Frederic Patenaude Raw Foods Diet

There is a myth currently being spread in the raw food movement , hurting people as it goes.

It is the myth of overeating.

The myth of overeating goes like this:

- The cause of all diseases is overeating

- Even when people eat raw, they still overeat, therefore that’s why they don’t do as great as they expected

- Try to eat less and less, and you will feel better. Eventually, you might even need to eat only tiny amounts of food, because your body is utilizing the calories better. Who knows, one day you might even become a breatharian, living on nothing but air?

Someone recently forwarded me a link from a popular raw food forum, where a raw-food author criticized my recent article on “Why I’m Mad at a Raw Food Movement.”

The funny thing is that he didn’t want to say my name, but gave away the name of my book. Not so subtle…

In any case, the entire conversation revolved around overeating.

The author in question blamed me for promoting a diet that includes a lot of fruit, and said that under no circumstance should you eat 4 bananas in one meal, because that would be “overeating” and therefore “bad”.

Of course, nowhere in the article was “overeating” defined. So why not start there?

Here are several definitions I have found for overeating:

-    gluttony: eating to excess (personified as one of the deadly sins)

-    Overeating can refer either to eating too much at one time, or to eating too much on average.

-    Gluttony, the act of eating to excess (either to discomfort or more than required for proper health)

So basically, overeating is simply eating more than what the body needs to maintain proper health, or eating too much at one sitting, and therefore going over the digestive capabilities of the body.

So if everybody agrees that overeating is simply eating “too much”, then maybe we should figure out “how much” we need to eat, in order to know what’s overeating and what’s not.

Why Calories Are Important

The most important element we get from the foods we eat is energy, or calories. That comes in the form of carbohydrates, fats or protein.

Then of course our food provides us with the vitamins, minerals and other nutrients that we need.

The calorie concept is still extremely valid even when we analyze raw food nutrition. Why? Because it is a fairly accurate evaluation of the amount of food a person needs to eat every day to meet her needs.

A calorie is simply a unit of energy. Because our cells need simple sugars to live, there is certainly a certain amount of energy that we need to get from our food every day. If we go under this amount, the body will break down its own fat reserves to meet its needs. If we go over this amount, the body will accumulate fat reserves for the future.

It’s best if you think of calories as simply “energy”.

The amount of energy (calories) that a person needs every day will vary greatly according to these basic factors:

-    Height, weight and muscle mass (each pound of muscles requires an additional 25 calories per day to “maintain”)
-    Gender (men will generally need more calories than women)
-    Activity levels (athletes need more calories than sedentary persons)

There are many ways to calculate how many calories you need per day. You can use simple calculators (for example, at www.fitday.com) to figure out your basic metabolic rate (the number of calories you need every day, without any physical activity).

You can even go to a gym and step on a special machine that will measure your body fat, your muscle mass, and your basic metabolic rate.

So you will get a certain number, for example: 1500 calories per day.

That will be your minimum to maintain your weight and muscle mass. Then you will need to add on top of that any physical activity you have for the day, and add in calories for that.

An easy but imprecise way to figure this out is to simply take your ideal weight, and multiply it by 10.

That’s your basic rate.

Then add to that basic activities (walking, working, etc.), and fitness training (running, yoga, etc.)

The online fitness calculators can help you figure out these numbers.

In general, a fit and active woman who doesn’t need to lose any weight will want to eat around 2000 to 2500 calories per day.

A fit man will probably want to eat anywhere from 2500 to 3500 calories per day.

If you have three meals per day, that means each meal could be between 600 and 1500 calories each.

-    One banana is 100 calories.
-    One apple about 60.
-    One large mango: about 150 calories
-    One avocado: about 250 calories (mostly coming from fat)

So if “overeating” is simply eating more than your body needs, why would it be “overeating” to eat 8 bananas at one sitting?

Is there any logical reason to think that this might be “too much”, other than the irrational fear of fruit?

8 bananas gives you about 800 calories. If a person has three 800 calorie-meals per day, they will get 2400, which is about what the average person needs.

But can you digest 8 bananas at one sitting?

Although this may seem like a lot of food for someone new to the raw diet, the body has the ability to digest a fairly large amount of fruit. It’s easy to see from how light you feel, even after a fairly large meal, and how easy it is to digest it.

So if your body needs it… and you can digest it, is it overeating? Absolutely not.

Undereating is the Real Problem

There is certainly a problem with “overeating” in the raw food movement, but it’s not what our raw-food author thinks.

