Wife Swap Raw Food Diet?

I'm starting to think I watch too much television. Last time it was Extreme Cheapskates, tonight it's Wife Swap - which I usually find quite amusing. Not tonight though.

Of course the premise of the show is switch complete opposite personalities, makes for better television, of course! I just thought some of the following things quite odd!

Tonight, it was a family of four (15 year old boy and 13? year old girl) who live in rural Iowa on a farm. They believe in eating raw food - and I'm not talking just raw vegetables - they eat raw meat that is 4 months old. They don't believe in cleaning products, they don't believe in washing their hands, they make their own toothpaste out of butter and clay, their kids don't go to school and receive their education from working on the farm, and they have to eat every 5 hours - which wouldn't be completely odd, except they all have to wake up at 2 am to eat spoiled milk or raw eggs. Oh yes, and they don't drink water because they think it dehydrates the body.

Here's a little clip: WIFE SWAP - Dad Cries Over Cooked Food (Haigwood/Hess-Webb)

And the other family is from a large city with two young kids (4 and 6 year old boys). They believe that looks are very important - the dad who is a full-time nurse is also a part-time stylist. They eat out 4-5 times a week and believe that their kids should have international tastes when it comes to food (i.e. chinese food, thai food, italian food - all takeout) and they believe that listening to classical music boosts the IQ by 6 points.

Just curious if anyone has tried a raw food diet? Or heard of anyone that has? Hmm *scratches head*

And just as a fun side bit: would you ever do wife swap or trading spouses? What kind of family do you think would be your complete opposite?

I think a high-raw, mostly vegan diet is probably really healthy but these people sound like whackadoodles. I have never heard of people regarding old, rotted raw meat and spoiled old milk as healthful. Their standards of sanitation and hygiene frankly sound medieval, as does their suspicion of water. Wow.

I admit I watch a lot of crap tv and my husband would readily agree. I think I should start a crap tv blog, cos this stuff really grinds my gears!

If the families were 'normal' it wouldn't make for interesting TV, would it?

Like aimlesstraveller said, a raw diet can be healthy.  I worked in a natural food market for 15 years so you can imagine I saw every time of diet on the spectrum.  There were lots of raw food people.  We even sold raw food desserts (Like the one Hugh Feranley Whittingstall made on the series when he became a vegetarian for a summer) like yummy chocolate tart, raw pizza, raw hummus--all scrumptious.

Most of the raw food people I knew were vegan and certainly wouldn't avoid water or eat meat, let alone rotten meat.  Whackadoodles, indeed.

High meat! There are, of course, a ton of message boards out there on this.  My favourite was a woman complaining that her 2 year old wouldn't eat ground heart, but preferred carrots.  HA! Ha ha ha.

I am sure some people can have a raw food diet and be healthy, but the reason humans are the way we are is because of cooked food.  It is easier to get more calories with less bulk filling you up allowing your body and brain to develop as opposed to foraging for food constantly and using up calories digesting. 

Also, it wouldn't be sustainable at all in terms of the environment.

www.livescience.com/2764-cooking-cognition-humans-smart.html

 

I was a raw vegan for about 2 years. I actually never felt better, but it was so hard to keep up, especially as I had to cook for my (ex) husband. I belonged to a large online community and a lot of the people scared me in their extremes. (I wasn't fully "accepted" as I still wore makeup and nail polish, and still used *gasp* hairspray.) Also, I didn't like the looks of people who had done this long-term (over 10 years). To me, they looked like walking skeletons, and appeared much older than they were. I think short term, it can be very healthy, but long term, it really drains your body of essential vitamins. JMO

No, I don't think I'd ever want to do a swap. I like my own bed and own bathroom.

Haha my husband always mocks my wife-swap habit! But I can't stop watching if I see it on! I don't think I've seen that one though. I'm assuming they are not going about doing things hygienically but if they were, surely spoiled milk is yoghurt and prosciutto is "raw" meat but people eat it as is.  I don't think I could get behind an enforced 2am meal though! Yikes!

I would do a wife swap but my husband has said that there is no chance, haha. I don't think we're interesting enough to make it on telly anyway though. I can't imagine who we would swap with, maybe some really religious 'disciplinarian' style family.

My next door neighbors in LA were on an almost identical "diet."  It was disgusting and there were a couple of times where they left their raw food (meat) on our shared balcony...gross.  We had to have the building manager speak to them a few times about it (and the building manager was her step-father...and he was the only normal one in that family). 

These people also would not bathe in anything other than lemons and some water nor would they use deodorant (her husband didn't bathe at all).  They also would stand outside each morning and stare at the sun for 15 minutes. 

Once they got really sick (violently ill), but refused to go to the doctor's as they "didn't believe in them."  They were sick for a month and lost so much weight...and mind you, the wife was tiny to begin with and couldn't afford to lose much weight.  However, after this, they still didn't learn and still do the same things and eat the same foods. 

One time, she and I were talking and the subject of our food bills came up (I was complaining about LA prices).  She mentioned that she spends about $2K in food for the two of them because they have to have it specially ship to them from their one source.  REALLY??!!

I wish I were making this up, but sadly, I'm not.  I actually didn't think that there were that many others doing something like this.

I just made the mistake of reading this thread by eating lunch. 

Fruits and veggies are best eaten raw, I think, although there are some that need to be cooked to release their full nutritional potential. Raw fish (sushi) and raw milk, sure. I think that everyone needs some cooked food in the diet, though. Like Fallgal says, even 100% raw veganism isn't necessarily good long-term (although neither is the opposite--100% cooked meat and refined carbs). We all need some level of diversity in our diets to be healthy. I try to eat a lot of raw fruits and veggies, mostly in the form of green smoothies, which are really big in the raw community (but just generally a really good way to get lots and lots of raw greens in a very painless way).

Kbee, your old neighbors sound really disturbing, especially since they were living in an apartment and obviously inflicted gross smells, etc on you.

Kbee, your old neighbors sound really disturbing, especially since they were living in an apartment and obviously inflicted gross smells, etc on you.

You have no idea.  They were a level of disgusting I never encountered before that nor hope to ever encounter again.

I agree with you on balance.  As much as I love meats, I also enjoy a nice vegetarian meal or something as simple as a veggie side or a piece of fruit for a snack.  Having one or the other all the time isn't good for you.  I don't believe we were "designed" to have either extreme.