The Cold Truth About Raw Food Diets
From the March 2004 edition of Dr. Fuhrman’s Healthy Times:
Contrary to the propaganda of raw-food advocates, cooking actually can help you absorb more nutrients.
The raw-food movement continues to make converts, thanks to a devoted group of individuals and celebrities who embrace the belief that an all-raw food diet is the best diet. The idea that stirs the most enthusiasm for this diet is the contention that cooking both destroys about fifty percent of the nutrients in food, and destroys all or most of the life promoting enzymes. Raw-food enthusiasts commonly make the claim that “cooked foods are dead foods.”
Are cooked foods really dead foods?
It is true that when food is baked at high temperatures—and especially when it is fried or barbecued—toxic compounds are formed and important nutrients are lost. Many vitamins are water-soluble, and a significant percent can be lost with cooking, especially overcooking. Similarly, many plant enzymes function as phytochemical nutrients in our body and can be useful to maximize health. They, too, can be destroyed by overcooking.
Enzymes are proteins that work to speed up or “catalyze” chemical reactions. Every living cell makes enzymes for its own activities. Human cells are no exception. Our glands secrete enzymes into the digestive tract to aid in the digestion of food. However, after they are ingested, the enzymes contained in plants do not function as enhancements or replacements for human digestive enzymes. These molecules exist to serve the plant’s purpose, not ours. The plant enzymes get digested by our own digestive juices along with the rest of the food and are absorbed and utilized as nutrients.
Contrary to what many raw-food web sites claim, the enzymes contained in the plants we eat do not catalyze chemical reactions that occur in humans. The plant enzymes merely are broken down into simpler molecules by our own powerful digestive juices. Even when the food is consumed raw, plant enzymes do not aid in their own digestion inside the human body. It is not true that eating raw food demands less enzyme production by your body, and dietary enzymes inactivated by cooking have an insignificant effect on your health and your body’s enzymes.
Cooking can be beneficial.
In many cases, cooking destroys some of the harmful anti-nutrients that bind minerals in the gut and interfere with the utilization of nutrients. Destruction of these anti-nutrients increases absorption. Steaming vegetables and making vegetable soups breaks down cellulose and alters the plants’ cell structures so that fewer of your own enzymes are needed to digest the food, not more. The point is that this “cooked food is dead food” enzyme argument does not hold water. On the other hand, the roasting of nuts and the baking of cereals does reduce availability and absorbability of protein.
Low-temperature cooking.
When food is steamed or made into a soup, the temperature is fixed at 100 degrees Celsius or 212 Fahrenheit—the temperature of boiling water. This moisture-based cooking prevents food from browning and forming toxic compounds. Acrylamides, the most generally recognized of the heat-created toxins, are not formed with boiling or steaming. They are formed only with dry cooking. Most essential nutrients in vegetables are more absorbable after being cooked in a soup, not less absorbable. Recent studies confirm that the body absorbs much more of the beneficial anti-cancer compounds (carotenoids and phytochemicals—especially lutein and lycopene) from cooked vegetables compared with raw. The Institute of Food Research in Norwich reported their recent findings in New Scientist magazine: about 3 to 4 percent of the carotenoids were absorbed from raw carrots compared with about 15 to 20 percent from cooked and mashed carrots. The team also found that we absorb these critical anti-cancer nutrients more effectively from vegetables than we do from supplements.
Multiple studies have demonstrated that the beneficial antioxidant activity of cooked tomatoes is significantly higher than from uncooked tomatoes. Scientists speculate that the increase in absorption of antioxidants after cooking may be attributed to the destruction of the cell matrix (connective bands) to which the valuable compounds are bound.
Loss of nutrients.
It is true that vitamin C, folate, B vitamins, and certain minerals are water-soluble and can be destroyed by cooking; but vitamin C contributes less than one percent to the total antioxidant activity of fruits and vegetables. For example, the main antioxidant activity in apples is provided by classes of chemicals called phenolics and flavonoids, both of which are made more available by cooking.
If you compare raw broccoli to steamed or frozen broccoli, about 25 percent of the vitamin C and about 20 percent of the selenium is lost during cooking, but the other 20 commonly-measured nutrients show only an insignificant change. Raw-food advocates are not accurate when they claim that 50 percent of nutrients are lost with steaming. A closer estimate would be 10 percent.
Cooking corn also has been shown to significantly boost its antioxidant activity, despite reduction in vitamin C.When the ability to quench free radicals was measured, cooked corn outperformed raw corn by between 25 to 50 percent. Cooking corn releases a compound called ferulic acid, which provides anti-cancer health benefits. Ferulic acid, a phytochemical, is unique in that it is found only in very low amounts in fruits and vegetables, but is found in very high amounts in corn. The availability to the body of ferulic acid can be increased 500 to 900 percent by cooking the corn.
Benefits of raw food.
Certainly, there are benefits to consuming plenty of raw fruits and vegetables. These foods supply us with high nutrient levels and the smallest number of calories. But the question we are looking at is this—Are there advantages to eating a diet of all raw foods and excluding
all cooked foods?
Clearly, the answer is a resounding “No.” In fact, eating an exclusively raw-food diet is a disadvantage. To exclude all steamed vegetables and vegetable soups from your diet narrows the nutrient diversity of your diet and has a tendency to reduce the percentage of calories from vegetables, in favor of nuts and fruit, which are lower in nutrients per calorie.
Unfortunately, sloppy science prevails in the raw-food movement. Rawfood advocates mistakenly conclude that since eating processed and cooked carbohydrates is harmful for us, all cooked foods are harmful.
To eat the most healthful diet on earth, include a sufficient quantity of raw fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds. If you are not very overweight or diabetic, add a glass of freshly squeezed raw vegetables to your diet. Try one of the following combinations beet/carrot/cabbage/apple; kale/parsley/carrot/apple; or beet/carrot/celery/cucumber. Have a blended salad a few times a week.
In addition, try to consume an adequate amount of cooked food, especially vegetable soup.
Contrary to the propaganda of raw-food advocates, cooking actually can help you absorb more nutrients.
The raw-food movement continues to make converts, thanks to a devoted group of individuals and celebrities who embrace the belief that an all-raw food diet is the best diet. The idea that stirs the most enthusiasm for this diet is the contention that cooking both destroys about fifty percent of the nutrients in food, and destroys all or most of the life promoting enzymes. Raw-food enthusiasts commonly make the claim that “cooked foods are dead foods.”
Are cooked foods really dead foods?
It is true that when food is baked at high temperatures—and especially when it is fried or barbecued—toxic compounds are formed and important nutrients are lost. Many vitamins are water-soluble, and a significant percent can be lost with cooking, especially overcooking. Similarly, many plant enzymes function as phytochemical nutrients in our body and can be useful to maximize health. They, too, can be destroyed by overcooking.
Enzymes are proteins that work to speed up or “catalyze” chemical reactions. Every living cell makes enzymes for its own activities. Human cells are no exception. Our glands secrete enzymes into the digestive tract to aid in the digestion of food. However, after they are ingested, the enzymes contained in plants do not function as enhancements or replacements for human digestive enzymes. These molecules exist to serve the plant’s purpose, not ours. The plant enzymes get digested by our own digestive juices along with the rest of the food and are absorbed and utilized as nutrients.
