Raw Food Diet Study

An Investigation of Over 500 People Who Have Eaten a Raw Food Diet for Over2 Years

BY LENKA J. ZAJIC

Inspired by her own positive experiences going raw, Zajicwent on to obtain a Masters in Vegan and Live Food Nutrition from the Treeof Life Rejuvenation Center in Arizona, where she conducted an in-depth 500-participantsurvey of raw foodists. The study’s findingsshowed that people who followed an 80 to 90% raw foods diet for 2 years reportedmarked improvements in immunity, digestion, allergies, weight moderation, chronicillness, and mental, and emotional well-being.

Says Zajic, “There seems to be no question that, at leastinitially, eating a raw foods diet can reduce or cure many healthcomplaints.”

The Study

The purpose of this study was to examine the dietary practices, attitudes,and experiences of U.S. and international individuals who have beenpracticing the raw foods diet for at least two years. The hope wasto identify any significant positive and negative trends existing withinthis segment of the population, thereby furthering the understandingand refinement of the diet for both raw foods leaders and educatorsas well as for the general public and providing the impetus to conductmore detailed and specific scientific research in areas of concernand/or lack of knowledge regarding the live foods diet.

The study designed was a descriptive survey, using a self-administered,predominantly on-line questionnaire. The primary areas of interestwere: respondents’ personal information, their first introductionto and subsequent journey on a raw foods diet, diet and eating habits,overall physical health, weight fluctuations, women’s issues,mental/emotional/spiritual health, and exercise and physical activity.Analysis was text-based and simple descriptive survey statistics werecalculated.

In brief, the survey was begun by 864 self-reported two-year plusraw-foodists of various ages and nationalities. For three and a halfmonths, the survey was open to the public on-line. Hard copies werealso available and collected. Ultimately, the survey was completedby over 525 people. Results showed consistent improvement in virtuallyall areas examined, most notably in immunity, elimination, allergies,over or underweight, chronic illness, and mental, emotional and spiritualwell-being.

The following are the primary improvements observed in the categoriesof “Personal Information”, “Diet and Eating Habits”, “Weight”, “OverallPhysical Health”, “Exercise/Physical Activity”, “Women’sIssues”, and “Mental/Emotional/Spiritual Health” ofthe Living Examples Survey:

Personal Information

Out of the 864 respondents who began the survey, 66.2% were femaleand 33.8% were male. Therefore, there were roughly twice as many femalerespondents as there were male. Although there are other factors thatmay have contributed to the higher percentage of female respondents,it is relatively safe to conclude that there exist a larger numberof female raw-foodists than male. These observations have been confirmedby both long-term live foods teachers Gabriel Cousens, M.D. and DavidWolfe.

Diet and Eating Habits

With regards to eating habits, the frequency of overeating among respondentsshows a definite and significant decrease since they adopted a livefoods diet. Those who reported NEVER overeating increased in numberfrom 7% before live foods to 34% after live foods, and those who reportedovereating only once or twice per week increased from 35% to 54%. Thismay possibly be attributed to the high nutritional and water contentof living foods as well an increased visual and taste stimulation providedby fresh living foods. Also, there seems to have been an overall decreasein the number of respondents reporting eating disorders before andafter adopting a live foods diet, with the percentage of respondentsreporting NO eating disorder on a live foods diet rising from 61% to82%.

Weight

In terms of dieting and weight changes, the percentage of respondentswho reported NEVER dieting since transitioning to a live foods dietrose from 44.4% to 71.6%. The number that reported dieting “veryoften” before live foods dropped from 24.7% to 12.4% after livefoods. 82.5% of respondents lost weight after switching to a live foodsdiet. 75% of those not already at their ideal weight reported reachingit after transitioning to a live foods diet. 56% reported re-gainingsome of that weight, although most of those people (57%) only regained25% or less of the weight they initially lost. This seems to have occurredprimarily within the first two years on a live foods diet (89%). Ofthe 4% of respondents who gained weight after transitioning to livefoods, 57% remained at that higher weight. Most (62%) of those thatre-lost weight they initially gained on live foods lost 25% or less.This weight gain seems to have occurred primarily within the first6 months (65%). Overall, 82% of respondents who were not at their idealweight before live foods reported being closer to their optimal weightsince transitioning to a live foods diet.