The real “overeating” problem is the excess of fat, in the form of avocados, nuts, seeds, oils — which almost every raw foodist eats in rather large quantities, because they are not used to eating appropriate amounts of fruits and vegetables.

As they are overeating on these foods, which the body only needs in small quantities, they are also “undereating” on the real nutrient-rich foods: water-rich fruits and vegetables.

What tends to happen is a pattern of “undereating” on small, insufficient meals of fruits and vegetables, followed by binges on nuts, seeds and fats to compensate on the lack of calories.

For example, a lot of raw foodists eat ridiculously small quantities of food in one sitting, leaving them malnourished and hungry.

For example: a small salad containing lettuce, dressings, and a few fruits.

A few hours later, they are hungry… but they’re also afraid of overeating, so they try to eat this ridiculous small meals again. Eventually, the caloric deficit becomes so great that they binge on a 3000-calorie meal to compensate.

Stop These Anorexic Behaviors!

With a normal, cooked, Standard American Diet, high in fat and salt, it doesn’t take a lot of food to reach your maximum number of calories per day.

In other words… the food doesn’t weigh a lot, but is rich in calories.

So because of that, we’ve been accustomed to exercise a certain restrain when it comes to eating, because we know from experience that eating a large amount of food leads to digestive problems and weight gain.

That’s because the food is dense in calories. But another problem with it is that it’s also has a low nutrient density. For the same amount of calories, you get fewer vitamin, minerals and anti-oxidant.

With fruits and vegetables, it’s completely different.

The food is low in calories, but nutrient dense.

A pound of food doesn’t contain a lot of calories, but for the same amount of calories, it contains more vitamins, minerals and other nutrients than any other food!

Therefore… you have to eat more! And at the same time, you are better nourished.

For example, let me show you how you could get 2000 calories on a Standard American Diet:

BREAKFAST:

-    3 medium pancakes, whole wheat
-    1 cup of orange juice
-    1 sliced pear
-    3 Tbs. fruit jam

LUNCH:

-    1 mixed salad
-    3 Tbs. salad dressing
-    1 roll
-    4 ounces tuna fish
-    1 apple

DINNER:

-    Plate of spaghetti with sauce
-    No dessert

Now let’s take a look at the “raw” equivalent, while keeping our fat percentage fairly low.

BREAKFAST:

-    Smoothie made with 6 medium bananas, 1 apple, 3 cups of spinach

LUNCH:

-    5  big mangoes eaten with celery and lettuce leaves

DINNER:

-    Large salad with ½ avocado, three large tomatoes, and an entire head of lettuce
-    2 cups of freshly squeezed orange juice

So… what’s your reaction when you compare the amount of food in the first, pretty Spartan menu, and the second raw, low-fat menu.

It’s a lot more food! In fact, most people when they look at the first menu, will think they will starve on that amount of food. There are no desserts and no snacks, and the amounts are pretty normal.

Yet on the second menu, most people will think they cannot possibly eat all of that!

But the amazing thing is that both menus provide the same number of calories… with important differences.

Let’s take a look at the nutritional analysis for the first menu:

Now let’s take a look at the food from the second menu:

Here are some important differences:

-    The raw menu contains 4.5 times the vitamin A, twice the vitamin B, almost twice the vitamin E, 50% more copper,
-    Both contain the same amount of calcium (which is still adequate), almost the same iron
-    The cooked menu contains twice the fat
-    The cooked menu contains an amazing 4172 mg. of sodium, compared to less than 200 on the raw menu (which isn’t completely accurate because I didn’t add in the celery). The official recommendations for health are now less than 1500 Mg. per day!

Overall, it is clear that the raw diet is more nutritious, and also more balanced. Actually, I was a little lazy and didn’t put all the greens in. The actual values are even higher than what’s being shown.

And an interesting fact: the raw diet contains more than twice the natural water, even without adding any liquids. With a lower sodium content, this makes the raw diet clearly more hydrating.

BOTTOM LINE:

-    Fruits and vegetables contain more nutrition PER CALORIE. However, it is still necessary to consume enough food to meet your needs.

-    Overeating is consuming more food than your body needs or your body can digest. If you eat enough to meet your needs, you won’t be overeating.

-    A big problem in the raw food movement is NOT overeating, but rather UNDEREATING fruits and vegetables and overeating concentrated fats.

By the way, if that seems like too much food for you, don’t worry. You can eat more often at first.

ANSWER TO QUESTIONS:

Doesn’t eating raw foods require fewer calories?