Contrary to what many raw-food web sites claim, the enzymes contained in the plants we eat do not catalyze chemical reactions that occur in humans. The plant enzymes merely are broken down into simpler molecules by our own powerful digestive juices. Even when the food is consumed raw, plant enzymes do not aid in their own digestion inside the human body. It is not true that eating raw food demands less enzyme production by your body, and dietary enzymes inactivated by cooking have an insignificant effect on your health and your body’s enzymes.
Cooking can be beneficial.
In many cases, cooking destroys some of the harmful anti-nutrients that bind minerals in the gut and interfere with the utilization of nutrients. Destruction of these anti-nutrients increases absorption. Steaming vegetables and making vegetable soups breaks down cellulose and alters the plants’ cell structures so that fewer of your own enzymes are needed to digest the food, not more. The point is that this “cooked food is dead food” enzyme argument does not hold water. On the other hand, the roasting of nuts and the baking of cereals does reduce availability and absorbability of protein.
Low-temperature cooking.
When food is steamed or made into a soup, the temperature is fixed at 100 degrees Celsius or 212 Fahrenheit—the temperature of boiling water. This moisture-based cooking prevents food from browning and forming toxic compounds. Acrylamides, the most generally recognized of the heat-created toxins, are not formed with boiling or steaming. They are formed only with dry cooking. Most essential nutrients in vegetables are more absorbable after being cooked in a soup, not less absorbable. Recent studies confirm that the body absorbs much more of the beneficial anti-cancer compounds (carotenoids and phytochemicals—especially lutein and lycopene) from cooked vegetables compared with raw. The Institute of Food Research in Norwich reported their recent findings in New Scientist magazine: about 3 to 4 percent of the carotenoids were absorbed from raw carrots compared with about 15 to 20 percent from cooked and mashed carrots. The team also found that we absorb these critical anti-cancer nutrients more effectively from vegetables than we do from supplements.
Multiple studies have demonstrated that the beneficial antioxidant activity of cooked tomatoes is significantly higher than from uncooked tomatoes. Scientists speculate that the increase in absorption of antioxidants after cooking may be attributed to the destruction of the cell matrix (connective bands) to which the valuable compounds are bound.
Loss of nutrients.
It is true that vitamin C, folate, B vitamins, and certain minerals are water-soluble and can be destroyed by cooking; but vitamin C contributes less than one percent to the total antioxidant activity of fruits and vegetables. For example, the main antioxidant activity in apples is provided by classes of chemicals called phenolics and flavonoids, both of which are made more available by cooking.
If you compare raw broccoli to steamed or frozen broccoli, about 25 percent of the vitamin C and about 20 percent of the selenium is lost during cooking, but the other 20 commonly-measured nutrients show only an insignificant change. Raw-food advocates are not accurate when they claim that 50 percent of nutrients are lost with steaming. A closer estimate would be 10 percent.
Cooking corn also has been shown to significantly boost its antioxidant activity, despite reduction in vitamin C.When the ability to quench free radicals was measured, cooked corn outperformed raw corn by between 25 to 50 percent. Cooking corn releases a compound called ferulic acid, which provides anti-cancer health benefits. Ferulic acid, a phytochemical, is unique in that it is found only in very low amounts in fruits and vegetables, but is found in very high amounts in corn. The availability to the body of ferulic acid can be increased 500 to 900 percent by cooking the corn.
Benefits of raw food.
Certainly, there are benefits to consuming plenty of raw fruits and vegetables. These foods supply us with high nutrient levels and the smallest number of calories. But the question we are looking at is this—Are there advantages to eating a diet of all raw foods and excluding
all cooked foods?
Clearly, the answer is a resounding “No.” In fact, eating an exclusively raw-food diet is a disadvantage. To exclude all steamed vegetables and vegetable soups from your diet narrows the nutrient diversity of your diet and has a tendency to reduce the percentage of calories from vegetables, in favor of nuts and fruit, which are lower in nutrients per calorie.
Unfortunately, sloppy science prevails in the raw-food movement. Rawfood advocates mistakenly conclude that since eating processed and cooked carbohydrates is harmful for us, all cooked foods are harmful.
To eat the most healthful diet on earth, include a sufficient quantity of raw fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds. If you are not very overweight or diabetic, add a glass of freshly squeezed raw vegetables to your diet. Try one of the following combinations beet/carrot/cabbage/apple; kale/parsley/carrot/apple; or beet/carrot/celery/cucumber. Have a blended salad a few times a week.
In addition, try to consume an adequate amount of cooked food, especially vegetable soup.
The one question I still have about a raw food diet, which I used to believe in, is: why are we the only animals that cook our food? Other animals get all the nutrients they need from raw food. I await to be enlightened.
We're probably also the only animal that plants seed to grow food, refrigerates it, or sells it at the market. On the other hand even wild animals will eagerly and happily consume cooked and processed food that is offered to them, so you shouldn't base too much on the fact that they don't know how to cook.
what about the argument about life force and bio photons. they say this life force is lost when cooking. and that this life force/bio photons. can anyone explane.
...what about the argument about life force and bio photons. they say this life force is lost when cooking. and that this life force/bio photons. can anyone explane.
my thought about it is now, if it was the life force of the plants that should give us life. then all people who would eat cooked food would be dead by now.
still the are some rawfoodist who are in good health. but many cooked food eaters too i dont really see the diffrents.
Sorry Doc, but the cell wall argument for cooking is weak when you compare it to other evidence.
When you eat cooked food your body reacts as if poisoned. This triggers an immune response called leukocytosis where the white blood cells increase up to 300%. Leukocytosis was once considered a normal reaction to eating, but it does not happen when we eat raw food.
Cooked food also causes Mucoid Plaque which coats the intetinal track and causes malabsorption. Our bodies create their first mucus as a baby when we eat our first cooked food. This mucus acts as a protective filter; it protects the digestive tract from the toxic cooked food. The digestive tract is meant to absorb the nutrients from food, but the mucus prevents this from happening.
It is a green rubbery hose about 25 yards long. (Do a Google image search to see it for yourself!)
If Raw Food isn't right then why does it offer complete disease reversal in every case? What other treatment/diet/surgery has the same results? None that I have found.
I had 3 diseases and they are all gone. Raw Food gave me my life back.
Lolerskates quote= "I had 3 diseases and they are all gone. Raw Food gave me my life back."
Yeah raw food cures up salmonella and Trichinellosis really well. Get a clue raw food is not any more healthy than cooked food. All a raw food diet promotes is the eating of more fruits and vegetables. Cooked or raw eating more is better for you.
Actually, the doctor is incorrect regarding the body's use of enzymes that are eaten. There have been many studies to confirm this and the fact that hypertrophy of many of a human's glands can be reduced if not aborted when sufficient enzymes exist within the diet and many other studies regarding the experiments to determine the effects of completely denatured food (cooked so enzyme free) on enzyme levels in blood and urine.
What if everyone is right - for themselves. What is every person is unique and requires different things at different times. The real disease is that most of us have lost the ability to not only be extremely tuned in and sensitive to the needs of our bodies, but also to stick with what is true for us and not get swayed by the influence of others.
