The Raw Food Detox Diet

'Gourmet Raw Food' is a great new cuisine consisting of vegetables, fruits, seeds, nuts and sprouts that are prepared in new and interesting ways. These are often healthier, more delicious versions of cooked dishes that you are probably familiar with, and their texture, flavor and heartiness is quite surprising.

Reportedly, the risks of such issues as heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and others can be reduced, and in some cases reversed, just by omitting processed grains and sugars, animal-based foods, and most of the trans-fatty acids from the diet. The body can do amazing things when your internal environment is not laden with toxicity.

Though many people turn to a raw food diet rather than some of the other weightloss programs in order to lose weight, there are many others with normal weight who follow the diet because it is a more natural and healthy way to eat. There are people who consider cooked food to be unnatural.

But, whatever your beliefs are about a diet of raw foods, following a cleansing diet such as the raw food detox diet is almost certain to alleviate symptoms you may have such as mood swings, insomnia, indigestion, sugar cravings, fatigue, and problems losing weight, among others. Eliminating toxins by detoxification purifies the whole body, and the liver in particular, which is the body's filter.


Raw foodists claim that not only is a raw food diet extremely nutrient dense - affording you many times the nutrients you get from heated foods where most of the nutrients are destroyed - but that raw food contains no toxins.

As with many other diets out there, the raw food diet has many variations, depending on who you talk to. But for the most part, raw foodists seem to agree that heating any food above 118 degrees significantly reduces the nutrients in the food.

What Foods Are NOT Raw?

Determining the difference between foods that are eaten cold, and raw food, can be confusing to some people, so here is a run down of foods that are NOT raw:

• Bread or any other food that has been cooked before you bought it.
  
• Any food that has been pasteurized (including all dairy products unless marked raw or unpasteurized, all fruit juices unless freshly squeezed from the fruit, and almonds from California).
  
• Nuts that have been heated to extract them from the shell, even if marked raw (macadamia, brazil, cashew). Nuts in shells are usually raw, as are out-of-shell unroasted filberts (hazelnuts), peanuts, pine seeds and non-Californian almonds.
  
• Sugar, molasses, maple syrup, most commercial brands of honey.
  
• Oils, unless marked extra virgin.
  
• Nut butters and tahini, except from a specialist raw food supplier.
  
• Almost all canned and processed foods.
  
• Dried foods are raw only if they are dried at temperatures below 115 degrees Fahrenheit (46 degrees Celsius).
  

Some raw foodists eat foods that have been frozen, if safe, but others do not - citing that freezing breaks down the food in much the same way as cooking. Defrosted frozen fruit usually looks and tastes more like cooked than raw fruit.

Why Does A Raw Food Diet Work?

Most forms of a raw food diet are very high in fiber which leaves you feeling full with fewer calories, and as a result you will lose weight just from the calorie reduction. However, this may not be the case if you include a lot of high fat raw food in your diet such as nuts, seeds, avocados and coconut. If, after trying raw food you find that you are not losing weight, try reducing your consumption to 2 ounces (50 g) of nuts or seeds, or 1/2 an avocado per day.

Though the raw food community will argue that cooked food is unnatural and is harder on the body, causing weight gain and disease, whether you will actually lose more weight eating raw food than you would if you ate the same food cooked, is not known.

Negatives Of Raw Food Diet Explained

There are plenty of negatives with this diet. Nevertheless, people attribute some amazing health benefits to it including weight loss and overcoming depression and chronic fatigue, among other things.

• The raw foods diet is notoriously difficult to follow 100% on social occasions. And though you can normally ask for salad and fruit in a restaurant, you will likely have to take along your own food when visiting with friends.
  
  
• It can be difficult to meet nutritional requirements on this diet, and you will need to eat a lot of raw green vegetables, which some people may find unpalatable. You can however, blend many of your vegetables with fruit to make green smoothies, rather than trying to eat them all.
  
  
• The vegan diet, whether cooked or raw, requires supplementation of vitamin B12, and it may not be suitable for small children. Some versions of the diet are very high in fat, and this can be a negative factor depending on your medical history.
  
  
• If you have diabetes or problems with candida overgrowth, a high fruit diet may not be a healthy way to lose weight. A combination of high fruit and high fat is definitely to be avoided if you suffer from either of these medical conditions.
  
  
• Some foods, including kidney beans and their sprouts, and unpeeled potatoes are actually dangerous if eaten raw. Other foods, such as raw meat, can be deadly if it is contaminated, and unpasteurized dairy products could cause food poisoning and should not be eaten by pregnant women or anyone who is at risk.
  

Some vegetables contain natural pesticides which may be dangerous in high doses, but are destroyed or altered by cooking. The brassica family of vegetables including broccoli, cabbage, etc., falls into this category. However some people are big fans of raw broccoli, including it in their raw food diet because the natural pesticide in broccoli has been shown to protect against cancer in many research studies.

Whatever your medical history, it's always a good idea to talk with your doctor before embarking on any diet, including a raw food diet. Please visit our sister site - Carolina Health Notes - for more great weight loss tips.