Because fruits and vegetables are easy to digest, they do require less energy (calories) digest. However, This difference is probably less than 5%. Because raw-foodists tend to have more energy, they will easily increase their exercise and activity by at least that much, so in the end they require the same amount of calories or more than the average person.

How many meals should you eat every day?

Ideally, 2 or 3. But initially, to make it easier to consume a large volume of fruits and vegetables, you can eat 4 to 5 times. Overtime, you’ll be able to make larger meals that will last you several hours, without any digestive issues.

Why did every experiment on life extension found that restricting caloric intake was the only was to lengthen life?

All experiments on caloric restriction were done on animals such as rats, who have a short lifespan. Laboratory rats are not fed their normal foods that they found in the wild, and are not as active as well. So feeding them 30% less of the toxic, artificial food they normally received extended their lives. The same would happen if you would cut by 30% the food intake of the average American.

However, eating a natural diet of fruits and vegetables is completely different. Eating an adequate amount of it will not shorten your lifespan.

The greatest proof that caloric restriction doesn’t work is the fact that almost all life extension specialists end up living an average or below average lifespan.

Is it a sin to eat at night or before going to bed?

Ideally, you want to leave a few hours from your last meal until your bedtime. However, it is not necessary to avoid eating at night completely. To improve your digestion, exercising before meals will do a lot more than avoiding eating at nighttime.

If for whatever reason, your schedule only allows you to have a dinner rather late in the day, you’ll still be fine. Just make sure that last meal is low in fat and easy to digest.

In any case, lunch should be the largest meal of the day.

“Confused About How To Get Started On The Raw Diet?”

Get started with the most complete resource kit available! Kickstart your health, and find out exactly how you can use the power of raw foods to experience: -Boundless energy -Detox and rejuvenation -Reach your ideal weight. Click here to find out more.

I also have received a lot of questions that I’ll be answering below. You can comment on them here.

Candida

I was recently diagnosed with candida albicans and told to eliminate fruit for at least 3 weeks. Then, I can add less sweet fruits back slowly. What is your experience with candida albicans? What would you recommend since I was depending on the fruit for calories? I’ve already lost 15 pounds and only weigh 100 pounds since starting the raw foods diet. Thanks for answering my questions. I truly appreciate your teaching and cookbook products.

ANSWER: I get that question a lot, so I’ve decided to answer it in a 20-page report on the Fruit Controversy at: http://www.fredericpatenaude.com/fruitreport.pdf

Are Cooked Minerals Inorganic?

Hi Fred, Thanks for your article that included personal experiences. I found that helpful.

There’s so much controversy or conflicting info from different sources. It would be helpful to address these in more depth to clarify the issues. For example:

- Are minerals in food that gets cooked turned inorganic?
- Another one: is oxalic acid in raw spinach harmful, or is it harmful in cooked form only?
- Another: you say that sprouts have toxins and so should be avoided. On further inquiry, I found that Gabriel Cousens states that the toxin canavanine in alfalfa sprouts is mild, that one would have to eat a lot of it to have toxic effects, and that as it is water soluble, by the seventh day of rinsing, it is mostly gone.

TC Fry has the philosophical position that anything Nature intended as food for us would have no toxins, and thus he dismisses sprouts. Well, so many vegetables have slight amounts of toxins, that we might as well eat next to no vegetables!

I take that as an extreme position. A philosophy is a good rule of thumb, but it can become a dogma (just like, “If it’s raw, it’s cool!”). These are some ideas to play with. Thanks, and I really do appreciate your approach to diet. Ed Hirsch

ANSWERS:

To answer your questions Ed:

-    Cooking does not render minerals useless in the body. If that were the case, then nobody eating cooked food could stay alive. So the answer is: no

-    That’s an interesting question about Spinach and oxalic acid. The problem with oxalic acid is that it can combine with calcium to form calcium oxalates. However, what I’ve found is that the Spinach grown today in North America contains much less oxalic acid than in the past. When I travel to other countries where they grow older varieties, I find the Spinach impossible to eat raw because of the oxalic acid. But if you eat the common “baby Spinach” there’s nothing to worry about.

-    Sprouts contain toxins but like Gabriel Cousens mentioned, the risks are minimal in small quantities. I’m opposed to Buckwheat greens because of a very strong toxin contained in them. Read more about it here:

http://www.gillesarbour.com/buckwheatArticle.php

In general, you cannot avoid toxins completely in natural foods. But like you said the amounts are minimal in vegetables.

How can you tell? If something is palatable to the taste, when eaten raw, without seasonings or combinations, then it’s human food.