I can only speak for myself. I followed diets set out by people like Dr. Weil for years. I tried following a mainly cooked Vegan diet for months at a time. Through all of this I still carried crippling neck pain and serious depression/pms that almost killed me. I have been on a 100% RAW food diet for 8 weeks now. I am now for the first time in 15 years off my anti-depressants and for the first time in 15 years and doing awesome. I have not had to take painkillers for 3 days now - THAT has never happened before!!! I believe what I have learned through RAW foodist and those who have been healed by them. I hope those of you who need more info will seek it. Thanks
This article makes a lot of sense to me. I've tried eating about every way there is. I see no apparent benefit in eating a large raw salad every day.
I believe that warm cooked foods are easier to digest and they taste well. Frozen foods causes mucus in me. Raw cold foods seem hard to digest.
Ayurvedic and Chinese healers will tell you to avoid raw foods. I think they have a keener sense of what's good for the body.
It's true that if you feed an animal cooked food, they will eat it, and perhaps like it better than raw foods!
When someone switches from a cooked foods diet to a raw foods diet, they will inevitably stop eating certain foods that they have probably been consuming for a long time. Could this be the reason for the claims of better health when switching to raw foods? Maybe one, or more of the cooked foods they were eating were causing problems because of the food itself, not because of being either raw or cooked.
Is there any-one out there who is doing so well on a raw/living foods diet after six months or more without substantial cheating? if you read gabriel cousens the trend seems to be towards eliminating more and more food stuffs. merely eating raw is no longer enough. fruit msut go. mushrooms must go. raw dairy even from the goat must go. Once the benefits of the freedom from anti-nutirents, coffee sugar refined flour etc are exhausted the diet seems to sensitise the body to a whole new set of irritants. i am suggesting the diet could acually be a very bad thing and not merely for reasons of malnutrition. comments??
To consume more of a nutrient as Dr. F says is available in cooked foods is not always a good thing. Just as supplements contain a single nutrient and the body treats them as an unknown substance and will not be able to use the supplement as designed the consumption of larger amounts of bio-available nutirients in cooked food does not mean that they are healthier. The body needs the mixture of all of the nutrients that come in the raw fruit or vegetable in the ratio they are in the raw state. To mess around with this ratio by cooking is not making the food healthier at all and in fact is making it less healthy. Claiming that a vitamin or nutrient is more absorbable after cooking is not at all a good argument for cooking but is in fact a good argument for not cooking.
There are some good sites that have lots of info on raw versus cooked vegetables and fruit. These sites also have graphics for the raw food movement for myspace users http://www.pimpys.com and http://www.picklemy.com
70 percent raw and 30 percent cooked seems to ok with exercise daily.
I know people who have been cured of many diseases by a macrobiotic diet and some who claim the same healings from eating raw meat. I know someone on a raw diet who looks and feels great and then there is another man who looks like he came out of a concentration camp. I don't think there is one sacred holy cow diet just as there isn't only one way to God...I eat a 100% organic whole foods diet with some raw and some cooked and I eat fermented dairy and grassfed meat and that diet is super for me. I hate the idea of doing restrictive diets ever again.
My experience with raw foods: I was in fairly good health but still suffered for several years from chronic daily hemorrhoids, rectal fissure, insomnia, cracked heels, general chilliness, poor concentration, was 30+ pounds overweight, and my hair was turning grey rapidly. I was eating a mostly organic whole food vegetarian diet for over thirty years (on which I overcame Lymes disease and migraine headaches), and applied ayurvedic and chinese medicine wisdom to my diet and lifestyle. I ate no junk food at all. It wasn't until I adopted a 99% (and later 100%) raw, organic diet that every one of the above-mentioned symptoms completely disappeared never to return (excepting a few grey hairs). It has been about 14 months now since I made the commitment (no cheating, no kidding!), and I feel better and more youthful than ever before in my nearly 49 years. I rarely ever eat anything cold from the fridge or freezer. My skin and hair are beautiful, my energy is great, my sleep is wonderful, I lost 33 pounds of excess fat, I no longer have hemorrhoids or fissures or even dry cracked heels, I am no longer chilly even in winter, and my concentration and focus is excellent. I am far more productive than ever. My two questions for the doctor or anyone else who knows: If a raw diet can cause nutritional deficiencies, how long will it take before the overall excellent benefits of my diet change disappear, and the deficiency symptoms begin to appear? If cooked food is essential to good health, please explain how the human and animal kingdoms managed to survive for countless generations? I believe that people have the right to choose what they wish to eat, and that negative judgement is not conducive to health for anyone. I sincerely wish for each and all of you the wonderful increase in health and happiness that I have achieved eating only raw foods. As my granddaughter said to me..."Grandma, you don't look like a grandma to me, all yucky and old and wrinkled, you look nice and young!"
Blessings of health and happiness to all!
No one mentioned Pottenger's cats.
Also, no one mentioned a device called a blender for breaking down fiber in veggies, versus exploding it with heat.
Also I had asthema for years, and whenever I eat grains with gluten raw or cooked the asthema comes back. (or animal products)
Thanks much.
I have Systemic Lupus and was given plaquenil to help me. It did, but for many years it was not 100% better until I went on a raw food diet for one year. My lupus symptoms eventually dissapeared entirely, and my blood tests showed as if I didn't have lupus at all. My doc wanted me to start phasing off my meds but I was too chicken to go off them completely. It is not easy being raw especially when I cook for my 2 kids and husband. But people, it works, just be reasonable with it and trust your body. I ate raw sushi for protein, which I felt I needed. Go organic when you do it; it makes all the difference.
This is an interesting article, but what I find interesting is that, to my knowledge, zoos do not feed their animals cooked food. If or when they do, they get sick.
Second, it is possible that scientists cannot currently measure the value of raw foods. Results are much more valuable when determining the efficacy of raw foods.
Third, it sounds like there's other studies above of which I'm not aware that show the value of raw foods and the enzymes they contain.
There are many good arguments for diets other than raw foods. A partial raw diet is great, because a lot of our vegetables do lose enzymes, nutrients, and vitamins when being cooked. However, others vegetables (when being boiled), actually show an increase in vitamins and minerals. In addition, while some vegetables showed a significant decrease of minerals and vitamins when being cooked, others were negligible. Some nutrients in raw foods are absorbed just fine. Others aren't absorbed very well into the body when raw. As far as health, look at Dr. Jordan Reuben, author of the Maker's Diet. Look at the Mediterranean diet. Look at people in other cultures who are extremely healthy and yet cook their food. Raw foodists claim that steaming destroys enzymes, but another study showed that the temperature of water when you correctly steam food only reaches 100 degrees. Enzymes are not destroyed at that temperature. Raw foodists also claim that 50% of nutrients and minerals are destroyed when we cook food. In all actuality it is about 10%.
The best way to be healthy is to completely cut out processed and chemically treated foods. Even eating organic, there are many processed foods, so while I do believe that eating a predominantly raw foods diet is great, I also believe that people should include natural, organic cooked foods (cooked correctly) into their diets.
