Raw food diet

Generality

The raw food diet is a naturist diet that is distinguished by a single great commandment: DO NOT cook food.

The first foundations of the raw food diet can be traced back to the "Gospel of Peace", a sacred text belonging to the Jewish lineage of the Essenes, while in "the last century its diffusion is mainly attributable to" independent or naturist "doctors such as H.M. Shelton.

A very important quote for the proponents of the raw food diet is that of Gandhi, in his last book of 1949, "Regime and food reform":

To get rid of an illness, the use of fire in the preparation of lunch must be eliminated

Currently, the raw food diet or Raw Food is a food style that is very fashionable in the USA, thanks to its popularity among Hollywood celebrities; its success is mainly attributable to an alleged anti-aging action (anti-aging) of raw foods and to the disclosure of a principle according to which human nutrition IS BORN raw and must remain so, as heat, as a processing technique of food, represents a "recent innovation, of little use or even of dubious healthiness.
According to the raw food diet, the use of fire in the kitchen inhibits the perception of satiety, induces an "excessive palatability and gives foods a" soft "consistency, making them unnatural; cooking is attributed to the destruction of vitamins, enzymes, auxons and protein coagulation.

Definitely, the raw food diet renounces the traditional heat treatment of food, considering cooked food as an unpleasant ballast for the body.

Foods allowed

Proponents of the raw food diet love to eat raw, unprocessed foods, often from organic farming.
Generally, at the base of raw food we find fruit, in the intermediate level vegetables and, at the top, seeds and nuts (5%).
However, there are several types of raw food:

Omnivorous rawism: supporters of this diet take raw fruit, raw vegetables, honey and animal and animal products, also raw. Raw meat should come from animals raised in the wild or from game. For example, meat, fish, eggs, butter, kefir, etc. are allowed.
Vegetarian raw food: vegetarian raw food eaters can take both raw fruit and vegetables and products of animal origin, as long as they are raw (including for example eggs, cow cream, animal butter, etc.), but avoiding meat and fish.
Vegan raw food: in this type of diet only raw foods of vegetable origin are allowed (instead all animal derivatives are banned, such as eggs, butter, honey, cow's milk, etc.).
Fruttariano Raw Food: the supporters of this diet feed exclusively on fruit, preferably ripe and organic.

Permitted processing techniques

Although food is not cooked in the raw food diet, foods can still be eaten in the form of smoothies, juices, purees, pieces or juice, and can be subjected to dehydration, germination or marinating.
Food can also be dried at a maximum temperature of 42 ° C.
In all these ways, the food preserves the nutritional properties of which it is composed in the best possible way and, in the case of germination, is enriched with more nutrients.

Temperatures below 42 ° C ...

According to the raw food diet, “42” expresses the maximum temperature to which food can be subjected before being eaten. According to this food philosophy, exceeding 42 ° C would compromise the nutrients, vitamins, mineral salts and enzymes present in the food.

Alleged benefits

There are numerous potential advantages derived from the intake of strictly raw foods:

Introduction of generous amounts of antioxidants into the diet: in this way, the anti-aging effect of the substances present in food is exploited to the full;
Constant feeling of satiety, provided by the fibers present in food;
Perception of direct contact with nature and well-being;
Detoxifying nutrition;
Low-calorie, fast, inexpensive diet.

One of the key principles of the raw food diet leads us back to a study conducted in 1937 by the Swiss doctor Dr. Kouchakoff; he demonstrated that cooked food induces an organic leukocytosis response (increase in white blood cells) at the systemic level. In 1934, the Italian doctor Dr. Lusignani followed the false line and discovered a "further characteristic of the reaction to cooked foods, vasoconstriction; subsequently, the doctor demonstrated that by consuming EXCLUSIVELY raw foods the body tends to reduce the circulating white blood cells (leukopenia) and relaxes the smooth muscles of the capillaries with vasodilation effect.
According to the raw food diet, the aforementioned "defense" reactions implemented by the body following the intake of cooked foods significantly affect the general state of health. Obviously, this statement completely disregards the results of many other experiments that have evaluated postprandial leukocytosis as an absolutely PHYSIOLOGICAL condition.

Disadvantages and Disputes

From a food point of view, the raw food diet is fully associated with conventional nutrition, suggesting to increase the frequency of consumption of fruit and especially raw vegetables, aiming at the conservation of some thermolabile nutrients such as vitamins (not all) and antioxidants. Obviously, this is a principle that subordinates to the AVAILABILITY and the food TYPE, as well as to the seasonality of the food. It would be curious to witness the physiological reaction induced by the digestion of raw potatoes, turnips and beets, not to mention chestnuts and legumes. It should not be an exciting sight!

Furthermore (quotation from those who tried it), it seems that the raw food diet often induces adverse intestinal reactions, such as abdominal tension, bloating and gaseous flatulence; practically, the exact opposite of what a potential consumer might expect towards a "natural" diet.

Especially in women, the raw food diet does NOT improve resistance to low temperatures, on the contrary, the abolition of hot foods favors the perception of cold, further reducing the practicability of this diet in the winter season.

From a hygienic point of view, the raw food diet is a real disaster. The followers of this style of food cling to somewhat bizarre concepts, demonizing pasteurized or sterilized food; obviously, according to raw foodists this also applies to animal nutrition and in the appropriate web spaces it is possible to read ravings about any economic speculations in the field. of the veterinary (better not to deepen further). If this may seem like a potentially risky attitude for the spread of diseases on farms, a merciful veil should be drawn regarding the healthiness of foods intended for human consumption. The INEVITABLE presence of parasites (Entamoeba histolytica/ dispar, Giardia lamblia, Trichuris trichiura, Strongyloides stercoralis, Ancylostoma duodenale, Ascaris lumbricoides, Hymenolepis nana, Taenia solium, Taenia saginata, Echinococcus granulosus, Enterobius vermicularis), molds (Aspergillus, Penicillium, Fusarium, Alternaria) and bacteria (Clostridium botulinum and perfringens, Bacillus Cereus, Salmonella typhi and Paratiphi, Staffilococcus aureus etc.) in food is an "unknown factor that should not be underestimated. Just think that for a pregnant woman, adhering to the raw food diet would dramatically increase the risk of complications for the unborn child, such as fetal malformations or abortion. The same is true for immuno-depressed patients such as chemo-therapists and people with AIDS.

We also remind the followers of the raw food diet that the enzymes contained in food are in any case denatured by the gastric pH and subsequently broken down by the pancreatic and intestinal peptidases; therefore, the presence or absence of these active molecules in food is an unknown that does not affect us in the least.
Contrary to what the raw food diet claims, cooking is a process that, if done properly, facilitates digestion and, in some cases, also favors the absorption of nutrients (such as the biotin contained in the "egg white").

Raw food recipes

Raw food is a cuisine rich in aromas, colors and flavors, from which it is possible to extract imaginative recipes, rich in vitamins and antioxidants, friends of the line and health.

Visit the raw recipes section of MypersonaltrainerTv: you will find many interesting ideas and tips to eliminate the potential risks deriving from the consumption of raw food.