What is a Raw Foodists: Am I Missing Anything Important for My Health?

What is a raw foodist?
A raw foodist is a person who eats 80% or more of their food raw. Most raw foodists do not eat raw animal-based foods because of the possibility of poisoning by harmful bacterial and bacterial toxins¹. Therefore, this article focuses upon the vegan (plant-based diet) raw foodist.

Why do they eat raw food?
Raw foods are packed with enzymes, which are special types of proteins that break down the foods we eat into molecules that our bodies are able to absorb, and thus sustain life^2,3,4. This process is called digestion. Therefore, without enzymes, we would die. Further, these enzymes are very temperature-sensitive, and thus are destroyed in foods that are cooked, canned, or dried above 106 degrees Fahrenheit⁴. Most commercial drying occurs above 130 degrees Fahrenheit, which destroys enzymes. Freezing destroys many food enzymes, but not all. The enzymes in seeds and nuts tend to be more resistant to freezing, as evidenced by the fact that a seed can remain frozen in the Winter and sprout in the Spring.

If cooked food has no enzymes, how do we survive on it?
According to the Merck Manual of Medical Information, our liver and pancreas are capable of producing enzymes that break down enzyme-depleted (cooked) foods into substances and particles that make it possible for us to absorb nutrients. This process is not 100% efficient, as evidenced by the sales of medications for heartburn and other symptoms of indigestion. To make things worse, as we age, this process becomes even less efficient, preventing us from absorbing as many nutrients from enzyme-depleted foods (cooked, canned, dried, some frozen) as we did when we were young^4,5. Lack of absorption of food nutrients leads to malnutrition. Insufficient nutrition, in turn, leads to a weakened immune system, chonic illnesses such as cancer and other maladies, and thus premature aging⁶. When our immune system is weakened, we are prone to malignancies and a many other afflictions, according to WellBeyond100.com/cancer.aspx.

Even our skin and the collagen structure beneath it requires nourishment every day⁶. Otherwise, our skin begins to age, which causes the skin to wrinkle and lose its elasticity, and thus sag from inadequate supporting collagen structure⁶. This makes people look much older than someone who has had good nutrition. Eating raw, enzyme-rich fruits and vegetables facilitates superior apsorption of nutrients from food^1,3,4.

What happens if our food is not digested completely?
If we were unable to digest any foods at all, we would die. As mentioned above, the human body's digestion process is not 100% efficient; thus, we do not digest 100% of everything we eat. Some undigested and partially-digested foods are eliminated from the body as waste, but other incompletely-digested particles do not. And if these particles contain animal-based proteins, then this introduces a whole set of serious ailments for many⁷. The reason being that many people have a "leaky gut," according to Dr. John McDougall and many other scientific and medical professionals. This means that the undigested animal-based protein leaks out through a semi-permeable intestinal wall and into the blood stream, per Dr. McDougall. Once this happens, the undigested protein is seen by our immune system as a "foreign protein" which it attacks, causing malignancies and chronic conditions such as lupus, arthritis, diabetes, arteritis, pernicious anemia, MS, myasthenia gravis, Graves', Hashimoto disease, and the list goes on, according to Dr. Colin Campbell in his collection of decades of USDA studies and research regarding worldwide nutrition in his book "The China Study." According to Drs. McDougall and Campbell, this "foreign protein" condition does not occur with plant-based proteins, only animal-based proteins.

This information allows us to realize that raw foodists eat enzyme-rich plant-based foods (raw vegetables, fruit, nuts, and seeds) in order to greatly enhance digestion, which strengthens the immune system against cancer, arthritis, and a host of other conditions, and also helps to slow down the aging process by supplying the body with abundant nutrients^3,4.

What else do enzymes do?
Our bodies use enzymes for numerous critical functions, including cell division, energy, oxygen and CO₂ transfer, digestion, regulating hormone production, and many other vital roles, according to Taber's Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary and Dr. Yoshihide Hagiwara, founder of YH International which provides enzyme-based products worldwide. Thus, in addition to the impaired immune system and premature aging (including gray hair) mentioned above, an insufficient level of enzymes also causes a decrease in hormone production, which affects the entire body, opening us up to a host of new ailments⁸.

Therefore, one can recapitulate the above information to state that as we age, our bodies produce fewer enzymes for the digestion of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats, bringing on the ravages of old age and chronic illnesses. Eating an enzyme-rich diet of raw fruits and vegetables helps the aging liver and pancrease by facilitating digestion and thus enhancing absorption of nutrients in the food^3,4.

This is why people who eat an abundance of assorted raw vegetables and fruits have incredible immune systems and look so much younger than the rest of us⁹.

An enzyme-rich diet
Summarizing the above information, it is safe to conclude that plant-based raw foodists consume much higher levels of enzymes in the foods they eat, and thus, have more efficient digestion, resulting in a higher level of nutrition. This provides them with a superior immune systems and slower aging than the average population. Being a raw foodist is simply a lifestyle for many-a way of life that the raw foodist believes is healthier, leading to far greater quality of life and longevity than that of the average population.

References:

1. "Intern. Journal of Food Microbiology" (Dec 1995; 28 (2): 129-44. PMID 8750662); Granum, Tomas, Alouf
2. Encyclopedia Brittanica
3. Hippocrates Institute of Health
4. "Enzyme Therapy" by Ronald Kennedy, M.D.: http://www.medical-library.net/content/view/47/41/
5. "American Journal of Medical Genetics":6/29/04 (10.1002/ajmg.a.30213) by Au, Ma, Lam, Chan, Pang, and Kwong
6. "Contemporary Issues in Clinical Nutrition and Skin" by Daphne A. Roe, ed.; New York: Liss, 1986
7. "The China Study" by Dr. Colin Campbell, USDA nutrition scientist
8. "Merck Manual of Medical Information", Home Edition, published by Merck Research Laboratories
9. "Food & Nutrition Choices for a Healthier Future: Physical Activity & Aging," by Florida International University, published by the National Resource Center on Nutrition