I tried several raw recipes from about 3 books that I have. They all taste funny. I should still be able to enjoy food, shouldn't I? I think I'll be sticking to smoothies for breakfast, veggie sandwiches on sprouted bread (perhaps even dehydrated bread at times) or a salad for lunch and fish or chicken and veggies for dinner. I'll be eating my carrots steamed or boiled, because they were one of the vegetables that showed the increase in vitamins and minerals through coooking.
Amy, one point you make is "when you correctly steam food only reaches 100 degrees" - but not sure how that's possible when the gaseous form of water is reached when it's over 212 degrees. Steam is tremendously hot - just put your face over it and you'll experience extreme heat. I don't think that study's accurate.
Additionaly, it's tough to eat raw, but you just can't argue with the *results*. I don't eat a even close to 100% raw, but I do at least try to stay over 50% raw, because it's really hard to do when you work a lot. That or taste doesn't justify the facts and results seen from what it can do for you. Just because we can't accurately measure it's worth today, doesn't mean it doesn't exist.
Amy's point about the 100 degrees is her misunderstanding... that is 100 degrees CELSIUS! Which is the boiling point of water, which as Steve pointed out, is 212 Fahrenheit. Way higher than the 115 Fahrenheit that is often used as the top temp for raw food.
I have changed my diet to about 80% to 90% raw foods. I have been on it for only about a month, if that. I had bad psoriasis before this. after changing my diet it went away almost completely. Sometimes i eat a hot vegetable soup or some steemed veggies. I think you just have to go with what your body tells you. I have noticed that if I eat wheat products like bread it starts to come back. same thing with meat
Does cooking may cause any change in the nutritive value of the food items
prescribed for a particular meal.
please note that the nutritive value of the raw food is being calculated as per the guidelines(nutritive value of Indian Foods,NIN,Hyderabad)for that particular meal.
as an actual dr (don't bother drumming me out as a poser) i would like to point out that many of these miracle cures attributed to raw food could also be explained by the sudden change in diet. If you went from a vegan diet that consisted largely of pirates booty and sugar laden snacks, then switched to a raw diet, it stands to reason that overall health would increase. I think that all of these testimonies are given without a fair admission of past habits. Also, i would like to briefly (and at my own peril)address the mucus issue. we all have mucus lining our GI tract. it protects us. we don't have rumens, so an over abundance of mucus isn't going to be fatal. we do, however, have sensitive stomach and intestinal linings, which need mucus. all of this talk of "too much mucus" inhibiting nutrient absorption is not true. Finally, meat is basically essential for a healthy human (especially a human male) to survive. thousands of years of selective breeding (evolution people) have given an edge to humans able to take the most nutrients out of cooked meat. Charring is bad, yes, but that doesn't mean you should exclude all meats from your diet. we need animal protein. so, if you want my opinion, raw vegetable and fruits are wonderful things. we all should increase our consumption of raw plants, but to leave out cooked meat is simply unhealthy. even if you add one piece of broiled fish every few days, or a chicken breast on top of a raw organic salad once in while, it will help you maintain a healthy body a healthy waist line and allow you to ingest all of the nutrients your body actually requires.
you must be a medical doctor because you stupid!!! Your just corrupted by the government because they want you to eat electricuted food so you die a slow and painfull death and they can reap all your hard earned money. Read a book or two....you might learn something!!
Andrew, assuming you're an MD with a traditional pharma-backed and drug-based education, please enlighten us how animal products are "basically essential", how we "need animal protein" and how leaving "out cooked meat is simply unhealthy". Also, please include to what extent you were educated in nutrition in medical school (it's typically 1 - 3 semester hours, if that). Also, in your analysis, please explain how sickness and disease develop in those on a flesh-based diet, while those on a plant-based diet thrive. Oh yeah, and please explain how those who've been on a SAD (Standard American Diet) diet - yeah, I know that's rhetorical - and have switched to a plant-based diet get better, but when they go back to eating meat they get sick again. We see that time and time again, so what you're saying just does not make sense based on the RESULTS we've seen.
The fact is, sufficient and extensive studies and data exist that shows that a plant-based diet is much healthier, and even eating meat once a week increases cancer risk by as much as (I believe the stat is) 40%. And if you took the time to self-educate yourself, you'd find from studies such as The China Study and the Seventh Day Adventist study that flesh-based diets do in fact contribute to disease. There's just no doubting it. I just met an MD the other day that dumped his traditional practice of over 20 years to open up a practice that teaches/educates/practices "integrative medicine", the new buzz word for alternative in the medical field. And, guess what, with diet and herbs alone he's having excellent results with cancer, hormones, and disease in general WITHOUT DRUGS. But, he said he had to learn it on his own, and once he "learned the truth", in his words, he said he "couldn't go back". I only wish more medical doctors were this honest and properly trained in the real cause and prevention of sickness and disease.
Do you really believe humans are meant to be vegetarian? Which does our GI tract more closely resemble, that of a cow or that of a cat? Why is it that a human body can not digest cellulose? Everything the doctor said is true. Animal protein is essential for human health. Every animal protein is a complete protein containing the full spectrum of amino acids, vegetable proteins do not. Meat products contain healthy cholesterol and saturated fats, which are also essential for health (which is why breast milk contains 25% sat fat and 11% cholesterol). The problem with a vegan diet is it is typically way too high in carbohydrates, and too low in protein and fat. The body becomes deficient in fat soluble vitamins, and the high carb diet promotes insulin resistance, which causes a whole host of other problems. I've switched to a diet primarily of red meat and cooked non-starchy vegetables and i've never felt better in my life. I will never go back to being a raw vegan.
What makes enzymes? They are mostly proteins, meaning they are transcribed by mRNA from DNA (nucleic acid helices) into amino acid chains of different shapes. So let's look at the generator of enzymes, not just the body's store of them. The question is then, does raw food or cooked food turn on and off the genes (DNA sequences) that create the body's most effective synergetic symphony of proteins in the body? And how would we determine how food effects the cell-nuclear transcription? It would have to do with the nutrients in the plasma and extracellular fluid that signal from the cell membrane (surface) deep into the nucleus of the cell, effecting the genetic (DNA) and epigenetic (molecules all around the DNA) expression. A lot of molecular biochemistry has shown that the extracellular environment - from stress hormones to drugs - signal into the cell interior and effect the nucleus. The study of how raw food vs. cooked food does that is rather undeveloped. But to go back to what works in the wild, I for one am led to the idea that the dissolved nutrients in an raw leaf or fruit is better able to create a healthy, well-understood signal from the cell membrane molecules that turn on and off the genes at optimal expression. And then the right enzymes are made. And since minerals and enzymes work together, the dissolved minerals in raw vegetable food have a scientific likelihood of being ready to combine with the enzymes that are now created, as well. Thus the complexes of minerals with carbon molecules to create the crucial inorganic complexes are ready to go, and the body is mineralized, alkalized, electrified, and highly energized by the inorganic mineral-carbon complexes to create movement and transfer through the tissues which keeps us alive and flowing.
