The raw food revolution is gaining popularity, and I’m glad because we are learning to incorporate delicious raw meals into our diets that don’t leave us hungry for burgers and fries. We’re learning that raw doesn’t limit us to carrot sticks and spinach leaves, so more and more people are jumping on the raw wagon. But, what’s so healthy about going raw, and why doesn’t it work for some?
The Up-side of Going Raw
Organic raw fruits and veggies contain live enzymes that aid in digestion. Many Raw Foodists believe that nature intends us to eat food the way she has given them to us. Cultured and fermented raw veggies, seeds and juices also contain enzymes and beneficial bacteria to aid in digestion. So, the diet focuses on maintaining a strong gut by eating pure foods with probiotic and prebiotic healing power.
Since enzymes begin to die at about 118 degrees, going raw keeps our food at its highest nutrition level.
Is there a Down-Side?
I live in Chicago where the weather is crazy cold in the winter and sometimes I want a steaming bowl of soup. Warm foods are calming to our bodies and there are times when we need that type of nutrition. Warm food can be combined with fresh veggies and enzymes to create a comforting meal that soothes us during winter months or times of great sickness. You will notice that people who stick to a completely raw diet and enjoy the most benefit from it, may live in warmer climates.
Macrobiotics teaches us that our food needs change and reflects our moods, climate, energy levels etc, and if we limit ourselves to raw foods then we may be denying the need for some warming foods.
On a recent visit, my holistic doctor noted that nature provided us with raw nutrition, and we thrived on it for thousands of years – but we didn’t really progress as species until we discovered fire and began heating our food. Raw food can work very well for those with indestructible guts. But, in my own case, I needed to prepare my gut to be able to accept the nutrients from a raw diet. And, this meant simply comforting it for a while. For this reason, I believe that going raw is something that is best worked up to.
The Candida Dilemma
I have a huge concern that raw food recipes and meal plans contain too much sweet fruit, and improperly combine it with other foods. This can result in an imbalance of bacteria and yeast and cause candida (pathogenic yeast) overgrowth. Candida feeds on all sugars, including the natural ones, and can thrive when we neglect the food combining rules. Since sweet fruits are best digested alone and on an empty stomach, we confuse our digestive acids by eating them with grains or fats. The ill effects of this may be buffered by drinking a probiotic beverage with a sweet meal, or adding herbs (like cinnamon) which help metabolize sugar.
Gina Laverde is a Chicago-based writer and researcher whose expertise in natural health stems from her experiences with Body Ecology Diet, Blood Type Diet and homeopathic remedies. Gina believes that we’re in the midst of a serious world health crisis, and that the key to survival lies within our guts.
Brainy Blonde says
I understand some people need to build up to raw diet slowly, but for me my stomach handled raw food SO much more easily than cooked. For once I could eat a big meal and feel great afterward, still have a nice flat tummy and actually feel full. If I ate junk food (or even simply cooked meals) I felt bloated and hungry later because of the nutrients (or lack thereof)
BB
Gina says
Hey,
thats cool that raw worked so well for you right away. I did raw kind of all wrong for years, (way too much fruit) and by the time I found out I had candida and thyroid issues, my body couldn’t handle raw fiber. I’m all about raw now and do lots of fermented foods, soups, juices, smoothies etc. When I eat cooked I make sure to have lots of cultured veggies and greens to help digest– otherwise i feel heavy too. Its hard to believe how good eating raw makes me feel now — my husband feels the same. he started 2 weeks ago and just can’t seem to find a reason to go back to his old ways.
Rawk On!
Gina
Michael McEvoy says
Raw food is an essential way to obtain the full spectrum of nutrients, minerals and enzymes from food. This also includes high quality animal proteins such as grass fed beef, bison, chicken, turkey, game and fish.
When food is cooked above certain temperatures (usually 95-118F) all enzymes are destroyed and nutrients are destroyed up to 50-75 percent. This means that the body must use its own reserve of digestive enzymes to assimilate what it can from the food. This is especially true for animal proteins. The pancreas must use massive amounts of enzymes to digest the cooked meat, which is also carcinogenic and toxic to the liver. In its raw form meat contains the full spectrum of enzymes needed for digestion including proteases and lipases.
Our ancestors ate their meat raw. The healthiest people discovered by Weston A. Price were those who consumed mostly vegetables, raw meat and raw dairy. One of the greatest books on nutrition that was ever written is “Nutrition and Physical Degeneration” by Weston A. Price. In it he closely examines the diets of primitive peoples from around the world and reveals the secrets of their health. Raw animal fat was a major part of their life!
Gina Laverde says
Michael,
I do know that some raw foodies include raw milk and meat.. do u? do u cure the meat? dehydrate? Interesting.
My own feeling is that those ancestors needed the meat, and maybe in certain parts of the world people still do. I don’t think I need it. The thought of eating another animal disgusts me in many ways. However, I see it as a personal choice and don’t knock others for doing it. To me, this may be something that phases out as we evolve and more food becomes available to us, and we learn how to best consume that food for full nutrition.
Michael McEvoy says
Gina,
Our own genetic mutations have adapted to many things unnatural.
I have seen certain people suffer severely because of vegetarianism, I was one of them. Many protein type metabolisms need animal protein as a source of fuel. To say that veganism or vegetarianism is natural adaptation doesn’t mean that people are healthier for doing it. A diet low in saturated fat is more harmful than one high in saturated fat.
The incidence of disease in the United States is certainly higher because people were told to stop using butter and lard and start using crisco, vegetable shortenings, margarine and other garbage.
The majority of vegetarians I know are not healthy. Vegetarians usually suffer from poor digestion, poor protein synthesis, copper toxicity due to low zinc absorption and low hydrochloric acid levels. I have seen through blood analysis that many vegans are anemic and deficient in
B-12 and Iron. Vegetarians would do better by eating a couple of raw eggs per day with coconut oil. Vegetarianism is a fad that is now a major industry with more hype than anything.