Is Raw Food the Road to Health?
January 31, 2007
Some experts say eating raw food is the road to health, while other healing traditions say eating cooked foods is healthier.
I recommend listening to your body and assessing your nutritional needs, along with the climate, season and surrounds you live in.
Raw food is loaded with live enzymes, vitamins, and readily available antioxidants Ð all living creatures eat raw food! It is imperative that you eat some kind of raw food daily, and I suggest a bit of raw food is incorporated into each cooked meal.
For example, a salad, sprouted grains or grasses, fresh-pressed juice, smoothies, raw seeds and nuts, freshly cut herbs, sauerkraut - to name a few. You can also try the various raw snack foods now available at health food stores. Raw food is by nature, cooling to the body.
Raw food-only diets, especially in cold, wet climates can be to depleting for some constitutions no matter how delicious and nutritious.
If you live in a northern clime you will most likely find yourself craving warmer, cooked foods in winter and raw, fresh seasonal produce in the summer months.
Even so - it is easy to grate a raw beet, turnip or carrot atop a portion of cooked grains. Finely chopped dandelion greens, fresh rosemary, cilantro, chives, and parsley can be added to cooked food to increase nutritional value.
When reaching for snack foods, go for raw vegetables or fruits - the simple celery stalk with almond butter or tahini is always satisfying. Dip carrots instead of crackers in humus or use Belgium endive leaves as your chip for dipping. When making soups - add tender vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower or chard just at the end so they are very lightly cooked and retain their vitamin content.
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