Overall Physical Health

The survey results indicate a definite decrease in the overall amountof sleep needed by respondents since transitioning to a live foodsdiet. Those who reported needing over 8 hours sleep/night dropped from59% to 19% Those who need 6-8 hours sleep/night rose from 36% from64% and those who now need even fewer hours (6 or less) sleep/nightrose from 6% to 16%. There was also a significant improvement in sleepquality among respondents with the percentage of those who reportedno insomnia rising from 40% to 59% since transitioning to live foods.
Respondents reported improvement in all skin conditions surveyed, namelyeczema, skin eruptions, dryness, oiliness, and susceptibility to sunburns.An overall improvement was seen in all aspects of hair health, suchas increased strength/thickness and luster, and decreased thinness/weakness,oiliness, dryness, dullness, and dandruff. There was an overall improvementin nail health, such as increased strength and decreased brittleness,chipping, ridges, and fungus. The number of respondents experiencingbody odor after adopting a live foods diet decreased sharply, withthe number reporting no body odor whatsoever rising from 12% to 52%!There was also a significant increase in respondents who reported neveror rarely having bad breath – from 32% to 83%! There was a moderatedecrease in the number of respondents who reported perspiring easilyafter transitioning to a live foods diet – down from 51% to 41%.

Results show slightly higher numbers of respondents reporting a “good” or “excellent” senseof sight (from 56% to 69%), touch (from 84% - 97%), and hearing (from77% to 88%) on a live foods diet, and significantly higher numbersreporting a “good” or “excellent” sense ofsmell (from 68% to 93%) and taste (from 68% to 97%) on a live foodsdiet.

Almost half of respondents did not know their resting heart rate beforeand after live foods but among those who knew that information, thepercentage with resting heart rates between 60-70 bpm or less rosefrom 26% to 42%, and the percentage of those with resting heart rateshigher than 70 bpm dropped from 19% to 9%. Again, about half of respondentsdid not know their blood pressure before and after live foods, butamong those who did, there seems to have been a move towards normalizationof blood pressure at 140/74 or less. Of the 81% of respondents whowere aware of their cholesterol levels before and after live foods,there was a 24% increase in those who reported having normal cholesterollevels on live foods. With regards to circulation, 62% of respondentsreported poor circulation before live foods and only 29% reported itafter live foods, a decrease of 53%! This indicates the significantbenefit of a live foods diet in this important area.

The number of respondents who reported having NO post-meal symptomsrose from 8% before live foods to 46% after live foods. Each of thenine post-meal symptoms surveyed showed a significant reduction ona live foods diet, especially bloating, indigestion, and fatigue/weakness.Results show a significantly decreased number of respondents (from79% before live foods to 51% after live foods) who felt their appetitewas “strong” or “excessive”.

Elimination appears to improve dramatically on a live foods diet,as indicated by the number of respondents who reported two or morebowel movements per day increasing from 25% to 78%! The number of respondentsexperiencing constipation decreased sharply from 73% to 30%, hemorrhoidsfrom 33% to 18%, bladder/kidney infections from 23% to 7%, and foul-smellingstool from 57% to 23%. The percentage of people reporting diarrhea,however, remained about the same before and on a live foods diet. Laxativeusage seems to decrease on a live foods diet, with the number of respondentswho indicated they never use them increasing from 68% to 81%. Of interesthere is that the percentage of respondents taking enemas rose from26% to 63% on a live foods diet. The percentage of respondents whoreported using over-the-counter laxative products dropped from 36%to 2%.