Not sure what source that information came from Michael, but one thing we need to understand is that there's a reason we can't digest certain foods - we don't produce the enzymes necessary to do so. Our GI tract is much more like a cow/horse than a cat/dog. Our saliva and stomach acid is much more mild because we're not set up to eat raw meat like a cat. Additionally, our intestinal tract is long and twisted, where a true carnivore like a cat/dog has a short and somewhat straight intestine. It's surprising that needs clarification from a physiological perspective. Any basic Anatomy and Physiology book covers this.
Additionally, not sure I'm an advocate of a pure vegan diet *LONG TERM*. There appears to be advantages from an ideal perspective to at least get a small amount of good fat and essential fatty acids from other sources such as butter, milk, eggs. However, note this is a very small amount. Based on the evidence, pure vegans don't do as well long term as ovo-lacto vegans from what I've seen - maybe someone has seen something different.
Seems that misinformation, conflict of interest, monetary or otherwise, or maybe people's desire for animal flesh, that keeps us from coming to a collective agreement on the subject of diet and raw foods. Seems that we need to look at the evidence and results to properly determine the best course of dietary action. Dr. Furhman is definitely on the right track, and we see positive, healing results from diets that he and people like Dr. Dean Ornish and Dr. John McDougal suggest. When people go the plant-based route, we see people getting well. Sorry folks, without a shadow of a doubt, based on the evidence, we can ascertain meat is disease-causing, not life-sustaining...
My grandmother is 96 years old, in perfect health, and her favorite foods are McDonalds, Pizza Hut and hot dogs!! If I could live to be 100 on a raw food diet, or 95 and enjoy a well-rounded diet eating everything I enjoy in moderation, I would choose to live to 95!
I agree, I enjoy my African and Carri bean food. It's healthy and fulfilling, so why would I want to torture myself with this diet. Life on earth is meant to be enjoyed, we will all die one day anyway so stop coming up with gimmicks that claim to let you live forever. People stop fooling yourself and enjoy a healthy lifestyle, by not becoming too extreme.
Not sure if this is still active but i'll give my two cents.
our bodies reflect our lifestyle, which includes but is not exclusively our diet.
Raw diets are very good for healing, i will admit this. the raw veg/fruit cleanses the body.
but they are inpractical for long term living and for athletes.
don't make such a fuss, someone that discards the benefits of something, for 'belief' in something else is being ignorant.
raw food, very good.
cooked food, good too!
god damnit lol you don't have to choose.
all the best
-Theo
Frankly, I think it's a shame that all these people who claim that raw foods have healed them, made them healthy etc., are using that as a basis for proof that raw foods are amazing and that everyone should be doing it. What these people are experiencing is NOT a controlled test, it should NOT be accepted as evidence since no peer reviewed publication in the world would rely simply on this data. However, as far as peer reviewed research data goes, there is just simply no evidence to suggest that a purely or even mostly raw diet is in any way a significant benefit to ones health. In fact, the only journals I have so far found, actually show that in test subjects, people (especially women) are more likely to be undernourished and lacking in essential vitamins. Infact 30% if women on this diet are likely to have partial to full Amenorrhea. Sorry, but I can't in all good conscience support a diet that can make you infertile.
what about dehydration, pickling and fermenting? does that help the food be digested? also what foods are better to eat cooked and what foods are better raw?
thank you
Awesome comments, a brilliant read this article overall. Shame we can't come to a solid conclusion!
Entirely raw food is just too impractical in my mind. Hats off to those who can manage it, but until there's stronger evidence that its truely better, I think a diet of plenty of fruit and veg, raw and cooked, some fish (cooked), plenty of legumes and nuts and the occasional piece of meat if desired is the most sensible option. In this way we still get to dine out, arn't too restricted with what we eat, yet will end up healthier than the 95% of the population who stuff themselves with white flour, refined sugar and deep fried foods everyday for their entire lives. Seems like a good balance to me.
I am from India and i have cervical spondylosis. I had gout a few years back but was able to control it with some food changes but now i have cervical spondylosis.
The so called great modern medicine dosent have an answer. All they know is antiinflammtory tablets, pain killers and vitamin tablets. I have read about a yogi's diet i.e the diet of an indian saint. I have turned to raw food, can say 75% raw and i have cooked food only for dinner.
Now i can see the change. The pain has miraculosly stopped though not fully. I have realised that it is the inflammation i have to cure. for that i have to strenghten my immune system and make it recognize that it is not supposed to be attacking my neck. It may sount funny but it is true.
Now there are many here who claim that there is not much reserch done on benefits of raw food. But i believe in live examples and not the reserch studies done by those so called big drug companies. I have seen someone live for more than 100 years , healthy and perfect by eating raw food. All the person used to eat was green sprouts and fruits. His stomach almost touched his back but his body was in perfect shape and there was no fatigue. He lived for more than 100 years. He was the guru of my uncle and my uncle managed to survive about 70 years as he consumed cooked food.
Sorry for the long story , nut just wanted to share my experiences because there are many people in the world who are spending hell a lot of money on medicines which are of no use. Fasting and raw food diet can bring back life and cure diseases which are not cured by medicines.
Well, my husband and I recently watched "Food Matters" and were both inspired to eat at least 51% raw. He lost 12 pounds in a week (he was pooping like six times a day!) and we both seem to *feel* a lot better.
I have been eating mostly raw veges for a month but it's hard with two youngsters 2 and 4 but I'm trying to include as much raw as I can with them too.
After reading this article and subsequent comments however, I have to admit I'm confused! The whole enzyme debate gets a little complicated if you aren't hip to all the details and frankly, I don't want to become a certified nutritionist to eat! I think in the final analysis, we'll stick to eating 51% (at least) raw, organic, and only occasionally, cooked fish.
Lets face it: we know almost nothing about raw food diets yet, aside from the burgeoning body of personal experiences which are so accessable to all thanks to the internet. There is has been tragically little research, and many of assumptions that are made by both enthusiasts and critics have not actually been tested.
The evidence is overwhelming for a diet based almost exclusively on plant foods. Many people derive benefit from improving thier diet in this direction. Not all of them, as the doctor contributing above assumes, were eating utter rubbish beforehand. I should know, I'm a doctor and I was eating a virtually vegan wholefood diet (mainly due to reading Campbells "China Study") before I noticed that my Raw Food wife had significantly more energy and clarity in the evenings than I did. I followed in her footsteps and the result was effortless weight loss, and increased energy. From my point of view the most interesting change was radically increased recovery time from injury (at least 60% quicker), and almost no stiffness after exeptional exertion or new activities. My surgeries are full of people who just aren't healing injuries and inflammations of various kinds. Lack of a proper research base makes it impossible to share my experiences with the overwhelming majority of my patients. But as a 40+ year old doing TaeKwonDo twice weekly with my kids I'm finding life a good deal easier.
I think the dramatic experiences that many rawfoodists report deserve some proper research, as do the experiences of those who don't get along with it. This will take a good deal of time to undertake, publish, and understand. Gabriel Cousens is hoping to get funding for his work with diabetes, lets hope he gest some. But this will just be a small peice in the jigsaw. Research agendas are pretty hard to send in new directions so we may be waiting a long time. In the meantime, by all means lets share our experiences, hypotheses and what information there is, but lets not pretend we know more than we do.
