Mazer Touts Raw Diet as ‘Natural High’
Local holistic coach and chef Debra Mazer explains how she makes flavorful raw dishes to motivate clients to move in a healthy direction.
After 37 years with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and now with the AJT, , Jaffe’s focus is lifestyle, art, dining, fashion, and community events with emphasis on Jewish movers and shakers.
Eating a diet of only uncooked and non-processed foods is not a fad. Before there was fire, one can image the “natural” diet of early homo sapiens. While some tout a raw diet’s benefits for weight loss, others tire of the rigidity and potential drawback of not getting enough calories.
Local chef and holistic health coach Debra Mazer sums it up this way: “The idea behind raw food is that it contains digestive enzymes when heated under 118 degrees. Enzymes give us energy, and food with enzymes takes less energy to digest. If you think about it, humans are the only species on planet Earth who cook their food. Eating raw food can be a very energizing, detoxifying, and clarifying experience.”
Mazer also suggests that variations, like 80 percent raw, might work for some people and stated, “Eating a 100 percent raw food diet can be very strict, although there are more resources for plant-based eating now than ever. Not everyone wants to do 100 percent raw, and that’s OK! However, you’d be surprised at all the raw vegan recipes that are possible: burgers, creamy soups, cakes, mac and cheese, cookies, and meatballs.”
Mazer, who grew up in Philadelphia, earned a B.A. in sociology and women’s studies from Brandeis. Her professional holistic certifications include Reiki practitioner, ordained interfaith minister, holistic health coach, and prayer warrior. She is also a professional psychic and worked at Everlasting Life, a raw food café in the West End, owned by Hebrew Israelites.
Her interest in healthy lifestyles began in the 1990s when she became vegetarian in high school, and later, went vegan in college. Now at 45, she is “mostly vegan, and enjoys lots of raw food.” When Mazer was 100 percent raw, she found that “her depression and seasonal allergies vanished and experienced milder menstrual cycles.”
A raw vegan diet is full of healthy fats: avocados, nuts, seeds, and cold-pressed oils. Mazer’s favorite fruits include durian, soursop, cherimoya, and fresh figs. Protein comes from nuts, seeds, sprouts, and greens. Spirulina, she declares, has twice as much protein as red meat/cow. Mazer’s guiltfree treat “Hot Love Chocolate Truffles,” is sold through her website, shipped to famous Hollywood glitterati, carried at Strive Foods in Sandy Springs. They are sweetened with local raw Georgia honey. Actress Rosario Dawson and global yoga teacher Shiva Rea are clients.
She said, “I also make a raw vegan pizza that everyone loves! And there is nothing like a great marinated kale salad, which can be surprisingly filling. I also love smoothies!”
Mazer stated, “As a certified holistic health coach, I recommend following the diet that is right for you, and I don’t push 100 percent raw food, or even 100 percent vegan, unless it’s what you’re drawn to. I believe everyone is different; however, adding more raw food in the form of fresh fruits and vegetables, juices, smoothies can be an energizing experience.”
Mazer offers personal chef services, catering, and delivery. She concluded, “The Waking Dream Café, my email address, is an encouragement to live our dreams in life. It implies that life is magical, and we’re meant to live our highest timeline in life. Eating more raw food has definitely helped me do that. It is truly a natural ‘high.’”
Mazer is the author of “Open-Eyed Heart-Wide Haggadah,” a plant-based, multicultural, multi-spiritual, and “gently non-Zionist” Passover ritual guide. Published in 2010, it was featured in The Jewish Daily Forward, VegNews, and Today.com, and is beloved by actress Alicia Silverstone, where she credited it on TheKindLife.com.
Mazer’s Top 5 Tips for a Healthy Start to 2024
– Drink more water (spring water or filtered).
– Read ingredient labels and don’t eat anything with ingredients you can’t pronounce, or don’t know what it is.
– Shop at your local outdoor farmer’s market and start buying fresh, in-season fruits and vegetables.
– Eat leafy green vegetables: salads, green smoothies, steamed, etc.
– Eat whole foods (foods in their whole form: brown rice, quinoa, beans; not just “whole grain” breads or cereals, but the actual whole grain or whole bean, whole fruit, or vegetable.)
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