If it’s too strong, too bitter or otherwise unpalatable then it contains toxins and should be avoided.

Then from that general principles you can make a few exceptions, for example with mild spices such as dill, cilantro, green onions, etc.

100% Raw, or Steamed Vegetables?

Hi Fred, I’m a believer in the benefits of raw. However, I came across this information by Dr. Joel Fuhrman, author of “Eat to Live” – a very well respected doctor who wrote this article on “The Cold Truth about Raw Foods”. It makes a lot of sense to me: http://www.diseaseproof.com/archives/healthy-food-the-cold-truth-about-raw-food-diets.html What’s your opinion on this? I think 100% raw is difficult to do, especially in a cold climate like Toronto. Thanks, Nimisha

ANSWER:

I tend to agree with the general position of Dr. Fuhrman, although I do think eating more raw will give you better health results overall.

The question of “cooking” is actually quite secondary. The first question is: what are our natural foods?

This debate has been answered fully in my book “The Raw Secrets”.

The answer is simple: fruits and vegetables are our natural foods, best adapted to human physiology.

Then we also find that in general eating foods in their raw, natural state yield more benefits. There are some exceptions, as Dr. Fuhrman pointed out.

It then becomes a personal decision: do you eat 100% raw or do you include steamed vegetables and other relatively healthy cooked foods in your diet as well? Personally, I still sometimes eat these items. But the bulk of my diet is raw, and that’s what I try to stick to.

What I find in general is that once people open the door to cooked foods, then the rules become quite loose and eventually they’re back eating pretty much anything. It’s often much easier to just stick with raw foods.

Also, a lot of the issues around absorption of the nutrients in vegetables can be solved by including blended salads and green smoothies in your diet. In a future post, I will describe an easy way to add more easily digestible raw vegetables to your diet.

Bottom line is if you eat some steamed vegetables, it’s not the end of the world, and could have some nutritional benefits. But in overall raw foods are superior.

Kale

I’m loving the green smoothies! My question is about using kale – I’ve read some stuff now that suggests avoiding cruciferous greens because they aren’t digestible and can cause an acidic condition – your thoughts?

ANSWER: I never heard about that. Green vegetables, on the contrary, are quite alkaline. The issue with kale is more digesting it, due to the rough fiber. So I find it’s best to use it in small quantities only, blended in green smoothies, after carefully removing the stem, which is too hard to digest.

Today I’m feeling like doing something *special*. Why? Because it’s my birthday!

To celebrate it, I’m organizing a big Birthday Party Sale on my website. Check it out at:

http://www.fredericpatenaude.com/birthdaysale2009.html

Why this event?

I realized today that I’ve now spent 13 years of my life studying and practicing the raw food diet, natural hygiene, personal development and natural health.

Sure, there have been many ups and downs during that time, but the “quest” for finding out the truth about Natural Health started when I was just 20 years old.

A friend of mine had just been to a seminar where he had heard about this thing called “Natural Hygiene” and “food combining.”

At the time, I felt I had discovered the ultimate truth with the vegetarian diet. Then suddenly my friend was spoiling my fun by telling me I did not know everything. What a surprise!

I decided to do a bit of research on my own, the old-fashioned way (with no Internet), and discovered a strange little book by a man named Albert Mosseri.

This book contained a word-for-word translation of the book “Raw Eating”, as well as a shocking exposé explanation on the nature of disease.

Suddenly, I felt like Neo in the Matrix when he took the red pill. Wow! The world was different than I imagined.

We didn’t have to expect illness as a “normal” way of life, and could actually do something about through healthful living.

And the “balanced” diet of the 4 food groups was the most ridiculous and evil nutritional concept ever pushed upon people by so-called experts.

Only one of the four groups was truly essential, and that was fruits and vegetables.

So that’s how it all started, and even though I have gone back and forth many times during those years, and went through my own periods of struggle that I partly told in my book The Raw Secret, the raw diet and natural hygiene always pulled me back.

My friend RC Dini called this the “Raw Curse”. Basically, once you start going raw, it’s hard to go back. Your body has experienced some real health, and won’t let you mess with it again.

13 years later, I’ve now written my own books. Actually, I’ve created over the years a total of over 75 different books, courses, magazines, publications, etc. That’s not counting the hundreds of articles that I’ve written.

I remember when I first discovered natural hygiene back in 1996 through Mosseri’s book. I *knew* at that point that it was exactly what I needed to do with my life.

Later, I tried other avenues.

At some point, I thought I could become a linguist. So I studied languages. But I realized that my real passion in life was to spread the word about health and the raw food diet.

