By enhancing nutrient absorption
and making digestion easier, raw foods
allow the body to spend its energy on
other important functions. “If the body’s
working on trying to digest heavy,
difficult-to-process food, it can’t focus
on healing,” says Natalia Rose, author of
healing
The Raw Food Detox Diet.
The potential benefit of going raw
is more radiant health. Says Cousens,
“A live foods diet decreases inflamma-
tion, slows the aging process, increases
foods
immunity and energy and results in
increased mental, physical and spiritual
well-being.”
Keep in mind though that cooking
your food does carry some advantag-
es—besides the yummy taste. Heat
actually makes some nutrients, like
lycopene, in tomatoes, more bioavail-
able by breaking down the plant’s cell
walls. Cooking also destroys so-called
“anti-nutrients;” for example, phytates
in grains and legumes, which block
mineral absorption, as well as trypsin
exploring the raw life
inhibitors in nuts and legumes, which
hamper protein digestion. However,
soaking and sprouting raw food helps
break down these compounds, too.
by Lisa Turner More importantly, raw foods don’t
work for everyone. Both traditional Chi-
I went raw once, and did so with a great deal of enthusiasm
nese medicine and ayurvedic traditions
teach that uncooked foods cool the
for the health benefits I would accrue. Certainly, eating
body and may actually require more
energy to digest. Thus, people who
only uncooked food seemed easy enough. Make a bunch
naturally tend to feel cold or dry should
of salads, gorge on apples and oranges, eat raw nuts, sprout
avoid them.
“For certain body types at certain
some beans—piece of cake, I thought. After three weeks,
times of year, a raw food diet could be
all I wanted was a piece of cake. And bread. And hot,
the best medicine,” says John Douillard,
Ph.D., doctor of chiropractic and author
hot soups. Slowly but surely, after two months I returned of The 3-Season Diet. “But, during cold
to my old eating habits and to my beloved stove. I didn’t
winter months, for certain body types, it
can cause trouble.”
know what I know now: With a few simple tricks, we can
conquer cooked-food cravings, as well as other common
Getting Started
In general, most people can eat raw
obstacles to a raw foods diet.
foods with glowing results. Plus, the
regimen doesn’t have to be an all-or-
nothing proposition. Depending on our
Multiple Benefits
constitution, we can choose how raw
The payoff for eating raw foods makes it worthwhile. When you cook food above
we want to go.
114 degrees, it destroys the enzymes that help you digest and assimilate the food.
“Most people won’t do a 100 per-
High temperatures also alter the chemical structure of vital nutrients. Overall, “You
cent raw diet, because it’s too painful,”
lose 50 percent of the protein, 80 percent of the vitamins and minerals and about
says Susan Schenck, a licensed acu-
95 percent of the phytonutrients,” says Gabriel Cousens, a medical doctor and
puncturist and author of The Live Food
author of Rainbow Green Live-Food Cuisine.
Factor. “Most people do better on an 85
Southwestern Virginia
20
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