Raw food diet

Raw food diet, Raw Food, Raw foodism, or also known as Rawism

What will you learn?

Let’s look at raw food objectively – which of the claims of its supporters make sense and which of them are not only wrong, but even dangerous.

Why it is popular, what risks it hides and whether it can be combined with physical activity – this and other interesting information you will find in the following lines.

What is raw food

The raw food movement originated in the early 19th century . According to him, the definition of “raw food” is that food which is not cooked and which is not heated to a temperature higher than 40-48  It is believed that in this way the best preservation of nutrients and enzymes, the food is taken in its most natural form.

Usually raw food includes fresh vegetables and fruits, nuts, seeds and soaked or sprouted cereals and legumes, ie. plant-based nutrition (veganism).

However, there are different types of raw food, some of which include the consumption of dairy products and raw fish and meat.

Why raw food is popular

There are two main reasons why proponents of raw food are spreading it worldwide: They believe that this way of eating is “natural” for man and reproduces the way we would eat if the sectors of agriculture, animal husbandry and processed food did not exist; Raw food practitioners claim that health improves and a clearer mind, cleaner skin, better sleep, loss of excess fat and more are observed.

Raw food – pros and cons

Raw food has both supporters and opponents, and there are various allegations surrounding the subject. Let’s look at them objectively.

There are several data that refute this claim. One study  found that heat treatment reduced sensitivity to bovine serum albumin, but did not eliminate the reaction to albumin when treated at home. However, heat-treated and industrially sterilized beef and frozen beef may be suitable substitutes in the diets of children allergic to beef.

Another examined 12 children aged 12 months – 4.33 years, suffering from atopic dermatitis, who show clinical allergic reactions to beef. It concludes that the use of proteolytic enzymes and industrially treated meat reduces the allergic potential of meat products. Similar conclusions were reached in the Toxicology Laboratory at the Institute of Pharmacology at the University of Milan, Italy , which conducted a study on 8 children (5 boys and 3 girls) aged 3.8-7.1 years and concluded that the technological processing improves digestibility and reduces the antigenicity of meat products.

It is also worth thinking about the fact that consuming all your food raw is an expensive endeavor in terms of metabolism – you have to chew a lot and the body needs more work to break down food to the main macro nutrients. This way we absorb less energy than raw foods.

A curious fact in support of heat treatment of food:

the protein in raw eggs is digested 40% less than in heat-treated eggs.

For humans and herbivores Many proponents of raw food argue that once grazing animals become large, strong, and healthy by eating 100% plant-based foods, then why should humans make an exception? There are several opposing views on this view.

There is no way people can be compared to ruminants, such as sheep and cows, because of:

Stomach size – it increases when a lot of raw plant foods are consumed and ruminants have multi-chambered stomachs to absorb cellulose. Separately, that their digestive tract contains specific bacteria that help break down and absorb cellulose; Chewing / Experience Time – Precision Nutrition provides a good comparison between chimpanzees in Tanzania and humans. Chimpanzees, which are even smaller in size than some people, spend more than 6 hours chewing! If people lived on the same diet, we could expect to chew our food for about 5 hours a day.

  • Stomach size – it increases when a lot of raw plant foods are consumed and ruminants have multi-chambered stomachs to absorb cellulose. Separately, that their digestive tract contains specific bacteria that help break down and absorb cellulose;

  • Chewing / Experience Time – Precision Nutrition provides a good comparison between chimpanzees in Tanzania and humans. Chimpanzees, which are even smaller in size than some people, spend more than 6 hours chewing! If people lived on the same diet, we could expect to chew our food for about 5 hours a day.

Wild vs cultivated plants

Proponents of raw food speak out against agriculture in its modern form. But in fact, wild plants are often smaller and contain fewer nutrients than their cultivated variants . To be honest, without agriculture, many raw foodists would probably go hungry at certain times of the year.

Cooking food Raw foodists believe that the passage of food through heat treatment spoils its properties, reduces the content of nutrients and moves away from what is “natural” for humans. But cooking is not a modern fad. Go back to when the fire was discovered since the time of Homo erectus and Homo sapiens – the first humanoids to know the art of flames.

Yes, people would probably survive without cooking if they had to, but cooking is a key moment for carnivores – the meat becomes tastier and more valuable, and the human body does not digest and effectively digest high amounts of raw meat (not to mention and the fact that it is dangerous to health, which will be discussed below). Not to be underestimated are the benefits we get from cooking:

  • Better taste and aroma;
  • Delay in product spoilage;
  • In some cases, food becomes more valuable, healthier, safer;
  • Foods that are difficult to chew and digest become more tender;
  • The body can extract more energy;
  • It breaks down starch molecules and makes it easier to digest;
  • Denatures the protein.

In short – cooking helps us in the digestion and processing of food, so the body does less, but gets more out of food.

But! There is one big BUT that is used as an argument by proponents of raw food – unhealthy compounds can be formed when cooking certain foods, under certain conditions. Such compounds are acrylamide, heterocyclic amines and the Mayar reaction. They could be avoided with raw food, but of course – with proper processing of products and knowledge of their properties.

The Mayar reaction characterizes the compounds formed between proteins and carbohydrates when heated to over 145 ° C in the baking method (not observed until steaming and cooking). The reaction is “to blame” for the unique taste of the roasted meat and the crust of the bread, as well as for the typical after processing aromas of hazelnut, honey, butter and caramel.

Its disadvantage is that the line between good and bad is very thin – the ideal temperatures for the reaction are actually enough to burn fat, ignite it and release harmful molecules.

Varieties

As mentioned at the beginning, there are varieties of the classic type of raw food. Raw food can be based entirely on raw food, but some are also allowed to be cooked at a low temperature.

