Why Raw Foods?

So many people give me that look when I tell them I eat my foods raw. That look that says, “wow… are you crazy woman?!” I can also almost see those thoughts running through their minds eye.. “hmmm carrot sticks.. salad overkill… ummm yuck.. how awful and boring!”

In reality though, it couldn’t be farther from the truth. I have so many amazing foods on a day to day basis, I LOVE what I eat now and wouldn’t trade it for anything! Check out my facebook page to see some of them!

See Raw Dedication on FaceBook 

So why choose to eat foods raw anyway?

Well, firstly lets talk about what happens when we heat foods past a certain point.

Past about 40 degrees Celsius, heat will destroy about 85% of the foods goodness, ie. Nutrients, enzymes, essential amino acids etc. Some of those are digestive enzymes, which get totally destroyed when cooked.

Essentially speaking, cooking our food kills its life force, as well as those vital enzymes.

This means the digestive system has to work longer, and much harder to get whats left of nutrition & energy from the foods we eat when they are cooked.

We’ve all heard the phrase “You are what you eat” in light of that, consumption of the energy of "dead foods" (ie. cooked foods) makes both our physical and mental state feel heavy, stagnant and bogged down. This is even more true when it comes to consuming dead animals.

If we eat too much overly-cooked, microwaved and processed foods, it can clog our colon, which may lead to a whole host of problems, including, cancer, heart-disease, diabetes and many other degenerative diseases.

Raw foods, or rather “Living Foods” which is what I eat.. are 100% plant based, ie. Fruits, vegetables, nuts & seeds, and never ever heated above 40 degrees C/ 105F

Some raw foodists like to push the line out at 115F or 45C, but I prefer the school of thought that says 40C/ 105F.

Raw food is extremely easy for our body to digest and provides the maximum amount of energy with least amount of bodily effort.

One of the first things that I noticed, and it tends to be the consensus across the board with people changing to a raw food lifestyle, is that there is a massive increase in energy levels. This is simply because your body is getting everything it needs, with a fraction to the effort to get it.

So much of our cooked and processed foods are simply just empty calories, devoid of the nutrition that our bodies are crying out to be nourished with.

When we give our body back the nutrients it craves, in a form that is easy to assimilate, it is amazing how it can heal itself and start to function how it was meant to!