Thoughts On Eating A Mainly Or Fully Raw Food Diet

In any case, perhaps that is not totally relevant. What we do know is that humans used to undertake a raw food lifestyle sometime ago. And that, because of the change in our eating habits, our bodies have had to slowly adapt to eating cooked foods. How far along are we in that process? That is arguable.

Some say that the human body has in fact already evolved and adapted to eating cooked foods, explaining why our jaws, teeth and stomach have become smaller, and our intestines have grown longer in order to increase the surface area available for absorbing digested nutrients.

In my view, I’m inclined to think that our bodies find it harder to digest cooked foods than raw food. Tests have been carried out to measure the body’s response after eating, and our bodies trigger an immune response which suggests that they don’t like cooked food very much. The main reason is probably the lack or practical absence of enzymes in cooked foods; heat destroys the enzymes found in raw plant foods.

Disadvantages of going all raw

The advantages of eating raw food, in particular its health benefits, are quite undeniable.

However, having said that, I do wonder if the nutrition from a wholly raw food diet is suitable for everyone. I personally see a couple of negative points of a fully raw diet.

Firstly, I do feel that a raw diet seems to lack ‘heat units’, especially for those whose bodies are of colder constitutions, or who live in cooler regions.

Also, I have my doubts as to whether totally eating raw food can satisfy the body, not just nutritionally, but from the perspective of keeping the taste buds happy.

Personally, while I have been able in the past to consume a diet of organic and vegetarian foods and be ‘tastefully’ satisfied, I did struggle a little with eating only raw foods.

Conclusion

Oh yes, just to clarify, when I talk about raw foods, I’m referring mainly to raw plant foods.

Here’s my take on this issue. Raw foods come with many benefits. And the deal with most of us today is that we consume diets which are almost fully cooked.

However, a raw food lifestyle containing only raw foods is probably too difficult for most of us to take. It may not even be the most healthful.

My suggestion? Let’s all try to eat more raw foods. Raw fruits, raw carrots, raw lettuce, raw cucumbers, freshly squeezed juices, raw sprouts, raw seeds, raw nuts, raw tomatoes – you get the drift.

That way, we can reap the health benefits of raw food consumption, without feeling as if we are depriving our taste buds horribly.

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