Home :: Diets

Should you eat a raw food diet?

There are numerous benefits, or so we're told, of a raw food diet.

Supporters of a raw food diet — often called a living food diet — claim that many of the nutrients in vegetables are lost when they're cooked. Heating food (such as boiling an egg) is also supposed to make a lot of the protein unusable to your body.

In short, raw foods are supposed to be "better in every way" than their cooked counterparts.

Fruit and vegetables contain compounds called phytochemicals. The term "phyto" (pronounced fight-o) comes from the Greek word meaning plant. You'll see the terms "phytochemical" and "phytonutrient" used interchangeably. Essentially, they both refer to the same thing.

These "plant nutrients" are linked with a reduced risk of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and some forms of cancer.

But do we really need to eat these vegetables in their raw form to get the maximum benefit?

Raw food diet

Of all the phytonutrients, we probably know the most about carotenoids. They make tomatoes red, carrots orange and corn yellow. The importance of carotenoids was first established back in 1919. Harry Steenbock, a biochemist at the University of Wisconsin fed rats one of two diets.

One diet contained a lot of "white" food, such as white corn, parsnips, or potatoes. The second diet was rich in "yellow" foods like yellow corn and carrots. The rats on the yellow diet thrived. Those on the white diet died within three months.

The phytochemicals in food contribute to its antioxidant activity. Antioxidants are important because they help to limit the damage caused to your body by substances called free radicals.

Free radicals are molecules with an unpaired electron. In this state, they're highly reactive — and destructive — to everything that gets in their way. Although free radicals have been implicated in many diseases, including heart disease and cancer, they're actually a normal part of your body chemistry, and can help to keep you healthy. White blood cells, for example, use free radicals to "attack" viruses and bacteria.

Optimal health, however, requires a balance between free radical generation and antioxidant protection. One of the functions of an antioxidant is to "quench" these free radicals before they create too much damage.

It surprises a lot of people to learn that...

If you're a member, you can click here to continue reading.