In Focus | Raw food experiment

Embracing a raw food diet: Day four

Gulf News reporter Kevin Scott ate nothing but uncooked fruit and vegetables for a week, a diet embraced by Video Editor Jaye Lentin. In this serialised diary, Kevin writes about how he got on during each day of the extreme diet.

  • By Kevin Scott, Multimedia Reporter
  • Published: 13:23 July 6, 2010

Quavers
  • Image Credit: Supplied
  • A packet of Quavers crisps.

DAY FOUR: Monday, June 7: Quavergate

Initially, I was concerned about the social impact of a week on the raw food diet. Eating and drinking inevitably plays a key role whenever I meet up with friends so I had images of BBQs where I was stood in the corner eating a lettuce wrap and dinner parties where fruit was the only thing not forbidden. However, it has not really transpired like that; in fact I have actually found myself speaking to numerous people in the office for the very first time.

Everybody seems intrigued about the diet and in particular how I am faring on it. Some people have remarked that ‘my face is already looking thinner’ but the majority simply exclaim: ‘You can’t eat bread/cheese/crisps? There is no way I could do that’. Fortunately it has actually been a quiet week socially so I don’t feel like I have missed out on very much.

In terms of the food, I have come to the conclusion that things don’t turn out very well when I try to get creative. The guacamole and the hummus were both pretty disastrous so I have stuck to just eating fruit and raw vegetables. Lunch today consisted of a red pepper stuffed with pieces of butternut and dinner was a plate of lettuce leaves with spring onion, celery, carrots and a homemade salsa consisting of avocados, tomatoes, onions and coriander.

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It is also important to stress that along with the diet I have been exercising for 30 minutes each day and going to bed relatively early. I normally swim around 30-40 lengths in the evening time and then aim to get to sleep around 10pm.

My other half has actually been quite good as she has also been on the diet each day from between 7.30am and 6pm. However, she has been unable to negotiate the tricky period between 6pm and 8pm when the cravings are at their greatest. Further to that she has just revealed that yesterday evening she committed the heinous crime of eating a packet of Quavers (crisps) in the car park of our building because she didn’t want to eat them in front of me. I suppose that is very thoughtful of her but it does make me wonder about what other food she has sneakily devoured over the course of the last few days.

Comments (3)

  1. Added 23:15 July 7, 2010

    Hang on Kevin! You can make it. Hope your will not devout what you left behind after the 7 days.

    Fritz, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

  2. Added 17:45 July 6, 2010

    Other questions: 1) is pepper (the spice) allowed? olive oil? sea salt? 2) what is a butternut?

    Jamie, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

  3. Added 15:20 July 6, 2010

    Hey Kevin, It would be great if we could find out how your body is feeling. Have you noticed any changes in energy like Jaye reported? How have your cravings been? Are there certain flavors you crave the most (salt vs. sugar, etc)? This whole vegan feature has inspired me to go vegan/raw for a week (today is my day 1), so I've been following your progress closely. Would love more details on your experience! I've also got some questions for Jaye: 1) Are we allowed to eat avocado or nuts every day? (for me, having something really substantial in the evening is a must) 2) Tips on navigating the fruit-veggie market? How do you buy stuff if they don't speak English (and you don't speak Hindi/Urdu/Arabic/etc) 3) Are canned beans/corn acceptable, or do they follow the same rule as the olives? Thanks!

    Jamie, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

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