What’s So Great About Raw Food

The raw food “movement” is in full swing it seems, with dedicated restaurants popping up and everyone from trainers to nutritionist and my personal television Dr. and yours, Dr. Oz, extoling the virtues of ditching the stove and embracing the crunch. I spoke with Chelsea Clark, owner of Rawlicious in Toronto and Guelph, Ontario to get the scoop on why this approach is more than a passing fad.

SPC: What are the general benefits of a raw food diet?

Chelsea Clark: The benefits of raw food include greater energy, more positive outlook and happier mood, weight loss, clear mind and ability to focus, healthy skin & nails and so on. It also reverses many illnesses like type one diabetes, digestive issues, etc.

SPC: So what do raw foodies eat?

CC: The raw food diet consists of fruits, vegetables, nuts & seeds. While some people eat raw meat or dairy, this is not a common branch of the raw food lifestyle population. The food can be prepared in any way so long as it never reaches above 118F.

SPC: Do you recommend a 100% raw food diet?

CC: In an ideal world, everyone should eat 100% raw. However, it is extremely difficult to do this with the way our society is at this time. Socially it is very hard and practically it is almost impossible as there are so few places where you can eat raw while on the road. There are many opinions about whether 100%, even if possible, is a good thing but in general the more raw you eat the better you feel. That should be the way people think of this lifestyle.

SPC: Doesn’t the body better absorb some nutrients when they are cooked? (cooked tomatoes come to mind)

CC: I’m not sure there is ever a way to truly know if some nutrients are better when cooked…even if the latest study claims it to be, the technology might not be advanced enough to determine something like this. It doesn’t make sense that something requires protein denaturation and cell rupture in order to benefit us, but that’s just my opinion. If you do eat a raw food diet however, the risk of not absorbing some of the nutrients in a certain ingredient because it isn’t cooked are far, far outweighed by the positive influence the diet has on one.

SPC: What would you recommend to someone who would like to get the biggest benefits of a raw food diet but can’t quite commit to it 100%?

CC: I would recommend people to eat two of three meals each day raw – breakfast & lunch. If you can only eat raw items up until dinnertime, you are doing an amazing thing for your body and would be eating healthier than 99% of the population. By doing so, you automatically begin to crave living foods and by choice swap out some dinners for raw food meals to continue feeling as good as you have been.

Check out www.rawlicious.com