Why does everything have to be backed by intricate science that no one agrees on anyway? What can be agreed upon is that when people eat a raw diet of fruits, vegetables, sprouts, nuts and seeds, they feel better. Medical problems go away. People become happier.
Did anyone see the documentary Raw for 30 days? A varied group of participants agree to eat raw for 30 days to document (by all kinds of medical doctors) what happens to their diganosis of diabetes as they begin and complete 30 days of raw food. The people who stick it out for 30 days, reverse their diabetes.
What more do you want? Will you eat raw if some scientist finally declares it to be healthy? Don't be brainwashed by the medical community. Don't be brainwashed by your peers. Who ever died from eating raw fruits and vegetables? If you're asking questions about how to do it, you might be in a place to try it. If you're calling everyone else idiots for doing it, you wouldn't last a week on a raw food diet because you're not ready for it so let others enjoy their benefits and find something else to critique, like the cabbage soup diet.
Raw food is about taking your health into your own hands. It's about not covering up problems with pills and supplements and other things. It's about nourishing your body to perform at maximum capacity.
Where can I find good raw food websites that seem more grounded than "this will change your life" vibe?
I thought I might try it for a month and would like some resources that aren't trying to sell me a belief.
As for "short term" or "long term", cooked foods only, raw foods only, I'm right and you're wrong arguments going on here, I think the bible said it well when Paul advises people to eat to your own convictions. Whatever works for you, works for you.
Get along people. There is plenty more worthy subjects to argue about. Nothing is being accomplished but added chaos and confusion.
Research Dr. Gabriel Cousins
go to rdnmovement.com and see how he is getting people off their insulin in just 30 days, sometimes in just one week, of being on an all raw organic diet...we CAN live and live healthy on just raw foods...
~Amy~
The best test is to try it and see how you feel.
The first RAW food restayrant was in the 1900's in New York and was there for over 40 years. People have been eating this way for years people! You take a segment of the population who have eaten raw for more than 20 years and a segment that has eaten the SAD diet ( standard american diet) and look at who is healthier and who has more disease. I want to look and feel like the RAW food people do! That's all the proof I need.
Food Matters and Raw for 30 days are amazing peiced of information that should run on TV instead of the nightly news! That would turn the economy around...commercial farmers could turn into COMMUNITY FARMS..everyone would have a job then!
~Amy~
in Missouri
I believe both sides of these arguments are both right & wrong. Perhaps there should be a balance of eating both raw and cooked foods, just not extremes of both. Definately overcooking is bad I guess, and I think the use of microwave ovens are very bad. Personally I eat about 60 to 70% raw food and maybe 30 to 40% cooked food. Stay away from fully/partially hydrogenated oils or cooked/heated oils. Also complex/refined/ or artificial sugar is bad. Regular salt is bad too, so try Celtic sea salt instead. All processed or caned food is bad. Taking synthetic vitamins is bad. Foods grown with the use of pesticides are bad, and food animals injected with growth hormones & antibiotics are bad too. Heck, this isn't a perfect world we live in, so we have to be realistic that we live in a bad world. Even if we ate perfectly, something else could do us in!!! Take care & live as long as you can.
I forgot to mention that all people are different when it comes to our health. My grandmother for instance is 87 years old and is still alive and well and ate practically nothing but cooked foods and processed foods all her life while living in Brooklyn, New York. So who can say what would have happed to her longevity so far if all she ate was raw food??? She later moved to Orlando, Florida in 1994, and she still cooks everyday. Perhaps some people just are inclined to live longer then others. I'm a freak when in comes to my eating 70% raw diet because I think it will help me live longer, but look at what I just said about my grandmother!!!!! I won't stop eating raw regardless because it tastes better raw unless it's proven that raw is BAD!!!!!!!!!
I've been raw for almost 3 years and have never felt better. It took me a long time to adjust, though....lots of yo-yoing back and forth. I do recommend everyone watch the Raw For Thirty documentary. It is so inspiring! http://rawfor30days.com/cmd.php?af=1010640 I'm thinking of hosting a screening in my city to get the information out there.
This is One great blog, I am to young and inexperianced to give the greatest of opinion. But from searching with heart and empowerment all over the web. I came to see many astounding things about going on a raw food diet. One things forsure it's about mind, body and SPIRIT. I have seen that this diet or lifestyle has keys to unlocking certain spiritual connections In your body. Lots of things in this world we cannot see with our eyes. Alot of these things that we can't see are felt. I believe this Improves that ability. It is amazing the natural changes that occour because of the right spirit(attitude) or emotional strength. I am obvisously never going to stop researching on raw because the truth is not in your head it's in your heart. That is what these raw foodist are all about,thier about love and peace. What's wrong with love ? They are looking for safe and pure solutions to our enviroment and food sources. Does your doctor do that? If they find that solution that save our bodies for many more years I want in on that as soon as possible. It's only all good so far what has come of it? The only problem is angry people who can't live with peace?When you don't think eating meat is going to save our water resources and crop life? Thanks this was fun!
Hey! I ventured into the raw diet and am now changing it to something different. I found I had more vitality brought back into my life when I did colonics therapy. That really helped me. with added probiotics. great for health and weight loss. I also am adding fish and eggs back in my diet for the omegas and B vitamins. Raw food diet misses the needed Bs and omegas. I also found it had too much nuts for me. It also wasn't grounding enough. My mind just wouldn't stop racing. When I eat cooked food my mind slows down and I feel more grounded. I see all these people out there who are very healthy and eat cooked food and even red meat! And they have energy and are happy people and don't get sick. Makes me wonder if the raw food diet is really necessary. I am switching to a more meditarrean diet, adding wild fish and eggs in my die approach, more cooked and just staying away from fast food like burgers and steak and fries and pizza and junk food like chips and chocolate bars etc. And I don't drink milk because of all the added stuff in milk now days. I also eat grains like quinua and rice and vegtable pasta. so i think everything in moderation is the key. Kale i am keeping in my diet as it is high in C and other nutrients. I am just going with what works for me and taking whole food suppliments too. I also try to keep my moods in check and try not to think so much. I also like the raw desserts so I nix the other deserts for the healthier version. so certain things i am keeping and some i am not. i also like my hemp protein shakes and hemp seeds and avacados and such. so i eat good. i think being a 100% in anything is more stressful then not. Makes me wonder why people would be so obsessed about it. I just stay away from heavy foods like tofu, pizza, etc. and go for more earth friendly foods. But it is still a mystery to me why there are still so many skinny people in the world who eat crappy and don't ever gain a pound, never get sick and live long lives and are not 100% raw...explain that one too me. And then there are others who are overweight, have issues etc. Personally i think anitbiotics are a big reason why people have health problems and medications. Many of the overweight people i have talked to have had antibiotics in the past and they said the gained weight and had intense cravings for bad food. Also birth control for women has had a factor in health. That experience happened to me too. Many of the people who are skinny and hardly ever get sick never had antibiotics they also don't eat a lot of sugar or have aspartame. Which its funny how cancer became more of an issue when aspartame came on the market and it was unheard of before. Many of the people who have had cancer had lots of aspartame products like diet pop and gum. also we eat way too much. we don't need as much as we think. i noticed when i add in more probiotics and did colonics i didn't need as much food and wasn't always hungry. ate way less. I still think raw is good for a short term diet but stressful in the long run. body needs a balance as well as the mind too. life is all about learning balance and learning self love and love for others and enjoying life. Make your own heaven on earth. :)
dear god people, any exclusive ideology is usually critically flawed.
eating EVERYTHING raw: diet-limiting and stupid;
every EVERYTHING cooked: nutritionally wasteful and stupid;
and get your vaccinations, theyre the true disease killer; even if they cause some diseases, the number they MAY cause is significantly smaller than the diseases theyve already historically exterminated.
