I was at a point in my life where I was willing to try anything and everything. And I think I almost did! At first I thought it would be easy to follow this diet because I really enjoy raw fruits and vegetables, but I quickly ran into a few deal-breakers. First of all, raw food is cold food. Ever notice how warm food or even liquid makes you feel nice and full? After a few days without anything HOT to eat, I wasn't satisfied with anything else, and I started to "think" hungry even when I didn't feel it. Then there was the grocery bill. I tried the outlet, and the farmer's market. I was shopping at three different places to get through a week to try and make this diet fit into my budget. But the sad truth is that healthy fruits and vegetables are WAY more expensive than their junkier alternatives, and unless you have the extra money it's just not going to work. Especially because you have to eat MORE of these items to be full, to get the values you need to survive. Variety is key. But I just don't like spending that much time preparing food. Initially I lost weight because I spent so much time preparing food I didn't have as much time to eat it. And that is just stupid. Hilarious, but stupid. Exercise is really the only thing that works. And if you're all weak and tired because you haven't had a decent steak in a month, you're not going to go to the gym. There were some gnarly side effects, too. I just don't recommend this to anyone who isn't already a vegan, or a monk. Effectiveness The diet takes up so much of your life you don't have time to eat. Unfortunately, you're still thinking about food ALL THE TIME because of that. Side Effects Digestive problems. Energy problems. Irritability. Sleeplessness.

EmilySperry

USA

This is the perfect diet. It's the one I think men was supposed to eat as it's the one that Adam and Eve had when the world began. Now with fast food, convenient food, and so many types of junk food available, it can be hard to stay thin. I have been on The Raw Food Diet for, off and on, for several years. In my case, I eat this type of diet out of necessity as I have chronic pancreatitis. It helps me when my pancreas is inflamed. On The Raw Food Diet you can only eat raw veggies, fruits, sprouted seeds and nuts, healthy oils only, and drink water, 100% juices and smoothies. I use this diet as an anti-inflammatory for my pancreas, except I never use oils as these are harsh for those of use with chronic pancreatitis. I eat a natural diet anyhow, eating whole grains(but no wheat), legumes, vegetable, fruits, and almond milk or rice milk. There isn't a better way to keep the weight off of you than eating raw foods, as then they are in their natural state and low calorie, and usually fat free. Effectiveness This is the best diet to use for weight loss. Side Effects There shouldn't be any side effects, and they should be very minimal side effects if there are any. They most side effects you would get on this diet are probably food cravings. Ease of Use I gave this a seven because if you don't have strong will power, it will be very hard to stick to this type of diet. Especially at first. Once you have been on this diet for about six months, you will actually start loving these natural foods.

jarschnell

USA

I had been buying organic and free range foods for our household for several months. I started off gradually and then built my way up to being an estimated 60-80 percent organic depending on the month and budget. I had this idea in my head that I was going to start eating healthier and that I was going to only eat foods straight from their source in nature. I wasn't going to eat anything I couldn't pick, dig, or kill in the wild myself. I did some research online and came across the raw foods diet. I tried this diet for a couple weeks . The major concept of this diet that I really liked was eating everything raw. It makes things to much simpler. I particular enjoy eating nuts, berries, fruits, and veggies raw but I didn't care much for eating grains raw. I bought all natural, organic grains and would soak them in water like it suggested before eating them but even so they were hard to eat. I don't like the crunchy, chalky texture. I also didn't like the lack of meats and dairy in this diet. I actually cheated in that department. I would buy raw fish suitable for sushi and we ate it. While on this diet, I made some of my own sauces and dips using foods raw from nature but I would crush and mash them into puree. I made my own homemade salsa and ketchup for dipping my veggies in. I tried to spice it up. Eventually the lack of meat and dairy got to me. I added in local butcher meats and fresh cow and goat milk. I lost a few pounds on this diet but the important thing is that I was raw, organic, and felt healthy. I give it a thumbs up but I missed meat and dairy too much so I had to cheat. Effectiveness I felt great on this diet. It was hard sometimes and I cheated a little but the concept is sound. Side Effects I didn't have any side effects to this diet. My biggest thing was not eating meat because I felt cranky at first. I missed hot meals and meat and dairy but it only took a week to start feeling like I had energy again. Ease of Use It's a little difficult to implement if you're not used to it but the book lays everything out for you.

