What is the philosophy behind a raw food diet?

There are a lot of theories on why the raw food diet is best. A few people mentioned enzymes and that’s the argument you hear the most from raw foodists. The enzyme theory may be completely valid, but I don’t usually use that as an argument in favor of the raw food diet because I haven’t seen any research done on the subject. The theory is that your body has to work so much harder when you cook the foods because you have to rely completely on your body’s own enzymes instead of the food’s enzymes. Over time, this supposedly wears down your body. This is one article that gives an indepth discussion of enzymes:http://www.living-foods.com/articles/rawvscooked.html

Another reason why it is a good diet is that it is very alkaline in nature. Your body works more efficiently at a more alkaline pH. Most cooked foods and especially meats, soda, dairy and other processed foods are very acidic. There are some people who only promote the alkaline diet without the emphasis on raw, but to do the alkaline diet, you have to eat a good amount of raw vegan food to maintain the alkaline pH in your diet. There is a lot of science behind this and this is a good reason to follow the raw food diet.

When you cook foods, you produce carcinogens. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/07/020726081009.htm

Meats and dairy are associated with all kinds of health problems. Obviously there are many people who eat a cooked vegan diet, but this is another reason http://www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo/dairy.html

It’s also gluten free for the most part. There are some who eat things like sprouted wheat and oats, but for the most part it’s gluten free. About 1 in 10 people have issues with gluten and about 99% don’t know it. For this reason, I always recommend that people go gluten free before going raw. It’s easier on your body and psychologically if you go raw in stages. You can also see what health problems are related to what food items if you go in stages. I suggest going gluten free, then dairy free, then meat free, then no processed foods, then make the transition to raw. That way, if you decide not to stick with it you will know how you react to all the different foods and you will know not to eat thinks like sprouted wheat if you have a reaction to gluten.

This is the way that our evolutionary ancestors would have eaten. We would have evolved to eat like this. Every other animal on the planet eats their food raw, why is it necessary for us to cook? We would have started out our existence on the planet eating raw foods. Often people will give the fact that animals themselves eat animals as a reason why humans should. But there is a big difference. A lion in the wild eats a zebra without cooking it and he eats it right there after it’s been killed. It’s a very healthy way for the lion to eat. We don’t eat our meat either fresh or raw. It’s been sitting at the grocery store for awhile and is teaming with bacteria. Then to overcome it, we cook it to kill the bacteria. The cooking process makes the meat acidic and full of carcinogens. Also, if you look at our closest living relatives, they eat a 100% raw, mostly vegan diet, with the addition of insects and the occasional hunted meat. I think the earliest humans probably ate insects as well, and they are very healthy and eaten across the world. But personally I don’t think I could eat a bug, but I’m just saying

There is a lot of anecdotal evidence that the diet provides fantastic health. Anecdotal evidence, if you didn’t know, is just many people claiming that the diet worked for them. There is some scientific evidence, although unfortunately, there haven’t been that many studies done. People have suffered from debilitating illnesses and been miraculously healed on the raw food diet. It’s the first diet that I personally have been on that I have ever had control over my appetite, been satisfied by food, and lost weight without much effort. You also need less sleep and have more energy.

Basically, I’m just healthier than I’ve ever been on the diet and I’ve never met a raw foodist who said that they still had health issues. Let me know if you have any questions!