 In our 2019 Summer Refresh Detox we are focusing on a season with a high percentage of the diet being raw. The hot summer months make going all raw easier because the majority of the foods in a raw food diet are naturally cooling. Raw foods are an abundant source of enzymes, which are essential to cellular function. The raw foods movement in American actually came to us from Europe. Contemporary raw food diets were first developed in Switzerland by Maximilian Bircher-Benner (1867 – 1939), who was influenced as a young man to go "back to nature". Embracing holistic medicine, nudism, free love, exercise and other outdoors activity, and foods that it judged were more "natural" Bircher-Benner eventually adopted a vegetarian diet, but took that further and decided that raw food was what humans were really meant to eat. Influenced by Charles Darwin's ideas that humans were just another kind of animal and Bircher-Benner noted that other animals do not cook their food. In 1904 he opened a sanatorium in the mountains outside of Zurich. These ideas were influential to Ann Wigmore a notable raw food advocate. Other practitioners and laypersons brought support to the idea of eating all raw diets. Eugene Christian's Uncooked Foods and How to Use Them, 1904. Herbert Shelton was an avid supporting of the raw food diet along with many others including notable physician Dr. Gabriel Cousens, whose Tree of Life Center offers healing opportunities and retreats based on Live Foods. In recent years there have been a number of studies done on the possible benefits or downside considerations of eating a solely raw food diet. A study published in the Oxford Academic's The Journal of Nutrition, puts forth a good argument for balance. I also found this excellent point of view from Ellie Krieger on the Pro's and Con's of Eating Raw Foods. Many believe their healings from cancer and other life threatening illnesses are a result of living on a raw foods diet, for more on that perspective Passionately Raw is a great source of more info about this choice. On a personal note I have solely relied on raw foods as a diet for a number of years. Overall, I find a high percentage of raw foods leads to a cleaner and more powerful feeling of lightness in my body. I do practice eating all raw during certain times of the year. My over all dietary consumption of raw foods being 80%, on average. However, my philosophy about diet has evolved over the years. I'm all about live foods, but I also realize that there are certain foods that yield more nutritional value when properly cooked. There are times of the year when a bowl of soup with bone broth or a dish of baked veggies with a pile of greens on the side really hits the spot! It's that "hits the spot" feeling that I use as my guide for what my body needs. I believe it's important to not eat according to DOGMA or FADS. You must learn to pay attention to the instinctual self to guide to to what's healthy for you as the seasons roll by. Remembering that what may work for some, does not work for all. Those whose choice it is to eat an all raw diet must be certain to be well educated on how to maintain sufficient levels of proteins, maintaining proper nutritional balance. I caution, especially those who think all raw is about eating salads sprouts and fruits. Many younger health seekers have used a raw diet as a way of starving, a type of anorexia. In order to successfully go "all raw/live foods" education is important! With that in mind, I am pleased to share the perspective of a very successful Live Foods Chef and Lifestyle Educator, Janet Lee. Owner of Healthy Journey this Live Food Chef and Holistic Nutritional Educator and Life Coach is dedicated to helping others to live well and healthfully. Our Live Foods friend can teach us a great deal about delicious way to integrate more raw foods into our diets. Energy and Food“The food you eat can either be the most powerful form of medicine, or the slowest form of poison.” – Dr. Ann Wigmore |