SCALING DOWN: Raw food does a body good
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Demi Moore did it when she made her comeback in “Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle.” Jason Mraz does it, even while on tour. Alicia Silverstone was one of the first celebrities to start talking about it. And now it's my turn.
Since last month's column, I've turned Tuesdays into Raw Food Tuesdays. The celebrities I've mentioned are much more hard core, having switched to raw food for their entire diets. My once-a-week effort is minimal in comparison, but it's a start.
The idea behind the diet is that by consuming food raw, you're not losing the nutrients that evaporate during the cooking process. If you buy organic food, you're also ensuring that your food hasn't been pumped with additives while it was growing. Basically, you're putting the most natural type of food into your body — and your body will thank you for it.
In 2002, Express-News dining editor John Griffin wrote a story about a woman who switched to a raw food diet as a last-ditch attempt to reverse the bad things happening to her: Her hair was falling out, her skin was prematurely wrinkling and she was having trouble with her memory. After the transition, her hair grew back, her skin got softer and on top of all that she dropped four dress sizes.
I love cooked food too much to give it up completely. Plus, a totally raw food diet is a huge commitment. Some recipes I've seen have 12-hour prep time, not to mention that most require a food processor or dehydrator. One day a week doesn't require that much effort, and I still feel like I'm doing something good for myself.
An example of a Tuesday menu is a smoothie for breakfast (made with fresh fruit and soy milk), a salad for lunch (avocado with a bit of lemon juice serves as dressing) and uncooked sushi (no rice — just seaweed) or another salad for dinner. Snacks are raw almonds or cashews or fruit. I drink water or soy milk only.
This would quickly get boring if I was doing this every day. But with the way I've scheduled it, I actually look forward to Tuesdays (until my co-workers eat cookies in front of me or mention how they're grilling steaks that night. Thanks, guys).
I don't expect any miracles to happen. I know my hair won't get thicker and that I'm not going to drop weight doing this as sporadically as I am. That's OK, because I'm not doing it for those reasons. I'm doing it because it makes me feel good to know that I'm cleansing myself of the other things I eat during the week and that for at least 24 hours I'm treating my body in the best possible way.
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