Your whole food, plant-based life.

Why Eat Raw

Why Eat Raw

Food sustains us,… Yet what we eat may affect our risk for several of the leading causes of death for Americans, notably, coronary heart disease, stroke, arteriosclerosis, diabetes, and some types of cancer. These disorders together now account for more than two-thirds of all deaths in the United States.” -former Surgeon General Dr. C. Everett Koop

It is estimated that 60% of disease is caused by the SAD diet (Standard American Diet). If food is the culprit, I believe that food can be the answer. As we become mindful about what we eat, we can start to make choices that promote our health over illness. Food is consumed for nutrition but it is also consumed for pleasure. What happens if we learn how to satisfy our pleasure receptors with healthy food? Our lives improve.

veggies

What do our bodies need to eat raw?

What are the building blocks that our bodies need to function? Enzymes, vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, protein, essential fats and fiber. These are all provided by our food and are involved in growth, repair and maintenance of the body. Let’s take a quick look at each of these and what they do for you.

Enzymes

Enzymes convert the food we eat into chemical structures that can pass though the membranes of the cells lining the digestive tract and into the blood stream. Their job doesn’t end there. Enzymes are the living proteins that direct the life force into our biochemical and metabolic processes. They help transform and store energy, make active hormones, dissolve fiber and prevent clotting. They have anti-inflammatory effects. Enzymes help balance and restore the immune system, and heal many diseases. Enzymes even help repair our DNA and our RNA.

When we cook food, we destroy many of the enzymes that help us naturally digest it.

Vitamins

Without vitamins our cells would not function properly and thus our organs would suffer and eventually we would no longer be able to survive. Vitamins help regulate metabolism, help convert fat and carbohydrates into energy, and assist in forming bone and tissue. Guess what happens when you cook food? You got it, a large percentage of the vitamins are destroyed.

Viktoras Kulvinskas in his book, Survival into the 21st Century, estimates that the overall nutrient destruction is as high as 80%. Tests have shown that we will lose 50% of the B vitamins while B1 and B12 can lose up to 96%. 97% of folic acid is destroyed as well as 70-80 % of vitamin C.

Minerals

Seventeen of the thirty elements known to be essential to life are metals. Mineral deficiencies cause disease in humans. Minerals also have a synergistic relationship with vitamins. They help each other help us. When foods are cooked, many of the minerals are destroyed, or altered, rendering them useless and also unable to assist our friends the vitamins.

Phytonutrients

Phytonutrients are what give fruits and vegetables their color. Phytos protect the body and fight disease. They also fight cancer and help your heart. Phytonutrient are at leading edge of research on nutrition. They provide medicine for cell health. And once again, Phytonutrients in freshly harvested plant foods can be destroyed or removed by cooking.

Why Eat Raw?

It just starts to make sense. If cooking destroys the vital and essential nutrients that we need to stay healthy, eating our food raw does the opposite. It provides us with what we need for our health and well being. I know from experience that when I am eating at least 80% raw, I have more energy, more mental focus, and all of the pesky things that irritate me on a daily basis, like acid reflux and my daily aches and pains, dissipate. I also know that I am feeding my body what it needs to thrive, not just survive.






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125 Comments

  1. Loretta wrote on February 7, 2016

    I’m a diabetic type 2. What is your breakfast recommendation? Thank you.

    Reply
    • Susan wrote on February 8, 2016

      I would use the recipe index and see which recipes fall into your diet guidelines. Cheers!

      Reply
  2. Patsy wrote on June 30, 2015

    Hi Susan,

    Your recipes are amazing and encourage me to incorporate more raw recipes. Just like to know if it’s okay to eat so many nuts, nutritionally I mean. Have read somewhere that it’s good to eat a few ounces per day but more than that can be bad?

    Reply
    • Susan wrote on June 30, 2015

      Hi, Patsy, I answered this where you previously asked the question. Here was my answer: Nuts are very healthy for you. They protect against cardio vascular disease, provide healthy fats, omega 3s, fibre, good plant phenols and health-promoting compounds. They also are packed with protein, rich in vitamins, minerals and flavonoids, which help protect blood vessels and lessen inflammation. That said, it is recommended that you keep your consumption to around 2 oz a day. This recipe has 1.8 oz of nuts per serving so you are within your daily allowance. Cheers!

      Reply
  3. allison wrote on May 25, 2015

    Hi Sue

    I’m on a diet, I eat chicken but no other meat and cook fresh veg. I like your recipes and i have tried raw dessets because I hope to go completely raw but I want to make this a gradual process. I have a question what is a dehydrator? I live in England.

    Reply
    • Susan wrote on May 26, 2015

      Hi, Allison, You can see different dehydrators in the Rawmazing store. Also, there is information on the FAQ page. The tab is at the top. Cheers!

      Reply
  4. Julie wrote on May 13, 2015

    Hi Susan, I just wanted to thank you for all of the information you have here as well as the wonderful recipes! I have created many of them. I am an ultrarunner, vegan for a few years and now find myself feeling better as I consume more and more of my meals as raw. I was surprised to see that you are from Minnesota. I am from Big Lake, MN. I assumed, incorrectly, that you were in the land of sunshine and year round fresh vegetables in your back yard. That is what I get for assuming 🙂

    Reply
    • Susan wrote on May 14, 2015

      Hi, Julie, Actually I do live in California. I have been here for about 3 years. 🙂 But the blog is about 6 years old, so it did grow up in Minnesota!

      Reply
  5. Christine Cook wrote on April 30, 2015

    I have recently started to eat raw,and I love it. I feel so great. I must say I have been on a transition for a few years now. I gave up meat,alcohol, processed foods and started to drink decaf.It was a hard struggle. It did not happen over night. I started reading and learning. I had to wean my body off sugars,caffeine and other junk. Now my body is saying yes to healthy foods and when I eat junk,I feel awful. So awful it helps me now to say no to the junk.Thank you for your site and all these wonderful recipes. I appreciate it. I will still eat some vegetarian dishes as well, but what a great way to live. Because I feel good,all the time.

    Reply
  6. Pauline wrote on March 8, 2015

    Susan,

    Thank you for the information you provide on your website. I especially find the information on “Why Eat Raw?” beneficial. I have started eating more raw within the last 5 years and I’m loving it! I’m feeling so much better! I have also used the blood type diet and I find that I do much better when I eat the recommended foods for my blood-type.
    Pauline

    Reply

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