Benefits of a Raw Food Diet

By Yuri Elkaim

You know what the pitfalls are in a modern overly-prepared cooked food diet. You know all about saturated fats, processed sugars, and bad carbs. But do you know enough about the other side of the coin? If processed foods have so many negatives, what are the benefits of raw food?

Carbohydrates are on everyone's lips these days when it comes to talking about eating better. Simply put, carbohydrates are the sugars in food that your body breaks down with relative ease, and extracts for energy.

But it is far more complex than simply saying that carbs are good or bad, should be used a lot or completely avoided. There are, as with anything, good carbs and bad carbs. And in raw foods, there are many more examples of good carbs than you would find in cooked foods. Good carbohydrates are high in fibre, that will mean you feel fuller and for longer periods of time after eating them. Good carbs also have a low glycemic index rating, that is, they won't give you a jolt of sugars that your body will gobble down and run out of quickly, giving you that rollercoaster of energy effect.

Antioxidants are something that beauty commercials are always telling you about, but instead of rubbing a cream on your face, why not try filling your mouth with blueberries? As far as antioxidants go, blueberries are the most efficient provider. They contain a multitude of antioxidants, including phytonutrients like anthocyanidins and ellagic acid. These antioxidants will help your beauty regimen, to be sure by repairing the damage done to your collagen cells by aging or sun exposure, but they'll also keep your insides beautiful by fixing free radical damage to your heart and blood vessels, and reducing your chances of developing certain types of cancers.

Fatty acids might sound like a negative thing to ingest fats are bad, and acids are corrosive, right? Not in this case. Fatty acids like Omega-3 are used by the body to create new cells, and absorb certain vitamins like A, E and K, which are fat soluble, and maintain proper organ health my improving oxygen flow in the bloodstream. You can increase the levels of fatty acids in your system by eating cold-smoked salmon, or increasing your intake of greens and walnuts, which contain alphalinoleic acid, something your body cannot produce on its own.

Another important source of alphalinoleic and omega-3 fatty acids is chia seeds. Once used solely to grow sprout hair on terra cotta heads, these seeds are gaining a second life as a wonderful part of the raw foods diet. Chia seeds are incredibly easy to digest, meaning that their benefits are delivered very quickly to the body.

These are only a few of the many benefits of a raw food diet. Not only will you be eating better, healthier foods, you will be improving your overall health, aiding in permanent weight loss, and giving your brain the vitamins and nutrients it needs to stay alert and focused.

Learn more about Raw Food Diet and Eating For Energy.