The Raw Foods Diet

A Raw Food Diet basically consists of foods that have not been heated at more than 92 º F to 118 º F depending on the form of diet.  It commonly includes raw fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds but may also include raw milk, meat, eggs and honey.  A person who consumes primarily raw food is called a raw foodist.  Raw foodists hold the belief that there are greater health benefits in consuming a greater percentage of raw food in the diet.  They also believe that raw foods generally prevent and heal many forms of sickness and chronic diseases.  Most raw foodists consider freezing acceptable.

As viewed by the proponents of this specific diet, consumption of raw foods by humans date back to prehistoric eras, even before fire was discovered. Prehistoric humans are believed to be largely non-carnivorous vegetarians.  The human digestive system is said to be configured for the consumption of a raw vegetarian diet.  However, some primitive ancestors that were chiefly hunters ate raw meat. 

The Raw Foods Diet is also called the Living Foods Diet.  Raw and living foods are those that contain enzymes.  Generally, the act of heating food over 118 º F destroys enzymes in food.  Enzymes are considered the life-force or energy of the food and are very important in the digestion and absorption of food.  Heat changes the makeup of food and destroys beneficial enzymes that require the digestive system to work harder with cooked foods losing up to 85% of its nutritional value.  Raw foodists refer to them as dead food.  Following their specific logic, proponents of the raw food diet considers that consuming the dead energy of dead foods would result to heavy and stagnant bodies.