Raw food diet: benefit or harm?
For those who are not in the know, the term raw food does not mean eating cheese at all. This is a food system in which heat treatment of food is excluded, and everything that is eaten is eaten raw. A raw food diet may or may not include animal products. In the second case, such a food system is called a vegan raw food diet. There is an even tougher option, a monotrophic raw vegan diet. In this case, only one product is used per meal. Perhaps, as much as there is controversy about vegetarianism, they are just as much about the raw food diet. What does this system give? Is a raw food diet harmful to the body or a return to the very specific and only proper diet that raw foodists talk about?
You need to start with the fact that thermal processing of food increases its absorption by the body. Cooked food is easier to digest and assimilate than raw food. In addition, there are foods that, when raw, can simply harm the body. This includes almost all meat, including fish, as well as some types of plants: legumes, nightshades, etc. Why is meat unhealthy to eat raw? For the reason that the risk of contracting parasites is almost 100%, and therefore the appearance of helminthiasis in adherents of such a diet is only a matter of time. It is a mistake to think that if you carefully examined a piece of meat and did not find anything suspicious there, then it is not infected. Neither the eggs of the worm, nor some types of parasites (lamblia, for example) can be detected with the naked eye. Therefore, the harm of a raw food diet in its usual form is not even discussed,and outweighs all the benefits that may be there.
Now let's take a look at the raw vegan diet. Since the elimination of heat treatment significantly reduces the list of vegetarian foods, the main problem with a raw vegan diet is the lack of vital nutrients. Vegan raw foodists lack essential amino acids, which, although they are found in plants, are extremely insignificant and unable to meet the needs of the body. The greatest harm to a raw food diet in this case is that B12-deficiency anemia develops over time. Unfortunately, you can only replenish the supply of necessary substances by balancing your diet, because even taking vitamin B12 in the form of a drug cannot completely eliminate the problem. A monotrophic raw food diet is even less balanced and has the same contraindications as any extreme diet.
Does the harm of a raw food diet mean that this system should be completely eliminated? No, oddly enough. A raw vegan diet when fruits and vegetables are abundant (late summer and early fall) is a great way to cleanse your body of toxins. One to two weeks of a diet composed exclusively of fresh vegetables and fruits is an opportunity to lose weight by 5-6 kg, tighten the skin and improve the digestive tract. Naturally, this method is only suitable for healthy people.
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