Benefits of the Raw Food Diet

The Raw Food Diet is gaining popularity among dieters. The diet is based in eating only raw foods to decrease body weight and body fat content. Proponents of the raw food diet say that cooking, roasting, poaching, barbecuing, frying, and processing food in general is bad for your health since all these processes causes nutrients to be lost. Thus, eating raw food will get you and your body more nutrients and decrease the chance to have problems with your health.

Let's examine the claimed benefits of a raw food diet:

Benefits of the Raw Food Diet #1: Improvement of the Insulin Response

Patients with diabetes claim that after eating only raw food they could reduce the number of insulin injection needed to carry on their live. There are some cases in which insulin injections were not needed.

Benefits of the Raw Food Diet #2: Body Weight Reduction

Raw food diets claim to lose weight by eating only raw food. They claim that this occurs because the body goes back to an optimal state of food processing. Also, raw food are high in enzymes, which raw food proponents say that are needed for weight loss and body weight regulation.

Benefits of the Raw Food Diet #3 Increased Energy

Perhaps as a consequence of getting more and better nutrition raw food dieters says that after following this regime they feel with levels of energy never seen. Also, it is possible that the detox factor is playing here. As food dieters eats only raw food they decrease their intake of food additives, many of which are toxic in nature, so it is possible that having less toxins increases energy levels of individuals.

Benefits of the Raw Food Diet #4: Better Nutrition

This is one of the major benefits claimed by raw food diet followers. It is based on the observation in nature that animals eat unprocessed food and they are naturally in better shape. Proponents says that eating raw food will get you and your body more nutrients and decrease the chance to have problems with your health.

Benefits of the Raw Food Diet #5: Better Immune System

Proponents of raw food diet say that eating raw food only will increase the amount and type of bacteria in your gut. This will lead to a better and stronger immune system which will, in practical terms, mean better protection against diseases.

These are some of the benefits of a raw food diet. There are many more. There is little scientific evidence of these but proponent of the raw food diet stand behind them

References:

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Eating Raw. (2008). By Mark Reinfeld, Bo Rinaldi, Jennifer Murray. Alpha Books, ISBN 1592577717