What you don't know about the raw food diet

Carol Alt, one of the most famous supermodels in the world, says eating raw food is what has kept her slimmer, healthier and more energized for two decades. Carol stopped by The Shine to talk about her raw food lifestyle and how it’s cured her headaches, stomach problems and fatigue. In her book, “Easy Sexy Raw”, Carol shares raw food recipes and explains how to follow the raw food diet on a budget. If any of you are wondering: what exactly is raw food? Raw food is food that hasn’t been cooked over 115 degrees. Carol notes that “when you cook food, you basically destroy the food. You destroy the bonds between the vitamins and minerals. You destroy the enzymes, so really raw food is food that is good for the body and very nutritious.                                                                                                                                                                                  

In this episode, The Shine's Host Allison Fishman is wearing:                                                                 Dress by Zara
Bracelets by Finn Jewelry
Shoes by
Aldo   

While critics of the diet warn against nutritional deficiencies, Carol says eating raw has only given her positive results. “I was off all my over-the-counter meds. I immediately lost weight. The bloat in the body went down. My energy picked up. I was sleeping better. My heartburn went away. I never had a headache, a cold, a flu, a sinus infection, an allergy attack…all those things kind of disappeared. I never realized how much of these things were the result of eating bad food."

But are there any drawbacks to eating raw? Carol says, “Maybe sometimes people may have trouble digesting the food. Take a couple of digest aids, there are plenty of enzymes out there that can help you with that.”

Carol claims she can find a “raw twin” to practically every food, even pizza. She says many foods can be “raw” through dehydrating. “You can make all these things dehydrated. So you can get pizza texture, you can get cakes, cookies. It’s not what you eat. It’s how you eat it.”                                                                                                                                                                                                                          For tips on eating raw on a budget, Carol explains how most raw foods can be purchased right at the supermarket. She suggests buying in bulk and making your own snacks. “You can make in a a dehydrator chips, potato chips, zucchini chips, onion chips, onion dips, onion rings, breads, so many things. It’s cheaper to make them, than to buy them.”                                                                                                                                                                   
Have you or would you try the raw food diet? If you have feedback on eating raw, we’d love to here it! Post in the comments below.