The 80 10 10 Diet

This diet was designed by Dr. Douglas Graham and he has been practising it for over 25 years!

Essentially, eating 80 10 10 (811rv) for short, involves aiming to consume on average 80% calories from carbohydrates, 10% from fat and 10% from protein. The rv stands for raw vegan. Effectively, all grains are eliminated, as is dairy and animal products. It's a plant-based diet that revolves around consuming mostly whole, fresh, ripe, raw, organic fruits, tender leafy greens and some nuts and seeds. You eat 3-4 meals a day, when hungry, until satiety.

Fruit provides sufficient calories in order to fuel the body. You simply can not eat enough vegetables to be able to sustain you throughout the day. Fruit contains simple sugars which are the body's fist choice for energy. If you consume more energy than you burn, regardless from whether it came from fats, cabs or proteins, you will likely store the excess as fat. However, it is nearly impossible to over consume fruit. This is because fruit is mostly water, high in soluble fiber and essentially, fills you up! It also takes sufficient time to chew your way through 8-12 bananas in one sitting and this gives your brain time to realise that you are actually full.

Fruit is a nutrient dense, raw, whole food that is delicious! Babies intuitively are interested in fruit. Following our instincts when it comes to food choices, is the underpinning logic of eating 811rv. Every other creature in nature eats raw, whole, organic food in which they have evolved to thrive on. Why should humans be any different? A dog will salivate at the sight of a piece of raw meat, and will inevitably eat the lot, including the bones. If we were true carnivores, we would have the same instinctive urge. But for most people, the very idea is repulsive! The body is telling us that raw meat is simply not part of a human's optimal diet. We need to listen to our body. When we cook meat and other foods not palatable in their raw state, enhance flavour and aroma with salt, spices and condiments, we effectively bypass our body's natural protective senses. We are then able to eat foods in which humans never evolved by design to thrive on. This comes at a price!

Graham makes a strong case that humans are frugivores by design, in his book The 80 10 10 Diet. Whilst most calories are consumes from fresh fruit, tender leafy greens are an essential part of this diet. These greens are easy to digest, can easily be eaten raw and are mineral dense. Since vegetables provide few calories per bite, it is necessary to eat the equivalent of a head of lettuce each day.

Restricted amounts of healthy fats in the form of nuts seeds and fruits such as avocado, with the last meal of the day, complete the 80 10 10 diet. These food sources help increase the daily protein and fat intake to 10% each which is ideal! To put protein requirements into perspective, mother's milk is only 6% protein! As adults our need for protein is never more than 10%. Do you know anyone who is protein deficient? It's almost impossible.