Information about raw food and cooked foods

Knowledge is necessary before being able to make any choices in life. It was my own reading and listening to speakers on this subject which excited me enough to want to change my eating habits. You need to be aware of how your body functions and what it requires to know whether you are giving yourself all the necessary components and nutrients needed for supreme health.

Do you actually know what is in your food and how it reacts inside your body? Have you actually made a conscious choice about your food, or do you eat what society eats presuming that it must be ok? The body is very clever at managing to survive on poor quality food but at a cost. The result of poor nutrition is low energy, poor immune system, degenerative diseases and premature aging. So it’s not just about survival or living a long life, it’s about the quality of your life.

Our body requires good quality nourishment as fuel to sustain life and energy. Besides the three main classes of food; protein, carbohydrates and fats there are many important substances found within our food including vitamins and minerals which are essential to the digestion and metabolism of the body.

I would like to introduce to you some of the less common known facts about food and our digestion which particularly interested me in my research over the years.

• Enzymes
• Acid and alkaline levels in the body
• Bio-electrical charges in cells
• Oxygenated foods
• Anti oxidants
• Food combining

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Enzymes

For me the most essential and important components are enzymes which are vital for the correct functioning of the internal body. It was the study of enzymes which convinced me without any doubt that eating raw food was vital for good health.

An enzyme is the energy factor found in the molecules of all living organisms. There are numerous enzymes in the body which act as catalysts and are necessary for every bio-chemical action and reaction. All cellular activity is initiated by enzymes and without them life cannot exist. It is therefore very important that the enzyme level does not become depleted.

It has been shown that the natural enzymes in the body can decrease as we age so if external enzymes can be added via the food we eat, the enzyme resources need not be reduced.

All food contains enzymes, however the enzyme activity is destroyed when heated above 118ºf. This means that cooked food is enzyme deficient; it is very slow to be digested, slow to move through the system and gives off toxins in the process.

As one of the functions of enzymes is to digest food, an enzyme deficient diet requires enzymes to be drawn from other organs to assist with digestion. This not only robs the organs of their own vital enzyme activity but it is a waste of resources.

Plant life which is uncooked has a rich supply of enzymes so digestion becomes easy and efficient; the food is easily assimilated with no stress to the body. This means the enzyme reserves of the body are kept high, all the organs function better and there is a reduction in premature aging.

You can see why I find enzymes to be the key to a happier and healthier way of living.

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Acid and alkaline levels in the body

A very important aspect of the internal workings of the body is to have the correct acid/alkaline balance. Once this subject is understood even on a very basic level you find you can have a greater control over your health and well being.

It is a scientific fact that the ph of the body must be correct to sustain life (the ph is a scientifically designed scale between 0-14 which measures the acid/alkaline ratio). The body contains acidic and alkaline substances in a ratio of 20% acid and 80% alkaline; the average ph of a healthy person being approximately 6.8 with each organ having slightly different ph levels.

To keep this balance we need to consume mainly alkaline forming foods and a small amount of acid forming foods. A general guideline for distinguishing between the two types of food is:

• The more dense the food e.g. meat, wheat etc, the more acid forming
• Food which is less dense and has a greater water content creates a more alkaline environment

Acid forming or alkaline forming describes the condition of the food once digested. Lemons for example may contain acid but are alkaline forming. They contain alkaline minerals which once digested increase the alkalinity of the body.

The average western diet which is cooked, concentrated and processed is mainly acid forming which creates a massive imbalance in the acid/alkaline ratio. Therefore the body has to combat the acidity by drawing alkaline substance (e.g. minerals such as calcium, potassium and magnesium) from elsewhere in the body. This signifies that cooked food can actually create deficiencies in important alkaline minerals. Any excess acid is deposited into tissues and joints causing cells to deteriorate and degenerate. So by adding more alkaline foods such as fruit and vegetables into even the average cooked diet you can dramatically improve your health.

However it becomes more obvious to me that the ideal diet should consist of a high proportion of alkaline fruit and vegetables with a smaller amount of the more acid forming foods e.g. nuts and seeds. Also, because of the high pollution of our surroundings which can add to the acidity of the body the more alkaline, dark leafy vegetables we can add to the body the better.

