When we initially saw the email in our inbox, we feared the worst.
Uh-oh...what is mainstream TV going to say about raw foods this time?
We TV, the televison network for women with shows like Bridezillas and reruns of Dharma and Greg and the Golden Girls, have created a new season of all-new episodes for their popular original series The Secret Lives of Women. And this season they're exposing the secret life of being of women who eat 'Extreme Diets'.
Guess which diet made it into this episode?
Don't think about it too hard, just take a look at the URL of the page you are on right now...
After all....we have seen raw food highlighted in the media in a negative light more than once before. And since the title of the show is about "the secret life" of women, we wondered how they would slant raw food. Is raw food a cult? Is raw food "extreme"?
WeTV's PR people were kind enough to send us over an early DVD copy of the full episode before it airs this coming Tuesday, August 25th, so we're going to give you our full opinion on the piece.
Our Review of WeTV's 'Extreme Diets' - The Secret Life of Women and Raw Food
OK....yes, they call the episode Extreme Diets, but overall the show was very well produced and did not take an editorial slant for or against any diet or lifestyle in this episode. The producers intent in showing an honest and balanced perspective on how each woman lives their "secret" life comes through brightly in this episode.
In the episode, four women are featured who are on 'extreme diets'. The four women profiled include a woman who lost weight through faith in God and runs a faith-based weight loss business, a woman who has maintained a diet based purely on calorie restriction for 15 years, a woman who is a freegan and eats only food that others throw away...and a woman who is a raw foodist.
We in this particular community know this raw food woman as our own beautiful Gabrielle Brick.
Gabrielle Brick is a well known as raw food enthusiast, caterer, and instructor. She is also the creator of The One Chocolate Bar: a low-glycemic, raw chocolate bar created in small 1 oz sizes.
The episode follows Gabrielle as she is shown making food in her own kitchen, shopping at the farmers market, teaching a raw food class, and catering an event for spiritual and psychedelic artist Alex Grey. Hey, it even features Gabrielle's Mom!
Of all the women they profiled, it is our opinion that Gabrielle is probably going to be the most interesting to non-raw viewers. Her food was vibrant, her interviews with the show were honest and warm, and compared to all the other women, she looked very healthy, vivacious and glowing.
Usually when raw food gets some mainstream press like this, there is a large upwelling of interest from people new to this type of lifestyle...this show is probably going to get new people interested in raw food like when Angela Stokes was featured on CNN detailing her amazing weight loss story.
Which 'Diet' is Not Like the Others?
What we found particularly interesting about this show, is that that raw food is the only diet featured in this episode about "Extreme Diets" that is really about...well, a diet!
For example, caloric restriction is an idea based off of scientific studies of rats and fruit flies living longer on less calories. Caloric restriction has some amazing research behind it and is practiced and praised by many in the raw community (including Gabriel Cousens), but isn't really about the food at all...it's about eating a lower amount of calories.
Freeganism is more of a movement about wastefulness and eco-friendly living than about the food itself.
And the woman who runs the faith-based dietary movement is about using faith in God as the basis to not eat too much, too many fried foods, etc. You can see them eating a Standard American Diet throughout their segments. Meat and potatoes, anyone?
We find all of that extremely fascinating. Speaking of 'Extreme', we found it even more fascinating that a diet rich in superfoods, fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, sprouts, seaweeds, and that has a massive variety of foods and nutrients is considered extreme by some people. Personally, both of us eat more variety of foods with a higher nutrient profile (probably in the thousands of times more than we ever have before) since eating a diet high in raw foods, superfoods, and herbs.
With that said...on to the show!
Watch a clip from the show featuring Gabrielle!
Make sure you watch the show on August 25th. If you can't make it then or are unable to DVR or TiVo it, check out the times they will be broadcasting this episode by clicking here.
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Are you reading this after the episode has aired and you saw it? Tell us what you think, whether you are raw or not!
- Heidi & JS
Raw Food Right Now
http:/www.RawFoodRightNow.com
