Ariel Zachow

Hello and welcome to Compassion As My Compass. I am your host Ariel Zachow. This is a weekly podcast all about living yoga off the mat. Each week we cover a new topic and discuss what small, easily implemented things you can do to follow a yogi lifestyle after your physical practice has ended. I am excited for this podcast today- I have a guest, Maria, who will be joining us and we’re going to talk all about the raw vegan diet. So I want to just sort of preface this with this is not a ‘Hey, you need to go vegan’ or ‘Hey, you need to go raw’. This is simply someone sharing their story and their experience with the raw vegan diet. She’ll offer you a few tips on how you can do it yourself or how you can incorporate more raw foods into your diet. But by no means is it a ‘you must go raw’ or ‘you must go vegan’. I just wanted to start with that. But Maria, welcome. Thank you so much for joining me. I’m really happy to have you here today.

Maria Koval

Thank you so much Ariel.

Ariel Zachow

I kind of want to start at the beginning so our listeners can get to know what are you all about.

Maria Koval

So I actually own a plant based catering company which services requests for plant based dinner parties, as well as corporate catering. And through that platform, I’ve been fortunate to consult for vegan food products, companies and restaurants as well. My website is www.menubymaria.com, where you can view sample menus pictures and find out more about my background. I have been a raw vegan since September 2018. So about eight months now.

And I guess I’ll start with how it all began. So four years ago, I was living in southern Florida and I discovered Matthew Kenny, who is raw foods pioneer, and he used to own the all raw vegan restaurant called Plant Food and Wine in Miami, Florida. He also used to own a culinary school, which is how you and I met through the Facebook group. And the culinary school placed a strong emphasis on raw food. So at the time, I wasn’t a professional chef. But I was toiling away on my finance job in Palm Beach, Florida and I had dreamt of attending some of the classes to learn about the diet. And even now as I run my catering company in the last two years, I’ve started to receive so many requests from clients wanting an all raw vegan experience in their house.

And so this has encouraged me to start cooking and experimenting with raw foods in my own home kitchen. Additionally, I’ve also suffered with acne, and I’ve been trying to cut out sugar and night shades, which is the smallest of vegetables considered to be inflammatory. So I’ve kind of been interested in, you know, reductionism, and through the years have been trying all kinds of different diets and seeing what works. So then in August of 2018, last year, I finally signed up for the raw foods program associated with Matthew Kenny’s former school, and I learned a ton about how to prepare daily meals for myself. And so a month later, after finishing the culinary school, which ended up shutting down, I became fully raw, I hired a raw vegan chef to come into my house to help ease the prep and to make the dishes more attractive and creative. And then a few weeks in I just noticed my skin starting to clear up. And I had no longer had the like gastrointestinal issues that I’ve previously had from cooking with lots of oil and poor food combining.

Ariel Zachow

I guess we should say for those people who don’t know what is following a raw vegan diet. What does that mean?

Maria Koval

A raw vegan is basically a person who eats plants, plant based foods, eaten fresh or dehydrated in low heat or fermented. So with the temperature in dehydrating, different teachers site varying temperatures as the cutoff point, but on average, I think this equates to food that has not been heated beyond 105 degrees Fahrenheit. So temperatures as high as 118 degrees have been deemed by other teachers to be considered uncooked and still intact were enzymes, minerals and vitamins are concerned. I know in the culinary school that I went to, for Matthew Kenny’s former school we use 118 degrees as metric. And so with dehydration, we use a food dehydrator which basically a very large box with stacks of how would you describe a dehydrator? It’s like-

“And I would say you do what works for you. This is what works for me.”

Ariel Zachow

It’s it’s like a super, if you imagine sort of like a toaster oven, but much fancier and it just pushes like slightly warmish air through.

Maria Koval

Yes, yeah. So basically like a mini oven, or you can layer you know, various foods or vegetables in thin slices. And it will sit and you don’t have to worry about, you know, it overheating or blowing up your kitchen. Because generally you have to have the food in there from you know, between 12 and 24 hours. So it’s on such low heat that you can actually walk away, you can sleep and it’ll be running all night long. And you know, by the time you wake up, your food is ready. So yeah, I think you know, the biggest point to you in using a food dehydrator is one for for flavor, because it improves the texture of the food. So for people who have become more advanced, raw vegan, they’ll buy, you know, one of these very nice, expensive dehydrator and they’ll start to experiment. And they’ll see just all the things that they can make, beyond just making like a raw salad or smoothie, which a lot of people are already doing and the water that’s removed from the food and the dehydrator are still maintain its enzymatic properties. So that’s kind of the reason why you would use a dehydrator.

Ariel Zachow

Now personally for you, would you consider yourself someone who’s very strictly raw? Do you ever go for something cooked or now that you found this raw diet is this is this really sort of where you stay and where you live?

