About Raw Food


Questions & Answers About Raw Food

 

Q1) Why do people need to eat raw food?

Due to our ever increaing levels of stress and diet of nutritionally deficient foods - a result of factory processing and intensive industrial farming which leaves the soil exhausted - in today's increasingly heavily polluted world, our livers are placed under greater stress and are asked to work harder and harder - the state of the liver's health can really affect the function of the immune system leading to a huge list of complaints from daily fatigue; digestive complaints; headaches; insomnia; aches and pains to hormonal imbalances to name but a few....

If we liken the human body to a garden and want to avoid any imbalances or diseases, then it is vital to keep the soil as healthy and nutrient rich as possible.

Remember the most important thing in life is good health. As Hippocrates the famous Greek philosopher counselled: "Let Food be thy Medicine."

Raw food contain enzymes – and enzymes are energy and life-force! Enzymes help you digest your food.  Enzymes are the builders of life itself!

Q2) What does cooking do to food?

Cooking destroys up to 90% of these enzymes. Cooked food does not contain live enzymes and so takes enzymes from your body to digest the food.  Most people nowadays lack these enzymes so their ``bank`` is in the ``red``  and this leads to numerous health problems.

A leading American nutritionist, Dr Edward Howell, suggested that the average American at the age of 40, has only 30% of their enzymes left!

We also know that not only are enzymes destroyed, but some vitamins and many minerals are affected by cooking our foods for too long or at too high a temperature. Up to 90% of the vitamin Bs are destroyed when you cook your food, which as you know includes Vitamin B12 which is a difficult one to obtain anyway for anyone wanting to be vegetarian or especially vegan.

Additionally, one of the 8 essential amino acids, which comprise protein, is destroyed by cooking. Proteins are "denatured" by this intense a heat and often become much harder to digest... 50% of protein is destroyed when foods are cooked.

Q3) Does raw food help to detox our bodies?

Yes!  Because raw food has the live enzymes these help to break down the food into their natural components more easily and the nutrients are made more available to the body e.g., magnesium and potassium(minerals) which help to push out the toxins/acidity within every cell in our bodies. This then helps to bring our body back into balance ..a more alkaline state and the body begins to heal.

We use alkaloid highs like caffeine, cannibis, & cocaine to mimic the feelings of being in an alkaline state. These substances can also mimic other chemicals, that our body lacks or has become deficient in, such as hormone like substances called prostaglandins.

Q4) Can raw food help conditions such as arthritis, skin conditions, digestive problems etc?

Yes. Again the imbalances of the body are caused by too much acidity in the body and lack of available enzymes.  The enzymes not only digest the food but they also detox the body like cleaning up the liver and protect the body from tumours. Enzymes are likened to ``road sweepers`` clearing up all the left over debris.

In 1930 Dr Paul Kouchakoff conducted research to compare the effects of cooked food versus raw food. He discovered that Digestive Leokocytosis occurred only when cooked or processed food was eaten. He found there was no immune response when we eat our food in it's natural, unheated, unprocessed state.

Because of Digestive Leukocytosis, eating cooked food keeps our immune system in a constant state of emergency. There is an immediate rise in white blood cells, by about 300%.

Even what we call allergies are just our over burdened immune system literally going into confusion when a new irritant is encountered.

Another immune system response to cooked food is mucus. Our bodies create mucus to protect the cells from coming into contact with the cooked food. But it is also an indication of lack of enzymes in the body. This mucus builds up in our intestines – Mucoid Plaque – which reduces the amount of nutrients that the intestines can absorb – click here to see images of Mucoid Plaque on Google.

Q5) When are you likely to feel any benefits from eating raw food?

Almost immediately!  Do you notice when you have had any cooked food, there is a tendency to feel tired or sluggish?  This is because the body has to go into its own ``bank`` of enzymes to digest the food and instead of these enzymes getting on with their normal jobs as mentioned in question 4 .  These enzymes also leave the body with that cooked food so leaving that ``bank`` of ours more depleted than before. So when you eat for example sprouts  which are life generating  which means they can transfer their vital energy to you……you can feel an immediate burst of energy…live food with live enzymes..making you feel ALIVE!

As I mentioned before there is usually a change almost immediately within days of eating uncooked, unprocessed food! But it can take time to rebalance our body, especially if we have been out of balance for years. (see testimonials) People have experienced complete reversal of their poor health!

