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 fundamentals 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 spread is mainly due to "independent or naturist" doctors like HM Shelton.

A very important citation for supporters of the raw food diet is that of Gandhi, in his latest book of 1949, "Regime and food reform":

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

Currently, the raw food diet or Raw Food is a food style that is very fashionable in the USA, thanks to its spread among Hollywood celebrities; its success is attributable above all to an alleged anti-aging (anti-aging) action of raw foods and to the disclosure of a principle according to which human food 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 doubtful healthiness.

According to the raw food diet, the use of fire in the kitchen inhibits the perception of satiety, induces excessive palatability and gives the foods a "soft" consistency, making them unnatural; the destruction of vitamins, enzymes, auxones and protein coagulation are imputed to cooking.

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

Allowed foods

Advocates of the raw food diet like to take raw, unprocessed foods, often from organic farming.

In general, at the base of raw food we find fruit, in the intermediate level vegetables and, at the apex, seeds and nuts (5%).

However, there are more types of raw food:

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

Allowed processing techniques

Despite the fact that the raw food diet is not cooked, the food can still be taken in the form of a smoothie, centrifuged, puree, 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, food preserves the nutritional properties of which it is composed and, in the case of germination, it is enriched with greater nutrients.

Temperatures below 42 ° C ...

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

Alleged advantages

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

Introduction of generous amounts of antioxidants in the diet: in this way the antiaging effect of the substances present in food is best exploited;
Constant feeling of satiety, provided by the fibers present in the food;
Perception of direct contact with nature and well-being;
Detoxifying power;
Low-calorie, fast, economic diet.

One of the key principles of the raw food diet leads us back to a study conducted in 1937 by the Swiss doctor dott. Kouchakoff; he demonstrated that cooked food induces an organic response to leukocytosis (increase in white blood cells) at a systemic level. In 1934, the Italian doctor dott. Lusignani followed the false line and discovered a further characteristic of the reaction to cooked foods, vasoconstriction; subsequently, the physician showed that by eating ONLY raw foods the body tends to reduce the circulating white blood cells (leucopenia) and relaxes the smooth muscle of the capillaries with vasodilation effect.

According to the raw food diet, the aforementioned "defense" reactions carried out by the body following the consumption of cooked food significantly affect the general state of health. Obviously, this statement totally ignores the results of many other experimental studies that have evaluated post-prandial leukocytosis as an absolutely PHYSIOLOGICAL condition.

Disadvantages and Disputes

From the 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 preservation of some thermolabile nutrients such as vitamins (not all) and antioxidants. Obviously, this is a principle that subordinates to food availability and typology, as well as to the seasonality of food. It would be curious to see the physiological reaction induced by the digestion of potatoes, turnips and raw beets; not to mention chestnuts and legumes. It shouldn't be an exciting show!

Moreover (citation of those who have tried it), it seems that the raw food diet often induces adverse intestinal reactions, such as abdominal tension, meteorism and gas-green flatulence; practically, the exact opposite of what a potential consumer could expect with respect to 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 food style cling to a slightly outlandish concept, demonizing pasteurized or sterilized food; obviously, according to the raw foodists this also applies to animal feed and in the appropriate web spaces it is possible to read ravings about possible economic speculation in the field of veterinary medicine (better not further investigate). If this may seem a potentially risky attitude to the spread of diseases on farms, a pitiful veil should be drawn regarding the wholesomeness of food 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 ), mold ( Aspergillus, Penicillium, Fusarium, Alternaria ) and of bacteria ( Clostridium botulinum and perfringens, Bacillus Cereus, Salmonella typhi and paratiphi, Staffilococcus aureus etc.) in food is an unknown quantity to be reckoned with. Suffice it to say that for a pregnant woman, joining 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 like chemo-therapists and people with AIDS.

We also remind the followers of the raw food diet that the enzymes contained in the food are however denatured by the gastric pH and subsequently split by the pancreatic and intestinal peptidases; therefore, the presence or absence of these active molecules in food is an unknown factor that does not affect us in any way.

Contrary to what the raw food diet supports, 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 egg whites).

Raw recipes

The 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 foods.