How Does The Raw Food Diet Work?

COOKING UP CLAIMS? You’d think a diet that’s so difficult to follow 24/7 would lose steam pretty quickly, but the raw-food fad just won’t die. The typical raw-food diet centre  around veggies, fruits, nuts, and seeds  either uncooked or cooked at very low levels of heat to supposedly preserve nutrients and enzymes. Sounds healthy, but the truth is, “it’s important to have a blend of cooked and raw foods in our diets,” says Roger A. Clemens, PHD, raw-foods diet expert for the Institute of Food Technologists. Heating food does damage some nutrients, Clemens explains, “but in some cases, cooking makes nutrients more available.” And while raw fruits and vegetables provide much-needed fiber, cooking makes some foods easier to digest. Speaking of which, proponents of raw-food diets say that cooking destroys enzymes in the food that aid digestion. But last time we checked, the human digestive system contains enzymes that are more than capable of doing the job. That said, most of us could use more fresh food on our tables. It wouldn’t hurt to experiment with raw-food recipes once in a while. You might end up with some creative ways to work fruits and vegetables into your diet.

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