A raw food diet might not sound appetising for winter, but self-confessed 'raw obsessive' Shazzie thinks it's the key to her health and wellbeing - whatever the season. The presenter and author tells Nel Staveley about the benefits of cutting cooking.

 

When the clocks go back, and we shudder at autumn's first frost, it's tempting to reach for the comfort food; a nice warming pot of stew, perhaps, or a plate of Shepherd's Pie.

Most of us believe eating warm food will instantly warm up our mood, a default response engraved from childhood and the memories of your mum's home-cooked delights on dark, windswept Sunday evenings.

But raw food expert Shazzie believes that if you really want to get through winter - and beyond - with a smile, you need to ditch cooked meals altogether.

The idea's as basic as it sounds; instead of cooking food, you only consume food that's raw.

It's principles started millennia ago, before cookers were invented, but the raw food diet has been gaining momentum in the modern world, partly thanks to the endorsement of celebrity followers like Demi Moore and Natalie Portman, and advocates like mother-of-one Shazzie.

"No animals cook their food," she explains simply. "And they don't get the illnesses we do. We are an over-weight starving culture, because nutrient-deficient foods dominate out lives. When food is raw, the nutrients are intact and the body gets what it needs without having to over-stuff itself."

Shazzie discovered the benefits of raw food back in 2000, after suffering increased weight, unhealthy skin, depression and lack of energy.

"I started researching food and realised I was deficient in a lot of stuff. I realised I was causing my body stress by feeding it food it just couldn't process."

After doing some research, she shifted to eating only raw food, and says "all her symptoms disappeared". She lost weight, her skin cleared up, her head felt less muddled and she "felt enthusiastic about life, for the first time ever".

Having lifted her own "cooking fog", she became determined to help others, writing a blog and numerous books about her diet and personal transformation. She's travelled the world meeting other raw food gurus and, in 2012, began presenting her current TV show, Raw Kitchen.

Despite her obvious love of the diet - which she says is the reason she now never goes to the doctors, feels 'superhuman' and looks at least a decade younger than her 44 years - Shazzie does admit it's not always easily accepted by new recruits.

"Some people make it difficult, because there are many sub-groups of raw foodism," she says.

People also associate the diet with being pricey, because basic and cheap cupboard staples like pasta and bread are banned.

"But following a raw food diet is much less expensive than sick days and prescriptions due to eating food your body can't process," she points out.

Back on the offensive, Shazzie quickly extols another virtue of eating raw; you don't have to calorie count: "A calorie isn't always a calorie in the body. The body needs an abundance of foods it can recognise and assimilate. Raw food is just the right fuel for our bodies."

It's also a diet that doesn't need to completely take over your life and if you want to give it a go, Shazzie says eating at least 50% raw is enough to still reap the benefits.

"99% of the food I eat is raw, but adding any raw food will have a massive impact," she says "You'll get more energy, need less sleep, become clearer in your vision - it can literally alter your life."

Tempted? Here are two of Shazzie's recipes to try out.

Cucumber soup

(Serves 2)

400ml water, not quite boiled from a kettle

70g shelled hemp seeds

½ cucumber

½ avocado

½ red pepper

1 small tomato

1 celery stalk

1 clove of garlic

¼ small red onion

10ml Udo's Choice oil

Optional garnish:

10ml hemp seed oil

5g Seagreens or powdered broccoli sprouts

Stone and skin the avocado. Put all the ingredients into a high-powered blender and blend until smooth. Serve in two lovely big bowls, drizzle with extra oil, and sprinkle a few more Seagreens on top before tucking right in.


Chilli Con Cacoa

(Serves 4)

2 cloves of garlic

2 ripe medium tomatoes

1 cup of basil, loosely packed

10 rosemary leaves

6 sun-dried tomatoes

Squeeze of lemon

1tsp (heaped) of cayenne powder

4 Peruvian dried olives, soaked for 30 minutes

2tbsp of organic, unsweetened chocolate powder

½ red pepper

½ cup of dried mixed mushrooms

¼ cup of olive oil

4 courgettes

Finely chop the garlic and rosemary. Dice the tomatoes and peppers. Slice the olives, and discard the stones. Add all the ingredients except the oil and courgettes to the food processor. If possible, crush the mushrooms in your hands before adding them. Process until the mixture is even and still chunky. Leave for 10 minutes for the mushrooms to expand and soak up some of the juice. Stir in the olive oil.

Peel the courgettes and grate them. Pat with kitchen paper if they aren't dry. Divide into four, and place on a plate, using a round mould. Dent the top slightly so the chilli can fit into it.

Top the courgettes with equal amounts of chilli and serve.


Tried and tested

Abi Jackson sups soup in style

What is it?

Sistema Soup To Go is basically a lunch box for soup - a sturdy plastic mug, with a specially designed lid and three clips to ensure it's shut tight and doesn't leak in your bag. You don't need a separate bowl, as you simply pop the container into the microwave - releasing the steam valve on the top first - heat it up then eat straight out of it. Comes in a choice of seven bright colours.


What's it like?

Handy! Soup is a great lunch choice, especially for winter, and can be as hearty or as light as you choose, and making it yourself is a great way of packing in extra nutrients and reducing salt and additives. I've wasted a small fortune buying lunch at work every day in the past, so these days I'm eager to bring in my own as often as possible, but transporting soup can be a nightmare - it only takes a small nudge to knock the lid off some containers! The Sistema lids are well-designed and, while I still wrapped it in a plastic bag and made sure it was upright, it didn't leak. With a 656ml capacity, the mug can carry a decent portion too. It's also freezer-safe, so you can prepare your lunch the night - or nights - before. The Sistema range also features other containers, including a bowl for porridge.


Information

Sistema Soup To Go mug, from £4.99, available from various shops including Robert Dyas, Lakeland, Asda, John Lewis and Morrisons

:: Raw Kitchen is on The Active Channel (Sky 281 and Freesat 408) on Wednesdays. For more information visit www.theactivechannel.com