Welcome to the raw food enthusiasts community. It is possible to go raw… as you said – others have done it.

I have a website where you can find lots of information. There is a letters section where I've answered tons of questions that newcomers as well as others have. There is an articles section entitled Raw Food Concepts where there is a lot of information on the raw food diet and in the Articles section there is also a lot of other information on health. And there is a links section and also a Directories section. In the Directories section, some of the people have websites that you can go to that also provide information on the raw food lifestyle.

My website is: www.rawfoodinfo.com

To answer your question about why there are so many products. You are right, raw is raw and it should be simple and it is simple, but there are a few answers to your question.

1) Some of the products are used to replace other items that are much more harmful, for example, Celtic sea salt. Celtic sea salt wasn't developed for the raw food community but we found it and some of us use it instead of table salt. Table salt has been heated to high temperatures and treated with chemicals and is in fact a chemical itself since all of the minerals, except sodium, have been removed. Celtic sea salt is sun dried and contains trace minerals.

2) Maple syrup is used to replace honey, since many vegans object to honey products, but maple syrup is not raw. Nama Shoyu is used to replace soy sauce. Even though Nama Shoyu is cooked to begin with, after it is fermented and develops those live ferments, it is NOT pasteurized… as are most soy sauces.

3) Dehydrators are used since in many climates the sun is not available for drying. You won't have that problem in Costa Rica. Strictly speaking, dehydrators are not absolutely necessary to do the diet but people like them to make cookies and crackers and crunchy items.

4) Then there are the products that seem to have been developed specifically for the raw community, such as Agave syrup and raw chocolate, but which may or may not be raw. I don't use Agave because I have not been able to confirm that it is really raw and I don't use raw chocolate (except very occasionally) because it contains theobromine and caffeine and it makes me, as well as many other people, very hyper… and it is addictive.

5) Then there are items that some brands are raw and other brands are not, such as oils, fermented foods, honey and nut butters.

When a new community springs up, manufacturers spring up too to take advantage of the marketing opportunities. Some of these manufacturers provide excellent raw products and others do not. In order to find out which is which, you have to ask a lot of questions, and hope you are being given truthful answers.

I hope this clears up some of the confusion and good luck on your raw food journey of discovery.

With blessings,