Maria Koval

So like,as I said, the whole acne situation last year was a big deal. I couldn’t figure it out. I was taking a lot of pills, and I was on antibiotics. And I was talking to a dermatologist and she was saying, well, would you eat dairy? And I said, ‘No, I’m a lifelong vegan and I already don’t eat dairy. I’m already eating so many vegetables and eating kale and, and all of this stuff’. And I couldn’t figure out why. And actually, through going on the raw diet, that sort of that problem went away as well as like I said, the gastrointestinal issues. And since then I have not had a craving as a result because I was just so motivated to fix the acne that and as I said, I have a chef that works with me and my house. So for me, it’s become so easy and streamline the whole process of eating on a weekly basis that it’s it’s very fun, and I enjoy it. Like I think it tastes great. And so there hasn’t been a reason for me to choose. But of course, living in New York City, we have a lot of restaurants and options for raw food now. So I would assume that you’re living anywhere else in America and certain states where it’s probably tough to go out with your friends and enjoy like an actually like delicious meal that’s raw.

Ariel Zachow

Sort of on that note when you went raw vegan. Did you have pushback from friends or family? Or do you find that the people in your life are supportive?

Maria Koval

So my family’s vegan, I was raised vegan, and I think with friends and acquaintances or just people I work with or me and in general being vegan my whole life, there have always been a lot of people who ask questions and try to undermine the diet as something that isn’t nutritionally sound, even though a large portion of Indians, I think they say 30% are born vegetarians. And I’m obviously a product of the vegan diet. And so, I think there are a lot of missing conceptions about veganism to start, but even raw veganism is such like, you know, a sore point for some people because they just can’t begin to understand, like, you know, ‘oh, you’re just eating grass’, or ‘you’re just eating like lettuce every day’.

And I think once you start to educate yourself, and educate the people around you, like, you start to say, like, ‘Hey, this is what I’m eating today’, or ‘this is how I cook for myself on a weekly basis’, they begin to understand, but also the movement towards veganism in the last five years, has made this much more understandable for people. So my family has always obviously been very into it. We have distant relatives who are constantly like, ‘Oh, is this you know, is this good for for your health?’ Or, you know, ‘how do you do this, like, we’re meant to eat animals’ and I think that there are still a lot of people who are like, ‘I like my meat. I like my fish, I would never give that up. That’s just what I like.’ And I would never judge anyone.

And I would say you do what works for you. This is what works for me in the same way I would never look at someone and say, ‘how could you eat that chicken?’ A lot of vegans do this. They kind of advocate for this and that way in a confrontational way, but I certainly don’t. And so I don’t really deal with people who come to me and say, you know, what’s wrong with your diet? Why are you eating this? You should think about that. And so I kind of just mind my own business. And you know, I do what, what works for me,

Ariel Zachow

I think that it’s maybe worth saying that most vegans aren’t crazy. I think that we get a bad reputation, but most of us are very calm.

Maria Koval

Yeah, I think I mostly mean like an organization like PETA has received a lot of flack for being very confrontational in their advocacy methods. I think, you know, they show up to carnivals and certain venues and they, they advocate and protest outside and I think that scares a lot of people. But yeah, I think most people who are just eating vegan are just like, ‘Okay, I’m eating real food. This isn’t a special diet. This is these are just vegetables.’ And yeah, I think a lot of us have all the best intentions. And it’s only when people come to you and start questioning you that you get like, you know, hey, why do you care? You know?

Ariel Zachow

So what are some things that people get wrong about maybe veganism in general or more specifically raw veganism?

Maria Koval

I think that people are anxious about the amount of time it takes to prepare raw foods correctly. So with dehydration, like I said, you’re usually planning ahead of time placing your food in anywhere between four to 24 hours even an even more time. So I think that that is a problem for people who don’t have a chef or who just don’t know where to start. But dehydrated foods over a long time also provide a large measure of convenience as they can be stored, and they’ll remain fresh for several weeks due to the lack of bacteria in the water. So I think, yes, it does take planning, but you’ll have your you know, you’ll have your dehydrated items for a while. So it’s something that you can do maybe as every two weeks, you can prepare some bread items, or, you know, you can sprout ahead of time in large batches. And so also I mentioned that fermentation last four months, right? So anything you ferment like cabbage or kimchi, or that any kind of vegetable pickling, those items in the refrigerator will last for a really long time. And so I think another part of this is taste. Some people don’t think that raw vegetables are tasty. And maybe that’s true if you’re having a raw salad with some leaves. But as I said, with the dehydrator things start to get fancy. And you can sort of experiment with different recipes. As I said before, we have a lot of restaurants popping up all over America, not just in New York City, that are focused on fully raw, raw vegan, that is, because you can also eat raw on a on a meat based diet, right? You can eat raw fish. And so I think with all the resources, the bloggers, the cookbooks, all of this makes it so much easier. And then I think the big thing that everyone has always asked at me as just a vegan, but even in the raw world is ‘how do you get your protein?’ And I don’t think people realize that you can eat sprouted lentils, green beans, nuts, you can also eat spirulina, which is a blue green algae. And I think once someone starts this process and explores the sprouting methods, and even just the wide variety of vegetables we have out there, I think it will expand their mind.

