Time For You Features

Why Eat Raw?

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By Monica Siembor
Special to

Are you tired of being duped by the food and diet industry? Don’t let them take advantage of you anymore. It’s time to take responsibility for your own health. It is possible to lose enormous amounts of weight, have boundless energy, look and feel younger and achieve health, peace and balance in your life. You don’t need to starve yourself or spend countless hours at the gym either. You just need to get diet savvy and learn the truth about food.

The bottom line is that every piece of cooked food that crosses your lips taxes your body, causing you to accumulate toxins over time. This dangerous accumulation of cooked food residue burdens your organs of elimination—bowels, kidneys, liver, lungs and skin. Eventually, your body can’t keep up with these cooked food toxins and starts storing them, hence a slew of scary maladies, such as obesity, heart disease, diabetes and cancer. The most common outcome of eating cooked food is that in time we become unnaturally overweight.

Yes, we’ve survived on cooked food for millennia—it can keep you living, but not optimally. You’ve been a cooked-food eater all your life, so you’ll have to suspend your disbelief and look beyond your accustomed view to see the benefits of adopting the raw-food lifestyle. If you want to thrive and enjoy a healthy, efficient, lean body, a raw-food diet is essential. When you are young, your body is very forgiving. It can eliminate a lot of garbage for many years, and that’s just what cooked food is—garbage. Raw food is fully and easily digested, leaving no dangerous, disease-producing residue behind. Eating raw foods provides optimal health as your body is well hydrated with water and fully nourished with vitamins, minerals and enzymes from your food.

Cooked food is recognized by the body as a foreign invader, a threat to your health. Your body reacts to cooked food much the same way it does to bacteria, viruses and fungi—it drastically increases its white blood cell count. White blood cells defend your body against toxins. Since the body recognizes cooked food as a toxin, it attacks it and tries to eliminate it. Eventually, sickness results because the body cannot eliminate the toxins fast enough. This process does not happen when you eat raw food because the body does not recognize raw food as a threat. So, stop clogging up your body with cooked and processed foods: meat, fish, chicken, dairy, grains, processed sugar, artificial sweeteners, salt, vinegar, etc. Our bodies are not designed to digest these “foods.” Toxic residue is left behind, slowly aging you, stealing your health and your figure.

Your body is an amazing machine, however, and can be restored through the detoxifying power of raw foods. A low-fat, raw-vegan diet is the only diet that does not tax the body. Raw foods digest and assimilate properly, keeping you clean and healthy because toxins do not build up. Your organs are clean and free to cleanse and heal the body. Raw foods are fresh, whole fruits, vegetables, tender leafy greens, nuts and seeds. Those who eat raw end up well nourished. Raw foods offer all of the vitamins, minerals and enzymes you need to thrive. You need nothing more—no supplements, “super-foods,” vitamins, powders, potions or “magic” elixirs.

So get diet savvy. Start eating raw, and say goodbye to saddlebag thighs, cellulite and hello to a slender tummy and legs. Remember, cooked food leaves you feeling fat, lazy, sick and depressed. You may choose to eat 75 percent raw, 100 percent raw or somewhere in between—transition at your own pace. Aim for at least 75 percent raw to start, and work your way up from there. If you are eating around 75 percent of your food raw, you will see a significant change in your health, beauty, mood and overall well-being. From this point on, however, you need to stop eating out of bags, boxes, bottles, containers and cans. “Foods” in plastic containers and crinkly wrappers are generally cooked and highly processed, far from whole, raw and nutritious. The general rule is: if it crinkles, don’t eat it.

Monica Siembor, M.A. [education], M.S. [library and information science], is an information specialist, professional educator and former competitive athlete who has researched nutrition and health for over 20 years. She is dedicated to encouraging people to find personal, inner peace and balance in their lives. As an experienced health coach, she strives to educate others about the health benefits of eating raw and staying active, despite the rush and chaos of modern life. Access www.theskinnyonraw.com to learn the secrets of raw-food success and avoid the common mistakes people often make when adopting the raw food lifestyle. Sign up for "Savvy Health & Nutrition Tips" and receive a special report, "Raw the Right Way."