The Benefits of the Raw Food Diet

"Raw-foodists" (also called "Rawists") are those who thrive on live food energy by consuming a diet of mostly uncooked whole plant foods — usually at least 75% though some say 100% is the only true path. A basic raw foods diet includes fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, sprouted whole grains, seaweeds and fresh juices.

Raw foods have not been heated above a certain temperature. The maximum temperature varies among the different forms of the diet, from 92ºF to 118ºF (33°C to 48°C). According to raw-foodists, heat changes the makeup of food. Foods that have been heated have lost all of their life force, and their beneficial enzymes are destroyed. The digestive system has to work harder and longer to process cooked foods to get nutrition and energy from it. Once cooked, a food can lose up to 85 percent of its nutritional value. Raw foodists call that "dead food." Since we are essentially what we eat, consuming the dead energy of dead foods make our bodies feel heavy and stagnant.

Eating raw foods, on the other hand:

Leads to near-automatic weight loss and maintenance without feelings of hunger and deprivation, because raw foods are so filling and naturally delicious.
Assists in better digestion.
Can reduce total cholesterol as well as LDL cholesterol (the kind that gums up arteries).
May reduce the severity of inflammation in conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis.
Helps normalize blood pressure.
Allows for higher intake of vitamins A, C, and E, folate, and the minerals potassium and copper, than eating cooked foods.
Helps improve your skin so you start to look younger.
Leads to increased energy.

Raw enthusiasts proudly proclaim their break from an addiction to cooked and processed foods. They tell us that incorporating a few uncooked meals a week is a good start that will bring immediate changes to the body to feeling better and having more energy.

Don't waste your food, yourself, and our planet by cooking what you eat, they say. Fruits, nuts, and vegetables which are whole, fresh and raw are brimming with life and have the ability to transmit their life force directly to you!