So here we are, 13 years later, and it’s my birthday — the anniversary of my discovery of natural hygiene and raw foods, and my own birthday.

So you could call it a double-anniversary.

At 33 years old, I feel incredibly lucky.

1) I was born in a free first-world country, where I actually had a chance to develop independent and rational thinking, and where I could make a life for myself. I complained a lot about Quebec in my life, but for having seen the rest of the world, I know I won a pretty sweet spot in the big lottery of “being born on Planet Earth”. And I’m incredibly grateful for that.

2) Being alive at this particular time in history seems like a pretty big luck as well. When I think about all of the dark ages of human history, I’m glad I landed here at this time and place, even though it’s not all perfect.

3) Just being alive at all… what an incredible gift that is.

4) Just being alive… and being human, with the most advanced consciousness we know of, isn’t that amazingly lucky as well?

5) Being alive, but also being healthy. And on TOP of it (as if all of these lucky events weren’t enough), having discovered the raw food diet and natural hygiene, and knowing how to take care of myself without drugs, and having discovered all of that at the age of 20, that seems like the *ultimate* luck and gift.

And this is hard to say, but I have to do it:

If I died tomorrow, and in the last moment I could really look at all that happened I the last 33 years and how lucky I’ve been to experience all of it, I would feel content. And I would want everyone to know that.

Yes, we’re all going to die one day. And this gives our lives even more meaning. We can truly make each day “the best day ever”, to borrow from one of my first raw food mentors.

A lot of people tell me: “what’s the point of giving up pizza and beer to eat so healthy like you do? I’d prefer to enjoy life and live a few years less, than give up on life’s pleasure just to live a few years longer.”

The truth is… you shouldn’t live healthfully in order to add a few more years to your life. You should do it to enjoy more the life that you got now!

A lot of people truly underestimate the “rewards” of healthful living, and overestimate the pleasure they think they get out of their bad habits.

Do you know how great it feels to wake up in the morning full of energy?

Do you know how much you can enjoy juicy tropical fruits after a workout?

Do you know how amazing it feels to be healthy?

In the past few weeks, I’ve been training for a Marathon in September. This will be the first time I run one.

I’m not an athlete. But lately I’ve been thinking, whenever I run, that this is the best part of my day!

Why? Even though it’s difficult and my heart is beating fast and sometimes I think about giving up… I feel alive! I have my legs and I’m using them. My blood is actually flowing in my veins. My heart is pumping it. My body is moving.

It’s a pretty awesome feeling.

Healthful living has its own rewards in the here and now, even if someone were to only experience it for a brief period of time, and because of an accident didn’t necessarily live a longer life.

The same could be said for living your life according to your highest values.

So that’s what’s been going on in my mind for my Birthday. And I want to share the fun with you.

So here’s my Birthday Party Sale:
http://www.fredericpatenaude.com/birthdaysale2009.html

For the next 48 hours, you get almost every product available at a steep discount, and free shipping for orders over $75.

Why? Because this is my life’s work! On my birthday, I want it to reach as many people as possible.

If this sale is an incentive for you to take action when you’ve been sitting on the fence for a while, and this totally transforms your life for the best, then I will have done my job.

Yours for the best health,

Frederic

PS: The sale will only last 48 hours, starting from now. Check it out:
http://www.fredericpatenaude.com/birthdaysale2009.html
 

- Word From The Editor
- Easy 1-Day Detox
- Questions and Comments from the Readers (That’s You!)

Welcome to another information-packed issue of Outrageous Health & Success.

I’m here in Costa Rica, enjoying my last month or so before spending the spring and summer in Canada — and still loving it.

Did you know that March and April happen to be the warmest months in Costa Rica? That’s because the dry season is about to end, and temperatures rise slightly. Then as temperatures rise, it triggers the start of the rainy season in late April or early May, and then the rain makes everything green and the weather a bit cooler.

But for those of you who are afraid to visit this country during the rainy season: you’re missing out! It might be the most beautiful time of the year. Everything is green, and mornings are usually gloriously sunny. But most afternoons, it will rain.

1 Month ago I released “How to Move to a Tropical Paradise”, and the program is going super-great so far! We’re going to hold a first “Day Tour of Costa Rica” with yours truly in December of this year.

But for those of you who would like to make Paradise wherever you are right now… stay tuned for a brand new recipe book I’m releasing next week.

I’ve been working on it on and off over the last 2 years… and it’s finally ready!

HINT: If there are still many exotic fruits you don’t know what to do with, and are BORED with your current raw food diet, then this will be for you!

