Depending on the source, a raw food diet is either a path to perfect health or to serious undernourishment. Probably, the truth is somewhere in the middle. Devotees insist that a diet consisting mainly of uncooked, unprocessed plant foods leads to a leaner body, clearer skin, and higher energy. They also believe it cuts the risk of disease.
But what exactly is a raw food diet? Is following a raw food diet healthy? Can anyone become a raw foodist? Read on for some answers.
What Is a Raw Food Diet?
The fundamental principle behind raw foodism, also called rawism, is that plant foods in their most natural state – uncooked and unprocessed – are the most wholesome for the body. The raw food diet is a lifestyle choice. It is not a weight loss plan.
Sticking to a raw food diet isn’t easy. Most raw foodists spend a lot of time in the kitchen peeling, chopping, straining, blending, and dehydrating. That's because the diet is typically made up of 75% fruits and vegetables. Staples of the raw food diet include:
Seaweed
Sprouts
Sprouted seeds
Whole grains
Beans
Dried fruits
Nuts
Alcohol, refined sugars, and caffeine are taboo.
Most raw foodists are vegans, who eat no animal products, but some do eat raw eggs and cheese made from raw or unpasteurized milk.
How Do Raw Foodists Prepare Meals?
Raw foodists do not cook using a traditional stove or oven. They use food dehydrators that lend crunch to vegetables and cookies. Food dehydrators also dry out fruits for fruit leather and other raw food recipes.
The dehydrator works with heat, but temperatures cannot be higher than 115 to 118 degrees. Raw foodists believe high heat leaches enzymes and vitamins critical for proper digestion. The American Dietetic Association challenges this assertion. It says the body -- not what goes in it -- produces the enzymes necessary for digestion. The ADA also says cooking food below 118 degrees may not kill harmful, food-borne bacteria.
Raw vs. Cooked
Medical literature on the raw food diet is scant. Research tends to focus on vegetarianism and veganism and the health benefits of a plant-based diet, among them lower cholesterol and better glucose levels.
A few studies do support the belief that cooking vegetables tends to kill important nutrients. One showed that eating raw, cruciferous vegetables (such as cabbage, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, and kale) may reduce the risk of bladder cancer. Researchers noted that cooking cruciferous vegetables robs them of their isothiocyanates, agents that alter proteins in cancer cells. They found that even a few helpings a month of raw crucifers seems to lower the risk.
Another study in which researchers reviewed findings of about 50 medical studies on raw vs. cooked foods showed that eating raw vegetables helps reduce the risk of oral, pharyngeal, laryngeal, esophageal, and gastric cancers.
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