Raw Foods

Raw Foods is a special diet developed for health reasons. Claims about the benefits of following a Raw Foods cuisine extend to longer life, higher energy levels, and even pro-actively curing disease simply through the food you eat. Some promoters even talk about uncooked food having "stronger energetic fields" of electron clouds surrounding them.

The principle in the Raw Foods cuisine is to ensure that enzymes and electrolytes in the food are eaten alive. You are advised that, given that these enzymes and electrolytes start to get killed off at 105 to 110 F (40.5 to 43 C), food cannot be heated over 104 F (40 C.) Some say, though, you can heat the food as high as 118 F (48 C.)

Most people end up vegetarians by default, as there are very few forms of meat that can be eaten raw, though some raw food people do say they eat raw chicken and beef. Most, if they consume flesh at all, will eat fish or seafood.

Though Raw Food disallows the consumption of preserved food, for some reason dried foods are allowed. Consequently, food dehydrators become very important to its followers.

Uncooked sauces are made of vegetable or fruit purées. A lot of nuts are used -- in forms such as nut butters and nut milks. A lot of sprouted seeds are eaten.

Pasteurization is a no-no in Raw Foods. Milk is drunk unpasteurized, and the cheese and butter consumed must be from unpasteurized milk as well. Even pasteurized honey is out. Eggs are eaten raw.

Despite the lack of "cooking" proper, Raw Food recipes are often a great deal more work than regular recipes, and many ingredients recommended can be very hard to find. The quality of the raw ingredients becomes very important because they remain, er, raw.

One of the first promoters was Roxanne Klein who ran a restaurant for a few years starting in 2002 in Larkspur, California Some clinical dietitians at universities feel that it's an unhealthful diet. They say that many of the healthful properties of food is in fact better digested when the food is cooked, and they caution that a Raw Food diet may be harmful for children.

They say they are downright frightened by some of the claims that certain chronic diseases can be cured by the diet, without medical help, and by raw-fooders saying that the dangers of consuming unpasteurized milk are exaggerated.
"One swears by wholemeal bread, one by sour milk; vegetarianism is the only road to salvation of some, others insist not only on vegetables alone, but on eating those raw. At one time the only thing that matters is calories; at another time they are crazy about vitamins or about roughage. The scientific truth may be put quite briefly; eat moderately, having an ordinary mixed diet, and don't worry." -- Sir Robert Grieve Hutchison (28 October 1871 - 1960). Newcastle Medical Journal, Volume 12, 1932. Associated Pres. Is a raw diet healthy? St Petersburg, Florida: St Petersburg Times. 2 June 2004.

Associated Press. Top chefs join raw-food revolution. St Petersburg, Florida: St Petersburg Times. 2 June 2004.
Bancud, Michaela. Trendy chefs turning off the fire: Evangelists of the raw food movement spread the joy of uncooking. Portland, Oregon: The Portland Tribune. 30 September 2003.
Tabias, Lori. Au Naturel - The Raw Food Revolution. El Segundo, California: Better Nutrition. 22 November 2002. Pages 35-38.