The Raw Food Diet — Fact or Fiction?

June 25th, 2010 | Posted in Diet tips | No Comments » | Share this article

Diet fads come and go with Atkins dominating the weight-loss world one year and the South Beach the next, but has the raw food diet got what it takes to stand the distance? Is there really something to eating your food raw that will benefit your body?

Here comes the sceince: It’s a simple fact that when we cook food it loses vital nutrients so if we avoid cooking it; we keep the nutrients and thus raw food will always be better for us.

Carol Alt – Former super model, raw food enthusiast

Carol is in her late 40s but if the name is not familiar to you then Google her and you will find a supreme example of a raw foodist at her very best! Her skin is naturally flawless, no wrinkles or blemishes in sight, not an ounce of flabby skin and she claims she feels better than what she did in her mid-20s.

Why go raw…

In her 30s, Carol was gracing catwalks around the world but her hectic lifestyle left her drained and tired and she constantly battled sleeping problems and headaches. She began to lose jobs as her appearance faltered, which led her to try the raw food diet.

Two books and 13 years later, Carol looks 20 years younger than her age and is au naturel as she has avoided any surgery or cosmetic enhancements simply through living on a strict raw food diet. Want to look like a super model without starving yourself (yes really) or going under the knife? Then you may want to take a look at what the raw food diet is all about…

What does it involve?

This is the tricky part, and how extreme you want to take it is up to you! Most foods are simple to consume raw; fruit, vegetables and er, meat? This is where many raw food dieters struggle as the very idea of eating raw meat is enough to put them off the diet altogether!

If you want to try the raw food route but don’t want to go as far as consuming your meat like a wild cat then this is a diet that you can benefit from simply by conforming to just part of it. Don’t cook your vegetables and avoid dairy that has been pasteurized and try lightly cooking your meats rather than cremating them beyond all recognition.

So, what would I eat?

Raw foodists eat their meat uncooked, their vegetables fresh from the garden and their dairy products unpasteurized to avoid losing the healthy enzymes that are lost during the cooking process.

Take a dip in Carol’s fountain of youth and see how much better it makes you feel and look!