Posted on 23-6-2004
Are
raw foods healthier to eat than cooked foods?
Proponents of raw foods, sometimes called “living foods,”
believe that raw foods are much healthier for the body than
cooked or processed foods. Followers of diets based wholly or
largely on raw foods claim numerous health benefits, including
increased energy levels, clearer skin, better digestion, weight
loss and reduced risk of heart disease.
A purely raw food diet, as its name implies, is based on consuming
only unprocessed, usually organic, whole plant-based foods,
such as fresh (or dried) fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds,
beans, grains and legumes, other organic or natural foods which
have not been processed, and freshly made fruit and vegetable
juices.
According to the Living and Raw Foods website, raw, uncooked
foods are believed to contain essential food enzymes which help
the digestion process without relying on the body to produce
the enzymes that are lost through cooking. It is also thought
that cooking (heating foods above 116 degrees Fahrenheit) destroys
vitamins and minerals and that cooked foods take longer to digest
and tend to allow partially digested fats, proteins and carbohydrates
to clog up our digestive system and arteries. In Living Cuisine,
The Art and Spirit of Raw Food (available from best-cooking-books.com),
raw food chef-to-the-stars Renee Loux Underkoffler argues, “Raw
foods make optimal assimilation of nutrition easy, provide pure,
clean energy for the body, and do not require a lot of energy
for digestion.”
Traditional nutrition experts refute this idea, though the
American Dietetic Association (ADA) and others are doing studies
regarding the possible benefits of a raw food diet. Claudia
Gonzalez, a registered dietitian and spokesperson for the ADA
says that eating all raw, all the time, is an “extreme”
diet, but acknowledges, “If you eat more raw foods in
your diet (without adding calories) that’s always a good
thing. Replacing refined, processed foods with raw foods is
a healthy move. Eating a few raw meals a week can be great,
but it’s important not to go to the extreme.”
Gonzalez, who has studied raw food diets, says it’s hard
to eat more than 1,200 calories a day in raw foods. While this
might be great for weight-loss, she says, once the weight comes
off, that might not be enough to sustain a person’s energy,
especially if they are doing physically demanding work.
If you decide to go raw, there are benefits to the environment
as well. The lower you eat on the food chain, the less impact
you will have on the Earth’s resources. According to certified
nutritionist and raw foods advocate Monica Dewart, “100
percent of the waste materials (seeds, peels, etc) of a raw
diet are biodegradable and great for composting. This is the
ultimate environmentally-friendly diet!”
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