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Sunday, October 31, 2010

The Healthiness Of Trying A Raw Food Diet

Dry fruitImage via Wikipedia

A raw food diet is a plant food diet where the food is unprocessed and uncooked. There are enzymes that are found naturally in food which aid digestion and also help the food to be absorbed. Cooking food destroys these beneficial enzymes. The cooking process also destroys valuable nutrients in the food, and some people believe that it destroys the very life force of the food.



It may seem that this kind of diet is very limiting, but with a little imagination it can be varied and interesting. It includes fruit and vegetables and also nuts, seeds, seaweed, pulses and grains. For a diet to be considered raw food it must contain at least seventy five percent uncooked foods.

The benefits of this kind of diet over a conventional diet are that it is a lot healthier. People who follow this diet say that they feel more energetic, have better skin and have lost weight. It can also help to prevent major diseases such as heart disease.

It is good for preventing heart disease because it does not contain a lot of trans fats. These fats are manufactured to stop them from going rancid, but are thought to raise the incidence of heart disease. The diet is low in saturated fats as it does not contain any animal products, so cholesterol levels will be lower.

These raw foods do not contain much salt but do contain a lot of potassium which is beneficial. Plant products contain phytochemicals which are also very good for health. Raw foods are higher in fibre.

It takes a bit of thought and effort to keep the food interesting, but having a good juicer means that lots of different fruits and vegetable can easily be juiced and the juice combinations experimented with until an interesting mix is found. Sprouting seeds make a dish more tasty as does soaking dried nuts and fruit. It is possible to buy dehydrators to make your own dried fruit.

When this diet is first followed then some symptoms of detoxification may be experienced if your diet was previously high in salt, sugar and caffeine. These symptoms should clear after a few days. This raw food diet is not suitable for everyone as it should not be followed by anyone who suffers from osteoporosis as it is very low in calcium. It is also not suitable for children or pregnant women.

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