Embracing a diet in the raw
Fred Bellows is in the aviation business. He's a pilot for a construction company and works as a broker, buying and selling small airplanes. Beth Fishman runs her third-generation family real estate company, managing properties in Brookline, Cambridge, and Allston.
A couple for the last 16 years, Bellows and Fishman recently have been spreading the word about the raw food movement, which they say has given them a new lease on life.
The movement focuses on eating uncooked fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and sprouted grains, under the premise that nutritious enzymes are preserved by not cooking anything over 112 degrees Fahrenheit. Some recipes substitute raw ingredients for staples such as hamburgers and french fries, using a "burger" made from carrots and pecans, and "fries" made of jicama, a sweet root vegetable.
Other recipes are more straightforward but have an unexpected twist, like chocolate mousse made from Medjool dates, mashed avocados, and raw cacao powder.
In their Weston home, Bellows and Fishman have built a space in which to teach classes on the principles of a raw food diet. The 1,500-square-foot kitchen has no stove or oven, but it does have large windows that overlook acres of conservation land and a paddock where Fishman's three horses graze.
But things weren't always so peaceful in the Bellows-Fishman home.
"I'd been sick on and off for over 10 years," said Fishman, recalling the not-so-distant past. "I had my gallbladder removed in the mid-1990s, and developed more and more digestive issues that were labeled as irritable bowel syndrome. I built up a tolerance for a certain level of discomfort and had lived with that discomfort for a decade."
Having earned a degree in body-centered psychotherapy from Hampshire College in the 1980s, Fishman said she felt pretty connected to her inner self. She also studied with Moshe Feldenkrais, founder of the Feldenkrais Method, which focuses on developing self-awareness through movement. Fishman taught classes in the system for more than a decade.
"I was toughening up to be less and less aware of body because I had to live with this" discomfort, she said. "I cut out coffee, wheat, rice, tea, sugar, gluten, and alcohol. I was desperate to figure out what I could eat."
Last year, a slow-leaking appendix landed her in the hospital. Fishman said she had ignored the symptoms, since they "sort of felt like all of the other abdominal pain that I'd been having in my life."
An MRI revealed that she had ovarian cancer.
"I was very lucky that it was found, because with ovarian cancer you don't have symptoms," said Fishman.
Soon after recovering from surgery, Fishman met a physician on Cape Cod who introduced her to the raw food movement. Since she has started following the regimen, Fishman said, she has never felt better. She began "cooking" raw foods at home - and Bellows, who suffered from allergies and gout, also noticed a difference in the way he was feeling.
Fishman became engrossed in her new way of eating and began taking classes from raw food guru Alissa Cohen, founder of Grezzo, a popular vegan raw food restaurant in Boston's North End. Cohen's creative recipes have landed her on NBC's "Today" show, "The Tyra Banks Show," and "
A graduate of Cohen's vigorous program, Fishman earned her certification as a raw food chef and certified "Living on Live Food" trainer.
While Fishman and Bellows say that there is a lot of science to support the benefits of raw food, they quickly add that they are not nutritionists and don't claim to be. Their goal, they said, is to act as facilitators and reach people with the excitement of living on raw foods.
"I'm having a lot of fun teaching people," said Fishman, whose next home class is scheduled for Dec. 13. "You can make a lot of amazing dishes using vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, and sprouts that are all nonprocessed."
One of the couple's favorite staples is homemade crackers that get their crunch from spending two days in a dehydrator. Fishman first soaks flax seeds overnight, then mixes them with tomatoes, onions, herbs, and spices in a food processor. The paste-like result is then spread on a pan and placed in a dehydrator until crisp.
"Right now, we're trying to find a copacker to produce and package the crackers," said Bellows. It would be their first product on the market.
In addition to crediting Alissa Cohen, Fishman names a few other influences, such as Michael Pollan and his book "In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto," and Victoria Boutenko, who has written three books including "Green for Life," and "12 Steps to Raw."
For more information on Beth Fishman and Fred Bellows, visit their website, www.rawfoodtotherescue.com.
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