Hi Beth,

I was 100% raw vegan for a year and a half, and just followed 80 10 10 for the last three months, so I guess this is the one question on this forum I might be in a position to answer :)

I would not recommend going on Dr. Graham's program 100%, in the end it caused more food sensitivities and health issues for me, and moreover, on his board at VegSource he allegedly deletes any negative posts- I certainly have never seen anything but glowing reviews. Rhio's raw food page seems to have some of the deleted negative posts. If this is the case that's really unethical and makes him even more suspect to me.

However, in answer to your question, the 80 10 10 program is a backlash against a really big problem in the raw food world- mixing fat (and raw fats, good though they are, are very dense) with sugar. A lot of raw foodists have some serious candida issues. Graham is right on this one, the fat keeps the Sugar in your bloodstream longer and ferments with it in your gut, contributing to big candida problems and bacterial dysbiosis.

I wouldn't worry so much about percentages of fats/proteins/ carbs or alkalizing foods (even fruit and nuts are only mildly acidic compared to most things). Just try to make vegetables the center of everything and you'll be fine. Instead, I would focus intensely on food combining and making sure that any fruit Sugar you eat is able to be quickly processed through your body so that it doesn't cause fermentation and bring on all the bad stuff.

The best way to do this is only to have fruit (low GI preferably) in the morning by itself, have a salad or veggies for lunch, and save your dense proteins and fats for dinner, so you have a good 8 hours of sleeping to digest them alone. And even if it is said to be okay, never have dried fruit and nuts together- in fact, avoid dried fruit if you can-

Hope that helps!

I had IBS, candida and more and healed it through raw diets.

I wouldn't worry about percentages or bother calorie counting, it's a waste of time. Worry about the quality of your food. As long as you're eating whole unprocessed foods you're going in the right direction.

When I first started, I ate a fruitarian diet, 100% fruit. That helped Candida and IBS but did nothing for other problems and I started to get unhealthy again. I then switched in a vegan diet for several months before realizing that it also wasn't health giving for me. It was only when I switched to the Primal Diet from Aajonus Vonderplanitz that I found exceptional health. However, I believe that a period of being vegan or fruitarian was an important cleansing period before shifting into the Primal Diet.

So what I'm suggesting is that you can follow other people's plan, but listen to your body as well. As long as the food is raw and organic, you're at least not doing any further harm to you body. You can then experiment with what kind of diet is right for you. http://www.mercola.com
Mercola talks about carb eaters vs protein eaters in his book.

Here is a guy who healed Crohn's through a vegan diet.
http://www.colitis-crohns.com/



And yes, food combinations are important. I learned about food combinations through Dr Bass, a natural hygienicist.
http://drbass.com/


Anyway, good luck, you'll have success if you stick to this plan for long enough.