Raw veganism

This type of diet includes unprocessed raw plant foods that have not been heated above 40-49 ℃.

  • Vegetables;
  • Fruits;
  • Nuts and seeds;
  • Sprouts of cereals and legumes.

There are even more extreme variants of raw veganism, divided into subgroups:

  • Frutarians (eat mainly fruits, small fruits, seeds and nuts);
  • People who take their food only in liquid form;
  • Vegans whose diet consists mainly of sprouted seeds.

Raw food, including animal foods

This reading of raw food includes animal foods that could be consumed raw or, if heat-treated, not higher than 40 ℃:

  • Meat;
  • Eggs;
  • Raw dairy products;
  • Mature dairy products;
  • Fermented products such as fish and kefir;
  • Vegetables, fruits, nuts, sprouts and honey are added to them.

This type of raw food carries a very high health risk of infection with pathogenic bacteria and the BB-Team does not recommend experiments, especially without medical supervision.

For whom raw food is Not suitable

There is some evidence to suggest an improvement in health parameters when switching from the modern Western diet to raw food. This is not surprising and is not so much due to raw food as a concept as to the fact that one reduces / eliminates sugar-rich processed foods and begins to consume more vegetables, fruits and, in general, foods with more valuable nutrients.

It is these foods – fruits, vegetables and nuts – it is good to eat raw, and fruits and vegetables to follow the “rule” to be mostly seasonal. However, with other foods, not only is it not good to eat them raw, but this can be dangerous to health, as is the case with eggs and meat. Raw food could be used in obese people, but the duration of the diet should be well judged on an individual basis.

A diet based on 100% raw plant foods can have a good effect on those who have a significant amount of excess fat and are struggling with weight. The reason is that plant foods will take in more volume, but will have a lower caloric density. However, the BB-Team team wants to emphasize that this is a very extreme case. It is not necessary for a person to eat entirely raw food, even in such cases.

It should be borne in mind that weight can be gained through raw food – it depends on what products are consumed and which of them predominate. Nuts, dried fruits, and coconut oil, for example, easily increase calorie intake.

The health considerations that accompany raw food are related to the fact that by adhering to this type of diet, a person may not receive enough important nutrients and energy.

And in this case, it can suppress certain processes in the body, such as hormone production. As for the valuable nutrients and their absorption by the body, it matters what food and in what form it will be consumed. For example, the absorption of some phytochemicals increases with the consumption of a raw food, for example sulforaphane from broccoli / an 8-man study showed that higher levels of sulforaphane were measured in the blood and urine when broccoli was consumed raw – 37 % bioavailability compared to cooked – 3.4% /, but other substances are better absorbed if the food has undergone heat treatment – for example, lycopene from tomatoes and carotenoids in carrots.

Although the levels of antioxidants in the blood of raw foodists are adequate, there have been proven cases of low levels of vitamin B12, HDL (good cholesterol) and bone density in some raw foodists . Raw food would not be suitable for women who have problems with the reproductive system and menstruation, as there is a link between the amount of raw food and partial or complete amenorrhea, as well as for men who have cases with adequate testosterone levels, as raw food can be reflected in changes in hormone levels and in particular – a decrease in testosterone production.

A combination of diet with what type of physical activity would be optimal

Raw food diet is a specific way of eating, and as we have seen – there are a number of serious health disadvantages if raw eggs and / or meat are consumed. Therefore, if we exclude these groups from the notions of raw food and leave mainly fruits, vegetables, nuts, oils, it can be said that raw food is not a suitable diet for professional athletes in the field of strength sports, as well as fitness and bodybuilding. and in particular for athletes who maintain a higher weight and amount of muscle mass.

With a more adequate reading of raw food – part of the food has undergone heat treatment (meat, eggs, fish), and the predominant part of the food is raw in the form of food, nutrition is compatible with strength sports.

Eating raw foods such as vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds is a way to get valuable nutrients. Raw plant foods are delicious, rich in water and low in calories. If we take for example a person who eats mainly processed foods, almost does not consume raw vegetables, and when they are, they are overcooked (long time at high temperature), then he can create a deficiency of valuable nutrients, problems with the digestive tract and, in a hypercaloric diet – obesity. When such a person switches to raw food, quite naturally positive changes occur.

However, eating 100% raw food also has its risks and few people would have the knowledge and skills to do so so that their health is not at risk.

If a person has no religious or other serious reasons to switch to raw food (such as certain health conditions associated with food allergies, intolerances and their manifestations), then a diet that combines both raw food and plant-based nutrition, and cooking would be optimal. If you do decide to experiment with raw food, it’s a good idea to keep a diary and monitor how your body responds to the new diet.

Watch for:

  • How do you feel after a meal that was only with raw food;
  • How do you feel after a meal in which the products have been cooked;
  • How do you feel after a meal where there was both cooked and raw food;
  • Energy levels – do you feel more energy when switching to raw food or not? If there is a decrease, increase caloric intake and watch yourself more;
  • Digestion and whether the work of the digestive system is optimal – do you feel anything anxious / discomfort ?;
  • Sports performance – is there a decline in your strength, endurance and other indicators that you usually monitor.

If you have the opportunity, you can do research at the beginning of the transition to raw food, and then do the control after a few months – a complete blood count, hormones (discuss with your doctor, especially if raw food is caused by a health case affecting the hormonal background).

Sources used :

  1. All About Raw Food, Ryan Andrews, M.S., RD
  2. Heat treatment modifies the allergenicity of beef and bovine serum albumin.
  3. Meat allergy: II–Effects of food processing and enzymatic digestion on the allergenicity of bovine and obive meats 
  4. Effect of technological treatments on digestibility and allergenicity of meat-based baby foods. 
  5. Digestibility of Cooked and Raw Egg Protein in Humans as Assessed by Stable Isotope Techniques

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