The Healing Quality of Raw Foods - Is a raw foods diet the best diet for staying healthy?
by Ask a Healer
Suggested Reading:
Buy Raw Foods Online
The History of Food Preparation
The Health Benefits of a Raw Foods Diet: Though no one would dispute the value of food (without it, we die) it may seem strange to actually think of food as healing. In fact, we've heard a lot more about foods that are harming us these days - trans fats, saturated fats, artificial sweeteners, the harmful impact of refined sugars and white flours, etc.
There's such a focus on what's bad for us that it might be nice to remember what is good for us. There is controversy as to which foods are best. A person who believes in the raw food diet, for example, eats almost exclusively uncooked foods in their raw state.
To a raw foodist, it isn't just fast foods and processed foods that are avoided. To the raw foodist, any food that has been cooked is an unhealthy food because cooking kills vital digestive enzymes, proteins, vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients. Part of what makes a raw foods diet healing is the preservation of all those natural health-giving ingredients. Eating food "raw", in it's natural state with no cooking whatsoever, insures the maximum absorption of nutrients from the foods eaten.
Those who eat primarily or entirely raw foods credit that lifestyle with many health benefits in their own life including decreased internal inflammation, more powerful immune response, increased energy and well-being on mental, physical and spiritual levels. A raw foods diet is believed to slow down the aging process as well.
What are raw foods? If a food is uncooked and never heated above a temperature known to kill digestive enzymes, then it is considered a "raw" food.
What makes a raw foods diet healing for the body? Higher nutrient values plus the enzymes the body needs to take those nutrients into the bloodstream. When we get the maximum nutrition from every food we consume and we also have the enzymes to insure maximum digestive and eliminatory processes, the body has more of what it needs to maintain health. Of course, a raw food is only as healthy as the way it was grown. A raw food can be grown from GMO seed or full of pesticides or herbicides just like any other food so, for raw food to be healing food, it needs to be organically grown.
What is the difference between living foods and raw foods? A raw food is uncooked and in it's natural state. A living food would be a raw food that is sprouted, and which in the sprouted or living state, contains even more nutrition than other raw foods.
Although a raw foodist will tell you that a raw foods diet can change your life by way of giving you far more energy and better health overall, it's important to get a little education on eating raw foods before changing from a meat-eating diet, due to the need to get sufficient protein. It can easily be done once you learn how to eat raw.
I'd suggest attending a raw foods cooking class such as those offered by health foods stores and retreat centers on occasion. Search online for a raw foods cooking class in your area. You may also want to read one of the ebooks on the raw foods diet available online. If you feel that a 90 percent raw diet just isn't feasible for you, do what you can to get as much raw food as possible and supplement with quality digestive enzymes
Health Disclaimer: This article on the raw foods diet is not intended to present raw food as a substitute for needed medical attention. Be wise with your health.
