Miami Vegan Blog

A very wise friend of mine, Eric Dez - a raw vegan activist, gave me a real good talking to about eating a batch of french fries this weekend. I rarely eat fried food. However, when I'm at a Tiki Bar, listening to karaoke (I mean live entertainment?), sitting on a couch near the beach, french fries come to mind. Also, I like to shock my body with a 1,000 calories sometimes to keep it guessing! He said it was easier to convince a vegan to go raw, so with every fry came another infusion of raw education. I ate fast!

Anyway, he told me something about 'mono-eating' and 80/10/10 which is a raw vegan diet consisting of 80% carbohydrates. (More info below)

I'll tell you this. I went to the grocery store yesterday and bought only vegetables and fruits. Not much different than what I normally buy except, no bread, no soy burger, no oil or fattening products like peanut butter or cashews. The woman in front of me in the checkout line watched me unload my items onto the conveyor belt, probably searching for the meat or any sign that I wasn't completely nuts. Hopefully, I've influenced her to at least consider a healthier diet. She was buying cherries and a banana cream pie ...

My first meals were a whole canteloupe, 1/2 pound strawberries and a head of romaine w/shredded carrots. Eric told me to eat a pound of strawberries. I laughed. Well, one hour later I was hungrier than a horse. I probably ended up eating 2 pounds of fruit at the end of the day. Man, I can see how this can be addictive. Honestly, I've always considered fruit a dessert and now I eat dessert all day long, who'd have guessed! I had so much energy today, I could barely sit still long enough to write this. I'll keep you posted.

Comprehensive in scope yet simple in implementation, the 80/10/10 approach makes good sense. Every element of the program is based in hard science, and every meal is delicious and appealing. Fresh, juicy fruit takes center stage in this symphony of simple taste sensations, and tender greens and nonsweet fruits like tomatoes are their sole accompaniments. Grains, legumes, supplements, superfoods, dehydrates, juices, stimulating condiments, and refined oils play no part in the 80/10/10 program, and the healthful fats in nuts, seeds, avocados, and coconuts are invited for rare guest appearances only.

Essentially, The 80/10/10 Diet outlines a plan that derives a minimum of eighty percent of its calories from carbohydrates. All the best science points to this key dietary concept, yet no approach has taken the low-fat vegan plan to its rightful heights, because they all rely upon the consumption of cooked, complex carbohydrates as their primary calorie source. Starches and grains are bland foods, so inevitably we end up compromising their potential health value by amending them with fat, refined or chemical sweeteners, and salt. Dr. Graham bypasses the entire problem by using the simple carbohydrates in fruits as the main staple of his program.

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Labels: fruit, grocery store, raw vegan, supermarket, vegan, veganism