Raw food, what raw food is: benefits and contraindications

raw food is a diet which, as the name suggests, is based on consuming raw foods.

A certainly healthy stance, on the one hand, because cooking often decreases the biodisponibilita-di-alimenti-e-integratori-naturali">biodisponibilita of the micronutrients contained in foods, but also rather demanding from the point of view of social life and not without risks if done superficially.

Raw food, how it works

Raw food is based on the consumption of pure and uncooked foods. The only exception is made for drinks, which you can heat but without ever bringing the water to the boil, so yes to green tea, for example.

If consuming raw fruit and vegetables is certainly simple and many do it without any effort, on the contrary, thinking of excluding any cooked food is not such a trivial choice.

Think, for example, of a simple pasta dish: we consume cereals and the flours derived from them always cooked in our diet, so the raw foodist will have to exclude them.

As regards proteins, even if the raw food diet is normally substantially plant-based, they can be consumed even if of animal origin always respecting the absence of cooking, which must necessarily include a series of precautions regarding food safety.

Benefits and advantages of raw food

A diet based on the consumption of seasonal, fresh, uncooked fruit and vegetables, colourful and rich in vitamins and minerals, with a high fiber and water content: the benefits are certainly evident.

Not cooking these foods, in fact, allows you to preserve the elements they contain unchanged, and in high quantities. Vitamin C, A and B1, for example, are prone to damage by heat.

And you shouldn't even think that it's a monotonous way of eating, on the contrary. You can indulge yourself with the recipes, inventing rich and imaginative salads, adding oil seeds to the vegetables and why not superfood powders such as moringa oleifera. And you can also use raw condiments such as olive oil or cold-pressed coconut oil.

Or use an extractor or centrifuge to drink very fresh juices and create colorful and delicious smoothies.

According to scientific studies, thanks to the raw food dietvitality and energy would rise to excellent levels, digestion would improve because everything is extremely light and the detox effect would be ensured. This would also allow you to combat some ailments, from migraines to reflux, and lower blood pressure and blood sugar levels.

Contraindications and risks of raw food

Obviously, this is a somewhat "extreme" regime, so there are also cons.

First of all, as we mentioned at the beginning, it is good to pay attention to food safety.

Vegetables and fruit must be washed even more carefully than usual, because as they do not undergo the cooking process they must be perfectly clean to be consumed safely. Particular attention should be paid to this step for pregnant women, who should always ask their doctor before embarking on the raw food diet, due to the risks it entails.

Furthermore, meat and fish consumed raw, if not carefully handled and washed, can present considerable dangers.

According to the principles of raw nutrition you do not have to cook them, but you can for examplemarinate them with an acidic element such as lemon juice, which "cooks" them slightly cold and eliminates some bacteria. Or, especially in the case of fish, you can chill them in the freezer below a certain temperature to make them safer. This is what is done, for example, to guarantee the safety of raw fish carpaccio and sushi/sashimi.

Another con could derive from the large quantity of raw vegetable fibers ingested, difficult to manage at an intestinal level especially for those with problems such as colitis or irritable colon.

Furthermore, it is good to be aware of what and how much you eat, because a raw food diet, especially if almost exclusively vegetable, tends to be decidedly low-calorie.

Finally, last but not least, social situations must also be evaluated: if a delicious vegetable dip is the perfect solution for an aperitif with friends, you will certainly have to completely give up pizza with the family or the mid-August barbecue.

For further information:

• https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10436305/
• https://academic.oup.com/jn/article/135/10/2372/4669843