How is eating raw food good for health? Is really as beneficial as widely said to be?
Better nutritional content
Fruits, vegetables and plant foods are packed with nutrients, including vitamins, minerals and other health-promoting phytochemicals. Heating, however, destroys a fair bit of them.
Vitamins are destroyed, proteins are structurally spoilt, and minerals are converted from their organic and absorbable state to a state whereby they are not easily assimilated by the body.
Water-soluble vitamins, such as vitamins B and C, also get leached out of foods during the cooking process.
Naturally, raw food is thus more nutritious than its cooked counterparts.
Dr Ann Wigmore, one of the most well-known proponents of raw diets, even suggests that over 80% of the nutrition in food is destroyed via cooking!
It is often believed that foods which grow in the wild are the most nutritious.
Life-giving and health-promoting enzymes, too
Raw foods contain high levels of enzymes, which assist in digestive processes as well as contribute to good health in other ways.
By eating raw foods, we reduce the need for the body to produce its own digestive enzymes. This frees up energy which the body can then use to carry out other important work, such as healing, cell repair and rejuvenation, fighting off foreign invaders, etc.
More enzymes would also be available for various uses by the body, including healing and the regulation of metabolic processes in the body.
On the other hand, since enzymes are killed by heat, cooked food is virtually devoid of them. The consumption of a largely cooked diet thus hampers digestive processes in the body, causing the production of excessive amounts of toxic by-products.
Excess energy usage, poor digestion and excessive toxin production - these are the reasons why we often feel tired, sluggish, and lethargic after a heavy meal of cooked food, while we would feel light and energetic after having a salad and a glass of fresh juice.
Further, the pancreas is overworked to produce the additional enzymes the body needs, enzymes which could have been obtained from raw foods. This contributes to long-term degenerative conditions.
The harm caused by cooked foods
Eating raw food helps with dental health too! Cooked food reduces the need for use of one's teeth; in addition, cooked food tends to be stickier and adheres to teeth and gums. The result - reduced development of the jaw bones and teeth, as well as increased incidence of tooth decay.
Due to issues with digestion and assimilation, cooked food often causes allergic and similar-type reactions in the body, something which rarely happens when one is on an all-raw diet.
Typically, raw food diets contain lower levels of harmful substances such as trans fats, saturated fats and cholesterol, and higher levels of healthful ones such as fiber and potassium. Eating raw foods thus contribute to reduced risks for deadly diseases such as cancer and diabetes.
What's more, heat changes the chemical structure of food, producing free radicals, mutagens and other substances which are toxic to our bodies, sometimes even carcinogenic!
Dr Paul Kouchakoff, an MD, suggested in his research that eating cooked food evoked a pathological response from the human body, in the form of increased immune response via the production of more white blood cells.
Immune response? You mean the body is treating cooked food as foreign invaders, perhaps even poisons? Frightening, isn't it?
Apparently, this effect can be alleviated by first eating raw foods at every meal, and this must form at least half of the total food intake.
Proponents of eating raw, such as Dr Wigmore and Dr Earp-Thomas, even say that cooked food contributes to the development of tumors and cancers, and then further feeds their growth! It is suggested that fully raw diets can stave off the cancer epidemic which is now hitting the first world.
Cat experiments to determine the healthful effects of eating raw food
In experiments conducted by D.G. Simonsen and Dr. Francis M. Pottenger, cats were fed meat and vegetables, with one group eating raw meat and the other having cooked meat.
The result was dramatic - the latter group lacked minerals and showed signs of poor skull and bone development, enlarged colon, degeneration of the nervous system, unhealthy liver and kidneys, etc.
By the third generation, the cats were unable to survive past the human equivalent of childhood.
Dr Pottenger concluded that a diet of raw meat and milk was the only way in which adequate nutrition for optimal health could be provided to cats.
Just how much is the consumption of cooked and processed foods contributing to the crazy disease epidemics plaguing the human race today?
Other health benefits of eating raw food
Besides the abovementioned differences of eating raw and cooked foods, such as digestion and risk of major diseases, the former has even more health benefits.
Cooked food, in general, has addictive qualities and contributes to weight gain and obesity. On the other hand, a diet of raw foods helps in weight loss and the maintenance of healthy weight.
I find it hard to imagine becoming overweight on raw foods. After all, we don't see overweight animals in the jungle, do we?
Further, you will be more energetic, partly owing to better nutrition, and partly because your body is being detoxified by the raw foods you eat. You are going to feel more alert and be able to think more clearly.
You will be stronger and healthier. If you go fully raw, be prepared to say goodbye to the common cold and various illnesses!
Overall, your body will feel cleaner and lighter.
These would then translate to slower aging as well as better outward appearance - healthier and shinier skin!
Psychological and emotional ill-effects of cooked foods
The harm caused by eating cooked food apparently goes beyond effects on physical health.
A man by the name of John A. MacDonald owned a pet shop and raised white mice. When the mice were fed raw grains, they lived and co-existed happily.
In a bid to cut costs, John started feeding the mice leftover cooked food which humans ate. The result - quarrels and fights, stronger mice attacking weaker ones, parents eating their young.
Dr Wigmore recounts another story, that of two sister white, nursing mother cats which lived in harmony together with their new-born kittens. They even shared the responsibility of feeding all the young cats.
Once switched to a diet of cooked meat, however, the two cats turned violent, attacking and bloodying each other.
A return to eating raw - their initial diet was a mild cat food mix and wheatgrass - brought back the peaceful co-existing situation.
When the little experiment was repeated, the results were observed to be the same.
What exactly does cooked food do to our psychological and emotional states??
by Webmaster, All4NaturalHealth.com
