Cooked vs. Raw Foods

Cooked vs. Raw: The Battle Begins!

 Eating Raw: What Does It Mean?

The issue of cooked food has been a point of contention for many years. Everyone has a different opinion as to whether cooked food is nutritious or merely dead food. Since man has been on two legs, he has obviously survived on raw growing food, but he has also used fire to cook certain foods. The debate rages on about whether or not humans should only eat raw food, or should we eat certain types of meat. Then there is the question of dairy and no one can seem to agree on what is true and valid. Even scientists battle with one another about this topic.  Getting real answers is tough these days because while our food supply is in peril, big business wants to keep selling you garbage to eat so they can make a profit.

Excited About Going Raw? Great! Take it Slow

Let’s be realistic for a moment. Not everyone is able to change to an all raw diet, especially not overnight. Our goal here at Raw Food Guru is to help you make slight changes by incorporating more raw food, and substituting out some of the cooked food you can part with. Going raw can be very good for you, but it must be attempted carefully. We don’t recommend anyone jump into an all raw diet, especially without preparation beforehand. The goal is to reduce your cooked food intake, not to stop it cold turkey. That can be very damaging to your health, as well.

The Technology Age and Food

Now that we live in the technology age, humans have grown fatter, weaker and lazier than ever before. They have grown sedentary and slower-minded, waistlines have nearly tripled over the past 30 years, and child obesity is OFF THE CHARTS, WHICH IS TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE.  Too much cooked food, especially the fake processed brand of garbage being forced upon us, blocks your body’s arteries, slows down the thyroid, screws up your circulatory system, attacks your immunity and all sorts of other terrible things. Today’s bad junk foods even slow down the brain!  It’s been proven.

Did You Know?  You could eat four or five big meals a day, and yet your body can still be “starved” for nutrition.  It’s true. All of that cooked food is missing the important enzymes and nutrients necessary for a body to thrive, which only raw food can offer.  Incorporating raw food to eat is essential for our bodies. Think of raw fruits and vegetables as nature’s internal broom! The raw food you eat helps clean everything out and offer nutrition in the process.

As a rule, some foods can still have a bit of nourishment if lightly cooked and prepared, but raw food carries within it true nutrition.  But, let’s be honest… living on solely raw food diet is incredibly difficult and takes time to master. The first step we recommend for our viewers and clients is to set realistic goals, so it would be much easier to shoot for a balance of 50% raw food, 50% cooked food. It’s not as hard as you might imagine. Once you tackle that, you can become even better at it.  Many of us here at Raw Food Guru are around the 80% raw, 20% cooked range. Some people claim they have problems eating raw food due to certain health issues they may have, but many of those issues are due to a lack of education, eating foods that are wrong for us, and understanding “how” to eat raw is the key.  All of this is discussed throughout this website, so stay tuned!

Cooked vs. Raw – There Will Be Trade-Offs

While cooking food can deplete nutrition it can also remove some of the toxins contained in certain food. In some cases, cooking certain vegetables can actually enhance some of the nutrition. For example, asparagus is not something easily digestible raw.  Steaming can, much like making tea, can release the vitamins and nutrients that can make it better for you.  What we will tell you is there is also tremendous debates about these things. Some people completely disagree and will eat or juice asparagus raw. You will want to be the judge for yourself in the end. Just make sure you know what you’re buying.  Be selective!  Your local grocer can be of valuable assistance in this matter.  

Cooked Food Killers

The absolute WORST thing you can eat is heavy fried food. What those overcooked, saturated oils do to a body is utterly disgusting!  We talk about all of these details throughout this website, but suffice it to say, it’s not good for you, especially if you eat it regularly. Heavy fried food is a true recipe for disaster.

The second worse thing you can eat are the junky processed junk desserts, pre-packaged snacks, cakes, sugar coated candies, you get the idea. Mixing sugar with cooked or fried oils on a regular basis is a nightmare waiting to happen inside your body.  Today, many of these junk foods don’t even use real sugar any longer, substituting GMO high-fructose corn syrup, which is even more terrible for you.

GMO, Chemical Spraying & Bad Crops – A Raw Reality Check

If you are new to (or inexperienced in) buying raw fruits and vegetables, the importance is to learn how to pick the good food from the bad.  You might be aware that chemical spraying has made the skins of certain fruit and vegetable potentially toxic. Scrubbing them clean does not necessary remove all of the chemical toxins, so you know where the food comes from, it’s just better to remove the skins. 

For example, carrots are very hard to keep free of pests, so even organics must be chemically sprayed in commercial non-organic farms.  The spraying can make the skins toxic. In the old days, the skins were full of nutrients, but now chemical spraying has created a problem, so it’s better to remove them in most cases.  There are all sorts of “good and bad” food lists available, which can keep you apprised of current crop issues.

Twenty or thirty years ago no one worried about these issues. Food was safer because the commercial farming wasn’t as controlled by big business  Today, this is not the case. The food is not as good as it used to be, but that doesn’t mean everything is all bad! There are still plenty of locally grown farms organic farms, and farm delivery services that can be of great help.

Did you know?  Organic produce is still subject to chemical spraying just like regular mainstream produce, and what’s worse is the majority of people have no idea what “organic” really means. So make sure to research what you buy and where it comes from before buying it.

The Power of Raw Food Juicing

We talk about this in greater detail on our juicing pages, but we will touch on it here. One of the best way to take in beneficial enzymes and great nutrition is through juicing.

• Fruit juices act as cleansers for the body.  Fruit juices can aid in detoxing, regulating and balancing the body.
• Vegetable juices are the builders and regenerators of the body. They contain all the amino acids, minerals, salts, enzymes, and vitamins a body needs.
  

The juices extracted from the raw food helps furnish your body’s cells with all the beneficial elements they need, in the easiest, most digestible way possible. The key is to ensure that all fruit and produce is fresh, raw, organic, and without preservatives.  There are all sorts of juicers on the market ranging in prices as low as $50 and as high as $1000 for a high-end juicer/extractor.  The more elaborate the juicer, the better job it does juicing. (Read more about juicing foods.)

Juicing is great to add to nearly any diet. It is a great way to add instant nutrition to your body, and its great for fighting nearly anything that ails you!

NOTE: As with any new diet or food regime, if you are seriously considering an all raw food diet, consult your physician or health care professional before committing to it.

There is not a drug in the world that can supply your blood stream with the regenerative, healing properties like raw food. When given a chance it can save your life!

Up Next  ➡ GMO vs. Non-GMO Organic