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Cart The principles of raw food diet
Advocates of raw food diets vary from athletes to those afflicted with cancer to the overweight. All argue that raw food has put them on the right track to gain strength and stamina, and improve recovery rates, or help to cure cancer or lose excess weight. Eating 50 to 100 percent raw food helps with everything from general day-to-day aches and pains to curing long-standing and chronic conditions. Avoid meat, fish, dairy, and any cooked food.
Dr. Ann Wigmore, founder of Hippocrates Health Institute in Boston, was one of the most noted proponents of the raw food diet in the 1950s and '60s. she said, "In conventional nutrition-school curriculum there is little room for a discussion of either the value of enzymes and life forces in foods, or the merits of live (raw) versus cooked foods. Yet the difference, when translated into health terms, is the difference between being vitally healthy and alive, and just breathing." Raw food possesses live, vital energy and it is this that our bodies crave. We are used to eating "dead" foods, foods that are so refined, or cooked until all the natural goodness has been drawn out of them, that we have forgotten what food is supposed to be like and do for us.
Our body’s cells must be supplied with food that also possesses energy. Of course we can survive on cooked and refined foods, but our health will continue to deteriorate, and various degenerative processes will occur, with the loss of energy and vitality. It does not to be this way. Eating raw foods ensures that you get optimal levels of vitamins, minerals, and fiber, easily assimilated proteins, and top-quality essential fatty acids.
She further advises, "Most of the health-boosting plant ingredients exist in perfect form in raw plants, not in cooked ones. Raw foods also contain a virtually unlimited variety of health-enhancing factors in pristine conditions. These range from the carotenoids (which enhance immune functions) to the powerfully detoxifying isothiocyanates to flavones (which inhibit the spread of cancer and guard against premature aging)."
Many professional athletes claim their strength and endurance are enormously improved by dramatically reducing the presence of cooked foods and greatly increasing the amount of raw food in their diets. Some people are put off the raw food diet because they believe they will have to survive on tasteless green leaves, fruit, and tomato here and there – "rabbit food." This would be unbalanced and detrimental to the body in the long run. Arming yourself with some knowledge of the components of food often helps to awaken you to the potential of raw food dieting. For example, green leafy vegetables contain as much calcium as cheese; fruits provide carbohydrates; fatty plant foods provide calories; nuts and seeds contain essential fats and protein.
Generally, it is accepted that increasing your intake of raw food to about 50 to 70 percent of daily intake is wonderful beneficial. It is all a matter of personal choice, and learning what suits your body best is imperative. It is widely accepted that those of us living in the colder climates of the Northern hemisphere cannot live on raw food alone. We need hot, cooked foods to provide energy and warmth in the cold winter months. In the hotter months of summer, plenty of cooling foods, such as salads and green vegetables, are a wonderful tonic for the body and for health generally.
For some, eating plenty of citrus fruit is the “be all and end all” of cleansing and an integral part of their daily diet, but for others, citrus means internal discomfort and eliminations. It really is all about what suits you best according to the climate you live in and your body type.
At the end of a long winter, you can feel run down and sluggish from eating lots of meat and heavy meals, and getting less exercise than usual. You may suffer from constipation and other bowel conditions, skin problems like rashes, eczema, or acne, or just have a dull, lifeless complexion that shows you need some nourishment and a breath of fresh air.
There are any number of p[resistant small symptoms like bad breath, cellulite, and foot odor that suggest we have an overload of toxins in the body. Unfortunately it is all to easy to pollute ourselves, creating a toxic inner environment that we are not even aware of until the damage manifests itself.
Dr. Ann Wigmore, founder of Hippocrates Health Institute in Boston, was one of the most noted proponents of the raw food diet in the 1950s and '60s. she said, "In conventional nutrition-school curriculum there is little room for a discussion of either the value of enzymes and life forces in foods, or the merits of live (raw) versus cooked foods. Yet the difference, when translated into health terms, is the difference between being vitally healthy and alive, and just breathing." Raw food possesses live, vital energy and it is this that our bodies crave. We are used to eating "dead" foods, foods that are so refined, or cooked until all the natural goodness has been drawn out of them, that we have forgotten what food is supposed to be like and do for us.
Our body’s cells must be supplied with food that also possesses energy. Of course we can survive on cooked and refined foods, but our health will continue to deteriorate, and various degenerative processes will occur, with the loss of energy and vitality. It does not to be this way. Eating raw foods ensures that you get optimal levels of vitamins, minerals, and fiber, easily assimilated proteins, and top-quality essential fatty acids.
She further advises, "Most of the health-boosting plant ingredients exist in perfect form in raw plants, not in cooked ones. Raw foods also contain a virtually unlimited variety of health-enhancing factors in pristine conditions. These range from the carotenoids (which enhance immune functions) to the powerfully detoxifying isothiocyanates to flavones (which inhibit the spread of cancer and guard against premature aging)."
Many professional athletes claim their strength and endurance are enormously improved by dramatically reducing the presence of cooked foods and greatly increasing the amount of raw food in their diets. Some people are put off the raw food diet because they believe they will have to survive on tasteless green leaves, fruit, and tomato here and there – "rabbit food." This would be unbalanced and detrimental to the body in the long run. Arming yourself with some knowledge of the components of food often helps to awaken you to the potential of raw food dieting. For example, green leafy vegetables contain as much calcium as cheese; fruits provide carbohydrates; fatty plant foods provide calories; nuts and seeds contain essential fats and protein.
Generally, it is accepted that increasing your intake of raw food to about 50 to 70 percent of daily intake is wonderful beneficial. It is all a matter of personal choice, and learning what suits your body best is imperative. It is widely accepted that those of us living in the colder climates of the Northern hemisphere cannot live on raw food alone. We need hot, cooked foods to provide energy and warmth in the cold winter months. In the hotter months of summer, plenty of cooling foods, such as salads and green vegetables, are a wonderful tonic for the body and for health generally.
For some, eating plenty of citrus fruit is the “be all and end all” of cleansing and an integral part of their daily diet, but for others, citrus means internal discomfort and eliminations. It really is all about what suits you best according to the climate you live in and your body type.
At the end of a long winter, you can feel run down and sluggish from eating lots of meat and heavy meals, and getting less exercise than usual. You may suffer from constipation and other bowel conditions, skin problems like rashes, eczema, or acne, or just have a dull, lifeless complexion that shows you need some nourishment and a breath of fresh air.
There are any number of p[resistant small symptoms like bad breath, cellulite, and foot odor that suggest we have an overload of toxins in the body. Unfortunately it is all to easy to pollute ourselves, creating a toxic inner environment that we are not even aware of until the damage manifests itself.
By "The natural health bible" by Lisha Simester
