Living life in the raw – foodwise, anyway
[attach]4541[/attach]Tatiana Jankowski would describe her childhood as rebellious. But she wasn’t your conventional rebel.
She was a food rebel instead.
Jankowski’s rebellion transpired in the kitchen and around the dinner table. She fought against broccoli and championed the cause of junk food, and like most other kids she loathed her mother’s nutritious cooking.
“My mom was always into health foods. She would get me to eat healthy, but I would rebel,” Jankowski said.
In a twist of fate, all she does is eat healthy today. And at the age of 20, she eats healthier than most of her peers.
“As I grew up I realized she was right,” said Jankowski. “I can never eat like when I was young.”
After graduating from high school, she pursued her dream of becoming a nutritionist. She enrolled in nutritional sciences at university, but dropped out when she realized she wasn’t interested in regular nutrition. So she went on to study the art of raw food at a raw food culinary school in Oklahoma.
[attach]4542[/attach]Raw foodists believe high temperatures and traditional food preparation such as baking and boiling destroy important nutrients and enzymes in foods. While there are variations and differences in practice amongst raw food followers, most don’t consume dairy, meat or any sort of processed or cooked food. Many also don’t consume alcohol, tea or coffee, cooked pasta, rice and beans, baked bread and soy products.
So what exactly does the raw food bible permit? Fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds. Baked bread, for example is not allowed, but raw bread is, which is made using a dehydrator. Beans are also allowed, but should be sprouted rather than boiled.
At the North York Raw Food Meetup host Heather Strange said that people join the raw food movement for many different reasons. Some join to for health reasons and others join because of their environmental beliefs.
Since making the transition to a raw food diet, Strange said she has noticed an increase in her energy levels, and improvements to her skin and sleep.
One of the most common misconceptions about the diet is that raw foodists deprive themselves of the most delicious foods. Outsiders wrongly assume cakes, chocolates and ice creams are verboten.
“Some people think it’s a cult or too strict of a diet, but I don’t feel limited,” Jankowski said.
Strange seconds that.
“We have healthy substitutes like raw cheesecake (made from cashews), kale chips, cakes, pies and even ice cream,” she said.
Jankowski often prepares raw desserts for family and friends. Many often react with sheer disbelief when they hear it’s raw or uncooked.
“If it tastes good, they’ll eat it,” Jankowski said. “They don’t care if it’s raw.”
According to North York Raw Food Meetup members one of the main challenges with preparing meals depends on what one makes. Juicing and preparing salads is fairly simple, but sprouting rice and making raw bread is a lot more time consuming. Getting rice to sprout can take up to a few days and raw bread takes many hours to make. So Strange said that it’s easier to buy the products instead or to prepare them in bulk and freeze them.
When it comes to maintaining the raw lifestyle Strange said it can be easy.
“You find substitutes,” she said. “But you should transition into this diet.”
Eating out on the raw food diet may not be as difficult as it seems according to Strange.
“I usually take food with me or I’ll eat ahead of time,” she said. “Or I’ll eat the salad and just bring a dressing with me.”
For Jankowski, it’s a lot easier. Whenever she eats out, she switches to a plant-based diet but limits her outings to one a week.
“It’s the second best option,” she said.
When travelling, Strange recommends researching the destination and locating health food stores that carry raw food products. Or one can switch to a plant-based diet temporarily, even if it includes some cooked food.
Raw foodists do have to worry about nutritional deficiencies while following their diet, but it isn’t something that impacts everyone.
“It’s something you need to (speak) with your doctor, especially iron and B vitamin deficiencies,” said Strange.
But Jankowski feels most of the raw food she consumes already serves as supplements, such as spirulina and flax seed oil.
Clinical dietician Katelynn Maniatis stresses that a balanced diet is the key, whether raw or cooked.
“What’s important is finding something else to complement your diet,” she said. “You can obtain similar nutrients from different sources.”
Apart from the balancing act, Maniatis’ other main concern is the handling of food.
“Following safe food-handling practices is important when dealing with raw fruits and vegetables, especially sprouts,” she said. “Children, pregnant women and seniors are most vulnerable because they have weaker immune systems.”
Tatiana is a beautiful girl–a slob of a guest. Recently while staying in our home she and her boyfriend insisted on having the front door unlocked and completely open all night (where anyone could walk in off the streets). They left their belongings not only scattered around their room but around the rest of the house. She stained my couch and burned it with a curling iron, left a mountain of dirty pots, pans and trash– a carpet that smelled like curry and ground in body odor …and left without paying in full. Unbaked or fully cooked, a bitter departure for a pastry chef.