Look for it sometime early next week.

Yours for health and success,

Frederic

PS: Next week is also the start of our annual Green Cleanse. For 7 days, I’ll be leading a group of raw-food enthusiasts on the most powerful and effective cleanse you can do. If you’re ready to kick start your health and get back on track with raw foods than this is for you. You’ll get daily support, recipes, access to our discussion forum… and more. Sign up now… the preparation for the cleanse starts TOMORROW! After that it will be too late. Check it out at: www.fredericpatenaude.com/greenforlife.html

“Who Else Wants to Overcome Cravings, Deficiencies, Dental Problems and Achieve Their Ideal Weight?” Watch in awe as the Green for Life helps you shed pounds, overcome deficiencies, reverse signs of aging and make you feel just awesome! Click here to find out more.

Easy 1-Day Detox

Like I said many times, everybody needs a cleanse, once in a while. Unless you live in a pristine environment in the middle of the jungle with only access to organic, tree-ripened fruits, then once in a while, you need to cleanse!

But these “cleanses” or “detox” need not to be very long. Even just a one-day detox is often enough to get you back on track with the raw food diet and help you purge some accumulated toxin.

Here’s an easy, one-day detox anyone can safely follow, once a week or so:

BREAKFAST:

Either skip breakfast, or make a light smoothie consisting of some fruit and greens.

For example:

• 3-4 bananas
• 1-2 cups of sweet fruit (mango, papaya, pear, apple, etc.)
• 2 cups of baby spinach
• water

Blend together

LUNCH:

Same as breakfast, or have a fruit meal of one or two types of fruit. (Eaten whole or as a smoothie.) For example: papaya and banana, blended together or eaten together.

AFTERNOON SNACK:

Make another green smoothie. Here’s one of my favorites:

• 3-4 bananas
• 1 ½ cups of frozen blueberries
• 2 cups of spinach or romaine lettuce or other greens (non-bitter)

Blend with water!

DINNER:

If you’re really hungry, start dinner with some fruit, or a fruit smoothie or soup.
Then follow with a simple vegetable soup.

Here’s one that I really like:

• 2 medium tomatoes
• 2 small cucumbers, peeled
• 1 mango or 1 cup of another fruit
• fresh basil, or dill
• 2-3 green onions, fresh

The idea here with this soup is to blend it at the lowest speed in your vita-mix or blender. It should still be chunky. Dice the tomatoes and cucumbers. Blend together and add the other ingredients. Blend slowly!

If you’re still hungry after this soup, you could make a non-fat salad, or eat more fruit. As long as you avoid oils, nuts and other fatty foods, as well as salt, you’ll still be following the guidelines for the cleanse!

Try this one-day detox, and you’ll see how great you feel. Now imagine what 7 days could do for you…

“Who Else Wants to Overcome Cravings, Deficiencies, Dental Problems and Achieve Their Ideal Weight?” Watch in awe as the Green for Life helps you shed pounds, overcome deficiencies, reverse signs of aging and make you feel just awesome! Click here to find out more.

“What Body Fat is Too Low”?

Hi Frederic! I watched your interview on the “Rawkaton” and it was very impressive! Your diet recommendations have helped me so much (in a fairly short time) compared to all the other raw food diets. I completed the ten day cleanse program and feel much better.

Before the cleanse, I weighed 159 pounds with 9.8 percent body fat on a 5′ 10″ frame. Now I weigh 153 pounds with 6.7 percent body fat and a body mass index of 22.1 Do you think 6.7 percent body fat is too low (especially in the winter)?

Also, if I stay on the cleanse diet long term with 2 ounces of nuts per day, will I gain the 6 pounds back that I lost? Maybe I should just accept the fact that I am slim since I feel good and healthy at this weight.

I used to eat too many fatty foods to gain weight, but then felt more tired. I think I looked better when I weighed more but I feel much better now. I have additional questions below. Do fruits and vegetables lose much vitamin or mineral content when they are frozen? Why do you eat so many bananas per day? What is their benefit? How long do I wait to eat nuts or fat foods after eating fruit? Also, if you know of any raw food festivals or conferences in Atlanta, GA anytime soon, please let me know.

Thanks. Dale

Response From Frederic: Right now you are at a very enviable spot at 5’10’, 153 pounds and 6.7% body fat. I know a lot of guys (including me) who would love to be at that level! So I would not change anything there. Remember that you’re still at a very healthy level for a man.

Between 3 and 9% body fat is considered very healthy for athletic men.

