RAW FOOD: WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES?

I do not eat completely raw, but have tried regularly delicious dishes. My favorite apple pie is raw. I have read, tried, but not 100% done about it. Maybe it's a good idea to try it once. But what does life according to raw food actually mean? Worth a nice research ...
What is raw food?
Raw food means "raw food". This means food that is pure nature. Food that has not been processed by humans. This means that nothing has been added but also that the food is not cooked, fried, steamed or roasted.

The philosophy of raw food is based on the conviction that uncooked food is better for the body. By cooking food or otherwise processing, many enzymes would be lost. This makes processed food difficult to digest.

People deal very differently with the term raw food. Some people who follow a raw food diet plan limit their consumption of cooked and processed foods to 25% or less.

However, there are raw food movements that go much further. These movements even eliminate meat, fish, dairy and eggs from their diet. It is believed that this diet has no value for the body. In addition, meat, fish, dairy products and eggs would be a source of all kinds of  allergies .

Where does the raw food thought come from?
The raw foodies point to the dietary pattern of our ancestors. Some 400,000 years ago, man only invented the fire. Before that, humans only ate food that was not heated. The idea is that man is not originally made to eat food that is heated.

This reasoning is supported by pointing to cultures such as those of the Himalayan Hunza. In this valley people eat a lot of raw food. They follow a diet that mainly consists of unprocessed vegetable food with only a small portion of meat once a week, not boiled milk and a lot of water was drunk. In this valley people are very old. Many people are older than 100 years.

What do people eat with a raw food diet?
A raw food diet includes a variety of nutritious foods:

fruit
vegetables
sprouted beans and grains
raw nuts
seaweed
non-dairy alternatives such as almond milk (preferably made by yourself)
In short, every raw food meets the raw food diet standard. They often eat organic, because then no pesticides have been used to 'pollute' the food. As mentioned, there are different forms of a raw food diet.

The most commonly used raw food diet form contains only food that is not cooked, fried or roasted. Some raw food diets go even further in this. These do not even contain meat, fish, eggs and dairy products. Even though there are quite fish species that you can eat unprocessed. The same applies to eggs and dairy. Meat often needs to be heated before it is edible.

What are the benefits of raw food?
A major risk to public health is the industrial processing of food as we buy it in the supermarket. Especially the fact that a lot of sugars and salt is added is unhealthy. We see this in the growing number of welfare diseases. Just think of the fact that almost 50% of the Dutch are too heavy.

What are the disadvantages of raw food?
The nutrition center in the Netherlands states that it has not been scientifically proven that heating of food would be carcinogenic. Only if you burn food and then eat it will you run health risks. According to the food center, the most important thing is that you eat healthy and varied. In addition, the dietary pattern does not have to consist entirely of raw food. By eating only raw food, the diet can easily become one-sided so that you miss essential nutrients. Think of vitamin B12 that is mainly found in animal products.

Critics of the raw food diet claim that while some good enzymes are destroyed, when food is cooked it is of minor importance. They say that the body produces its own digestive enzymes in response to food intake.

Another claim is that certain nutrients are absorbed more easily by the body when food is cooked. You can not eat beans raw. That can not be processed by your body.

Proponents indicate that obesity does not occur in raw food supporters. The opponents find it logical that obesity does not occur in people who eat raw. The weight loss is fully attributed to the calorie restriction.

Raw food wise or not wise?
In short there are supporters and opponents of eating Raw Food. Personally, I believe that we can eat raw more often. After all, there are tasty options and if you occasionally add a raw meal to your healthy diet, you benefit from the benefits of raw food. How can you teach described yourself about healthy eating on our lose belly page.

That's why I also like to borrow a raw food recipe and enjoy these pure flavors to the fullest. But eating completely raw is going too far. As inspiration for this article, I also once again looked at the documentary on Zapp about the boy who only eats raw. Then I thought again, that is very extreme. Especially for me.

Start with raw food
If you want to start with raw food, you can use the Paleo diet for example. With this Paleo diet  you return to the eating habits of our for the elderly. Read the review and decide for yourself if this is something for you to try out?