Living vs. Cooked Food

So what exactly is living food? This is food that is alive, raw and fresh like salads, vegetables and fruits.

Here are some positives of eating this way:
1.   There are no preservatives or add colors.
2.  Provide a lot of fiber, antioxidants, vitamins and trace elements.
3.  There is a very high water content so you keep very well hydrated.
4.  Very appetizing to look at.
5.  Because of the firm textures you have to chew them very well so we eat more slowly and feel fuller.
6.  The body can easily and quickly process and absorb living food. It would be less work for your digestive system.
7.  These foods are much safer and have less man made chemicals in them

8.  Are just what nature had intended
9.  Are a pure energy

A living food diet along with exercise is also a great way to lose weight. Maybe you have been feeling a little off or you just really need a pick me up and some more energy. If this is you then you need to start eating this way. You will see a huge difference in how you look and feel.

Many foods benefit from cooking:

1. Some native legume proteins resist proteolysis (breakdown of proteins into smaller components), but are degraded after heating.

2. But perhaps the major reason for the improved digestibility that can result from cooking is the destruction of antinutrients, such as protease inhibitors, polyphenols (including tannins and saponins), hemagglutinins, phytates, and dietary fiber. Polyphenols and phytates are, however, not reduced by heat alone. (For instance, soaking, sprouting, and fermentation also reduce phytates.)

How cooking impacts nutritional value:

1.  Heat will destroy the nutrients in living food. Sometimes it takes out so much that you might as well be chewing on cardboard as the cardboard has just about as much nutrients as what you eating.
2.  When you cook vegetables you tend to turn them soft so that it doesn’t require as much chewing and that means you eat quicker and are less satisfied.
3.  If you do cook your veggies, steam them lightly so that they will still keep their crunch.
4.  Heat will also destroy the enzymes in living food, and these are essential for your digestion. If you don’t get these enzymes then your body has to get it from its own supply and this isn’t good for your body.
5.  When you cook food the effectiveness of the fiber is reduced. Veggies that flop and are overcooked will pass right through your body with a much reduced “cleaning” action.

Interesting three-part experiment comparing the effects of raw foods versus cooked foods in rats.

Raw Food
“It has been found that a group of rats who were fed diets of raw vegetables, fruits, nuts and grains from birth grew into completely healthy specimens and never suffered from any disease. They were never ill. They grew rapidly, but never became fat, mated with enthusiasm, and had healthy offspring. They were always gently affectionate and playful and lived in perfect harmony with each other. Upon reaching an old age, equivalent to 80 years in humans, these rats were put to death and autopsied. At that advanced age, their organs, glands, tissues and all body processes appeared to be in perfect condition without any sign of aging or deterioration.

Cooked Food
A companion group of rats were fed a diet comparable to that of the average American and included white bread, cooked foods, meats, milk, salt, soft drinks, candies, cakes, vitamins and other supplements, medicines for their ailments, etc. During their lifetime, these rats became fat and from the earliest age, contracted most of the diseases of modern American society including colds, fever, pneumonia, poor vision, cataracts, heart disease, arthritis, cancer, and many more.

Most of this group died prematurely at early ages, but during their lifetime, most of them were vicious, snarling beasts, fighting with one another, stealing one another’s food and attempting to kill each other. They had to be kept apart to prevent total destruction of the entire group. Their offspring were all sick and exhibited the same general characteristics as the parents.

Should we consider changing to a raw food diet?
A third companion group of rats was fed the same diet as the second group to an age equivalent to about forty years in humans. They displayed the same general symptoms as the second group. They were sick and vicious so that they had to be separated to prevent them from killing each other and stealing one another’s food. At the end of this initial period, all rats in this group then received the natural (raw) diet of the first group of rats. Within one month, the behavioral pattern had changed completely so that the now docile, affectionate, playful creatures were once again able to live together in a harmonious society and from this point on never suffered any illness.

We conclude that cooking does not represent huge nutritional losses, but of course, when the choice is given, it is best to eat raw whatever is palatable in that form, and to cook as little as possible when heating is necessary to improve digestibility or to improve taste.

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