About Raw

In answer to Laura's question, let me give you the skinny on Raw Foodism. (If you do a Google search, you'll find more than you'll have time to read.) The theory behind raw foodism is that foods that are uncooked are healthier for us because of the enzymes found in them. These enzymes do all sorts of repair and maintenance work on our bodies that cooked food simply does not have the power to do. Apparently, our bodies are designed with a certain number of enzymes that help us break down cooked food, but I heard somewhere that by the age of 35 or 40, 75% of those enzymes have been used up by our bodies. That means we borrow enzymes from other metabolic processes in our bodies in order to digest our cooked food, or our pancreases work harder to produce enzymes to break down the food. When we get to this stage, other metabolic processes begin to suffer: think about breathing, organ maintenance and repair. Stuff like that. Some believe many diseases in our country are due to eating enzyme-deficient cooked food. By the way, enzymes are killed off at temperatures around 118 degrees, and some by temperatures as low as 105 degrees. This is why a lot of food can be warmed or "cooked" in a temperature-controlled food dehydrator and one can still benefit.

There's also a difference, apparently, between "raw" and "living" foods. Living foods would be things like sprouted seeds and nuts are actually in the process of growing. I"m not sure what the science is to show that these are more healthy than simply "raw" foods, but many raw foodists pledge allegiance to living things. In fact, simply soaking raw oat groats overnight will activate enzymes inside and make them more nutritious.

So by eating lots of raw food, not only does one avoid the damage done by eating lots of cooked food, but raw food helps to heal and restore organs and other places in the body that have been hurt by a diet of cooked food.