clinen11

USA

This book had me visit a whole other way of eating.  I bought a food dehydrator and created some great dishes for me and my family.  Some dishes were frowned upon.  Others like desserts were of course a big hit.  This can be an expensive way of eating though. The nut dishes were fun to eat at first but after a while we could not tolerate it.  It takes a lot of prep work to create some dishes.  But well worth it for a better body.  You can loose a lot of weight with this diet.  It's a natural way of eating.  Your body will take about two weeks to adjust to this diet.  You will feel a little sick but that is your body's way of releasing the toxins.  You will go to the bathroom a lot.  I was raw for about a year.  Then I moved and did not have access to what I needed.  Once I found a way to get what I needed to continue the diet I did.  Sometimes I will eat a raw breakfast and raw snacks.  For lunch and dinner steamed vegetables with raw hemp seed hearts.  I can eat the same meal everyday and not grow tired.  So this was easy for me to follow. Now for the family they need variety and that means a lot of work in the kitchen.   For me this works.  The family will only eat the desserts and hate the smell of the food  dehydrator when it's working.

Shanesiobhan

USA

I would say the Raw Food Diet is a diet that will be helpful for anyone who is willing to take on the challenge. The Raw Food Diet is consistent of only raw foods. The idea is to replace your regular processed food meals with raw foods. Although that is good ideally, it's a lot harder to adjust your entire diet to just raw foods. I was only able to stick with a raw food only diet for about a week before I switched back to my regular meals. I did shed a few pounds with this diet, but I wasn't able to continue. For those like me, I would recommend just adding a few more raw foods into your meals instead of replacing all your favorite foods with raw foods. With the introduction of a few more raw foods in your daily meals, you will still see progress that way. However, there's no denying that this diet plan is very helpful. Indeed, I feel and look better already due to just adding more raw foods into my meals. The Raw Foods Diet helps to introduce you to new ingredients that will be better for your body. Effectiveness The raw foods diet will work very well if you are willing to commit to it. For me, I couldn't commit myself to eating raw foods 24/7, so the diet only provided a few benefits for me. However, it does help introduce you to the world of raw foods. Side Effects The hardest thing about this diet is being able to revamp your entire meal plan from processed foods to raw, natural foods. Although I haven't changed my life completely, the introduction of a few more raw foods in my diet has helped greatly. However, I can't fully eat raw foods forever, so I would recommend those like me to just eating a few more raw foods every day. Ease of Use It wasn't easy for me to commit to this diet at all. I managed to eat raw foods for a whole week, but after that, I started to eat processed foods again.

MerpDerMerp

Undisclosed

The Raw Food Diet is just what it sounds like: you eat raw food, like uncooked fruits and vegetables. I have heard that some people eat raw eggs and even meat or fish, but I did not feel comfortable doing that because there are too many ways to get food poisoning. This diet was a bit expensive for me because fruits and vegetables do not fill me up as well as cooked meals do, so I was eating a higher quantity of food than I used to. Effectiveness The Raw Food Diet was pretty effective for me because most of the raw foods I was eating were fruits and vegetables, which are low enough in calories that I could eat as many as I wanted without. Side Effects The Raw Food Diet had some uncomfortable side effects for me. My stomach doesn't seem to tolerate a lot of fiber, I learned. I had a lot of gas and bloating, and after a while that turned into a lot diarrhea. I also started feeling pretty weak after several days because I wasn't getting enough iron, so I had to "cheat" and add a few cooked foods here and there, like hamburger. I also started taking some vitamins to help. Ease of Use The Raw Food Diet is easy to use because the only real preparation that I had to do was make sure that the food was washed really well.

