Eating Raw “Live” Foods

Editor’s Note: I love this article. We published it a couple of years ago and since Rick is on holidays this month, I decided to run it again. It so reminds me of thirty years ago when I was beset by crippling arthritis and one of the things I adopted was a raw food diet that lasted 14 months. I was rehearsing for a musical production  during a few months of that time and I was worried that without my daily intake of other foods, I might not have the strength needed for the rigorous practice. I had become a vegetarian a few months earlier and that was a real change from my daily intake of at least one steak. But, I needn’t have worried, I found I had more strength and I couldn’t believe the positive results on my body. Within six months, there was no further arthritic pain and now, at 75, I thank God for all those pain free years. I’ve told others with such pain about my experience and they have had some success, perhaps I had more because I was trying other things as well. And I was disciplined all during that period. I am still a vegetarian and still like some raw foods in my diet.

I have watched several excellent movies in the last few months on a variety of health topics.  Some of the titles include: Food Matters, Healing Cancer from Inside Out, Simply Raw – Reversing Diabetes in 30 Days and Raw for Life – The Ultimate Encyclopaedia of the Raw Food Lifestyle. While addressing different health issues, all movies agree that the proper diet can help us to maintain our body’s wellbeing the way that God intended.

What these movies are really preaching is the benefits of eating a raw diet. Now the definition of a raw diet changes from one person to the next, but the common denominator is eating fruits and vegetables in their natural state …. uncooked. It usually includes nuts, seeds, sprouts, fresh herbs and spices, seaweeds and any living plant food deemed beneficial. Some people choose this diet to stay healthy; others resort to it to cure a particular disease. Along with no eating of meat, dairy consumption is also usually eliminated. And sugar and white flours are definitely a no-no.
Proponents of this way of eating claim that raw food is the medicine your body craves.  You are feeding your live body with live foods, which activates the healing process …. healing from the inside out.  This certainly coincides with what Hippocrates proclaimed two and a half thousand years ago …. “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food”.
Brian Clement, founder of the Hippocrates Health Institute, states there are 4 major components in raw living food, which all contribute to the healing and prevention of disease, (1) hormones (2) oxygen (3) phytonutrients and (4) enzymes.

When we heat our foods over 110 to 120 degrees, we destroy most of these 4 components. When food is cooked, it becomes harder to digest, and this causes a variety of negative effects on our system.  Our digestive system has to work overtime, our body becomes stressed, and it is said to even affect our sleep each night …. we are not able to reach that deep state of sleep that we love to awake from. This usually leads to coffee and sugar in the morning for an energy fix …. albeit a false energy.

The movie Simply Raw – Reversing Diabetes in 30 Days must be seen if you are a diabetic, or you know someone that is. One of the biggest causes of diabetes is sugar. Evidence shows that 20 years after sugar is brought into any culture, there is an outbreak of diabetes. The average Canadian/American consumes 150 pounds of sugar per year. This movie begins with a quote from the American Diabetes Association “Diabetes is a chronic disease that has no cure”. The movie chronicles 6 individuals, all diabetics, who volunteered to stay at the Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center in Arizona for 30 days. By changing their diets to raw foods and juices only, they were able to reverse their diabetes …. no more insulin …. no more medication. Raw food creates an anti-aging effect …. Diabetes is an accelerated aging process.

Wouldn’t it be great if our medical doctors believed in and promoted this type of healing! It certainly is the more Christian way of living.  Rather than popping a pill for every ailment, we must realize that our body is a miraculous self-healing, self-repairing machine. If we remove the causes of disease, the body’s natural healing will take over.

Another benefit of the raw diet is it will keep you at your optimal weight …. your body will be able to regulate and balance itself. You will notice an increase in energy and vitality, no more need for those afternoon naps!

One of the more nutritional parts of the raw food diet is eating sprouts. Some sprouts, such as wheat grass, are 30 times more nutritious than any organic vegetable you can eat. During World War 1, the British Army sprouted beans to ward off scurvy in the trenches. And in 1940, the United States Army studied their usability as food during the war. Many people grow their own sprouts. You basically soak the seeds for a day, drain and continue to rinse once or twice a day for 3 or 4 days, allow to dry in sunlight around the 5th day, then enjoy.  If you are new to sprouting, start with any of these, they are all very easy for beginners:  sunflower, almonds, lentil, mung.

If you’re thinking that eating raw foods is boring and nothing but green salads day in and day out, then take a look at some of these (remember they are all raw and un-processed):  cinnamon-banana pancakes, soft corn tortillas, hearty chili, almond milk, apple pie, mango coconut chutney, coconut enchilada wrap, chocolate mousse parfait.

How can a chocolate mousse parfait be good for you?  Well, chocolate is actually one of the healthiest foods you can eat.  In fact, it is sometimes referred to as a superfood, which I wrote an article about in the May, 2010 TKC.  Unfortunately the chocolate that you and I find in the stores today is mostly sugar, along with a host of other harmful ingredients.  Researchers claim raw cacao, from which chocolate is made, contains more antioxidants than any other food. Antioxidants fight cancer, slow down aging and prevent cell damage.  It is rich in minerals, and contains more magnesium than any other food.

For more information on eating raw “live” foods, do a little reading at your local library or bookstore, or search the Internet for some recipes to get you started.
Food really does matter!

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor and I don’t have any medical training. I am just an individual that researches information that other people have studied and proven to be effective, and I just pass that information on to you.