Although the acid/alkaline balance is not often discussed you can see why I have found it is so important when planning for my own health. I can help you make a seemingly complex and complicated subject become a natural way of thinking.

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Bio-electrical charges in cells

This sounds very technical but suffice to say that we need energy to flow through our cells for a healthy vibrant body. Each cell has a positive pole and a negative pole like a battery. The negative pole is alkaline and the positive pole is acidic. The raw and living food diet replenishes the necessary acid and alkaline elements described previously to help keep the cellular energy high.

When the electrical charge in cells becomes reduced due to a cooked, acidic diet the cells become dull and begin to deteriorate. Dull cells with low energy are open to disease, degeneration and premature aging.

Plant life receives highly charged electrons (i.e. energy straight from the sun) and will restore the electrical charge of already depleted cells.

All matter gives off energy so it is possible to ‘see’ which foods actually glow the most. Kirlian photography enables us to see this energy (see Eating for Beauty by David Wolfe for some great pictures). Raw foods literally radiate this energy to a much greater degree than the cooked alternative. This visual energy is really exciting as it will stimulate your desire for this energy rich food. No wonder those on this raw food diet seem to radiate health and vitality.

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Oxygenated foods

We know we derive oxygen from the air we breathe but have you ever thought of gaining oxygen from the food you eat.

The human species requires oxygen for survival but due to pollution, the air does not necessarily provide all we need. Also most people don’t use their lungs to their full capacity. By increasing our oxygen intake we can improve the body on a cellular level.

It has been found that all plant life contains this vital component. Plants take in carbon dioxide and give off oxygen which is found in the chlorophyll, the ‘blood’ of the plant. It is the chlorophyll which creates the green colour of all plants.

However cooking food destroys the oxygen and so robs our cells of these extra supplies. So a diet with a high content of raw dark green leaves will give a tremendous boost to the oxygen levels in the blood and will dramatically improve health.

It’s great to realise that with knowledge we can offer our bodies a continual and abundant supply of this life giving oxygen.

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Anti oxidants

This is a word used extensively at the moment especially to advertise various foods. It is important to understand what they are and why we need them.

Anti-oxidants are substances found in the immune system which act as defence against free radicals that roam the body. Free radicals are often referred to as toxins, they are released during the normal chemical reactions of the body and the defence system prevents them from accumulating. If left undetected these toxins create cellular damage eventually resulting in disease.

An unnatural cooked food diet creates an excess of toxins to add to the normal amount. The anti-oxidants naturally found in the body are unable to eradicate this excess which eventually becomes dangerously high.

It makes sense to reduce the cooked food which creates extra toxins and add foods rich in anti-oxidants. The bright colours of fruit and vegetables are created by anti-oxidants so by consuming a mixture of these colours daily you will be getting a good range of these essential nutrients. Living foods e.g. sprouted seeds, pulses and grains also have an abundant supply of these necessary anti-oxidants.

Realistically, even on a raw food diet, we are still subjected to excess free radicals due to pollution in the air and the world around us. Our immune system needs all the assistance possible.

As a raw food coach I can help you find which foods have the highest amount of anti-oxidants to help you create a healthy immune system and eventually freedom from disease.

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Food combining

When transitioning from cooked food to eating raw fruit and vegetables it helps to understand which foods go together well to avoid indigestion.

If, for example, the body is still trying to digest a heavy cooked meal and you eat an easily digested fruit immediately afterwards, indigestion may result. Like a traffic jam the digested fruit will get stuck above the undigested cooked food, unable to go further and may ferment. It is better to eat the fruit when the stomach is empty and then it can be absorbed quickly and easily.

Food combining within the raw food diet need not be complicated. A basic rule is that foods which are digested at different rates are best eaten separately. For example, nuts take longer to digest than sprouts so are better eaten a few hours apart.

With self awareness and observation each individual can eventually discover how food combining affects them. By assessing your personal needs and reactions to foods, I can help guide you on this journey of discovery so you can find how to obtain the best results.