What Makes People Eat Raw Food?

What Makes People Eat Raw Food?

Throughout kitchens and restaurants around the world, there is a revolution taking place. People are turning to Raw Food as opposed to the cooked food that society has traditionally eaten. Which begs the question: Why?

One of the primary ways we experience the world around us is through what we eat, drink and think. So why then would people be foolish enough to put food into their bodies that isn't cooked? After some extensive research, it turns out these people might not be as foolish as originally thought.

The assumption behind cooking food is that the original form of Nature, as it exists, must be altered in some way in order for it to exist in an artificial form inside us. Or simply put, when feeding something natural (our body), it is necessary to give it something unnatural.

The problem is that when food is cooked it becomes less than it was before, never more. According to International Best-Selling author and Raw Food expert, David Wolfe, cooking alters organic molecules. When those molecules are ingested, they become part of our tissues. Thus eating cooked food alters our tissue at a fundamental level.Cooked food is dense. It leaves a toxic ash residue in the body after it has been processed. Over many years, the debris from this toxic residue accumulates and is deposited throughout our tissue. Eventually the toxins reach a crisis level, clogging and poisoning our body's systems which can lead to heart attacks, strokes and cancer.

What is Raw Food?

Raw food is alive, it still contains the vital nutrients and enzymes that gave the food life in the first place. Cooking food (above 239?F) destroys all of the enzymes and the food becomes "dead".

Enzymes are vital in that the body requires them to digest and absorb food, effectively helping to turn it into fuel.

Enzymes also are essential for many of the body's processes such as breathing, digestion, circulation, cognition and the prevention of inflammation and aging.

Cooked Food = No Enzymes

Eating cooked and processed foods makes one groggy, affects moods, lower's one's level of attention and interferes with the body's optimal functioning. A poor diet of highly cooked foods can also have a detrimental effect on longevity.

A cooked seed will not grow. It has had the life burnt out of it. How then would eating cooked food be the best way to help us grow?

Cooked food was not here when we first appeared on Earth.

Raw food was.

Raw-Animal or Raw-Plant Food?

Some people opt for a raw-animal diet, however typically the health of these people weakens over time, for a number of reasons. Namely meat can be very high in fat, cholesterol, calories and disease and bacterial contamination.

The other option is a raw-plant based diet.

People who follow a raw-plant based diet benefit from vital enzymes which allow the body to fully digest food, enzymes which are typically lost when food is cooked.

Health benefits include:

Having more energy

Skin has a much healthier complexion

Improved digestion

Weight Loss

A significant drop in the risk of developing heart and cardiovascular diseases [1]

Warning: Detox Alert

Raw/Live foods are naturally detoxifying, the more toxicity your body has, the more of a reaction you could have to these cleansing foods. You may look and feel worse before you look and feel better!

This is completely natural and is the body's way of releasing all the rubbish that has been stored up over time - if this happens to you, feel good as its working and you're on your way to a healthy active life.

The Right Food for Long Term Food Storage

The Right Food for Long Term Food Storage

One of the most important considerations when preparing food for long term storage is the type of food that you select to store. Selecting the right types of food will ensure that you have quality food available in an emergency that will not spoil rapidly. It's also important that the food selected is shelf stable and does not need to be refrigerated or frozen.

Most of the foods that you should store are grains, dried beans and other staples. Grains and beans will make up the bulk of your food storage as they are cheap, easy to store and nutritious. Most of the protein sources that you will store will be canned or dried. Fats should be selected from sources that are shelf stable for a year or more.

Carbohydrates

Because of their low price and ease of storage, carbohydrates will probably make the bulk of your food storage system. Carbohydrates have four calories per gram and are utilized by the body for energy. Most carbohydrate sources will also provide fiber, which is important for the digestive system to function properly. B vitamins can also be obtained from many carbohydrate sources. Some carbohydrate sources will also contain sources of protein, although they will not be as functional for the body as an animal based protein.

Most carbohydrates in food storage will consist of grains, although beans and sugar or honey also store well and provide carbohydrates. Grains are great for food storage as they are inexpensive when purchased in bulk and store for long periods of time in food storage buckets.

Protein

Protein is one of the harder sources of food to store but is just as important as carbohydrates for survival. Like carbohydrates, a gram of protein contains four calories. Protein is a very important nutrient as it is the most abundant molecule in the body after water. The body uses protein to repair damaged muscles and also for growth.

Protein cannot be stored as easily as grains since many protein sources contain high amounts of moisture. Most of your protein will be in the form of canned meats, either that you purchase from the store canned or meats that you can yourself. Canned fish and beef are good protein sources that you should store and pair well with grains such as rice. Meats stored in cans should last several years, and even past the expiration date. Even though the taste will diminish it will still be a viable source of nutrition.

Fats

One of the most over looked sources of food for storage is fats. This is unfortunate because it is one of the most important food sources and also very nutritionally dense with nine calories per gram. Fats are used in the body for energy and also play an important role in maintaining healthy skin and organs. Additionally, fats provide vitamins that are not easily obtained from carbohydrates or protein. Fats will also enhance meals prepared from your stored foods as much of the food will be bland without it.

The biggest concern with storing fats and why many people lack sufficient fat sources in their food storage is the fact that many fats can go rancid quickly. Although this is true of many polyunsaturated fats, like vegetable oils, peanut oils, and other cooking oils, it is not true of all sources of fats. Coconut oil is a great fat to store for long term.

