go raw

Ok, honestly, I always was concerned about this diet and the validity of it, and while the whole “more nutrients” thing seemed like a better option, it always made me a bit uncomfortable.. not to mention ridiculously hungry.

WELL, I read a very wonderful article from a harvard professor who studies the evolution of humans, and it turns out we NEED to cook our food. Sure, we can survive on raw food, but we end up having to eat far more than necessary to fuel our bodies. Why? Because cooking foods helps make the nutrients in it more digestible for our system. Sure, we are consuming more nutrients if we eat all of our food raw, but we are not actually ABSORBING more. We are simply pissing it all away, to be blunt. And because cooking food allows it to be quickly digested, our bodies spend a lot less energy processing our food- whereas on an all raw diet, our bodies are working overtime to digest. No other animal in the world cooks, it is true, but we DO, and it enables us to get a maximum amount of energy in a short amount of time- which helps us fuel our powerful brains (which take up more energy than any other process in our body). This professor (Richard Wrangham, PhD) proposes that the invention of cooking is what fueled the dramatic increase in our brain size to begin with- the ability to cook food so it’s easily digested, you get a big energy payload and don’t spend much to process it, and a huge amount of all that food energy can go to brain processes.

It makes perfect sense to me, and I’m going to have to take this goal off my list permanately. Obviously, eating raw foods is good for you, but certainly not exclusively. I am so glad to have all that cleared up- whew!

I’m really not thinking this is going to be a long-term thing. Just like I indulge in cupcakes on someone’s birthday, and desert at nice restaurants, I intend to continue to indulge on grains and dairy and cooked foods. However, I do see that my normal diet is not healthy nor ideal for me. I eat mostly grains and dairy, some meat, and few fruits and veggies. I want to totally switch that up to where I am eating mostly fruits and veggies, some grains and dairy, and meat next to never. I figure going RAW for at least a week will help me reintroduce fruits and veggies into my diet. I have tried in the past to say, “I will eat more fruits and veggies.” or, “From now on, I’ll make breakfast or lunch an only fruits and veggies meal.” but it never works. This is a drastic measure in which I am only eating fruits and veggies for an entire week. And, of course, only raw. That way, when the trial period is over, it should be more than easy for me to keep a large amount of fruits and veggies in my everyday diet. I do not see going RAW permanately on these foods being a long-term thing because I am not 100% certain on it’s healthiness. Obviously fruits and veggies are incredibly healthy, but to only eat those things at the exclusion of everything else does concern me. Also, I have a tendency to be underweight with my body type, and have been many times in the past, and it’s not something I want to do again. I am at a good weight right now, and while losing ten pounds would be nice, losing any more than that is not something I find healthy nor attractive- so going totally RAW on fruits and veggies and dropping who knows how much weight is not going to happen. Eating mostly fruits and veggies and indulging on dairy and grains from time to time, while keeping an ideal weight and feeling great about what’s going into my body.. that’s what I’m shooting for. :)

I am prety far from a raw diet right now.. I’m not even a vegetarian. However, today I have started my one week trial run of eating only raw foods.. no meats, no grains, no dairy. Basically only fruits, veggies, and seeds. Like a squirrel, yes. I’m excited to see if I can do it- It should be quite hard considering I eat grains and dairy at every meal, and meat at least once a day. But, we’ll see! I’ve done well today so far.. 6 and a half more days to go!