By Chef K.T. Murphy
Is The Raw Food Diet Just Hype?
Ask anyone who lives the raw vegan lifestyle and they’ll all give you the same answer- no. A raw vegan diet is not a diet at all, rather it’s a lifestyle where a person chooses to eat at least 75 percent uncooked, or living, foods.
Not everyone eats fully raw food. Some people may eat only 25 or 50 percent raw food in their diet, yet they still reap the health benefits! Raw foods are packed with essential nutrients and energy that provide everything you need and more without the harmful additives.
Most food you find in a grocery store, except in the fresh produce section, is pumped with sugars, salts, and hormones. So, eating raw or eating vegan and cooking yourself Is the healthiest way to eat. Let’s dive deeper into the exact reasons why a raw food diet is a lifestyle worth living!
Raw, or uncooked, food has all the natural and essential vitamins and nutrients that the Earth provides. Raw vegans believe that cooking the food “kills” the food by taking out the nutrients. Whether that is true or not, there is no doubt that raw fruits, vegetables, and grains can surely add positive health benefits to your body.
Some healthy vegan foods such as beans and grains need to be cooked in order to be eaten. This accounts for why some raw vegans do cook some of their foods. And that’s okay! It’s a lifestyle, not a diet. There are no rules on how to be perfectly healthy! It is all up to you!
According to Hippocratesinst.org, raw vegan diets are proven to provide more energy, greater overall well-being, an abundance of nutrients, weight normalization over time, and a feeling of happiness and good health! Since it is easier to digest raw food, eating this way leaves the body with more energy to “cleanse, heal, and repair itself so we feel healthy, vital, and energized.” Vegan foods not only have short term health benefits, but they can do so much for our bodies in the long term.
Some fruits and veggies have phytonutrients which “contain protective, disease-preventing compounds that interact with other plant nutrients to produce a synergy that can help fight many diseases. Some phytonutrients are lycopene, beta-carotene, and chlorophyll.” Specific Raw Vegan foods are proven to cure or stop the spreading of cancer causing cells!
Many people have cured their cancer by stopping chemotherapy, which is a chemical that kills all cells, and switched to a vegan diet, which targets unhealthy cells naturally! One mother took a risk and stopped chemotherapy and ate a whole pineapple every day to cure her stage 4 cancer. It worked!
According to healingcancernaturally.com, some fruits and veggies that contain these cancer cell killing nutrients are, pineapple, raw cabbage, blueberries, raw broccoli, raw carrots, green asparagus, apricot, and more!
One major reason someone might venture to a raw vegan lifestyle, is the promise of losing weight. “A raw food diet is low in calories, high in fiber, and based on primarily healthy whole-plant foods, so eating this way will lead to weight loss” Says WebMD.
Although a raw vegan diet is healthy with no negative side effects, the specific foods you allow yourself to eat may not have everything you need. You may need to take vitamins to make up for low iron, protein or calcium in these vegetables and fruits.
Not only can you eat raw foods, but you can use them on your skin or in your hair to increase your health! Coconut oil, citrus fruits, green veggies, and berries, along with many others, are all great antioxidants for your skin!
Raw vegans don’t just eat their vegetables, but they look for ways to incorporate their natural health benefits in all aspects of life. There are many reasons to go vegan, try it for yourself and see. It maybe for you. I believe and live a 90% Plant based by 10% with portion controls.
All the best
Chef Murph