Ariel Zachow

And I would like to sort of add on to the tail end of that. I have a background as a personal trainer and I have a relatively extensive knowledge about plant based nutrition for fitness. You don’t need nearly as much protein as people think that you need. So I encourage our listeners, if protein is a sticking point for you, it’s virtually impossible to not get enough protein if you’re putting food into your face on any regular basis.

Maria Koval

So right. Yeah.

If you’d prefer to listen to this show, you can do so HERE.

Ariel Zachow

Sprouting is a big thing. I thought I know know what’s wrong with me, but I can’t seem to get it to work. So you’ll have to send me some help. But that’s a great option for people. But also eat some broccoli, there’s plenty of protein in just regular, plain old vegetables.

Maria Koval

Yeah, for sure. I know doctors say if you eat a varied diet, vegetables, grains, legumes, fruits, and nuts, you can get more than enough protein in your day, I think it just takes a conscious effort people who just like work a lot or have different jobs that aren’t related to being a chef or nutritionist or a person in that industry- They don’t have the time, they’re confused there’s like too much information online about this. And yeah, I think was just like careful planning ahead of time, you can sort of figure out your macro and micronutrients for the day.

Ariel Zachow

Say, we have somebody listening now and maybe they’re vegan, maybe they’re not even vegetarian, but they’re, they’re very interested in, at the very least, incorporating more raw meals into their life and into their diet. What are your recommended for a very basic starting point?

Maria Koval

I wouldn’t recommend buying an expensive dehydrator to start although there are some dehydrators that are definitely on the cheaper side, you can also buy one on eBay or from someone else. But I think even you know sprouting legumes and grains in your home kitchen using a mason jar doesn’t require a dehydrator even though you can do that in one. And so I would say to get protein and to get some of those nutrients, and you can start in that way. It’s very easy. And I know you said you’ve had difficulty but for me, I have a warm apartment.

So I think that’s why it works really well. But you can also just place your mason jar inside of your oven with the light on. And that tends to create enough heat for your your sprouts to to come out. I think I always recommend to my vegan catering clients that they should be eating a large salad once a day or a smoothie with raw fruits and veggies. And so a lot of people are already eating raw throughout the day without realizing it.

Even people who eat meat, non vegan, you know, they eat smoothies, right? That’s a big thing now, especially in New York, and I think as they continue to explore of vegan or raw vegan diet, a juicer would be a great thing to buy, which is also not very expensive, depending on how you like your juices cold pressed. And so I think a juicer, a dehydrator, that kind of equipment would definitely help you advance your vegan raw game, but definitely not necessary. I think just, you know, creating salads with a ton of nuts and veggies and avocados. I think that that would be a great start, you know, once a day, just like I said, I would recommend that for all my clients.

Ariel Zachow

So are there any last little sort of tidbits you want to add?.

Maria Koval

Yeah, I think,you know, people always ask ‘what do you eat throughout the day?’ And so for me, like I said, I eat a smoothie. I eat raw vegan oatmeal. For lunch, big salad, I’ll make veggie burgers in the hydrator like dinner, I’ll have like a raw carrot coriander roll or like a chilled cucumber soup. I’ll do like a raw zoodle, which is a zucchini spiral marinara pasta. And so I can also make pizza and bread, and all of that obviously requires a dehydrator. But yeah, I think the options are, are limitless, once you start to really dive into this diet, and all of like the cookbooks that are out there. You can also make dessert for yourself. And you know, in the raw diet, you can have sugar, so there’s just different forms of it like agave is raw. And so yeah, I think once you start to explore, there are plenty of options to eat throughout the day.

Ariel Zachow

Perfect. I think this was very sort of short and right to the point but also very valuable. We covered a lot of the reasons why and how it can be very helpful. And so thank you so much for hopping on with me today. Where can our listeners go if they want to connect with you.

Maria Koval

So my website is www.menubymaria.com. And that’s where I help sample menus and pictures of my food for catering. And I also like I said, work with food product companies and restaurants and helping them develop their concepts in their vegan menus. And basically, I’m always looking for people in the industry or even just clients to talk to me about any kind of service I can provide that for them. And so yeah, please check my website out.

Ariel Zachow

Well, thank you again for joining me. I hope that you as my listeners enjoyed listening to this show, don’t hesitate to reach out to Maria. You are also, as always, welcome to reach out to me, you can catch me on instagram @compassion.as.my.compass, or send me an email to Ariel@compassionasmycompass.com If there are any shows that you would like to see discussed on this podcast, or if you’re interested in being a guest yourself, go ahead and send me an Instagram or send me an email. Thank you again for listening. I am excited for what we have in store in the future. So I will see you again next week.