Raw Food Diet - Why It is Effective But Dangerous

There are many names for the increasingly popular motion of consuming raw and organic food. Similar names for this movement are Raw Foodism, Rawism, Living Foodist or even an off-shoot of some vegetarian styles. Although the names are different the definition is almost always the same. If you consume 75% or more of your food in a raw form then you are considered a member of this group. Of this group of people who consume mainly raw foods, there are those who are also strictly vegetarian and those who will also consume raw animal products like meats and dairy products. For our purposes here we think that confining your food choices to vegetarianism while keeping your foods raw can be slightly restrictive. We will always recommend a balanced slimming diet over one that only allows vegetable products.

Although you hear more about this type of diet recently, the roots in a raw food diet started many year ago even as early as the 1900s. The most prominent time was when a renowned professor proved that live enzymes are released by uncooked meats and vegetables in the mouth then they are chewed. The enzymes were killed by the cooking process in cooked foods and thus were not present when chewed. Raw foodists claim that it is these live enzymes that are released by uncooked foods that are beneficial to the health of humans and must be taken in for proper nutrition to occur.

As an extension to this extra level of health that raw food diets have, believers will also point to the natural enzymes in uncooked foods which can combine with the many digestive enzymes that our own body produces aid air our digestion. Without the natural enzymes from our uncooked foods, the level of digestion is hindered and thus can cause some foods to not be digested properly causing increases in toxicity in our bodies. The rise in toxicity can cause many chronic diseases like cancer and metabolic syndromes or even something as simple as constant long-term constipation to creep up.

Another argument for raw foodism is that raw foods generally contain bacteria and micro-organisms which although seem to be dangerous at first could actually be beneficial to your immune system in the long run. Proponents of the raw food diet suggest that by eating raw foods and being exposed to the bacteria and micro-organisms will build your natural resistance and thus will also strengthen you against other diseases at the same time.

There is also the argument that raw foods actually have more nutrients than cooked foods. It actually is true that raw foods will actually contain more active vitamins and minerals because cooking foods will actually destroy some of the vitamins and minerals. In addition to the extra nutrients that you will receive from the raw food diet, processed foods that are very common these days are filled with preservatives and chemicals which aren’t good for your body, the elimination of these types of foods will in itself bring you to a new level of wellbeing.

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