Raw Food Diet – Dangerous Meat

If you follow dieting trends at all, then you probably know that a new weight loss method crops up every few months or so. and now it is the raw food diet. From cabbage soup to green tea, Atkins, and South Beach, there’s a different approach for everyone.

The raw food diet is one of the latest health fads going around,

so I thought it would be a good idea to examine what this method is all about prior to trying it out. Here’s what I learned.

The basic principle of the raw food diet is that we lose too many essential enzymes and nutrients during the cooking process. Foods in their natural state are most beneficial to our bodies, so we should avoid heating anything to more than 116 degrees F. (I’m not exactly sure where that temperature comes from, but many different raw food diet websites mentioned it, so I decided to repeat it here.) When we eat naturally like this, we’ll be healthier as a result. People following a strict raw food diet generally eat things like fresh fruits and vegetables, uncooked meat, fish, or eggs, nuts, seeds, beans, and anything else that is organic and unprocessed.

The proponents of this type of raw food diet believe that there are many benefits associated with it. For instance, they say you’ll have more energy, will lose weight, and will rejuvenate your skin as a result of not consuming processed sugar or refined white flour, both of which have been blamed for Americans’ bulging waistlines. In addition, followers of the raw food diet will decrease their risk of heart disease and improve bodily functions such as digestion. In other words, you’re essentially eliminating a bunch of toxins from your body when you stop eating processed foods, so all of these positive changes should follow.

But there are some drawbacks to the raw food diet as well.

For one thing, eating uncooked meat and eggs carries a significant risk of bacteria-related illness if you don’t store or handle the items properly. Salmonella, E. coli, and listeria can all come into play from handling some uncooked foods. In addition, it can be difficult to get the recommended daily levels of calcium, iron, or protein from strictly following this weight loss method, so your health could suffer in other ways or you might have to take supplements to make up for any deficiencies.

After reading about the raw food diet, I’m going to pass. While I certainly agree with some of the potential benefits, especially the part about cutting out sugar and flour, I can’t imagine eating uncooked eggs or meat, so I would be a partial follower at best. Would I still see good results that way? Not going to find out as the raw food diet is too risky.