The Food Network goes woo

[alfaniner]

Just saw a "My Life in Food" episode where a woman with Type 2 diabetes went to a retreat (Tree of Life) where they ate nothing but raw food. While the premise seems logical, it doesn't seem practical.

Watching this show it set off many alarm bells that the program was totally woo, especially when the new-agey proprietor started with an om-meditation. I'm sure the attendees could stick to the diet for the three weeks they are there (with access to nothing else!) but I didn't see a proper followup of what happens after they left. The claim is a 95% success rate. I'd bet the success rate is much lower after a few days of exposure to the food we see every day.

There was one section where an attendee was saying how "doctors are good for surgery, but they don't know anything about the body and only want to make money by continuing to prescribe medicine." (paraphrase)

I think the Skeptic's Guide has done a topic on this one, but it really concerns me that like Kevin Trudeau, they are messing with people's health and their lives. I rather doubt there is full disclosure of the medical problems encountered in the first few days they force people to go off their meds, and the long-term effects.

I saw that this was produced by Al Roker. I realized he may be one of those celebrities that was seduced or fooled by this program (like those that get into Scientology).

 

[LarianLeQuella]

Ah, the Raw Food movement...

Sure, they make some great and tasty food with wonderfule presentations, but that's about as far as I'd go with the merits of it...

 

[SalG13]

I had a good friend go on a raw foods diet. He claimed that by cooking foods (temps over 120F were a no-no) they lost nutritional value.

I was curious about the reasoning behind only eating raw foods. It seemed to me that if you didn't like plain carrots but wanted the nutrition from them then it was only logical to dip them in something tasty (regardless of it's preparation, assuming it was not damaging).

He didn't really have an answer. I assume people that go on diets like these like to talk about it more than actually do it. He was off it in less than a week. (Apparently, pubs are a great source of temptation)

 

[Gr8wight]

Many people with Type 2 diabetes control it with diet. There is nothing new or revolutionary about it. If the woman improved at the retreat, it was due to a reduction in sugar intake, not due to the fact the food was all raw.

 

[Locknar]

I had a good friend go on a raw foods diet. He claimed that by cooking foods (temps over 120F were a no-no) they lost nutritional value.

Since we are talking Food Network; Alton Brown talks about this time to time on his show "Good Eats."

Yes...cooking veggies (ie. boiling, steaming, roasting, etc.) does cause them to "loose" nutritional value. However consider this....

People are simply unable to significantly digest much in the way of raw food, so while raw veggies do have more nutritional value you can't get to it.

Cooking damages the cell walls...and yes, some nutritional value is lost...but your body can better process the "damaged" material.

I suspect the "raw" aspect (such as carrots) plays into satisfying the "crunchy" aspect people often crave from chips.

That all said...I don't know what the "woo woo" value of the Al Roker show mentioned in the OP is (I've not seen it). Though I do know that diet can play a role the "treatment" of diabetes.

 

[chefpeon]

All I know is that raw food, "live" food, vegan alternatives, for the most part, taste like crap.

Whole foods are what is good for the human being. We are meant to have a varied diet, and yeah, that includes meat.

If there's anything I hate, it's the vegans preaching at me about their holier than thou eating habits, and that I am some sort of "sinner" because I'm not vegan. I live in "VeganTown" so it's a real thorn in my side. Especially since I'm a chef and people are constantly hassling me about vegan alternatives.
I won't do it. There's plenty of woo woo restaurants in town; they can go there, but they say their food isn't very good...............um........yeah.