Book excerpt: Rick and Karin Dina are both healthcare practitioners and long-time followers of a raw food diet. They've provided scientific information on how to construct nutritious raw diets through their Science of Raw Food Nutrition classes to hundreds of students. This book is a compendium of the latest information from peer-reviewed research and their own clinical experience on why raw diets are so beneficial and how to construct a raw diet that will provide all the necessary nutrients. The Raw Food Nutrition Handbook covers issues such as getting enough protein, understanding calorie density and nutrient density, focusing on whole plant foods, hydration, and food combining. The Dinas provide examples of some of the most popular raw food diets and discuss the nutritional adequacies of each one. They also share some of the success strategies they've used over the years to help people stay raw over the long term, make sense of conflicting nutritional information, and engage family and friends in their dietary journeys.