Some people have taken to eating uncooked foods in an effort to lose weight, but Alissa Cohen says a raw food diet does much more for her than that.

Cohen has followed the raw food diet for more than 20 years.

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"People do it to lose weight and then realize how amazing they feel," Cohen said.

Many are interested in the lifestyle and diet because of weight loss claims and other health benefits.

Cohen, 40, who has written "Living On Raw Food" and created a DVD on the topic, said many people have the wrong idea of what the diet entails, thinking raw foodists eat raw meat and cold food. But the diet includes unprocessed and uncooked plant foods, such as fresh fruit and vegetables, sprouts, seeds, nuts, grains, beans, nuts and dried fruit.

"I'm not eating things cold out of the refrigerator," Cohen said. "I make almost every food that I eat, before but it is just not cooked."

Cohen's Web site includes a few sample recipes. The living pizza is said to be "better than the real thing."

The crust is made from sprouted grains and seeds and vegetables and then dehydrated. The tomato sauce is made from sun-dried tomatoes, dates, garlic and herbs. The creamy cheese topping is made from a variety of nuts, vegetables and spices. The pizza is topped with avocadoes, mushrooms, spinach and onions.

Why Not Heat Food?

She added that the foods are often prepared using a dehydrator to preserve the enzymes. According to Living and Raw Foods "raw foodists prepare dishes by keeping the temperature below 116 degrees."

The act of heating food over 116 degrees destroys enzymes in food, they believe.

"Enzymes assist in the digestion of foods," the Web site said. "They are known to be the 'Life-Force' and or 'energy' of food."

They are also assist in the digestion and absorption of food, the site says.

Healing Claims

Cohen said the benefits of a raw diet are "amazing," adding that she knows of cases when vision, Fibromyalgia, diabetes, hepatitis C, skin diseases and cancer have been healed.

She added that following a raw food lifestyle will just make people feel better.

"You have so much more energy," she said. "You have a natural buzz."

Cohen said she would not eat any other way and recommends the diet constantly.

"By eating a raw- and living-food diet, you will begin to turn back the hands of time. People who eat raw food have a glow to their skin, a shine to their hair, a sparkle in their eyes, a healthy, fit, body and look younger than their age," she wrote on her Web site.

Gourmet Restaurant

Because of the growing popularity of the raw food diet, Cohen has opened a gourmet raw food restaurant in Boston.

Grezzo Restaurant features 100 percent raw, organic vegan dishes, such as gnocchi Alfredo, three-way ravioli, butternut squash soup and chocolate fudge cake on the menu.

Grezzo means raw in Italian.

The restaurant will not use dairy, animal products, animal-derived products, maple syrup, nutritional yeast, cooked vinegars, canned food or processed ingredients because these items have been cooked.

At Grezzo, raw foodists will know that their nutritional food needs will be met.

"It is going to be an upscale raw food restaurant with whatever you would think of but just raw," she said.

Is Raw Really Good?

Suzanne Hobbs, a registered dietician and faculty member for the University of North Carolina, conducted research on 17 raw foodists to find out information about their attitudes, practices and beliefs.

"They talked about that they heal faster, have fewer digestive problems, have more energy, increased mental clarity and need less sleep," said Hobbs, a vegetarian who has had a long-time interest in raw foodism because of increased media attention.

Hobbs, whose study was published in the July 2005 issue of Explore, said those who she interviewed experienced great benefits by following the diet. Explore is a medical journal on science and healing.

"They lost weight and continued to feel good. In fact, they felt great," she said.

Although the study revealed that the raw foodists felt better, a raw food diet does not give a person all of the necessary dietary needs, such as calcium and protein, she said.

"I would take a middle ground by simply adding more fruits and vegetables," Hobbs said. "I don't mean regular-size servings. I mean heaping servings -- way more than what we eat." Other Links:

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