announcing the fresh forum

YOUR chance to ask the world's top raw experts the questions YOU want the answers to

When you first discovered the raw movement, you probably assumed it would be a cosy, close-knit fraternity where everyone is in agreement about what constitutes optimal nutrition. But you don't have to spend much time looking into it to be hit by how little consensus there is about what the ideal diet looks like.

Meanwhile, doctors and dieticians and other mainstream medical experts insist that the raw diet is a fad, that it is extreme, that it will leave you deficient in essential nutrients, and that we digest cooked foods better - in other words, there is a great deal of opposition to the notion that raw is best when it comes to nutrition. So having navigated your way through those conflicting opinions and arrived at something that really makes sense, it can be very disheartening to discover that within the raw arena there is so little consensus about what we should actually be eating. And we are not talking shades of difference here, but diametrically opposed views.

For example, consider these polarized opinions - just a small selection of the many points of contention:

* "We are all biochemically different so there is no 'ideal' diet that suits everyone"

* "There is an ideal diet for humans, just like there is for every other species"

* "A raw diet alone isn't adequate these days - you can't be healthy without taking supplements"

* "Supplements are completely unnecessary, absolutely inferior to living raw foods and in many cases detrimental to health"

* "Raw juices are an essential part of a raw diet"

* "Raw juices are not essential and it's always better to consume the whole food"

* "Eat little to no fruit"

* "Eat 80% or more fruit"

The Fresh Forum is a panel of the world's leading experts on raw food. The line-up includes Elaine Bruce, Dr Brian Clement, Dao Earl, Dr Doug Graham, Thomas Lodi MD, Paul Nison, Frederic Patenaude, Natalia Rose, Jasmine Scalesciani, Shazzie and Tonya Zavasta.

We have just started polling these experts and the topics we'll be covering include:

* Is there one ideal diet for everyone?

* How much fruit should we be eating?

* Are supplements good or bad for us?

* To juice or not to juice?

* Cacao: superfood or toxic treat?

* Do we need to consume salt?

* Are whole grains a healthy food group if sprouted and eaten raw?

* Can we get everything we need on a vegan diet?

* How much water do we need to drink, and which kind of water is best?

* Do the enzymes in food really help to digest food?

* Colonics: good or bad?

* Can you achieve optimal health on a diet that is predominantly raw (as long as the cooked part of your diet is made up of organic whole foods) or does optimal health demand an all-raw diet?

* Is it wiser to transition to a healthy diet slowly or quickly?

We are busy asking our panel of experts what they think on all of these issues and more, but we're not just asking them once and leaving it at that. We're also inviting them all to respond to the specific claims their peers on the other side of the fence are making, and this process is already starting to generate some fascinating insights into these issues.

We want to make sure we ask our panel all of the questions YOU want us to ask, so that's why we are inviting you to get involved. Maybe you are endlessly confused about something and there's a specific question or questions you'd like us to put to the panel? Or, conversely, perhaps you feel strongly one way or the other on one or more of these issues and want to address some tough questions to those experts who hold the opposing view?

In short, if you would like to submit a question or questions to our panel, please contact us now!

Once the debate has run its course, we will be publishing what our panel has to say on all of these subjects so that you can decide for yourself which arguments make most sense to YOU. The highlights of this virtual event will appear in Get Fresh! magazine and it's shaping up to be our biggest and most fascinating feature ever. We will also be making the full responses to our (and your) questions available, though we haven't decided in what format yet as it's sure to be a huge volume of information.

That's all for now, but stay tuned! We'll be back with more information about The Fresh Forum very soon.