How to Start a Raw Food Diet - What is Raw Food?

I hear stories of people who make the change to eat Raw food, 'eliminated my arthritis, lifted my depression, lost 7kg, feel full of energy, have a clarity of mind i never knew i had!' no one would dream of going back to their old ways as the list goes on, and i wonder just how it feels to be 100% Raw. That is my ultimate goal 100% Raw, but it will be progression to introduce the changes into my life. I can't wait to try a Raw food class, one i have in site is in the Raw Kitchen in Fremantle where i had my first Raw food meal - a Raw Pizza! It was absolutely delicious and i joined the many souls around me marveling at the beauty, texture and freshness of the Raw magic in front of us. The thing is the benefits of Raw food sounds like magic, but we are so accustomed to the artificial and nutrient deprived products now part of our everyday meals that we no longer know what it feels like to be human, we become a product of our own inventions. Like mixing metal with water most metals will rust, our bodies are rusting away each day with the artificial products in which we treat it. Well i for one refuse to rust!

"Very few people know what real health is, because most are occupied with killing themselves slowly." 

- Albert Szent-Gyorgyi, Ph.D., who won the Nobel Prize in physiology and medical science

The only trouble is how and where do i start!? I start with the basics. Knowledge is power and if i am to get right into my Raw food and do it right i need knowledge! After finally settling back into my home in Bunbury after finishing my fourth year of medicine in Perth, i was ready for the change. I had lived in College in Perth with all meals catered for, this was absolutely wonderful when i first moved out of home and so convenient while studying but now i have grown to realise the many benefits of a good diet and i want to take my own control of my meals. So my mum and i ventured into the nearest book store and i chose my first Raw cookbook! I was so excited! I love having a book with pictures and information readily available, a book is more encouraging than the internet to me in a sense that can always be right in front of you to remind you of your goals. There were quite a few to choose from but the one that caught my eye first up was 'Going Raw'. This is where i will start my education on my own raw food diet, please come with me as i learn about Raw food! :)

"It is the inability to see the effects of chronic, low-level toxicities on human health that has been, and remains, our greatest failing as intelligent beings." - Dr. Boyd Haley

So what is Raw food??

In a nutshell it is whole food that has not been refined, chemically processed, denatured or heated above 118 F or 48 degrees Celsius so its nutritional content has been preserved. In this state we receive all the vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients and enzyme which mother nature intended for us, when we cook our foods we lose around 70% of these essential nutrients!! The major Raw food groups are fruits, vegetables, sprouted seeds, nuts, grains, sea vegetables and natural fats.

Some Raw foodists eat animal products such as raw dairy, meat, sushi, eggs, honey and bee pollen. Most Raw foodists are vegans which means they do not consume any animal products but may be 'Beegans' because they only consume bee products. Everyone has different nutritional needs so there are no hard rules, but over time you will learn to be in tune to your bodies needs and what degree of Raw makes it sing!

Frozen fruit is considered raw although it does lose around 30% of its nutritional value, but vegetable which are blanched or boiled before being frozen are not raw.

Anything canned or pasteurised is not raw. Most canned food has been heated to around 250F (116C) and then sits on store shelves for months PLUS they are lined with BPA, an estrogenic chemical compaound which has been shown to disrupt the endocrine system, affecting fertility, the brain and development in children, can lead to cancer, diabetes and other diseases. Pasteurisation is a process that heats juices, milk and dairy products to at least 145F (63C) to kill harmful bacteria, but also destroys nutritional content of the food.

"Long before pathology is observed, there are losses in functional integrity of the organ systems with increasing sensitivity to the environment and a gradual reduction in vitality"

 - Fritzof Popp

Why go Raw? 

When you begin to incorporate raw foods into your daily diet, big changes start to happen in your body. The more Raw food you add the bigger the benefits. There are 3 main culprits which sap away our energy and compromise our health...

1. Dehydration
Our body is over seventy percent water and our food should mirror this! A great way to being properly hydrated is to consume food that has not had the natural water removed from it through cooking. Cooked food doesn't provide your body with its much-needed water and dehydrates you further in your bodies attempt to digest it into a liquid. Raw foods are much easier to digest than foods such as a big steak and as such leave you with more energy for other daily activities. The hydration can help with dry skin, sluggishness and false hunger that can occur when we don't consume enough water. Just think how easily is your current diet liquefied?

2. Malnutrition
Recent data shows that nutritional deficiencies are most often caused by what we eat rather than by what we do not eat. As such a person who is overweight or obese can have the most profound vitamin and mineral nutritional deficiencies contrary to majority of beliefs! A well balanced diet of raw plant foods contains the full compliment of essential vitamins and minerals, while food prepared using conventional methods destroys over 80% of that foods nutrition! The increase in nutrition helps to boost our immune system and many people claim to get sick less frequetly. Raw foods contain copious amounts of vitamin C, beta carotene and zinc, three very powerful immune boosters. Raw foods also contain a lot of fibre to help sweep out our digestive system of waste. This can reduce many health problems such as simple gas and bloating, IBS, yeast infections, poor nutrient absorption, skin conditions such as acne and even colon cancer. Your immune system is vitally connected to the health of your gut so it is so important to pay attention to it! Make sure you are 'moving things along' at least once a day. Our bodies become a fish out of water gaping at air in the hope it provides some form of nutritional relief. 

Raw foods also contain phytonutrients, plant based chemical compounds that act as antioxidants, immune boosters and hormone stabilisers that can detoxify the liver, prevent heart disease and cancer and protect our eyes from macular degeneration. Lycopene is a well known phytonutrient found in red fruits and vegetables such as tomatoes, watermelon, red bell peppers and papayas and has very powerful antioxidant properties and may prevent cancers such as prostate, lung and stomach cancer. Another called Resveratrol is found in red grapes an dis linked to heart health, but there are thousands of beneficial phytonutrients still to be discovered!

3. Lack Of Enzymes
Enzymes are responsible for the thousands of metabolic process that takes place in your body to sustain life from digestion to healing. Most prepared food is served with up to 100% of the natural enzymes destroyed.... One hundred percent! When the lipase and amylase enzymes are destroyed, the body cannot digest fats or carbohydrates and they are stored in the body, causing you to gain weight, no wonder people struggle with the various fad diets to lose weight. When you consume living, enzyme rich food, it practically digests itself. This leaves you with a surplus of energy to play harder, work more efficiently and do more of what you love!

I don't know about you but this motivates me to increase my proportion of Raw food even more with this basic information. A small success for me today i must mention, my dad loves a treat of fish and chips (the battered and fried type!) and after not having it for a few months we had a family 'treat' for dinner. Being opposed to the idea i served up a plate of Raw chopped broccoli, cauliflower, carrot and beans, uncooked and still full of nutrients... and my family munched away at it with their fish, Raw! That's one small step for my family, one giant leap for my Raw food start :) Tomorrow we learn more about the different Raw food groups, i am hungry for more!