Health101.org Article - Why Raw Foods?

Raw foods are uncooked, plant-based foods. Predominantly fruits and vegetables, and possibly some nuts and seeds. The term "vegan" as used below, means one who uses no animal products.

You Are What You Eat
by Philip Madeley BSc

Something is very wrong with the way we are approaching health in this country. It seems that sometimes we treat our cars better than we do our bodies. With our bodies we mask the defects from the outside (make up, surgery and drugs) rather than looking at the root causes on the inside.

The pharmaceutical industry is a multi-billion dollar industry, yet are we any closer to a solution? New disease names are created to describe already existing conditions that now have more sever symptoms. We keep looking outside of ourselves for the answers. If we look to nature, we realize that wild animals not influenced by man, do not get sick.

A large amount of money is invested on researching drugs and therapies, but little thought is given to the causes and prevention of disease. After all, why would industries do anything that would reduce their profits.

Our society is nutritionally starved of vitamins, minerals, quality proteins, enzymes, and essential fatty acids. We are trying to maintain our bodies with coagulated proteins, trans-fatty acids, water and nutrient deficient junkfood, chemicals, refined sugar, and pesticide ridden foods.

We deal with the way we look with diets, slimming programs, and the like. Yet we can only be radiantly healthy and beautiful when we change our internal environment. Our inner "biological terrain" is key to our external health and well being.

When we process and heat our food we create chemicals that are literally poisonous to our bodies. (See "Carcinogen Found in French Fries, Bread, Biscuits")

The chemicals that are produced when we process our foods seriously affect us, from brain function to general health. Some foods that are commonly cooked have addictive properties (grain products have opiods, dairy products have caso-morphines), so is it any wonder we can have a hard time eliminating them from of our diet.

So what is the solution, wouldn't that mean removing man's greatest of pleasures?

When we begin to feed our body with the very raw materials that it requires for optimum health, we become more beautiful from the inside to the out; energy levels rise, stress diminishes, and we begin to see the world in a new light! Eating becomes an ecstatic experience; unhealthy foods that once tasted good, no longer do, and healthy foods taste unbelievably delicious, and become more desirable than the garbage we used to eat.

What are we getting when we eat fresh, organic, vegan, raw foods?

Enzymes - Enzymes are a catalyst and help the body to begin the digestion process. When we cook food these are destroyed. Enzymes are not destroyed by stomach acid, only deactivated, and become active in the intestines. If our body must provide enzymes that would normally be provided by the food consumed, this overworks the enzyme producing organs.

Trace Vitamin and Mineral Content - When we cook (depending on the degree of) we lose many of the vitamins and minerals due to leaching and derangement. These elements and trace elements are essential for the most efficient functioning of the body system from building tissue to activation of key enzymes.

High Quality Plant Proteins - The old argument that raw plant foods do not provide adequate protein, and that proteins must be combined, is old news. When you cook foods, the proteins coagulate and are denatured, making them very extremely difficult for the body to digest. Eating green leafy vegetables, almonds, pumpkin seeds, and fruits provide very high quality proteins for the body. Of the 22 essential amino acids eight must come from outside sources. These are readily available in raw plant foods. Wild vegetarian animals have no difficulty in finding quality protein sources.

Raw Fats - Such as avocado, "fatty fruits", nuts, and seeds provide the body with essential fatty acids, vitamin E, minerals, antioxidants to name a few. Even "non-fatty" fruits contain some fat. These nourish the body, increase flexibility, increase brain function (the brain is 60% fat)

Life Force - Look at Kirlian photography of cooked verses raw food - the difference is startlingly obvious.

Pleomorphic pathogenic bacteria - Meat, fish, and dairy are loaded with these organisms whether we cook it or not.

"The Average American meal of animal products contains between 750,000,000 to 1,000,000,000 pleomorphic pathogenic micro-organisms. The average vegetarian meal consisting of only plant foods (i.e. vegan) contains less than 500 pathogenic micro-organisms." pp278: Sick and Tired: Reclaim your inner terrain. Dr. Robert Young, Ph.D.,D.Sc.

A rotting body - Through live blood microscope work we can see that the inner terrain of most people has much to be desired. We are full of fungus, bacteria, parasites, and pathogens.

Leukocyte reaction - When we eat foods that have been heated to high temperatures, the body reacts as if we had introduced a poison. In a process called leukocytosis, within the body there is a huge leucocyte reation to fight of the unrecognised elements. Not with raw foods

Trans Fatty Acids - Any fats or oils that have been tampered with are a major burden on the body, clogging up the arteries and leading to heart disease, cholesterol build up and death! Cooked oil, margarine, and animal fats are particularly destructive because they are not miscible in water. Since we are a water-based lifeform, this makes the metabolism of cooked oil difficult at best. Cooked oil, margarine, and animal fats are inflammatory to the tissues, harm the cardiovascular system, and accelerate the ageing process. Cooking fats creates highly toxic trans fatty acids (rancid oil basically). Cooked oils are also the biggest cause of free radical damage.

Chemicals from agriculture - Pesticides, herbicides, fungicides and other synthetic (not to mention Genetically Modified Organisms) which are highly toxic to the human body.

Excessive Sugars - To take advantage of a human's natural sweet tooth, refined sugars seem to be added to everything causing mood swings, depression, and energy crashes. They leach minerals as the body over-produces insulin, creating an acid condition in the body. Alkaline minerals are then taken from the bones to neutralise this potentially life-threatening condition - a contributing factor to osteoporosis.