Is the Raw Food Diet just another Fad?

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I've had some people write me saying that by encouraging raw food diet meal plans, I'm just pushing another 'fad diet'. I completely disagree. Eating raw fruits and vegetables isn’t the "new South Beach Diet" - it's not a fad diet at all. Believe it or not, humans have been eating this way since LONG before we were eating processed junky foods. We didn’t have access to most many foods, and we were scavengers, picking fruits and eating vegetables. Nuts were also eaten for protein. It was either that or starve. Humans ate these fruits as is, no additives, no cooking. One and a half million years ago we learned how to cook. So for a half million years we ate the food raw, as it was intended.

Today, things are different. We have access to every type of food we might want, right at our fingertips. We can order Oolong tea (which must be handpicked on cliffs in china) from the internet. You would think that since we have come this far, we would be super human, so healthy we would be living 500 years. Unfortunately, it hasn't worked out that way. In fact, in some ways we actually have worse health now. Some of us are developing cancers at an early age. Some of us are dying of heart disease or obesity. We are not eating correctly. We are stuffing our faces with hydrogenated oils, fake products, high sodium and sugary foods, and gaining weight at an alarming rate. It shows in bad skin, rolls of fat, and sluggish attitude.

What people need to realize is that eating fat free or sugar free foods isn’t going to help. It really isn't any better for you to stuff yourself with SnackWells instead of Oreo’s. What will help is to completely change what you eat. Remember, you are what you eat, so eat the right things and it will show in your body, mind and spirit.

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Raw Food Vs. Cooked Food - What Happens When We Heat Food

Did you know that human beings are the only creatures on Earth that heat up their food before eating it? Think about it: do you know of any animals that cook anything that they eat in any way, shape or form?  Humans, like other species on Earth, are biologically adapted to eating raw foods. The human body is built to be able to break down raw foods into the most basic nutrients, vitamins, minerals and proteins that are needed to survive, using them as effective body fuel for everyday living. Heat breaks down the chemical and nutritional makeup of food, eliminating important nutrients that our bodies crave and need. Add to that harmful toxins and pesticides, preservatives and artificial additives, and it becomes so much more evident why we humans aren't as healthy as we should be. In essence, we are killing our bodies by feeding them inappropriately.

By contrast, eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables has many countless benefits. It is widely known that a diet that focuses on raw foods is great for the skin, for example. Fruits and vegetables are high in vitamins that help your complexion stay soft, supple, and healthy, and, not surprisingly, they are a wonderful source of hydration and energy. In addition, grains, legumes and other raw produce are high in fiber and protein, helping with digestion and functioning of vital organs.

One of the most exciting and significant benefits found in eating uncooked foods is how it encourages the body to break down foods properly and efficiently, significantly decreasing and in some cases eliminating harmful toxins that are secreted out of our bodies. As a result, out bodies are able to maintain much healthier chemical levels. The human body then becomes a well-oiled machine, breaking down harmful chemicals, boosting the immune system and eliminating harmful excesses from the body.

It is no coincidence that conditions such as Type 2 Diabetes, high cholesterol and hypertension have all been linked to dietary habits, which is exactly why it should also come as no surprise that studies show a significant decrease in these illnesses among people who practice raw food and vegan lifestyles. But did you know that scientific studies now show that people who are on raw food and extreme vegan diets are at a lower risk for developing many types of cancers, including breast and colon cancers? Or that they are also at a lower risk of developing heart disease? In addition, those who practice raw food diets are less prone to mental conditions like depression and anxiety, all the while maintaining sharp reflexes and great memory.

These are just some of the ways that the human body is predisposed to the Raw Food lifestyle, and why in the long run it may be beneficial to you to buy raw foods and change your eating habits to a more natural, organic, and ultimately healthier way of living. Visit RawFood4Life.info to find out how you can join the ranks of those who are switching over to the raw food diet and ditching unhealthy eating practices. You will be helping both your body and your mind become the best that they can be.

Why Should I Eat Raw Food?

Now don’t go getting all squeamish on me. We’re not talking about eating raw meat here. The raw food diet is a largely vegan diet. There is also some room for maneuver in the raw food diet too as the people who support it say that to get the maximum health benefits from the raw food diet you only have to make sure that approximately 75-80% of what you eat needs to be raw.

People who support the raw food diet as a healthy lifestyle argue that foods in their natural state contain the optimum balance of enzymes, vitamins and minerals that we need. They argue that the enzymes contained in raw food - which are killed off by cooking -  help people to digest their food more fully and so derive more nutritional value from it. That places less stress on the body to produce its own digestive enzymes.

Raw food supporters also believe that the cooking we normally do to our food destroys their natural vitamins and minerals and that food takes longer to digest in this cooked, unnatural state. The cooked food therefore hangs around longer in the gut while the body attempts to digest it. The proteins, carbohydrates and fats which have not been fully digested also become waste products. These waste products slow down the food’s transit through the gut, causing constipation, bloating, stomach cancer etc, while the fats tend to clog up the arteries. A raw food diet, which is higher in fiber too, pushes the food more quickly through the gut and there are fewer waste by-products which are left around to cause problems to the body.

Basically, a raw food diet makes your whole digestion process a lot more efficient. It delivers more of the essential vitamins and nutrients which our bodies need and leaves behind fewer waste products which can become harmful to our bodies.

The health benefits of the raw food diet include an increase in energy as your body is maximizing the amount of nutrients it actually gets where it needs it; plus the body has to work less hard in order to process the raw food.

You should find that your skin looks more clear on the raw food diet. That is because your body is taking in fewer toxins which would cause skin eruptions. The raw food diet is a good detox!
Your digestive system will work more efficiently on the raw food diet. Food will pass through the gut more quickly and waste will be expelled regularly. That is great for avoiding health problems like IBS and stomach cancer.

You may also find that you lose weight and manage your weight more effectively on the raw food diet. It is lower in fat that most people’s eating habits. There is less fat hung around in the body to clog up arteries and pile on the pounds. That in turn reduces your risk of contracting heart disease.

All in all, then, you can see that if you eat at least 75% raw food diet foods it will be much better for your health. Visit RawFood4Life.info to find out how you can lessen your risk of serious diseases and generally look and feel better while by following the raw food diet.

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