Raw Foods for Runners?

Thanks for all the laughs, everybody. You guys are hilarious!

I have been following Dr. Graham’s 80/10/10 program for more than 2 years with incredible results. I am stronger, faster, have greater endurance, and am fitter in every way at 38 than I have ever been in my life. And I was a competitive athlete from age 8 to 18. It’s not all about what you eat, of course. But diet is a foundation for a healthy body and a healthy body performs better than a toxic one, plain and simple.

It's challenging to get out of the mainstream way of living and thinking (just listen to all the folks here who can't even imagine that this could be for real). You have to un-learn almost every thing you've been taught to understand the Truth. So it's not for everyone, that's for sure. But what atwell says is true. Every word of it. I don't have to believe what he says because I know it from my own direct personal experience. It's not hard, or unpleasant, crazy, or impossible. It's simple and incredible. Don't take my word for it though. Open your eyes (and your minds), look around, and you'll likely discover that there are lots of athletes (and non-athletes) doing this with great results. Maybe you will choose to experience it for yourself. Are you perfectly happy with your health and fitness? I am, and it just keeps getting better. Hope to see you (healthy and happy) on the trail or the road sometime.

-T

i just want to chime in on crazy diets. I saw this talk by an anthropologist/ecologist who studies people of the southern Sudan who for half of the year get 90% of their calories from camel's milk in various forms.

humans are pretty adaptable beasts. i have to admit that i don't know which i would prefer, 20-30 bananas or 90% milk/cheese/yogurt.

i am thinking that you are an impulsive eater, and when you were eating meat, you would consume maybe 20 cheeseburgers or whatever.. or maybe 20 chicken legs..

so obviously the only way you are running better is because your 3000 calorie meal is less than your 5000 calories and you are losing weight and less weight, easier to run.

also it might be mental thinking you are dominating life by eating the all banana diet, so you believe you will be running faster, therefore doing the self-fulfilling prophesy.

I would be nervous about your bones cracking sometime in your late 40's.. too much of anything - no matter how good, will backfire.

good luck and variety is so much more fun!

Video was horrible. Need to work on the quality.

I really question this intelligence. Just suppositions, and guesses. Good luck with that.

Being all raw is like being all Christian. Just doesn't add up.

holmstrom:

"Video was horrible. Need to work on the quality."

LOL!

I knew I should have hired a professional! Maybe throw in some special effects or do some cartwheels or something. I'll work on that :)

80/10/10 diet? That's a horrible ratio for anyone let alone an athlete.

You NEED protein. You NEED fat. Studies say our species evolved bigger brains by eating cooked meat.

This is so ridiculous.

Actually...

http://www.active.com/story.cfm?CHECKSSO=0&STORY_ID=13101

"As you might expect, the Kenyan-runners' diets were extremely rich in carbohydrate, with 76.5 percent of daily calories coming from carbs. The Kenyans ate about 10.4 grams of carbohydrate per kilogram of body mass each day, or approximately 4.7 grams per pound of body weight."

If you like bananas you are going to hate this link. They could be gone in 5-10 years.

http://scitech.blogs.cnn.com/2008/03/06/gone-bananas/

areyourich wrote:

You must have more money than me, because I would never spend $6 on a meal.

Um, either you are smart and save your money well or you are poor. Get a friggin job!

my question would be:

How long have you been on this diet?

I don't argue that there is a benefit of eating a VARIETY of raw foods, but I don't see how eating 20-30 bananas for a standard meal could be considered healthy in the long run.

Enhanced running performance is not always a good measure of a good diet or health.

balance is the key:

I don't have an "all banana diet". I can handle all bananas for about 3 days, and then I really want to eat some other fruit. Besides fruit, I also have raw vegetables, nuts, & seeds daily. Its not as restricted as what you think.

jeff michigan:

I have only been on this diet for about 6 months. I tried it, as an experiment, after a period of poor running. But many people have been on it for much longer. T above says he has been on it for 2 years. Dr. Doug Graham, the author of The 80/10/10 Diet book, has been on it for 20-30 years, I think.

