Raw Foods

“Raw” mostly applies to fruits and vegetables, which are most healthy in their uncooked state.

Milk and cheeses are pasteurized, which is the process of heating it just a little to kill off organisms and pathogens..so, technically, dairy is not raw.

You can live without meats and dairy (vegans do it very well), but you have to ensure that you’re consuming all your necessary vitamins and minerals through other food sources.

raw and undercooked foods can carry foodborne illnesses, such as salmonella, and many others

The theory behind raw food diets is that heating food destroys enzymes and nutrients.

Most raw food followers are vegans but I’ve heard of people who ate fish and beef on raw food diets. Many kinds of fish can be eaten raw (most sushi has raw fish). Beef can also be eaten raw. Raw beef from healthy cattle is pretty safe; we cook beef as a precaution. Of course pork and chicken always must be cooked before eating. Raw milk from healthy cows is also safe. I once vacationed at a working dairy farm and all the milk and cream they served was raw and all of the butter they served was hand churned from raw cream. Buying and selling raw milk is illegal in most of the US but there are sometimes ways around this law (coops, buying a “share” of of a dairy cow so you are entitled to some of its milk etc.)

We really don’t need meats, eggs, or dairy. There are lots of people who do just fine without any of these foods.

I’m a vegetarian but I love potatoes and grains which are not practical to eat without cooking. I do think that most of us would be better off eating more raw foods but I’m certainly not prepared to go to as extreme a lifestyle as eating only raw foods.

One of the most promising areas of research in raw food diets is cancer. There have been a few studies where adopting a raw diet greatly helped cancer patients. If I was in the situation where I was battling a life threatening form of cancer I would certainly consider this as a treatment.