But women need a higher body fat of at least 11% to maintain proper hormonal function. Between 11 and 20% is the ideal range for an athletic woman.

Your body fat and weight ratio indicates that you must be very muscular. You should not have any problems in the winter at all. Just keep up your fitness program.

I have no idea why you would want to gain weight at this point, except to gain even more muscle through your exercise program. Many actors actually train to be exactly where you want so they can look at their best in a movie!

To answer your other questions: Some vitamins are lost when you freeze foods but not a great amount. Minerals stay intact. I’m not against frozen foods as long as they are not eaten super cold. What I’ll generally do during the winter is add a handful of frozen berries to every smoothie. Since the rest of the smoothie is warm or room temperature, it doesn’t really taste “cold”. You don’t want to put very cold foods in your system because:

Firstly, they will make you feel very cold, which is probably not what you want during the winter!

Secondly, too much cold foods can affect your intestinal flora and impair your ability to produce and absorb vitamin B12.

As for the banana thing, I don’t think I eat “so many bananas”. I eat the right amount based on what I need. There are also many days when I don’t eat any bananas at all. But bananas are easy to eat, non-acidic, rich in calories and fairly inexpensive so they are the perfect staple on the raw food diet.

Blood Types and the Raw Food Diet

Please comment if there are some blood types that can´t go with living foods. What is your blood type?

Response From Frederic: I have answered this question before, in fact I have answered it extensively quite a few times. So here’s the short answer:

There is absolutely no reason to believe that any restrictions must be placed on the foods you eat based on your blood type. This entire theory is wrong.

Many animal species have different blood types yet eat essentially the same foods.

The “blood type” diet is often a good excuse for people to explain their failures on the raw food diet, when it is easily explainable for other reasons.

Knowing my blood type won’t add any weight to this discussion. I know successful raw-foodists of all blood types: A, B, AB and even the meat-eating “O”.

If you want more information on the topic, I included an in-depth article on the Blood Type Diet and Raw Foods in my “Raw Health Starter Kit” available at http://www.fredericpatenaude.com/starterkit.html

Eating Fruit Peels or Not?

Hi! Although our family has been Vita-Mixing for a number of years, we have NOT been doing the ‘green’ thing although sprouting has been a minor addition to our food intake and because of your mega efforts on the Raw food movement, we have been enjoying greens more and cooking less!! Yeah! And I am a mega self-taught gourmet cook!

A question became apparent recently as to why you suggest eliminating the skins from cucumbers? “Store bought, maybe?” It is my understanding that the majority of vitamins and minerals are just under the skin and since I grow my own in an organic style garden, what is your perspective regarding the skins? Are they toxic?

Response From Frederic: A lot of people will tell you that you need to consume all skins of all fruits because that’s where the “nutrients” are.

Those people have not understood the basics of nutrition and the fact that deficiencies are not caused by a “lack” but more often by an “excess” of something.

I’ve heard people say that the skins of apples are more nutritious than the apple itself. Of course, they were selling a specific supplement made from apple skins.

If the solution were to eat the most nutritious foods to be healthy, then why not eat banana peels? They contain plenty of nutrients.

Fruit peels are not “toxic” but are generally not digested. Even tomato and grape skins just pass through the stools undigested.

So, my point is that there’s no reason that should stop you from peeling certain vegetables or fruits. I personally peel cucumbers with thick skins, but I eat the skins from very soft cucumbers.

I eat some fruits with peels, but not for the nutrients. I eat them because it’s more convenient or tasty to do so.

If I blend something I will generally add the whole fruit if the peel is edible, but I generally avoid very tough skins like most cucumber skins.

I also peel apples when the skin is too tough. Even though that skin is rich in nutrients, those nutrients are generally not accessible.

Primates in the wild will peel skins of all fruits, and only consume the fruit flesh, unless they are very hungry and therefore non-discriminating.

Bottom line: don’t try to seek the most concentrated source of nutrients, instead, seek the most absorbable source of nutrients, in a food that’s easy to digest.

Kombuncha Tee

Could you please address the use of Kombucha Tea while on the raw foods diet. Good or bad!

Response From Frederic: I’m really surprised that so many people make the mistake of eating a particular food or taking a particular product because of the alleged health benefits. Why not pursue a healthy lifestyle as a whole?

Kombucha Tea does contain some caffeine, although certainly not as much as regular tea or coffee, depending on what kind of leaves it’s made from. But it is a good enough reason to avoid it.

