Some Southern Nevadans finding health benefits after switching to uncooked vegetarian foods

Las Vegas Review-Journal, September 4, 2002
By Heidi Knapp Rinella

(An article from Juliano's home town of Las Vegas.) To read this article on the Las Vegas Review-Journal site, click here: Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Bob Saladino remembers well what prompted him to switch to a raw-food diet.

It was about 4 1/2 years ago, and Saladino just wasn't feeling well. A visit to the doctor revealed high cholesterol and high blood pressure. There was some suspicion that he had chronic fatigue syndrome.

"I couldn't sleep at night," Saladino said, "couldn't get up in the morning."

Coincidentally, about a week after his diagnosis, Saladino heard an herbalist on the radio and decided a visit might be in order.

"She said my liver was congested," Saladino said. "I said, `What the hell is that?' "

But when the herbalist recommended a diet of raw foods, Saladino bit. He decided to stick to it for 15 days as a kind of trial.

"I never felt better in my life," he said. "I never really knew what it was like to feel good."

Saladino became a believer, so much so that about four years ago he opened the Raw Truth Cafe and Wellness Center, 3620 E. Flamingo Road, to help spread the gospel of consuming a diet exclusively or primarily composed of raw, vegetarian, organic foods.

The raw-food philosophy -- proponents call themselves "raw-foodists" -- has yet to gain mainstream acceptance, although literature on the topic abounds and raw-food restaurants are cropping up in major cities across the country.

"I've heard a little bit about it," said Barbara Lusk, clinical nutrition manager and a registered dietitian at University Medical Center.

Most nutritional experts lean more toward the idea of careful moderation.

"As dietitians, what we recommend is balance in the diet," Lusk said.

She suggests a diet "in which you have a balance of all the food groups from the (U.S. Department of Agriculture) food pyramid."

That means six to 11 servings per day from the bread, cereal, rice and pasta group; two to four servings of fruit; three to five servings of vegetables; two to three servings of meat, poultry, fish, dry beans, eggs or nuts; two to three servings from the milk, yogurt and cheese group; and fats, oils and sweets used sparingly.

Dedication to raw foods could conceivably be beneficial, Lusk said, "as long as you are including a variety of foods in your diet. You don't want to do something where you are excluding a food group."

Most dedicated raw-foodists eschew most grains and dairy products. But while meat, dairy and eggs, traditional sources of protein, are excluded from a strictly followed raw-food diet, Lusk pointed out that legumes -- such as black-eyed peas, kidney beans and garbanzo beans -- carry protein as well.

"That's considered a portion of your protein group," she said. "Vegetarians get most of their protein from legumes."

And she pointed out that raw foods do tend to be more healthful.

"Raw fruits and vegetables retain more vitamins and minerals that can be lost in the cooking process," Lusk said.

Suzanne Nounna couldn't agree more. But for Nounna, the switch to a raw-food diet was more gradual than it was for Saladino, growing from a lifelong interest in nutrition.

Nounna had some serious health problems through the years, so serious that she figures only her faith in God enabled her to survive. But during her pregnancy seven years ago, when Nounna was confined to bed because of various complications, she found herself eating a diet high in raw foods.

"I would lie in bed and I wasn't supposed to go anywhere," Nounna said. "Not to the bathroom, if I could avoid it, and never to the kitchen."

And so she was limited primarily to what her husband could leave for her before he left for work: bowls of grapes, raw carrots.

She noticed a gradual improvement in her health. And when daughter Ariella was born, Nounna said, Nounna's doctor told her she hadn't thought either of them would survive the pregnancy.

Nounna credits a raw-food diet.

"I think it's one of the major factors, now that I understand, that saved our lives," she said.

And she credits it for the ability of Ariella to cope with what Nounna said are severe chemical sensitivities.

"Being a raw-foodist has given her immune system the best fighting tool she could have," Nounna said.

Vincent Guarino remembers his epiphany as well. He knew his eating habits -- mostly built around fast food and Las Vegas' legendary buffets -- weren't the best.

"I'd sleep eight hours, have a big plate of macaroni, sleep another eight hours," Guarino said. "I knew there was a problem."

He was diagnosed with diabetes. His doctor put him on medication, but Guarino, a cab driver, worried about the side effects. Then, during a blood test a few months later, Guarino said, his doctor diagnosed hepatitis C.

At about the same time, Guarino was talking to a friend who was a raw-food adherent.

"He even feeds his dog a raw-food diet," Guarino said.

Guarino decided to give it a try. He stopped by the Raw Truth and talked to Saladino. He said he adheres to about a 50 percent raw-food diet, although he's more conscious of a healthy diet overall. And in the six months since his diabetes was diagnosed, Guarino said his blood sugar has dropped form 327 to the 90s -- without medication. And in the two months since his hepatitis C was diagnosed, doctors have changed their opinion of it as a "very aggressive" case to one that's "moderate," Guarino said.

Patricia Mullin's testimony is even more dramatic. A personal chef and nutrition counselor, she was diagnosed with breast cancer three years ago. Having seen her mother suffer through conventional treatments -- without success -- she decided to take another route, as a result of being "divorced" by her doctors.

"I did it all alternatively," Mullin said.

In the course of her raw-food diet, she consumed 10 carrot juices a day, "with a lot of greens."

She was diagnosed in remission in May 2001.

"This is my lifestyle now," Mullin said.

Lusk recommended that those with health problems talk over any proposed dietary change with a doctor or registered dietitian.

"Some people who have specific disease states may need to supplement," she said.

"Really, moderation is the key. As long as you have a balanced diet and you are consuming a variety of foods from the food groups, you will maintain your vitamins and minerals."