Rather than a conventional diet used to shed weight or become healthier, the raw food diet is much more. While it is comprised of these factors, particularly the latter, the raw food diet is a way of life rather than exclusively a diet. The diet is vegan, where the person only eats vegetables, fruits, and other plant-derived foods. The foods can be be dehydrated or heated up to 120 degrees fahrenheit. The followers of the diet believe that foods contain that uncooked foods contain powerful enzymes; these enzymes are the bases of the diet. The raw-followers have strong beliefs that the diet has incredible abilities to help the human body’s functions and prevent diseases (Mark Sherwinsky pers. com., Haupt 2013). Recently, my cousin converted to a raw food diet. Due to his dietary transition, my family and I have been curious about his new dietary choice. I clearly knew I wanted to research the diet my family has been exposed to and so curious about.
Raw foodism, or rawism, is a two-hundred year old practice. Dr. Maximilian Bircher-Benner discovered that his jaundiced had been cured by solely eating raw apples. Once making this discovery he tested health effects on other raw fruits and vegetables. This was the birth of the diet and ever since, it has developed and expanded (Haupt 2013). The belief behind raw foodists, or rawists, is that food in its natural state is filled with incredibly powerful enzymes which allow the body to thrive at peak health. For a food to be considered raw, it must not be processed in any way besides dehydration or heating up to 120 degrees. The fruits and vegetables cannot be boiled, baked, microwaves, genetically modified, or grown in an environment where herbicides or pesticides are used. Due to the lat...
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...ne, it has been shown that rawism can help prevent cancer and other pathogenic diseases. Rawism is able to provide most of the necessary vitamins and minerals to maintain a healthy state. With dedication, rawism has much positive potential to help maintain health in the body, despite the unknowns it possesses (Mark Sherwinsky pers. com., Johnson 2012, Haupt 2013).
Works Cited
Haupt, Angela. 2013. Raw Food Diet. US News Health & Wellness. Retrieved From: http:// health.usnews.com/best-diet/raw-food-diet.
Johnson, Kimball. 2012. Raw Food Diet. WebMD. Retrieved From: http://www.webmd.com/ food-recipes/guide/raw-food-diet.
American Cancer Society. 2012. Gerson Therapy. American Cancer Society. Retrieved From: http://www.cancer.org/treatment/treatmentsandsideeffects/ complementaryandalternativemedicine/dietandnutrition/gerson-therapy.
Chapter one of Catching Fire is an explanation of the Raw-Food diet that has become popular in recent years. The author chooses first to explore the history of raw food, then share with the reader the raw-food experiment
The problematic aspect of processed food is all the added hormones, preservatives, and antibiotics that are injected into the food. Organic foods have none of these additives, and the pure characteristic of organic food is a valuable thing. Pollan (2008) agrees with this when he writes, “instead of worrying about nutrients, we should simply avoid any food that has been processed to such an extent that it is more the product of industry than of nature” (p. 424). I have a medical condition in which I am not supposed to eat any foods that have added preservatives, hormones, or antibiotics. This is because my body is hypersensitive to chemicals and, especially, added hormones. It can easily cause serious health problems. Pollan (2008) also added an opinion made by a food politics and policy lecturer, Gyorgy Scrinis, who believes that, “the most important fact about any food is not its nutrient content but its degree of processing” (p. 423). If everyone would stop their constant consideration in nutrient content and turn their attention to additives; America could become a much healthier
Every popular belief of food and nutrition is carefully analyzed and debunked by Pollan using various examples from cultural habits, basic scientific processes and relevant studies and experiments. The vast amount of information from numerous, and likely fraudulent, sources reflect the message he is trying to convey: that food is naturally too complicated to study and perfect in science. Each chapter flows smoothly into the next topic as explanations become clearer and more in-depth. His knowledge in the topic and history is strongly demonstrated as well, building his credibility with his audience.
According to Michael Pollan, the best way to eat healthily is to grow fresh vegetables. Pollan’s documentary effectively contributes evidence that eating mostly plants is naturally beneficial and prevents disease. In an experiment conducted by Steven O’Keefe, data reveals that colon cancer is more common in the United States than in Africa. The documentary simply states that the people of Africa eat mostly plants. Michael Pollan suggests that the lack of plant foods in the American diet causes a lack of fiber intake. After collecting this data, Steven O’Keefe swaps the diet of an African and American. This study eventually exposed that more vegetables in a diet can support colon health and prevent colon cancer. When stated so logically, Michael Pollan convinces the viewer that eating “mostly plants” is a necessary change for our health. He argues that historically, eating plants have been naturally healthy to various cultures and has potential to raise the well being of America.
Today in the Western Hemisphere, many chronic health problems result from bad eating habits. There are a mix of people who are over-nourished, malnourished, or both. We eat chemically altered, high-fat toxic foods that do not provide a sufficient amount of essential vitamins and minerals to our bodies. Clogging of the eliminative systems with excess mucous is thought to sustain congestive diseases. Ineffective digestion and poor nourishment result in vitamin and mineral deficiencies. A well-balanced diet can overcome this health crisis. A diet of raw foods and fluids helps cleanse the body, and fasting takes the cleansing a step further.