Immunity to colds, flu’s, and infections showed a tremendousimprovement on a live foods diet, with 53% of respondents reportinggetting sick easily before live foods and only 3% after live foods,a dramatic decrease of 93.4%!

Exercise and Physical Activity

The survey results show a dramatic increase in energy levels amongrespondents since transitioning to live foods, specifically from 31%to 88% in those who reported having “good” or “excellent” energylevels! Cardiovascular endurance improved for 67% of respondents ona live foods diet versus worsening or staying the same. Flexibilityimproved for 73%, and muscular strength for 58%. Again, these improvementswere largely attributed to the change in diet (88%) and the naturalby-product of that change in diet, “physical health” (54%).Arthritis/joint problems, muscle stiffness, back/neck pain, sciatica,and muscle cramping all showed improvement on a live foods diet. Thenumber of respondents who selected “not applicable” (i.e.did not experience any of these conditions), rose by 88%! Respondentsseem to be exercising more on a live foods diet than they did previously.67% indicated they do so “every other day” or “daily” versus46% before live foods. Furthermore, they report feeling “good” or “uplifted/invigorated” afterexercise in larger numbers (89% versus 56%).

Interesting to note is that the percentage of respondents describingthe condition of their teeth as “good” or “excellent” rosefrom 51% to 68%, with most attributing it to diet (43.5%) and oralhygiene practices (23.6%). Tooth sensitivity also seems to decreaseon a live foods diet, indicated by a drop from 73% to 52% in the numberof respondents who experience it “sometimes” or “often”.There was a drop from 49% to 25% in the number of respondents who reportedreceding, inflamed, or bleeding gums.

A live foods diet may have a significant effect on the rate of addiction.There was a 62% increase (from 44% to 75%) in the number of respondentswho felt they were “addiction-free” on a live foods diet!There were decreases in all specific areas of addiction surveyed (alcohol,smoking, eating, drugs, sex, and other).

A live foods diet seems to be significantly responsible for a sharpdecrease in medication use. Results show a marked reduction in virtuallyall categories surveyed. Most significant were the reduced numbersof respondents reporting the use of antacids (from 20.3% to 1.3%),antibiotics (from 31.6% to 0.6%), antidepressants (from 15.1% to 6.9%),anti-fungals (from 9.6% to 0.6%), aspirin/ibuprofen (from 34.9% to5%), recreational drugs (from 20.9% to 11.3%), and tylenol/acetaminophen(from 18.7% to 3.8%). One category that actually showed increased useamong respondents after transitioning to a live foods diet was thyroidmedication, which rose from 8.5% to 14.5%.

Results show a substantial decrease in the number of respondents reportingallergies on a live foods diet in all categories surveyed (food, animal,grasses/trees/pollen, dust/mites/mold, chemical, other). Overall, 52.5%(from 40% to 61%) more respondents reported being allergy-free afterswitching to a live foods diet.

There was a decrease in the number of respondents reporting chronicillness on a live foods diet in all categories surveyed with the exceptionof thyroid disorders which showed a slight increase (however, the smallnumber of respondents for that category makes it difficult to drawany firm conclusions). Most notable was the increase by 68% in thenumber of respondents reporting NO chronic illness “after livefoods”. Also of great significance was the reduction in the numberof respondents reporting chronic fatigue (from 16% to 3.6%), candida(from 21% to 5%), depression (from 27% to 7%), anxiety (from 22% to8%), weak immune system (from 17% to 0.2%), hypoglycemia (from 15%to 2.6%), fibromyalgia (from 5.6% to 1.5%), osteoarthritis (from 4.8%to 2.8%), and cancer (from 2.7% to 0.4%). Asthma, skin disorders, gastrointestinaldisorders, rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, heart conditions, and migraines/sinusheadaches also showed improvement.

Results indicate a normalization of sexual drive on a live foods diet,with those reporting “high” or “excessive” sexdrive dropping from 29% to 26% and those reporting a “moderate” sexdrive rising from 43% to 48%.

