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The Hope
On this diet, your oven gets a break. You will primarily consume uncooked fruits, veggies, and grains.
It is believed that cooking food renders its nutrients and natural enzymes inert, which is harmful because enzymes aid in digestion and prevent chronic illness. In other words, cooking anything kills it.
Some advocates of raw food diets contend that boiling food renders it harmful. They assert that a raw food diet helps treat headaches and allergies, improve cognition and immunity, and treat diabetes and arthritis.
What you can eat and what you cannot eat?
Uncooked, unprocessed, primarily organic foods. Your go-to foods should include raw fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts, and seeds. Some people consume raw eggs, meat, fish, and unpasteurized dairy products.
As long as the temperature of your food doesn’t rise above 118 degrees, it can be cold or even slightly heated. Food preparation tools include food processors, dehydrators, and blenders.
High level of effort
You might need to improve your cooking abilities. Eating out can be challenging, and if you choose to eat organically, you might need to visit specialty shops for a greater range than your neighborhood supermarket.
Shopping and cooking: A lot of preparation is required. Many advocates of raw foods become masters at food blending and dehydration. Some people sprout seeds and germinate nuts.
You should wash your food well and use particular caution while handling dangerous items including sprouts, raspberries, unpasteurized juices, green onions, and lettuce because they have been related to certain food-borne illnesses.
A raw food diet isn’t advised for pregnant women, young children, seniors, those with weakened immune systems, or those with chronic medical illnesses like renal disease because to the danger of food poisoning.
Does it support dietary preferences or restrictions?
Vegans and vegetarians: For you, this diet is effective. Just make sure your food provides the nutrients you require. To help you with that, consult a dietician.
Gluten-free: The majority of raw foods, such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds, are inherently free of the protein gluten.
What you should know besides?
Consuming a lot of fruits and vegetables helps manage blood pressure. The diet has less sodium, which may help reduce your risk of kidney disease, osteoporosis, stomach cancer, stroke, and heart failure. Type 2 diabetes can be prevented or managed with weight loss and maintenance.
However, since the majority of raw food eaters avoid animal products, you might need to take vitamin supplements to make up for any dietary gaps.
Cost: Although you are not required to pay for meetings, memberships, or prepared dishes, this diet may strain your financially. The cost of organic ingredients is typically higher. Juicers, blenders, and dehydrators are examples of kitchen appliances that can be costly.
Support: You can use online resources like recipes or follow this diet alone.
What MPH, RD Kathleen Zelman says: Does it work?
Given that the majority of the items in this diet are high in fiber and low in calories, fat, and sodium, you’ll probably lose weight on it. According to one study, participants who ate just raw foods significantly reduced their weight.
You’ll also benefit from good nutrition. The majority of the food you consume will be rich in fiber, vitamins, minerals, and disease-preventive phytochemicals.
But there are numerous disadvantages. The diet is challenging to follow and deficient in a number of important nutrients, including protein, iron, calcium, vitamin B12, and others.
Additionally, cooking does not render food hazardous, despite what many proponents of raw food assert; rather, it makes some items digestible.
Beta-carotene and lycopene levels are increased while cooking, and bacteria are eliminated, helping you avoid food poisoning. There is no scientific proof that eating raw foods keeps you healthy.
Is it beneficial in specific situations?
It is not advised for any particular medical conditions. However, decreasing excess weight is beneficial for overall health.
Before beginning a raw diet, discuss the idea with your physician.
The last word
Eating this method will cause weight loss because a raw food diet is low in calories, high in fiber, and mostly made up of healthful whole-plant foods.
However, the diet is nutritionally deficient and exceedingly restrictive, making it difficult to stick to in the long run. The dangers of food poisoning from eating raw or undercooked foods exceed the advantages of this strategy.
Cooking, in general, makes your food more digestible and safer.
Some nutrient-dense superfoods, such as beans, entire grains, and lean proteins, cannot be consumed raw.
What are the dangers?
Some foods should not be eaten raw. Toxic compounds in some foods are broken down during the cooking process, while others pose a risk of food poisoning.
Uncooked animal products, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), are the most likely to cause food poisoning. This includes the following:
raw and undercooked meat, especially chicken raw or lightly cooked eggs raw (unpasteurized) milk and its derivatives
shellfish, raw
Raw fruits and vegetables can potentially cause food illness. Because cooking kills bacteria, this is less likely with cooked fruits and vegetables. The CDC advises cleaning produce before eating it.
According to nutritionists and dietitians, raw food diet followers should avoid the following foods:
Should I give it a shot?
Anecdotal data suggests that raw food diet followers may have cleaner skin, increased energy, prolonged weight loss, and lower cholesterol and lipid levels in blood tests.
However, there are several drawbacks to the diet:
Some foods become safer once they have been cooked. Some poisons, germs, and toxic chemicals in food are destroyed during the cooking process. People should exercise caution when handling raw animal products and some crops.
Before eating raw foods such as beans and veggies, people should do their homework.
Cooking may aid in the release of essential elements from fresh veggies, such as lycopene and beta carotene.
Digestive issues, such as gas or cramping, may emerge, but they should subside after a while.
Weight reduction may not be healthy for everyone, and some people will have to work extra hard to consume the necessary calories.
The Raw Food Diet: Pros, Cons, and What You Can Eat