In the US, we find ourselves fighting with obesity and poor health due to decades of eating overly processed foods. But what about the cooking that we do of whole foods in our home? Raw foods optimize your health by alkalizing your body so that its systems can eliminate the toxins that build up from cooked and processed foods. Eating mostly cooked foods contributes to high levels of acidic toxins in your body that throw off its acid/alkaline balance. This is one of the most common causes of excess weight gain. Eating raw foods will reduce your body’s toxicity levels, thus contributing to overall well-being.

A raw food diet is an effective way to lose weight, as it provides the body with essential nutrients and reduces the toxic build-up that comes from cooked or processed foods.

Cooking food destroys nutrition and enzymes, while chemically changing the food from healthy substances to free radicals that can potentially harm the body’s systems. A raw food diet consists of nutritionally-dense, organic, uncooked and unprocessed foods that optimize health, thus promoting healthy body weight.

Food List

There are a variety of raw food dishes that will help promote fast weight loss. Raw fish such as sashimi, ceviche and cold smoked or cured fish provide the body with essential fatty acids to assist in weight loss. Additionally, raw cheeses in moderation are acceptable, including raw goat cheese and sheep cheese. Raw nuts and seeds can add flavor and crunch to bland raw foods, including raw and dried vegetables and sprouted breads. Certain raw meats are part of a healthy weight loss diet and include steak tartar and smoked or cured meats.

How it Works

A raw food diet typically consists of 75 to 100 percent live, nutritionally dense, organic, uncooked and unprocessed foods. These types of foods optimize your health by alkalizing your body so that its systems can eliminate the toxins that build up from cooked and processed foods. Eating mostly cooked foods contributes to high levels of acidic toxins in your body that throw off its acid/alkaline balance. This is one of the most common causes of excess weight gain. Cooking food also causes chemical changes that create acidic toxins, including carcinogens, mutagens and free radicals, reducing the body’s energy source and adding body fat.

Foods to Avoid

Foods that are heated beyond a certain temperature, processed, refined or chemically altered generally cause an increase in white blood cell count. The body’s natural reaction to highly-altered food causes this negative reaction in the blood, which is usually only a result of invasions from harmful pathogens or trauma. The foods that most commonly cause this reaction include processed and refined white flour and white rice; pasteurized milk; homogenized milk; and preserved foods that have added chemicals to delay spoilage or change texture.

Benefits

A raw food diet improves weight management for a variety of reasons. Raw foods contain enzymes that are typically destroyed during the cooking process. Enzymes are beneficial for the body’s systems, as they provide the energy that you obtain from food sources. They also assist in the digestion and absorption of food, thus contributing to the body’s ability to utilize foods at its optimum level. If the enzymes are destroyed during cooking or processing, nutrients are lost, enzymes are destroyed, and the body is filled with toxins rather than nutrition. People who eat all raw foods generally experience an improvement in energy, digestion and body weight. Switching over from a cooked diet, which requires high levels of stomach acid relieves the body of having to produce as much acid, allowing for more energy and a lighter disposition.

Misconceptions

There are common misconceptions associated with a raw food diet. One is that it is expensive to maintain since organic foods tend to be higher in price, according to Raw Food Life online. Another misconception is that it is more time-consuming than a non raw food diet. These misconceptions can both be proven wrong, as a raw food diet is perhaps one of the most convenient types of diets since raw foods are more nutritionally dense and contribute to lasting satiety. Therefore, you will be able to eat less, purchase less and gain more energy from the amount of food you do eat. This will ultimately reduce your overall food costs and health care costs, as eating raw foods will reduce your body’s toxicity levels, thus contributing to overall well-being.

By: Isaac Eliaz

http://www.insidershealth.com/article/raw_food_for_weight_loss/4256