Q6) Can you tell me more about sprouts?

Sprouts are one of the very best foods on this planet! Sprouts are live plant foods that are biogenetic & life generating, which means they can transfer their vital force energy to you. They are packed with plant compounds which aid digestion, contribute to cellular organisation & are alkaline forming.

Sprouts can be grown in your kitchen from soaked beans, lentils, grains, seeds & some nuts, like almonds in any season. These provide you with afresh organic produce when no other garden is available. They are easy to grow, some in as little as 2 days. Seeds for sprouting can be stored for long periods of time & can produce many times their weight in fresh produce that is full of vitamins, minerals, & complete proteins. They can be eaten alone, in salads, with grains, gently steamed with veggies as a snack, or sprinkled over soup. Everyone should store organic sprouting seeds & use sprouts in their daily diet.

Benefits of sprouting:-

Q7) Is this why you feel more satisfied after eating raw food?

Yes. Also you will eventually notice you need to eat less as you eat more raw food.  The nutrients are made more available to the body the energy lasts longer so there are not as many dips in energy (low blood sugar).  You will notice that when you eat cooked foods the need to eat again is not long after your last bite? This is because only a very little amount of nutrients are actually absorbed from the enzyme – lacking food.

Q8) Can I expect to loose weight eating raw food?

Yes.  The more raw food you eat the more weight you can loose and quicker. It helps to have some  advice from a qualified nutritionist as some people need to change the energetic quality of the raw food making it easier to digest in the colder weather or if they suffer from a weakened digestive system.

Q9) Will it help constipation?

Yes. Almost immediately you will notice an increase in bowel movements due to the increase in live enzymes and the increase in fibre and better  balanced blood sugar levels.

Q10) Is it true it can make you feel happier?

Yes. It is a well known fact that what you eat can affect your moods. You ‘ve heard the saying you are what you eat….well it's also about what you absorb/assimilate.

So if we ingest less toxins (you will see from the above answers why raw food is not toxic to the body), then our cells will be able to ``breathe``. For example, when we eat flesh foods – ie meats & dairy - (especially non-organic) , where the animals are fed on foods contaminated with pesticides & injected with hormones and antibiotics, this cocktail of chemicals reach our blood stream and start to affect our own hormones.

Each cell in our body has a receptor site which receive the messages from what I call the ``messengers`` i.e. hormones and other chemicals called neurotransmitters eg serotonin (which makes you feel happy, calm & relaxed - lack of this leads to restlessness, depression, stress and great cravings for carbohydrates)). Another good analogy I like to use is that these messengers are like ``postmen`` trying to get their letters with messages into the post boxes (receptor sites) When these receptor sites/post boxes are ``gunked up`` with toxins these receptor sites become ``gunked up`` too making all these ``post boxes`` areas sluggish and the letters with the messages for our cells are not getting into the post boxes as quickly or efficiently as they should causing mood swings, ongoing depression and a whole list of emotional imbalances.

Another example of foods affecting our mood are sugary things, like fizzy drinks (even with artificial sweeteners!), chocolate & processed foods (containing loads of sugar & salt). These really affect our blood sugar levels big time! Making our blood sugar rise really quickly and then dropping just as quickly as it has risen. This peak & trough pattern is what creates our fluctuating moods – causing mood swings and low energy. This usually leads to cravings or binging of even more pick me up type foods ranging from more sweet foods or foods/drinks containing caffeine.

It is one of the most important aspects of the body's equilibrium/homoestasis to have a balanced blood sugar level. If our blood sugar levels are not brought back to balance, then this can lead to other hormonal imbalances in the body eg hypothyroidism, PMT and other hormonal related symptoms

So take note! That all those cravings or binging can really be caused by low serotonin levels – and erratic blood sugar levels - a real chemical imbalance going on in the body. You can really see what a vicious cycle this creates and I am sure a lot of people will recognise these feelings.

So when we eat foods that have been tampered with by man we are creating moods that really make us less likely to be able to cope with just daily stress! So consuming lots of organic vegetables & whole fruits, nuts & seeds help to soothe us without sapping our energy and give us the vital nutrients we really do need.

Remember - Change brings fear! So happiness might take a little time and dedication to feel happier on raw foods.