scifigal2k

USA

The raw diet is certainly not for everyone. It requires committment, forethought, planning and determination. It also requires readjusting entirely the way you eat, which flows over into social settings, feelings of other family members, and, in some cases, disagreements with medical personnel. That being said, this way of life can have amazing benefits for some. Effectiveness For me personally, the raw diet was most effective not so much in things like weight loss, etc. but in the fact that it required me to completely rethink my way of eating which in turn led to a real learning, eye-opening experience about what truly is and is not healthy for you. Side Effects I imagine side effects are different for each individual based on so many factors. In my case, the major side effective I noticed at first was, to put it delicately, "bathroom related". The second side effect for me was finding out that I had allergies to certain raw foods. Other than that, I felt that I began to gain more energy and feel more rested before I had to stop this type of diet for medical reasons. Ease of Use Pretty easy to maintain this diet - the only real investments are (1) a good food processor - a blender will work as well but not as effectively and (2) the cost of the food - if you have a local farmers market type of setup, you can usually do this fairly inexpensively, but with the up and down prices in groceries of vegtables and fruits, it can sometimes be a little costly. Actual prep of food is easy.

darslady

Sacramento, CA

I started this a long time ago and did teeter off a bit but more recently got back on into this raw diet idea and it's so good for my body. I juice in the morning and that starts off my day fresh with carrots, kale, spinach, pears, apples whatever I have in my fruit/veggie bin for the day that is what I juice. It's probably the meal I enjoy the most because after I drink it; I am full of vigor and energy it's like eating an entire meal of proteins. Effectiveness Although I have done this in the past and more recently and I do seem to detox myself quite a bit, I still havent' lost the weight necessary to put me back on track to my former self. I struggle with a thyroid disorder and so I have to be careful of some vegetables that hinder that growth as well. I can't get out of exercising in no way shape or form so the diet alone isn't enough for me. Side Effects I don't have too many side effects, my skin has turned orange from the huge influx of carrot use but I don't mind and I do tend to have a bit more bowel movements but all in all it feels like a good detoxing. Ease of Use It's as easy as picking the right fruits and veggies in the farmers market or local grocer or for us right from the garden.

walkelmol

Thompsontown, PA

I've done the Raw Food Diet in the form of a 40-day Daniel fast. As the name suggests, you only eat raw foods. The diet emphasizes fruit and vegetables as a result. The difficulty with raw foods is finding things to eat that will satiate you. It's easy to go to the grocery store and buy lots of fruits and veggies but eating a bunch of carrots for lunch and being full? That's a different story. I made a lot of fruit and veggie smoothies while on this diet. Having a Blendtec blender really helped. There are some great ways to emulate other foods like blended frozen bananas have an ice-cream like taste and texture. My main source of protein came from nuts such as peanuts, cashews, and almonds. If you need meat, sashimi-grade raw fish would fit the bill. The toughest part of this diet is when you eat out. Your choices will be fairly limited to salads and sashimi. For someone to go on this diet, they would need lots of discipline and pre-planning. The results of weight loss and greater energy will come, but you will need to sacrifice to get there.

normietrice

Downers Grove, IL

I have tried the raw food diet. It does help you lose weight, but you have to do it right. It has its ups and downs. I stuck strictly with fruits, vegetables, and a few other things. Within three weeks I lost about ten pounds. I did feel healthier and had a little more energy than I had before but what I didn't realize was I was not getting enough protein and a few other nutrients. After about a month of doing it, I felt like my body was craving certain foods that you couldn't have such as a hamburger. There are some people who choose to do the full diet which I wouldn't because it has raw eggs and raw meat which I was not comfortable with. The point of the raw food diet is nutritionists say when you cook it you kill it meaning the nutrients in foods. I agree there is the most nutrients in for example raw broccoli than cooked, but I couldn't go along with this diet. I stopped using the raw food diet and did a combination of some cooked and some raw and seen the same amount of weight loss. I don't think cutting out everything altogether with any diet is good for you, especially if you have to take a supplement because you're limiting your body to one type of food. I wouldn't recommend this.

mrshunkler417

USA