Those who wish to lose weight seem to have a handful of options when it comes to the diet they can try. Each diet has a particular lifestyle it is trying to promote and in order to get the best results one must adhere to it as religiously as possible.
Society has recently become increasingly obsessed with health and nutrition, as more and more individuals realize that they can dramatically change their quality of life by adjusting their diet and lifestyle. One way that people have tried to pursue a healthier lifestyle, is by removing meat and other animal products from their diets, whether they become a strict vegetarian who eats no animal byproducts, or a lacto-ovo vegetarian who still eats eggs and dairy. As with any other lifestyle, research is always being done to see if the benefits outweigh the disadvantages, and so far, the results of vegetarian diets have been encouraging. Vegetarian diets have proven to decrease the risk of heart disease, cancer, obesity, and many other health problems. With a little planning and dedication, a vegetarian diet will be healthier and more beneficial than a traditional diet
The Atkins diet? South-Beach Diet? Jenny Craig? Weight Watchers? But a Raw-food only diet? What the…?! Consuming only raw foods? Not cooking anything? Isn’t that unhealthy? Not according to advocates of this diet. The raw foods diet is among some of the latest fad and celebrity-hyped diets out there today, you can even find some restaurants that only serve raw foods. The name of the raw food diet says it all: You only consume raw, unprocessed foods. Diet devotees claim the diet improves nutrition and health, offers spiritual enlightenment and improves digestion among other things. But can a diet consisting only of raw foods truly live up to its promises and can it be healthy?
American Journal of Food Technology 6.6 (2011): 441-59. Print. The. Gonzalez, Julina. A. Roel. " "The Philosophy of Food," Edited by David M. Kaplan.
In our society, there are a lot of different types of diet. Some of them are not healthy, but some diets bring healthy nutrient to our body in which has helped the metabolism works better in our body. Paleo diet is one of the healthiest diets. This diet is known as cavemen diet because it only suggests eating food which is gathered from nature by hunting. Basically this diet is based on the evolution of human. However, this diet also avoids eating foods that cannot be eaten raw. This is because that most of the food is hunted from animals that are fed by natural food. If you want to avoid any diseases appear, you should cook their food well before eating.
Most Americans do not care enough to take a look at the nutritional values of the food that he or she is consuming. That is why America has the highest percentage of obesity in the world. This is a serious problem because one in every three adults is obese, and one in every six children is obese. There are many factors that go into the regular American diet, but most of those factors are not appealing nor is it healthy. Americans put way too much processed food into their daily diet. Some would say that other countries diets superior the American diet because of nutritional values that it carries. Other countries have proven that an active lifestyle is a huge element in the average weight of the country. There are many things that Americans could change about their diets and lifestyle that would help them to become healthier.
Food has been a common source of necessity in our everyday lives as humans. It helps gives us nutrition and energy to live throughout our life. Over several decades, the development of making foods has evolved. They have changed from natural to processed foods in recent years. Nowadays natural ingredients are barely used in the making of foods like bread, cheese, or yogurt. The food industry today has replaced natural food making with inorganic ingredients. The cause of this switch is due to processed foods being easier, cheaper and faster to make. Artificial nutrition and processed foods have been proven to last longer in market shelves then natural foods. Also, due to artificial additives in processed foods they help satisfy consumers taste more than natural ingredients. The method of producing processed foods is common in today's food industry and helps make money faster and efficiently for companies. Examples of this can be found in all markets that distribute food. Even though processed foods may be easier and faster to make, they are nowhere near as healthy for consumers compared to natural foods. Natural foods are healthier, wholesome, and beneficial to the human body and planet then processed foods.
Food is “composed of synthetic chemical additives, such as colorings, preservatives, sugar substitutes and trans-fats” (Fitzgerald, 2006, p.72). Fitzgerald reported that by the “1970s most meats and dairy products that were factory farmed were laced with growth hormones, antibiotics and a range of pesticides” (p.72). Furthermore, food that is frozen, packaged and canned is considered processed food. A brief explanation of the chemical additives in processed food. 1.
The Encyclopedia of Healing Foods is an A-Z guide on the nutritional benefits and medicinal properties of food. It talks about how diet plays a major role in both provoking and preventing diseases. You can find out how to design a safe diet, use foods to heal and even how to prepare healthful meals.
Having a healthy dietary method can reduce the chances of receiving many health diseases. These health diseases include obesity, heart disease, and cancer. By consuming certain foods and nutrients in one’s diet the risk factors for these health diseases can be reduced. A healthy dietary method that is beneficial to reducing and/or improving these health diseases is the vegetarian diet. The vegetarian diet follows a dietary pattern that is characterized by the consumption of plant-like foods and the avoidance of flesh foods (meat, poultry, and fish). The foods in this diet provide the body with many essential nutrients. This is why many health benefits have been associated with the vegetarian diet. This dietary method has been linked to reducing the causes of obesity, heart disease, and cancer.