Here's my experience and I have been raw for 6 years with successful weight loss over the first few months.
When I ate cooked food I found it comforting and it made me feel warm inside... ready to go outside and bear the cold. I also felt mentally 'satisfied' and somewhat more balanced in my emotions and personality. I felt happy. Since cooked foods seem to move through the body's digestive system slower than raw foods, I felt my inner thermal increase, making me feel more strong & hearty. I also felt very relaxed like I could fall asleep after eating.
Raw foods made me feel young, alive, and energized. After eating I felt empty inside, depending on what raw foods I ate, yet I felt satisfied. I didn't crave more food every hour of the day as I did with cooked food. It was like I was eating just for the sake of nutrition, rather than pleasure/comfort.
The downside: Living in the northeast with cold winters, I was not able to stand the cold. I felt like I was missing a part of me, sometimes depressed, and like I was near death and cold inside (but not in a sickly or painful way)... I just felt like 'I wasn't here' like I was more spirit than body.
From experience I believe that any food that stays in your gut longer than it should becomes that meaty part of us, possibly our daily chemical make-up. Though not everyone will agree with me, nor has felt the same, but from my personal experience I have found that the raw foods diet is the right design for us humans just as long as we live in the tropics and have no need to feel solid, strong and hearty! Animals in the wild don't cook food they eat and those that have stored 'raw' blubber to withstand winters hibernating eat raw meat. Maybe we humans need to learn to unwind, slow down, and meditate. We need to develop a gentle nature, and appreciation to what the earth provides us with and harmonize with it. Then adapting the raw foods diet would be ideal.
Many people believe, without ever trying a supremely healthy diet, that it cannot be enjoyable, or cannot be as enjoyable as the less-than-healthy foods they have grown to love. I assure you, I understand this thinking. However, I just want to point out that it is quite possible to actually grow to enjoy eating a supremely healthy diet.
I am one of those people that never gets sick. I am always full of energy and I have a ready smile.
I eat what I feel like eating and go with my gut feeling tells me. I wont eat something that I feel will be harmful and I ALWAYS breath in by the mouth as I take my first bite (its the beast way to know how it tastes like before eating it).
I have some raw foodist friends and I respect their ways, I eat rawfood meals with them but I also always ask that I am eating first as there is alot of raw food that contains toxins and we would not be eating if we did not cook food at all. (e.g: potatoes, sweet potatoes, almost all mushrooms, etc..).
I use the same rule with cooked food... if its better for me raw.. I will go for the raw.
Its not a black and white world.. there are shades of grey AND colors.
I was a vegetarian for six years, but went back to meat after I was diagnosed with a protein deficiency. As an adult I developed diabetes after gaining weight during pregnancy. I got rid of it by cutting out processed foods and simple starches, increasing my vegetable intake and eating lean meats. Our household follows the Blood-type diet and only eats organic produce and it works for us. I lost 35lbs and my husband lost 50lbs. We've maintained the weight loss and overall good health since.
After two years, we decided we wanted to take the next step. After reading some articles and blogs I thought going raw was the way for me. I thought I could get around the protein requirements by substituting proper vegetable protein. My husband is a vegetarian and was on board, so we started. We started going raw three days ago. After these three days my husband felt great and was full of energy. I on the other hand, had so much stomach acid and mucus build-up, that I found it difficult to get through the day and was unable to sleep at night. It got to the point where I was spitting every couple of minutes and was so uncomfortable that I ate a piece of bread to absorb some of the acid (and I didn't really eat bread before I went raw). Not only did it not work, it seemed to get worse. I finally gave in and had a piece of cooked lean steak. The acid build up immediately subsided. I have no science to support anything, but I know what worked for me. I've continued to eat raw today, but incorporated cooked lean meat. I feel great now.
So I have concluded with or success on the Blood-type diet (which has different requirements for me and my husband) and this HORRIBLE experience, that not everyone is the same. I will continue to eat raw vegetables a fruit, but realize that my body, unlike my husbands has other needs.
After reading all the comments, I conclude that everyone wants the other to see their point of view.
There is no ONE right way of eating. There are too many factors to consider. Season, location, blood type, dosha, constitution, genetics, gender and the list goes on...
There is evidence to support and oppose each view point.
My experience as a Certified Holistic Nutritionist - the main reason why we eat - to provide the body with the raw materials to function on a daily basis - to give us the gift of life and health. If that is not accomplished then one must change to what works.
Be familiar with the Weston Price Foundation studies. This gentleman traveled, studied and documented the natives and indigenous peoples from the far reaches of the earth. No disease, strong, fertile, long-living peoples. He discovered commonalities in their diets and food preparation techniques. They ate from the land, fermented their food, soaked their grains and often ate meat - sometimes raw, often organ meats.
Can you ignore the healthy Northern Eskimos eating seal fat and whale blubber? No cancer, diseases or Heart problems.
There is also evidence to support the Raw Foodists because detoxification in our toxic modern world is necessary and is a major cause of diseases and ill-health!
My advice: Eat what feels right. Eat to feel good.
If you are vegetarian and suffering from anemia (for instance) then what you are doing is not working - adjust and change to get what is necessary from your diet to function.
Don't get me wrong - I am running a Raw Food Cooking Workshop out of my own kitchen upcoming. Most people think of "Raw" as just salad. Raw foodists know it goes above and beyond. I surely agree that the SAD includes too much cooked and not enough live, fermented or whole foods.
Great article! Thanks for writing.
And to address the MD - I suggest doing some training or research before posting comments on Nutrition and "health". I continue to study and learn even after over 4 years of schooling and many certifications not to mention upgrade courses. I would never give advice on drugs or surgery as I have no training on such topics. Don't give advice on HEALTH. What you practice is quite the contrary - SICK Care!
This an intriguing series of postings (is it a blog? I'm no longer sure what any of these new words and concepts mean...)
I've been keenly interested and investigative when it comes to diet, healing, lifestyle, organic living (in which I include the choice to eliminate products and foods containing synthetic chemicals, especially petroleum-based ones)...etc
I've read a lot of books, not only books supporting 'one side' of the argument or another, but also books which offer the more general base of information we have to date about history, about digestion, physiology, which nutrients the body and mind appear to require, etc.
Over the last couple of years I've changed my diet entirely: from health-conscious (but fairly typical) to all vegan, to vegetarian, to raw, and now I'm at a combination of eating anti-inflammatory/low glycemic, which is mostly plants and largely raw, though not exclusively. I'm also, for the last 9 months or so, gluten-free.