 Because coconut oil is composed almost completely of saturated fat it is solid at room temperature, very shelf stable and resistant to rancidity. Coconut oil also has a high smoke point so it is great for cooking various foods. Coconut oil can be purchased in grocery stores in smaller amounts or online in large containers. Coconut oil will store two or more years at room temperature.

The Food Desert You Know Nothing About

The Food Desert You Know Nothing About

In 2011 the USDA had a brilliant plan to build awareness of the food desert problem in the country. The plan involved an interactive map, displaying all the Food Deserts in the nation. Certainly the idea was pioneering, finally there existed one geographic targeting source for any agency trying to address Food Access, or related problems, across the country. The only unusual thing is that now only small pockets of food deserts exist in New York City, mostly near parks or industrial zones.

The health and obesity problem is real in N.Y.C. Real enough for the Mayor, and at least one candidate trying to replace him, to both have initiatives trying to address it.

Race also inevitably compounds the issue. Obesity nationwide is significantly more common in communities of color, and a Department of Health study demonstrates that the trend holds true in our city. In NYC, communities of color also tend to be earn the lowest annual incomes.Where you have obesity, and many low income earners, you probably have poor access to food for one reason or another. The most common issue nationally is poor transportation options to get to healthy food sources such as supermarkets.

This is where the USDA's idea lost its relevance to New York City. In their identification, the USDA seems to have relied on the premise that food deserts only exist if you're low income, and live a certain distance from a supermarket.

But "food desert" isn't the accurate description for the problem millions of New Yorkers probably have. What we're in is more so a "food swamp" than it is a "food desert."A food swamp is somewhere with easy access to food, but that access is either overwhelmingly to unhealthy options, or to supermarkets with sub-par quality food.The phenomenon has been studied repeatedly, including by the city's Department of Health. In the DOH study three neighborhoods were examined, two of which were in Harlem: East Harlem, Central Harlem, and the third was the Upper East Side. Both East and Central Harlem are poorer communities, with residents mostly of color. They also have a total average obesity rate of 29%, significantly above the city's 22% average.

What the DOH found may be unsurprising to residents, but probably a shock to the USDA researchers. First, both East and Central Harlem had more bodegas and less supermarkets than the Upper East Side. Not only that, bodegas carrying healthy foods were less likely to exist in East and Central Harlem, despite bodegas being more common in those neighborhoods. Finally, although restaurants existed in all three neighborhoods, fast food was far more common in East and Central Harlem than in the Upper East Side.Poor people, many of whom are obese, living within close proximity to unhealthy, relatively cheap food options that outnumber healthier options: what the DOH had investigated, and essentially defined, was a "Food Swamp." And although slightly different from a "Food Desert," that difference is what defines whether N.Y.C. is just a hotbed of poor decision making, or an inconvenient trap.

The DOH didn't even get into the meat of supermarket food quality. Further investigation would have probably found significant differences in the healthy options available, and the quality of packaging and storage of food between supermarkets in low vs. high income neighborhoods.An apple from C-Town is not the same as an apple from Trader Joe's.A similar study confirmed the DOH's findings. Food swamps were significantly more common in Black and Latino neighborhoods across the city.

Some have argued that food deserts aren't a problem in the city. To their credit, they've based a large part of their opinion on the USDA's map, and anecdotal evidence without the appropriate context. When you understand what a "food swamp" is, you can no longer ask people if they have access to produce. You need to ask them, as a person working or often looking for work, which is more convenient for your lifestyle: fast food or raw produce? Which is easier for you to access and consume during a normal day?

As minorities, especially Latinos, become a growing future majority in the city, we need to ask these same questions of people's children. I wouldn't be surprised to see a negative correlation between age and fast food consumption, especially as more minorities are forced to populate food swamps due to socioeconomic barriers to residing in other neighborhoods.

Vegan Foods - Do Not Miss Out On These

Vegan Foods - Do Not Miss Out On These

When I first started trying out the vegan diet, I would only stick to the same foods I was familiar with, without knowing that I was limiting myself to the huge possibilities you can get from experimenting with so many different classes of vegan foods.

Remember that there is a huge spectrum of vegetables, nuts, oils, beans, wheats and fruits that you haven't tried so always keep an open mind when you are at the market to try new things. Also remember that each vegetable or fruit has its own unique amazing properties, so if you want to get all the nutrients each vegan food offers, you need to try them all.

Here are some of the new discoveries I have made that have change my vegan lifestyle when I put them into my diet.

Lucuma - This fruit is native to the cool highlands of Peru. It has great nutritional values and It was considered by the Incas as the "great fruit" or "Gold of the Incas". If you are interested in trying out this fruit, luckily for us it's becoming more popular and you can find them in Hispanic markets. Now I still haven't found the actual fruit but I have found the frozen pulp, which makes an awesome smoothie when use with soy milk.

Camu Camu - Another fruit from the amazon rainforest, this fruit is gaining more popularity for having the highest concentration of vitamin C in a fruit. This fruit is actually very famous in Japan for its powerful anti-depressant quality. This fruit is getting more exposure in the markets but right now I have only found this in juice or as a supplement.

Flax Seed Oil - This oil is a must for your diet. Flax seed oil has one of the greatest concentrations of omega 3 essential fatty acids which are essential for a good health. Try this on your salads to add a unique flavour.

Like these, there are still hundreds of new vegan foods you need to try. Just keep an eye open for new veggies, fruits and nuts next time you go to the market. You will be amazed at how your vegan recipes are going to expand, so you won't have to eat the same thing over and over.