Raw Foods Diet
Review
A typical Raw Foods Diet advocates eating at least 75 percent of
your food raw, although there are strict versions which insist on
no cooking and a 100 percent vegetarian dietary regimen. Where
cooking is allowed it is usually to permit the addition of some
cooked whole grains and pulses, plus good quality fish and lean
poultry.
Naturalist David Jubb, PhD, a behavior/exercise physiologist in
New York, explains that a raw, living food eating regimen is made
up of fresh, raw fruits and vegetables, organic (whenever
possible), in season, and ripe; sprouted seeds, nuts, and legumes;
and some fermented foods that are properly combined for easy
digestion.
"Let starch go," says Jubb, explaining that as it breaks down, it
ferments in your body, which does you no good at all.
But according to Rutgers University and Taiwanese researchers at
last spring's annual American Chemical Society meeting in San
Francisco:
"Raw isn't always best. Sometimes cooked foods give you more
nutrients for the buck."
They found that the body more easily absorbs iron from 37 of 48
vegetables tested when they're boiled, stir-fried, steamed, or
grilled. Of note, the absorbable iron in cabbage jumped from 6.7%
to 27% with cooking. That of broccoli flowerets rose from 6% to
30%. (Source: WebMD)
Raw Foods Diet - Claims
- Feel healthy and alive
- Lose weight
- Prevent disease
Raw Foods Diet - Drawbacks
- A very hard diet to maintain, long term.
- Difficult to feed a whole family on such an uncompromising diet
plan.
- Not easy to design a proper balanced raw foods diet.
- Raw food isn't always healthiest.
Raw Foods Diet - Summary
Not recommended as a long term practical solution to weight loss.
But might be valuable as a short term healthy eating plan.
It is important to increase consumption of fruits and vegetables,
but doing it at the expense of all the other wonderful foods and
flavors of the world is likely to prove too difficult for most
dieters.
Diet Review
No diet review can be more than a reasoned opinion on a particular
diet plan or weight loss method. We don't have a monopoly of diet
wisdom, so we welcome all comments on
our Diet Reviews.
|
