Uncooked to Order- The Raw Food Diet

It makes sense if you really think about it.
Eat the food nature intended to give us- uncooked, in their natural state.
The raw food diet claims that cooking food over 116 degrees Fahrenheit rids food of healthy enzymes.
Most healthy eaters know that cooking the heck out of vegetables makes them less nutritious, so it makes sense that eating them raw would be the best way to get all the nutrients.
But I had never heard about these enzymes cooked food eaters are lacking until doing research on raw foods prior to the Raw Foods workshop at the Elk Grove Library.
I certainly didn’t want to miss out on these important enzymes, so I did some research.
Turns out, many medical professionals say that our bodies naturally make these enzymes that raw food dieters say are missing from cooked food.
But I decided to recreate some of the raw food recipes at home anyway.
I made the vegetable gazpacho and the mock-tuna salad that I sampled at the workshop.
The mock-tuna uses almonds, avocado and seaweed (various other ingredient too, but those are the main flavors). And it’s OK. Edible, but I wouldn’t want to eat this type of food for long.
The gazpacho is good, but not for a soup. It would be good on crackers or maybe mixed into mashed potatoes. It’s just too strong too eat as a soup alone. I might mix it with some lentils and vegetable broth, or if you eat fish, pour it over baked fish.
Since raw food requires no cooking, you’d think preparation would be a breeze.
Turns out, it’s a little more detailed than simply slicing a banana and some apples.
I used a food processor, a blender, measuring cups and some knives.
To get full from the raw food diet you must include nuts, avocados and other healthy proteins and fats.
Nuts tend to be a source of contention for raw food purists. Nuts should be soaked first to activate the enzymes, according to some, but I didn’t soak the almonds I used for the “tuna.”
Raw foodies have created many recipes that are meant to be a copy of something most people would consider “normal food.”
I like that Lori Easterwood said she heard from the owner of Sac’s only raw food restaurant, The Art of Food. He said everyone eats raw food; some just eat more than others.
Many people enjoy salad and fruit, which is raw.
I think I will incorporate more raw fruit and vegetables into my diet, but exclude copycat meals, because they don’t live up to the real deal.
This workshop was very interesting. The food is healthy, whether you believe raw food diet claims or not. I just wished I liked it more.
Salad anyone?