This tea is also fermented, and will generally contain a certain percentage of ethyl alcohol, formed through the fermentation process. That also is another reason to avoid it.

There are also possible adverse reactions when a culture can become contaminated through the fermentation process.

On the other hand, I don’t really see any serious health benefits from drinking Kombucha tea, as most claims made about it’s health benefits are either dubious or simply not proven.

So I really see no reason to drink it.

The “Pounch”

Dear Frederic,
Is the pouch in a woman’s stomach caused by gas, bloating and blockages in the small intestine and colon or can it also be caused by fat and cellulite?

Response From Frederic: Every person is different. Generally, the “pouch” you refer to would be a combination of all the things you mentioned.

“Confused About How To Get Started On The Raw Diet?”

Get started with the most complete resource kit available! Kickstart your health, and find out exactly how you can use the power of raw foods to experience: -Boundless energy -Detox and rejuvenation -Reach your ideal weight. Click here to find out more.

Last weekend, I took my girlfriend back to the airport in Costa Rica. But we took a few days first to visit some areas of Costa Rica that I didn’t know very well.

Our first stop was the “Museo del Oro” or the Pre-Columbia Gold Museum in San Jose.

Although some of it was enjoyable, I expected something a bit more impressive. There was an interesting story of gold in Costa Rica, from the money used in Colonial times (which was gold and silver coins from Spain), to the actual ridiculous system of paper “money” (with no gold standard) that depreciates at the rate of 10+% per year.

That was the most interesting part of the museum. The rest featured collections of golden artifacts used by natives in Costa Rica.

Fruit Eating Monkeys

After this visit to the museum, we stayed at a friend’s house in Escazu, who happens to own two beautiful capucin monkeys. They have a fairly large cage where they can play all day, and are fed pretty much only fruit.

It was so cool to feed them fruit and see their little hands carefully peel it and eat it.

Their favorite was “Star Apple”, or caimito in Spanish. Perhaps because they don’t get to eat it so often.

Watching them eat fruit, it was so obvious that as the more advanced primates we are… fruit SHOULD BE our main source of nourishment. It was obvious to most people to feed these monkeys fruit… but what about feeding us the same diet?

Ok, we’re not monkeys. But something tells me when I look at my hands that those were meant to peel and eat fruit.

Zarcero and San Ramon

The next day, we were supposed to go all the way to La Fortuna to see the volcano (which I have yet to see), but we decided that it was too far and we didn’t have enough time. So we planned to go to the town of Ciudad Quesada, where great hot springs were supposed to be found.

Strangely enough, I was speaking in Spanish to the taxi driver who took us to Escazu and asked him what was his favorite spot of the Central Valley. He told me “San Ramon” (which is another name for Cuidad Quesada). I told him… “we were planning to go there tomorrow”.

I asked for his number, and then gave him a call later that day. He gave us a good price to take us to San Ramon the next day, where he was going to see his brother.

In fact, we got to meet his daughter and father, who also travelled with us. It was fun to travel with him… and that can only happen if you actually talk to the locals and have some real conversation (which in turn is only possible if you make the effort to speak their language).

On the way to San Ramon, we stopped in Zarcero, where we got to see the most beautiful park in Costa Rica. Something strange in this park: they cut the trees in all sorts of strange shapes. With the church in the background, it’s absolutely stunning.

Arriving in San Ramon, we stayed at the beautiful “Agua Termales El Bosque”, where we got to soak in the nicest hot springs. Temperatures ranged from 35 Celsius (95 Fahrenheit) to over 45 Celsius (115 Fahrenheit) in one pool (granted, it was a small one).

On Sunday, a lot of people were coming, but on Monday, we were the only ones. Plus, it started raining and got fairly cold, at least for Costa Rica. So it was amazing to soak in the springs and watch the rain fall.

Right when we were about to leave, I saw the most beautiful bird EVER!

It was sitting right in front of us, and we got to take some pictures. Then we learned from the guy working there that the name of this bird is “popo” in Spanish. He even ate in our hands! (Unfortunately, I didn’t get that on camera).

When we got back to Escazu, the temperature was downright chilly (again, by Costa Rican standards). Apparently a cold wind blew over the Central Valley.

But funny… just a few minutes away, in the town of Alajuela (also called “the City of Mangoes”, the weather was beautiful and sunny!

Also, when I got back home, in the Southern Zone, I asked people how the weather had been lately. They told me: “sunny and beautiful, as usual!”

That’s a strange thing about Costa Rica… you can really fine tune your climate by changing your elevation. There are many micro-climates to choose from… and likely there is one that will work for you!