufficient quantities of fruits and vegetables.
The plant-based, low-fat raw diet has brought me a greater sense of inner peace, more energy (at least double that it used to be!), increased concentration, the ability to maintain my weight, and more.
It greatly simplified my life and is fun of all things! It's not a panacea, but it's the closest to “best” that I have found so far.
WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this blurb with it: “Young writer and entrepreneur, Frederic Patenaude, is the author of the best-selling e-book "The Raw Secrets" and is known for his no-gimmick, BS-free approach to health and nutrition. To learn more about "The Raw Secrets", and to read his FR*EE how-to articles and newsletter, visit http://www.fredericpatenaude.com.”
