A common interest in eating healthy has united a group of Samara residents. For the past few months, Samara Raw has been meeting together and cooking up ideas to promote integrating more raw and organic foods into the normal diet, including a new Organic Market and Café, opening at the beginning of December.  A farmer’s market will be held in Samara every Friday from 3 to 6 p.m. at the Natural Center Gym & Spa beginning Friday, December 2nd, and Samara Organic grocery and café will open on December 1st, according to Angelina Phillips. This farmer’s market will expand on the market being held on Friday mornings at Café Carola next to Mini Super Delfin in the Cantarana area, incorporating raw food samples, smoothies, demonstrations, guest speakers and entertainment such as guitar playing or open microphone sessions.     Through the farmer’s market, the group hopes to teach people that eating healthy and having good nutrition doesn’t have to cost a lot of money, explained Louise Tangri, a member of the group whose diet is now composed of about 70% raw foods.

Diet change can be a life-changing experience, she affirmed. The raw food concept involves avoiding foods prepared at temperatures above 118 degrees Fahrenheit (47.8 Celsius) since heat destroys many amino acids, minerals and vitamins. Therefore raw foods are more nourishing than cooked foods. 

Though having two small children has made going raw a challenge, Tangri has developed many tasty recipes, including stir-fries of marinated vegetables with nuts, sunflower seed pâté, sushi, almond milk and desserts made with almonds and honey. As a testament to the health benefits, she noted that her son has only had two fevers in ten years and never has a runny nose. 
 
Manuel Scardina, another member of the group, testifies that he has had a 100% raw diet for 12 years now and has experienced “miraculous” improvements in his health. “It’s an amazing healer,” he said, affirming that a raw food diet can help people with health issues of basically any type, including cancer and heart disease.

Personally, he said that he was very ill and doctors suspected that he might have cancer. Instead of getting tested for cancer, he decided to go raw. After a couple of years on a raw diet, he said he regained his health and lost 45 kilos (110 pounds). He will soon be 63 and claims that he feels better than when he was 35. 

“It’s not a boring diet. It can be very diverse,” he assured. Tangri cautions that switching to a raw food diet should be down slowly and carefully, seeking expert advice. Going raw all at once can have an ill effect.