From everything I've read/experienced, the biggest and most important changes one can make to improve health are to eliminate ALL processed/refined foods (including things made from finely ground flour, if you can), all foods that contain additives and added sugars/oils, and to exercise regularly in as many different ways as you can. I also think that it probably makes more sense to eliminate dairy products than it does to eliminate meat/eggs. Afterall, we have no shortage of people who have allergies/reactions to dairy, but has anyone ever heard of a chicken/fish sensitivity?
The example of the northern natives that someone made is a tremendous one: They TOO show extremely low rates of illness and disease, like many 'primitive' cultures, and yet their diet is almost exclusively animal-based, and they've been cooking for an extremely long time.
All around the world there are studies being done on what have been termed "blue zones". What we call them isn't important, but the truth is that there are sections of the world in which populations have a much higher rate of health and longevity than we seem to see here in the 'luxurious first world".
The KEY differences seem to be: Cleaner air (although some of them live in cities), exercise (and not begrudgingly, they enjoy it!), good nutrition from foods in their most natural state (including moderate consumption of cooked foods and animal proteins), and healthy spiritual/social connections/purpose.
I find myself feeling intrigued by the idea of a raw-food diet - I will admit. Some part of me thinks that there might something to it.
However - We have to also remember that even IF we spent the first 10 or 20% of our development here on earth as 'raw foodists', our eating habits and lifestyles have changed drastically too....and that has likely changed what our body actually "is", right now.
Everything I've read indicates that there are some legitimate deficiencies a raw-foodist may well encounter.
From the education I've given myself, I feel strongly that the MOST 'disease-causing' aspects of our lifestyle are: Sugar consumption, saturated fat consumption, poor variety/amount of lovely fruits and vegetables, lack of exercise (we get perhaps 5% of the exercise we've been accustomed to for generations), and even mental stimulation!
The truth is that knitting or doing some recreational wood carving is FAR BETTER for the brain than watching tv or multi-tasking on the computer! - - THIS has been proven in terms of what synaptical benefits the brain shows from these activities: Complex activities aren't necessarily better for the brain. Look around you: Does humanity LOOK happy and satisfied? do they Look smarter? I say absolutely no.
I support the inquiry in all of this. I think that it's entirely possible we might find a way to make an all-raw diet totally optimal at some point. I have a LOT of questions about things like "Spirulina" (which most raw foodists support the use of), because the controversy surrounding it/neurotoxicity is far from decided.
I will shut up now. Eat some fruits! Eat an egg with some onions! Eat some lovely quinoa! Eat some hemp!
My Grandfather survived Normandy, raised a family of ten, smoked for nearly 70 yrs, topped off the evening with a Dewars on the rocks, bacon and eggs every morning and occasionally ate his favorite "cannibal sandwhich"...raw meat with pepper to taste.
He died peacefully in his sleep at 96 yrs old...I'm guessing without any regrets for not eating more leafy greens and hemp butter. Just goes to show, to each his own. I don't by any means live my life the way he did, and I condone any of the aforementioned, but you can argue all day long about what is right and wrong, why not live your life to suit your means and enjoy the fact that your here to begin with. Peace!
*..sorry, meant to say DO NOT condone any of the aforementioned...good day.
If you have not done a raw food diet for more than 2 months, then I don't think you have any reason or right to post anything about it. I have been raw for 3 months. My face cleared up, I lost 20 pounds, I look and feel better than I have in YEARS, I have the energy I had when I was 10. After having 2 miscarriages last year, and almost dying from one of them, I am finally pregnant with a viable pregnancy.
If I eat meat, wheat or cheese, I notice how crappy it makes me feel. It's not good for me.
If you all want excuses to keep eating your unhealthy McDonalds and steak and potato dinner, then just keep eating your dead, depleated and genetically and chemically altered food and if you live to be 95, cool. Think of how much longer you could have lived.
As I said, until you TRY it yourself, you have NO right to post anything. I don't care if you are a doctor or a scientist or whatever. Try it for yourself and THEN post something. Otherwise, STFU.
I am a recently converted vegetarian. Besides, I am about 70% raw but it is easy to be raw here in the tropics.
The raw part of my food consists of: Coconut mature as well as tender ones, dates, avocado, salads (including most salad vegetables), peanuts, beaten rice (which just has to be soaked a bit then can be eaten raw with some garnish), sesame seeds, water melon, musk melon, oranges, tangerines, papaya, custard apples, grapes, sour sops, jack fruit and the like.
the cooked part is mostly cereal like brown rice, wheat, oats, millet, and some gourd/squash/pumpkin vegetables which are nutritious but not so tasty raw, and drumsticks (moringa pod) which are lightly steamed and delicious in curry but they are quite fibrous when in raw state.
i don't know how I could improve on this diet. Any suggestions anyone?
Hi there,
I am 100% raw vegan of 10 years and also a ultra distance runner. This diet saved me from a major illness way back in 2000. I took my health in my own hands so to speak when I was diagnosed with severe Canadia and Gardia. Overcoming this illness through being on a raw vegan diet has turned me into a happy healthy content individual who has not suffered any form of disease or had a cold since, and is now fueled by natural raw foods to run ultra distance marathons. I have so much energy and vibrant health, I love it :)
previously I was on the SAD diet of fast foods and takeaways
before my illness, and was an irritable, moody individual who was definitely addicted to food.
It was a long journey to be where I am now and had many ups and downs along the way, but through persistence and my determination to be healthy I made it. A 100% raw vegan diet may not be for everyone and I believe that you must love what you eat to be happy.
If anyone would like to contact me with regard to being a raw vegan diet, please do so, I would be most willing to answer any questions.
"If you all want excuses to keep eating your unhealthy McDonalds and steak and potato dinner, then just keep eating your dead, depleated and genetically and chemically altered food and if you live to be 95, cool. Think of how much longer you could have lived.
As I said, until you TRY it yourself, you have NO right to post anything. I don't care if you are a doctor or a scientist or whatever. Try it for yourself and THEN post something. Otherwise, STFU."
Tania - this is a very narrow-minded way of thinking.
I am glad for you that eating a raw diet has helped you - don't get me wrong. I on the other hand have been put on an entirely cooked diet by my naturopathic doctor.
I had been feeling tired and sluggish due to too much yeast buildup in my gut, and the sugars in raw fruit and vegetables that our bodies cannot breakdown properly only make it worse.
A diet of mostly cooked vegetables had be back on track in no time and feeling great again. It was NOT an "excuse to eat unhealthy McDonalds" (which I do not eat), nor did I ever eat steak and potato dinners.
I say to each their own, but don't tell yourself that people who don't do as you choose are automatically eating unhealthy. To each their own - but everyone is different, therefore what works for you might not be the best thing for the next person.
I have found it very interesting reading all of the above comments and I'm coming to the conclusion that every human body is somewhat different and has different health and nutritional needs. No one case is exactly the same.
What seems to work well and be very healthy for one person may not be the case for another. I definately agree that a clean diet with fewer preservatives and more natural whole foods bennefits most of us the best.
I find that I feel the best when I cut out the processed foods and eat more fresh fruits, veggies and some cooked veggies as well. I also feel that the mind/body connection influences my well being as much if not more so than diet.