I do eat a variety of fruits (and also vegetables, nuts, & seeds). Bananas are just the #1 contributor because they are cheap & easy to eat.

I'm going to start this 811 deal today. Could you give me some tips on getting the most fruit for the least amount of money? I usually spend about $70-80 a week on groceries. Do you think this is enough to get what I need? I am running in the 50 mpw range now, increasing throughout the summer up into the 90's. Also, what do you have for recovery drinks? Smoothies? OJ?

$70-80/week! I don't advocate this diet, but I'm sure you will spend much less unless you do indeed eat $6 worth of bananas for a meal (a wasteful way to eat IMHO).

I still don't see how this diet can be balanced ethically with caring for the earth (or if this is a concern). I am not saying that it cannot be, I just would like to hear an argument that it is an ethically responsible thing to do. I hope that the only argument for this diet is not simply improving racing performance. Eating 20-30 bananas for a meal does not seem to be a responsible way of eating. Forgive me if I missed this argument in an earlier post.

I eat mostly fruits and vegetables along with things like couscous, lentils, pasta, cereal and I spend at the very most $50/week running around 70 miles/week (usually closer to $35). My average meal is well under $3 and is usually under $2. However, I have a great Farmer's Market that allows me to buy fresh fruits and veggies very cheap. I would guess that the price of this diet would increase 50 cents/meal on 100 mpw. I am a vegetarian thinking about being vegan. I am also thinking about buying into a local farm coop and that may be a bit more expensive but would be a way of supporting the local economy.

I don't advocate this diet, but how is eating alot of bananas hurting the earth?

summa runna:

I am happy to hear that somebody here is willing to give this a shot. As areyourrich mentioned, farmers markets can be a good place to get cheap fruit. I also buy boxes of fruit at Costco. A lot of people on this diet do make smoothies. Dr. Graham's book has got some recipies in it. Smoothies are generally seen as being preferable to juice, because smoothies contain the whole fresh fruit, with all the nutrients.

areyourich:

I am not an expect on the ethics of raw veganism by any means, but I'll tell you a bit about what I've read about it. Basically people claim that an acre of orchard can yield more calories than an acre of grain. Furthermore they point out that while grain crops lead to depletion of topsoil, orchards pull their nutrients from deep down in the subsoil, which aids in nutrient recycling. Also, trees protect the soil from erosion, and last for decades, unlike grain crops.

Thanks for the response. I will have to read up on the environmental benefits of orchard as opposed to grain. I think someone else here asked how I thought this could harm the earth. I was basically working off of a large assumption:

The U.S. consumes much of the worlds resources and much of this is imported. I remember hearing that we consume many imported bananas (from Jamaica, etc.) in relation to other nations as well. I simply assumed that this would force more land in other nations to be used for bananas and consuming mass quantities of bananas (20-30 in a sitting) would further perpetuate this process. Perhaps my assumption is incorrect and perhaps there it is just impossible to be a moral consumer while living in America.

I don't know why everybody is getting hung up on "20-30 bananas". This is not really the norm, atwell just happens to be an ultra-marathoner and needs a heck of a lot more calories than most others. I usually eat from 10-15 after a workout. Others eat more or less depending on their bodytype & lifestyle. Other meals, I'll mix it up & eat other fruits & veggies. I usually end up getting around 3,000 calories a day.

Also, I don't understand why some people in here continue to be negative & narrow minded while it's pretty obvious that you haven't looked into the diet at all. Have any of you actually checked out

http://www.foodnsport.com

and looked through the articles? I'm sure that even if think this diet is total crap, you'll find at least a few tidbits that make sense and see where we're coming from.

If I wasn't thriving on this diet & felt like I was doing harm to myself, why the heck would I continue to do it?