Raw and Living Foods Diet Essay -- Health Nutrition Essays

Raw and Living Foods Diet Introduction to the living and raw foods diet Raw and living foods are foods that contain enzymes and have not been heated or cooked in any manner. Raw foodists, or people whose diets consist of at least seventy-five percent raw and living foods, believe in eating an uncooked, unheated, unprocessed and organic plant based diet (http://www.rawfoods.com). Raw foodists hold that the act of cooking food destroys the majority of vitamins, minerals and essential enzymes naturally found in food. These believers also claim that cooking food renders it toxic and is the major cause of health problems (Andrukitas, 1998). The intensity of beliefs held by raw foodists vary with each individual, yet they all support the ideology that cooking is an unnatural process that destroys important and vital nutrients in foods. What are Living and Raw Foods? Living and raw foods are foods that are organic and have not been heated, cooked, or processed in any way. Living and raw foods are foods that are rich in nutrients, vitamins and enzymes. Such enzymes aid the body in the digestion and absorption processes (http://www.rawtimes.com). The difference between living and raw foods is distinguished by the fact that living foods have a higher enzyme content than raw foods. This is true because the enzymes in raw foods are dormant. To activate the enzymes in raw foods, raw foodists simply soak peanuts for example, in water for a period of time until sprouting occurs and the enzymes in the raw food are awakened or brought to life. (http://www.rawfoods.com). What are the Parameters of a Raw Foodist Diet? Raw foodists eat all fruits, vegetables, sprouts, nuts seeds, grains, sea vegetable and many other organic products that ha... ...the raw foodist have adopted the diet that sustained our species long before the world was as it is today. Resources (http://rawfoods.com.html) (http://rawtimes.com.html) Andrukitas, J. (1998). "Raw Courage." Restaurant Hospitality, 82,26-27. Itokawa, Y. and Kimura, M. (1990). "Cooking Losses of Minerals in Foods and Its Nutritional Significance. "Journal of Nutritional Science and Vitaminology, 36, S25-S31. Knickmeyer, E. (1998). "Potholder an Enemy to These Vegetarians; Nutrition: Group gathers to rejoice in the healthful benefits of raw food and the hoped-for demise of cooking." The Los Angeles Times, 10-12. Fry, T.C. (1998) "Is cooked food good for us?" (http.rawfoods.com.html) Rumm-Kreuter, D. and Demmel, I. (1990). "Comparison of Vitamin Losses in Vegetables Due to Various Cooking Methods." Journal of Nurtritional Science and Vitaminology 36, S7-S15.