People Are Talking About...
Vogue, March 1999
By Joanne Chen, Health and Fitness

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Pity those poor vegetarians who gleefully flaunt their spartan eating habits. They are so over. Diets, unlike fashion and beauty trends, inspire awe because of what they lack, not what they consist of. And so, raw foodism, with an even more restrictive menu, is the trendy eater's new frontier.

In May, HarperCollins will publish a full-color gourmet cookbook, Raw: The UnCookBook. "It's for people who think they've tried everything and are looking for another eating experience," says publisher Judith Regan, who is better known for mega-bestsellers from the likes of Howard Stern and is wildly enthusiastic about the project. (Indeed, because anything made possible by fire or flesh is off-limits, even the ingredients in the gourmet recipes require ingredients. The milk, for instance, needs to be specially prepared by blending almonds with water.) Recently, Cybill Shepherd and Lisa Marie Presley have had Raw author Juliano prepare dinner parties at home. Also on tap is a whole new wave of restaurants. Organica, a raw café in San Francisco, has new owners and a revamped menu of "raw-sagna" and pizza, another called The Raw Truth has just opened in Vegas. At the O2 bar, in Los Angeles, only raw foods are considered worthy enough to be served along with its pricey, oxygen-enriched air. What makes raw foodists more elite (at least in their mind) than Lean Cuisinists is that there's a political/spiritual agenda to their eating habits. As Juliano says, "Landfills are filled with packaging and old machines. When you eat foods raw, there is no packaging. Everything is built in the design."

Thos in the raw also insist that their restrictive diet is good for the mind and body. "Within a couple of weeks, I felt lighter, clearer, and happier. I went from eight-and-a-half hours sleep to five," says Steve Ross, yoga guru to the likes of Meg Ryan and Tea Leoni. Some even say that going raw cures everything from allergies to cancer. Live-i.e., raw-food, they insist, maintains its original makeup of vitamins, minerals, and, more important, enzymes that aid in digestion. Never mind that for most doctors and dietitians, the science isn't convincing. In fact, experts say, each meal must be meticulously orchestrated for one to reap the optimal amount of nutrition needed every day. Perhaps even more difficult, points out Jo Ann Hattner of the American Dietetic Association, "one would have to eat all day, like a cow."