Raw Food Diet - Eating With Logic - I

There is a ton of information and controversy regarding the raw food diet on the internet. We have the propagators, the persecutors, the passionate and the bewildered. Most of the chief persecutors zoom in from angles of nutritional deficiency, dissatisfaction with their food, body temperatures and laws of nature.

Before engaging in a never ending war, and I do not think it is wise or advisable to, let's examine what raw foods are all about.

Raw foods refer to fresh fruits, vegetable, nuts & seeds which are uncooked, unadulterated with intact vitamins & minerals. They basically contain "life" in them ie. if you plant them, they grow. Once we heat a food beyond a certain temperature and process them with artificial ingredients, the "life" is removed and some substances may even turn toxic.

If you plant the seeds from a fresh apple, you get an apple tree. If you plant the seeds from a packet of apple crisps, you get either nothing or mold. Does this make sense?

And, why is the world shifting towards higher consumption of organic produces? Because we have finally acknowledged the fact that long-term ingestion of pesticides, artificial fertilizers and other farm chemicals is causing disease and death. We recognized that the addition of these chemicals are harmful to our bodies and planet earth.

We also see the need to preserve soil fertility for sustainable farming. And that's why, more and more countries are joining the awareness and encouraging consumption of organic produce by making them more available, granting subsidies and generating publicity.

Eating organic foods seem logical. Raw foods, may also be viewed in a similar fashion. I see them as a little less and a little more than organic foods. Why is it so?

They are a little less because:

1) Raw foods refer to only vegan foods, and

2) Not all organic foods are raw; like organic pasta, organic cereals etc, these are already heated/processed in some way.

And they are a little more because they contain so much more! They are raw and living organic produces: meaning not only are they free of harmful chemicals, they also contain the maximum quantity of health giving nutrients from Mother Nature. By consuming them in the least adulterated states - fresh and uncooked, does it seem logical to you that we are simply getting the best out of them?

With this clear definition in mind, let's move on to nutritional deficiency. This is probably the most debated about in the history of nutrition. We don't even need to talk about protein deficiency because the protein myth has been busted a zillion times.

"The only protein-deficient diet is the starvation diet!" by Dr D.Graham (raw foodist, author of 80/10/10, and trainer of world class Olympic athletes)

A more interesting area would be vitamins & mineral deficiencies.

First of all, we must be reminded that nutritional deficiencies can be prevalent in ANY diet, be it meat-based, all types of vegan, or raw vegan diets. There is no standard benchmark to say that you will be deficient in certain nutrients if you adopt a certain diet. Why? Because everybody is different. Person A & B can eat the same identical diet but depending on their body conditions, may experience different results.

For eg. research has shown that when a group of calcium deficient people were put on a water-fast, their tests show that some of them were no longer deficient in calcium after the fast. Since they did not ingest anything during the fast, they could not possibly have obtained it from food. It could just mean that calcium has been contained in their tissues which had been unabsorbed all along.

Those people had a problem with assimilation of calcium, rather than that with a deficient diet!

For people who have had bad experiences eating raw foods, it could just mean they had assimilation, digestion or even mental block problems. Do not underestimate the power of the mind!

The next most common problem heard from eating raw foods is about body temperatures. I'm lucky to live near the equator, but I agree that to a certain extent, living in cold climates can be tricky for raw foodists.

To read Part II of this article, please refer to our website below.

Linda has always been passionate about the Science of Nutrition for beauty, weight-loss, energy & longevity. She is also a successful Raw Foodist, Certified Raw Food Coach and is ever so delighted to share this gift of knowledge with fellow health enthusiasts! Visit http://www.rawfoodlifestyles.com/ for more free juicy information on how you can eat your way to a flawless complexion, a sexy body, AND abundant energy now!