raw foods: There is a lot of talk and books on the raw food diet. I have read a book and watched some DVD's. I really want to try it. Has anyone had success in actually feeling better and getting more energy. I just want to know if it actually works and if we really can live healthy without cook foods.|||Yes, the raw diet is great. I've been on it for about 6 years. I'm not totally raw, I do eat some cooked food once in a while, but I eat about 75% raw and feel pretty good. Here's a site I found with lots of raw and mostly raw recipes:|||I haven't tried it but do have a few suggestions if you do decide on it. I don't doubt that a raw food diet is healthy & beneficial. Highly nutritious foods you should con: sprouts, spirulina, paprika, coconut oil & milk, garlic, brewers yeast, raw almonds & chia seeds. Paprika - 1 Tablespoon = 20 cal = 71% DV Vit.A - 8% DV Vit.C - 10% DV Vit.E - 14% DV Vit.B6 - 9% DV Iron & others way too many to list. Brewer's Yeast Powder - Two tblspns. provide a whole lot of nutrition! 158% RDA Chromium - 90% Selenium - 88% B2 - 80% B1 - 50% Copper - 50% Niacin - 40% B6 & others way too many to list. It tastes peanutty to me. I have been adding it to sesame butter, a lil raw honey, coconut cream & coconut oil, powdered whey and tastes like peanut butter to me! Chia seeds sound so expensive but 1# will make 10# food - Amazon.com has couple lbs. for $16 shipped to you. I buy in bulk (24#) from getchia.com for $6# with free shipping. Chia seeds - 3.5 oz is nearly 500 calories, half calories from fat (high in Omega3 fatty acids) 38g fiber 151%DV & 16grams of COMPLETE protein for 6grams carbs & 63% DV Calcium - 95% Phosphorus - 23% Zinc - 9% Copper - 108% Manganese. Faux tapioca - 2 cups of water, 5 scoops of low carb whey protein powder, stir together & add cup of chia seeds, after they have started to absorb the water, add in 2 cans of coconut milk & sweetener if you like and mix it all in. Can be eaten after an hour but will be better tomorrow. Cream a pkg. of cream cheese into a can of pumpkin and add to the faux tapioca for an even more nutritious pumpkin pie pudding. Raw nuts are living and full of the energy of life and should be capable of building a tree. Roasted nuts are dead & they may still provide some nutrients, but none can compare to the nutrients and enzymes from a live food. Unfortunately, raw does not necessarily mean living. For example - Commercially sold almonds are now required to be pasteurized turning a live food into a dead one. You can not sprout an almond that has been irradiated. I buy my almonds direct from growers off ebay. I get 20# for less than $3# including shipping. April 6, 2007 - Small-scale farmers, retailers, and consumers are outraged over a new federal regulation that will require all almonds grown in California to be sterilized with various “pasteurization” techniques. The rule, which the USDA quietly developed in response to outbreaks of Salmonella in 2001 and 2004, traced to raw almonds, mandates that all almonds undergo a sterilization process that includes chemical and/or high-temperature treatments. The only exemption to these new regulations will be ... small-scale growers who can sell truly raw almonds but only direct to the public Almonds- 3.5oz - 575 cal - 72% calories from fat for 10gram carb & 26% DV Calcium - 48% Phosphorus - 21% Zinc - 50% Copper - 114% Manganese - 4% Selenium - 67% Magnesium - 21% Iron - 14% Thiamin - 60% B2 Riboflavin - 17% B3 Niacin - 7% Vit.B6 - 12% Folate - 5% Vit.B5.- 131% Vit.E