I, personally, have my bias, for the “style” of raw/living/lifefood I prefer to consume, however, this article will give you a brief overview of some of the schools of thought I know about for you to follow-up with your own exploration and intuition to choose YOUR preference. Remember that “rawfoodism” is NOT a religion - it is a preference - and requires experimentation since we have just begun to realize the individuality and potential of this live-it. Raw/living/lifefood is also enjoyed to varying degrees, I recommend working up to or starting out at 80%+. Of course it is great to reach 100%.
The first philosophy is simply to eat foods in their raw state without specific attention being give to the type of food or the way it is prepared other than maintaining “raw”. Within this tenant are variances such as: Fruitarian, Instinctive eating and the inclusion of raw animal meat. Fruitarians choose to only eat fruits – food coming from a flower, which therefore includes non-sweet fruits like cucumbers, avocados, squash, etc. Instinctive eaters usually eat close to mono-meals (only one type of food at a time), however the manner in which they decide what to eat is by smelling their food and consuming that which they are drawn to most at the moment. Instinctive eaters usually include raw meat in their choices and there are groups of rawfoodists that liberally consume fleshfoods in their raw state only.
The second philosophy to review is Natural Hygiene. This is a full system of health practices pioneered by Dr. Shelton and Dr. Arnold Ehret, among others. In brief, dietary wise, foods are eaten in their raw, natural state in strict accordance with food-combining principles. Water fasts are frequently employed and they view other organ cleanses, nutritional supplements and superfoods as unnecessary and even damaging. You can discover more about this diet at www.naturalhygienesociety.org and/or www.livingnutrition.com.
Dr. Douglas Graham has recently made a further distinction of the natural hygiene diet by defining the optimal ratio of human caloronutrient intake as 80/10/10 – 80% carbohydrates, 10% protein and 10% fat – similar to our anthropoid primate relatives. See www.foodnsport.com.
Anne Wigmore began a revolution of understanding when she introduced the idea of sprouting, wheat grass and rejuvelac. She coined the phrase: “the living food lifestyle”. Detailed information and centers operating with her tenets can be found at www.wigmore.org
The above raw food philosophies have taken a basic approach and, in essence, claim an understanding of espousing the proper diet for everyone, while the following philosophies approach the subject with insight into individualization. Individualization is dependent on body type, health status and activities to be undertaken. These distinctions can frequently make the difference for people learning to thrive on a live food live-it. The final three “styles” embrace the addition of superfoods and supplements to offset and accentuate our modern lifestyles and responsibilities.
David and Annie Jubb have pioneered the concept of LifeFood. LifeFood is food that some semblance of which can be found growing wild in nature. It is fresh raw fruits and vegetables, organic and in season when possible, sprouted seeds, nuts, and legumes; along with some live fermented foods that are properly combined and easily digested. LifeFood has a life force that can be measured through Kirlean photography. Starchy, hybridized foods, even raw, are avoided. More information is contained in the LifeFood Recipe Book.
In his book, The Sunfood Diet Success System (now in its 6th ed.), David Wolfe coined this term as more accurate for plants being nourished by the sun. He expresses dietary individuality with the “Sunfood triangle” - a simple method to assist in balancing the extremes of sweet fruits, green vegetables, and fats in alignment with your health and activity goals.
Dr. Gabriel Cousens wrote the book, Rainbow Green Live Food Cuisine, as a treatis on his research for the optimal live food live-it. He asserts that even with live food nutrition, it is easy to over-consume excess fruit sugars, which can ultimately upset the delicate balance of our biochemistry. He suggests a balanced cuisine of low or moderate glycemic index (low sugar) foods. Foods to consume are grouped according to “phase”, defined by their glycemic index. Depending particularly on fungal load, one would start at a lower phase and then work up to phase 2 which he considers the optimal live food consumption.
Well, I am sure there are others, however I hope this treatise gives you “food for thought” as you experiment and discover YOUR way to raw/living/lifefood.