Raw and Living Foods

Raw foodism can include any diet of primarily unheated food, or food warmed to a temperature less than 40 °C (104 °F) to 46 °C (115 °F). The most popular raw food diet is a raw vegan diet, but other forms include a raw vegetarian diet.

What is special about the 115 °F mark? In essence, raw foodists” believe that foods cooked above this temperature lose much of their nutritional value and are less healthy or even harmful to the body. This is primarily because the enzymes present, that aid in digestion and have other nutritional value, are cooked away when heated above 115 °F.

Typical foods for a raw vegan diet include fruit, vegetables, nuts, seeds and sprouted grains and legumes. Some raw vegan diets may be broken down into a couple of different classifications such as fruitarians, juicearians or sproutarians. As the name implies, these raw foodists subsist on diets of primarily those things - fruits, juices or sprouted foods and grains.

Raw vegetarianism is usually categorized pretty simply as Ovo-lacto raw vegetarian. Therefore, this classification of raw foodists would include some products such as eggs and dairy. The vegetarian raw food diet commonly consists of fruits, vegetables, sprouts, nuts, seeds, grains, legumes, dairy, eggs and honey. While this diet may vary somewhat it is actually less common than raw veganism when it comes to raw food diets in general.

There are, of course, extremes in the raw food movement as in anything else. There are raw omnivores who ascribe to a paleolithic raw diet or a primal diet. If you are a compassionate vegan or vegetarian, as are we, then these diets have no room for consideration and won't be mentioned further.

There are, however, differences of opinion on the safety and true value of raw food diets.

There has been a lot of research and proponents as well as opponents have made their cases. We believe each individual should be responsible for doing the research necessary to help them make up their own minds about whether or not these diets are right for them.

As an example, some raw foods do contain toxins that, when taken in large enough quantities, may be harmful, the operative words being "large enough quantities". But there is a lot of research and evidence that suggests that a raw food diet is healthy and beneficial as well, when conducted properly.

With that in mind we offer up this small list of possible things to consider. And as always, consult your doctor or helath care professional before embarking on any significant change to your diet regimen.

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These are some of the "possible" harmful raw foods...

• Buckwheat greens are toxic when raw, particularly if juiced or eaten in large quantities by fair skinned individuals. The chemical component fagopyrin is known to cause severe photosensitivity and other dermatological complaints. [a]
• Kidney beans, including sprouts, are toxic when raw, due to the chemical phytohaemagglutinin. [b]
• Alfalfa sprouts contain the toxin canavanine.
• Some types of raw cassava or cassava flour can be toxic.
• Raw eggs contain avidin, a vitamin B7 or biotin inhibitor, which can cause “egg white injury”. As many as 24 egg whites would have to be eaten to inactivate biotin. Avidin is denatured by heat . [c][d]
• Raw seeds of the genus lathyrus (peas), can cause lathyrism.
• Raw brassica species can contain glucosinolate.
• Apricot kernels contain amygdalin, which contains the toxin cyanide.
• Raw parsnips contain furanocoumarin.
• Raw milk may contain Mycobacteria bovis (which can cause non-pulmonary tuberculosis).

Having said all that, nevertheless, NJR believes that there is some merit in eating raw and living foods even if only on a limited but frequent basis.

Supplement the diet with your own diet regimen, be it vegetarian or vegan.

Investigate and do research. There are a lot of readily available resources out there.

Here are a few that we like:

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Raw Food Diet Solution - A complete raw food resource with advice, support, recipes and information for anyone interested in the benefits
of a high raw diet.

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For easy raw food recipes, plus lots of handy tips on juicing and blending for health, visit rawfoods-livingfoods.com. This site also has useful information on the best juicers, sprouting, and growing wheatgrass."

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For a truly inspirational story and a testimony to the value of a raw diet please
visit our friend Esme at The Best of Raw Food. Then go on to explore her site for some great information and recipes!

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You can find some excellent information about raw and living foods at
Naturally-Healthy-Eating, as well as a great blog detailing the author's
"30 Day Raw Food Challenge".

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We've mentioned Kristen Suzanne before...she's an accomplished Raw food chef and former competitive bodybuilder. She has some terrific recipe books to help facilitate a raw food diet as well as a lot of information about the benefits of "going raw".

Check out Kristen Suzanne's Raw Food Recipe Books! Click Here!

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a) Gilles Arbour (December 2004). "Are Buckwheat Greens Toxic?" (PDF). Townsend Letter for Doctors & Patients. http://www.gillesarbour.com/buckwheat_assets/Buckwheat%20Greens.pdf. Retrieved 2004-06-15.

b) Noah ND, Bender AE, Reaidi GB, Gilbert RJ (Jul 1980). "Food poisoning from raw red kidney beans". Br Med J 281 (6234): 236–7. PMID 7407532.

c) http://www.iowaegg.org/eggfactdetails.asp?varLetter=f

d) Gyorgy, P. (1941). Egg-white injury as the result of non-absorption or inactivation of biotin. Science, 93, 447-478

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