Q: Dear Angie can you please give me knowledge on what raw food is and whether it is a good idea to become a raw foodist?
A: It not advisable to cook all your foods as the food will lose their enzyme value, plus a percentage of the nutrients (for example vitamins and minerals) are lost when the food is heated.
Raw food contains third more vitamins and minerals than cooked food. The main raw foods you can eat are seaweeds, most vegetables, fish, fruits, nuts, sprouted grains, beans and seeds, and for those of you inclined...dairy. Some people chose to eat raw foods throughout the day, others eat a complete raw food diet. Some raw foods can be quite toxic.
Getting a balance is important to help control homoeostasis in the body. Our body has many detoxification mechanisms which are specifically designed to deal with normal amounts of toxins. If one eats certain foods in excess whether raw or cooked you may create a toxic overload.
Raw food contains more fibre than cooked food because heat breaks down fibre which tends to get lost during cooking. Raw food can be eaten in two ways; Completely raw no chemical or heat added to the food Or Heated at a temperature below 42 Celsius. WHAT TO EAT RAW AND WHAT IS BEST COOKED
- Most dried fruits are cooked above 42 degrees. They are not raw.
- Raw honey has a high enzyme and nutrient content thus better than normal honey.
- Maple syrup is cooked, however, some healthfood stores sell raw maple syrup. If you cannot find it you can order this online.
- Frozen fruits are raw, not as good as fresh raw fruits, but not far off.
- Most frozen vegetables are pre - cooked.
- Peanuts should NOT be eaten raw. Roasted peanuts reduce the toxicity of aflatoxin B1 by 70%, and t of aflatoxin B2 by 45%.
- Potatoes contain solanine and chaconine, which are not hazardous unless large quantities are eaten. They don't accumulate in the body, and are not destroyed by heat, however not great in taste when totally raw. Some raw foodists believe you can heat foods at 118 degrees Fahrenheit without destroying enzymes. At this temperature, potatoes taste edible.
I hope this helps you and if you're interested in RAW Food, Nosh Detox just released the world's first RAW Smoothie, and soon release a FULL RAW Programme.
Kind regards,Angie
Angie
