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<p>SCRANTON &#8212; If news from The World Health Organization last week made you want to put down that hot dog or forgo that side of bacon, you might want to join chef Randy Ryan at Uno Fitness on Nov. 1 and sample some plant-based alternatives.</p><p>Ryan serves up fruits and veggies raw, which is just about as far away as a food can get from the processed meat The WHO&#8217;s Internal Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon, France, announced can be linked to cancer.</p><p>Ryan, 28, of Scranton, didn&#8217;t need to hear the announcement from The WHO. He had already turned to a diet made up of 75 percent raw plant foods two years ago and said he feels healthy and energetic. He also weighs 221 pounds, he said, down from the 380 the scale told him in September 2013.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m doing pull ups,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I&#8217;m running again. I feel like a kid.&#8221;</p><p>Based on extensive reading, Ryan has come to believe that fruits and vegetables are the most healthful foods for human beings, the ones the human body was designed to eat. He believes it is best to eat them raw because, he said, heating food to 118 degrees or higher kills beneficial enzymes.</p><p>If you stop by Uno Fitness on Olive Street on Nov. 1, starting at 1 p.m., you can sample &#8220;Earth Juice,&#8221; a drink Ryan has crafted from a blend of kale, spinach, cucumber, pear, lemon and lime.</p><p>&#8220;That&#8217;s it,&#8221; Ryan said. &#8220;Just six ingredients.&#8221;</p><p>Also on the menu will be his &#8220;Fungus Burger&#8221; which uses a portabello mushroom in place of a bun to hold marinated tomato, homemade pickles, homemade mustard and red onion.</p><p>His &#8220;Comet Pops&#8221; consist of date, cashew, raw cacao and coconut and his &#8220;Buffalo Soldiers&#8221; are made from broccoli, cauliflower, garlic and homemade jalapeno buffalo sauce. He wants people to sample all of those, along with his &#8220;Raw Ramen&#8221; which he makes from zucchini, portabello, green onion and homemade miso broth.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s all raw food, all plant based, and I want to make everything visually appealing,&#8221; Ryan said. &#8220;I&#8217;m trying to make food fun and to use as much color as possible.&#8221;</p><p>Eating raw foods, Ryan believes &#8220;is the ultimate cure for most of the world&#8217;s illness. We&#8217;re talking cancer, diabetes, Fibromyalgia.&#8221;</p><p>Ryan didn&#8217;t always eat so carefully. &#8220;I was eating a lot of foods that clog you up, like pizza with cheese,&#8221;he said. &#8220;Then I spent a lot of time playing video games and sitting because I was a truck driver.&#8221;</p><p>Nowadays Ryan works as a chef for What the Fork? and likes to experiment with new, plant-based recipes.</p><p>So, what would a dietitian say about a diet that consists primarily of raw foods with maybe a slice of (cooked) turkey on Thanksgiving?</p><p>Contacted by the Times Leader, licensed registered dietitian Noelle Altavilla said while she&#8217;s not an expert on raw food diets, she encourages people to eat &#8220;a variety of nutritious food to enhance your wellness and health.&#8221;</p><p>Vegetables and fruit are nutritious, but consuming only those items raw would not be a diet she could recommend for children, infants, pregnant women or anyone with a weakened immune system because it might lack essential nutrients. There also is a risk of food-borne illness in some foods that are not cooked.</p><p>The bottom line, said Altavilla, who works at the Weight and Wellness Center of Intermountain Medical Group in Kingston, recommends talking to your medical doctor before embarking on a raw food regime.</p><p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t believe in extremes, but I believe in balance. It&#8217;s the secret to life,&#8221; said Ray Parchinski, owner of Uno Fitness, who does eat meat but agrees with Ryan there are many healthful benefits to raw fruits and vegetables.</p><p>&#8220;I often reference Jack LaLanne (the fitness expert who lived well into his 90s). He was always juicing things and he didn&#8217;t heat them on the stove top and keep them for months,&#8221; Parchinski said. &#8220;I believe in a Mediterranean way of life. The Mediterranean and Oriental diets are full of vegetables and they&#8217;re the people that live the longest.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_Fungus-Burger.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Randy Ryan&#8217;s Fungus Burgers use mushrooms in place of a bun. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_Fungus-Burger.jpg</photo0><caption0>Randy Ryan&#8217;s Fungus Burgers use mushrooms in place of a bun. </caption0><photoCredit0>Submitted photos </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_Comet-Pops.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">The &#8216;Comet Pops&#8217; consist of date, cashew, raw cacao and coconut. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_Comet-Pops.jpg</photo1><caption1>The &#8216;Comet Pops&#8217; consist of date, cashew, raw cacao and coconut. </caption1><photoCredit1>Submitted photos </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_Buffalo-Soldiers.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">The chef&#8217;s &#8216;Buffalo Soldiers&#8217; are made from broccoli, cauliflower, garlic and homemade jalapeno buffalo sauce. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_Buffalo-Soldiers.jpg</photo2><caption2>The chef&#8217;s &#8216;Buffalo Soldiers&#8217; are made from broccoli, cauliflower, garlic and homemade jalapeno buffalo sauce. </caption2><photoCredit2>Submitted photos </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_TTL102815rawfoods22.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Randy Ryan pours the green base to his &#8216;Earth Juice&#8217; into a jar. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_TTL102815rawfoods22.jpg</photo3><caption3>Randy Ryan pours the green base to his &#8216;Earth Juice&#8217; into a jar. </caption3><photoCredit3>Submitted photos </photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_TTL102815rawfoods12.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Randy Ryan&#8217;s &#8216;Earth Juice&#8217; consists of six healthful ingredients. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_TTL102815rawfoods12.jpg</photo4><caption4>Randy Ryan&#8217;s &#8216;Earth Juice&#8217; consists of six healthful ingredients. </caption4><photoCredit4>Submitted photos </photoCredit4></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_TTL102815rawfoods32.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Randy Ryan juices cucumbers and kale for the green juice you can sample this weekend at Uno Fitness in Scranton. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo5>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_TTL102815rawfoods32.jpg</photo5><caption5>Randy Ryan juices cucumbers and kale for the green juice you can sample this weekend at Uno Fitness in Scranton. </caption5><photoCredit5>Submitted photos </photoCredit5></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p><strong>By Mary Therese Biebel</strong></p><p>mbiebel@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>IF YOU GO</strong></p><p><strong>What:</strong> Raw foods seminar</p><p><strong>When:</strong> 1 p.m.</p><p><strong>Where:</strong> Uno Fitness Center, 3 Olive St., Scranton</p><p><strong>Info:</strong> 570-341-9811</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mary Therese Biebel at 570-991-6109 or on Twitter @BiebelMT</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Raw foods seminar set for Nov. 1 at Uno Fitness in Scranton