It is interesting to note that there was a substantial decrease indicatedin stress levels among respondents on a live foods diet. Those reporting “alot” of stress in life after transitioning to live foods droppedfrom 56% to 20%.

Women’s Issues

Women’s menstrual cycles showed improvement on a live foodsdiet. In terms of comfort, the percentage of respondents describingtheir cycles as “alright” to “very comfortable” rosefrom 27% before live foods to 53% after live foods. Most attributedthis improvement to their change in diet (72.3%). All cycle-relatedsymptoms showed dramatic improvement on a live foods diet, includingPMS in general, cycle-related depression, moodiness/irritability, bloating/waterretention, nausea, headaches, tender/swollen breasts, cravings forsweets, low backache, heavy flow, cramps, and irregular periods, andthere was a definite reduction in the use of pain relievers. Furthermore,there seem to have been reductions in yeast infections, endometriosis,and uterine fibroids.

Mental, Emotional, and Spiritual Health

One of the most dramatic and encouraging areas of improvement observedamong respondents was that of “Mental/Emotional/Spiritual Health.”Here, 68% of respondents felt they had developed intellectually “quitea bit” or “tremendously” since transitioning to livefoods. 81% felt they had developed emotionally “quite a bit” or “tremendously”,and 77% felt they had developed spiritually “quite a bit” or “tremendously”.Overall, the vast majority of respondents (87.5%) reported an improvedmental/emotional/spiritual state after transitioning to a live foodsdiet, and, most attributed this primarily to their change in diet (88.2%),followed closely by spiritual/energetic healing (50.5%) and self-inquiry(50.3%). The percentage of respondents reporting a “good” or “excellent” mental/emotional/spiritualstate after transitioning to a live foods diet rose in all categoriessurveyed including: general sense of well-being (36% to 91%), enthusiasm/optimism(43% to 91%), patience/tolerance (29% to 84%), self-sufficiency (54%to 88%), openness to change/flexibility (53% to 89%), non-attachment(32%to 77%), memory/focus/clarity (36% to 82%), creativity (48% to 82%),efficiency/multi-tasking (53% to 82%), relationships (37% to 80%),occupational satisfaction (34% to 71%), faith/hope (47% to 85%), passion(for anything) (53% to 88%), intuition (52% to 91%), compassion/love(55% to 90%), social comfort (36% to 77%), comfort being alone (61%to 89%), depth of meditation (28% to 68%), spiritual desire and interest(50% to 85%), quietness of mind (25% to 74%), non-causal contentment(30% to 80%), non-causal peace (32% to 80%), and non-causal joy (31%to 79%). There was an increase from 32% to 51% in the number of respondentswho felt they were experiencing ecstatic bliss “sometimes” ona live foods diet versus before, and an increase from 6% to 31% inthose reported feeling ecstatic bliss “often/always”!!

Based on these results, it was concluded that people who have beenon a raw foods diet for two years or more experienced and generallycontinue to experience significant improvements on many physical, emotional,mental, and spiritual levels. There appear to be very few, if any,consistent negative effects or areas of serious concern that can beidentified from this preliminary study.

Further research needs to be done to investigate in detail each ofthe general areas examined in this study as well as: 1) the impactof a raw foods diet on women’s weight and hormones in the long-term;2) the impact of a raw foods diet on thyroid levels in the short andlong terms; 3) perceived and actual nutritional deficiencies as a resultof a long-term raw foods diet and their effect on the rate of re-adoptionof cooked and/or animal foods and, in general; 4) the frequency ofsustained satisfaction with and benefit from a raw foods diet amonglong-term practitioners (i.e. 3 years more).

A Raw Foods Diet has been agreed to be and defined as consistingof at least 80-100% living (fresh, unheated over 115ºF, unprocessed,unadulterated) foods by the International Living Foods Summit heldat The Hippocrates Institute in West Palm Beach, Florida on January14th, 2006. Leaders and experts from 8 countries convened at this historicsummit to establish scientifically based standards for optimum health.

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