Many people interested in living a healthy lifestyle are learning about the benefits of consuming a raw food diet. As the name implies, a raw food diet promotes the consumption of raw foods. Raw foods, including vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, meats, and herbs, are foods eaten in their natural, unprocessed, uncooked state. Generally if a person eats 75% to 100% of their food in a raw state, then he or she is considered to be practicing a raw food diet or is labeled a raw foodist.
Raw foodists believe a raw food diet results in greater health benefits when compared to a diet of cooked and or processed foods. For example, raw foods may contain higher levels of enzymes. Enzymes are largely proteins which are complex chains of amino acids that are important to good metabolism and digestion. The raw food community generally believes that enzymes are destroyed at temperatures above 116 degrees Fahrenheit or 47 degrees Celsius. Cooking will also kill the beneficial types of bacterial needed to make the digestive system a healthy environment for processing nutrients.
Eating a diet consisting only of natural foods has other health benefits. Various cooking methods, especially boiling and other steps involving high heat, can result in vitamin and mineral losses of up to 70% to 80%. In general, the more exposure food has to light, heat and oxygen (cutting foods exposes more of the food to oxygen); the worse off food is from a nutritional standpoint. Increased natural vitamin and mineral intake from unprocessed foods can result in a greater amount of natural energy to get through the day. Indeed, the Center for Disease Control lists healthy blood pressure, teeth, gums and skin, and protection against infections as just some of the benefits of increasing raw fruit and vegetable consumption. Further, the American Dietetic Association states in a position paper on vegetarian (raw food) diets, "The results of an evidence based
review showed that a vegetarian
diet is associated with a lower risk
of death from heart disease.
Vegetarians also appear to have lower
low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels,
lower blood pressure, and lower
rates of hypertension and type 2 diabetes
than nonvegetarians." However, it should also be noted that the American Dietetic Association asserts that the body naturally produces the enzymes necessary for digestion and does not need to obtain them from food.
A raw diet food diet does not necessarily mean that all food is eaten cold. Raw foodists use food dehydrators to heat various foods to temperatures at or below 115 to 116 degrees Fahrenheit. Food dehydrators are also used to help bring different textures to a meal, to preserve fruits or vegetables or make fruit or vegetable leather snacks by dehydrating the moisture out of the food. Dehydrators are also used to dry oregano, thyme, basil, sage and bay leaves to extend their shelf life and add more flavor to future meals versus bottled and or processed oils and spices. Food dehydrators can be an important part of a raw food diet whether heating, drying, preserving or creating food dehydrator recipes.
Related Food Dehydrator Articles
Eat a Raw Food Diet – Minimize Nutrient Loss
A Fiber Rich Raw Food Diet Extends Longevity
Published 8/2/2011 12:00:00 AM
Tags: Raw Food Diet