The Rawtarian Community
The Rawtarian Community is one of the largest online raw food communities. In addition to this community forum, you can browse and search thousands of community recipes added by over 5000 talented Rawtarian Community members just like you!
Visit The Community
Comments
In my opinion, cooked food is toxic. I believe that 100% raw is the best way to see dramatic improvements in health.
I see cooked food daily and think it’s useless for sure. I can’t even stand the smell anymore. Not only does it look bland, but doesn’t even look like food to me. I wouldn’t condemn anybody for eating it though. I had a SAD eater tell me my food looked weird and shouldn’t be eaten. Then his intelligence level really shined through when he said “If it didn’t go ‘moo’ then it’s not real food.”
Hmm, I don’t think you have to be 100% to cause dramatic changes in health. I had been aobut 80% plus raw for the first while, and only 100% for 3 weeks now. I felt quite a chnge in my energy and even my mentality even before I went 100%. I say to people that even if all they can manage to do is 50% it would be better than what they are doing now. 75% + ideally. Saying you have to be 100% is too strict and makes it seem as if you don’t go all the way, why bother.
I don’t know, that’s just my opinion.
Hi Luna blu, I agree that even 50% raw is better than SAD, and the body will experience much improvement on any percentage raw:50,75,90,100. I encourage folks to find the raw percentage that works for them.
However, my personal opinion of raw for myself (not judging others choices) is that 99-100% raw is best. and here’s why: Excerpt By Dr. Bernarr, D.C., D.D. at http://www.healself.org/rawfood.html “Cooked foods suppress the immune system. the heat of cooking destroys vitamins, enzymes, minerals, nucleic acids, chlorophyll, and damages fats, making them indigestible. The fatty matter becomes a local irritant.”
“when fibrous element is cooked, ... it changes from it’s natural state to a poison. Cooking causes the inorganic elements to enter the blood, circulate through the system, settle in the arteries and veins and deaden the nerves.
After cooking, the body loses its flexibility, arteries lose their pliability, nerves lose the power of conveying impressions, the spinal cord becomes hardened, the tissues throughout the body contract, and the human being becomes prematurely old. In many cases this matter is deposited in the various joints of the body, causing enlargement of the joints. In other cases, it accumulates as concretions in one or more of the internal organs, finally accumulating around the heart valves.”
At the same website, Hannah Allen wrote, “Raw foods contain live enzymes, which influence digestive efficiency-cooking destroys all enzymes. Moreover, the consumption of raw foods stimulates gastric enzyme secretion, necessary to initiate good digestion. Besides, the more raw foods you eat as your first course, the less cooked foods you will be able to eat. Ideally, we should never cook any foods.”
Oh I agree with all that Winona, but the first time I was raw I was a fanatic! I thought if I ate one little cooked thing it would reek havoc with my health. I fell off that rutabaga wagon real hard. I stopped altogether for a while. I think a happy medium is important. Mind you. I eat pretty much 100% raw most of the time now, but I do know that at least 80% works for me.
Aslo majorly important, is finding what works for each individual!
I just can’t wrap my head fully around ‘toxic’ and ‘poison’. Bleach is toxic, toilet cleanser is toxic. Cyanide is poison, Stricnine (sp.?) is poison etc. I can’t seem to lump cooked food in with houshold and industrial products.
For the most part I just see it as of lower quality. Can’t say I call it toxic or poison though. I’m only about 75% raw, but I’m finding that when I do go back to eating a few cooked things they are often a disappointment and just don’t taste as good as I expect or remember them to. I’m still struggling with some cooked food addictions. I’ve had a hard time giving up regular bread and sometimes when I do slip up and eat a piece of toast it tastes really foul to me and not at all like I thought it tasted when I ate cooked all the time. This still doesn’t stop me from eating or craving it though. I hope I can get past this soon.
Yeah, LimeLady, I too find that when I’ve been eating really well, and then I have a craving and think I really want something, and I have it, it’s just such a disappointment. Not at all what I thought I wanted. The most recent experience was with chocolate. I was all dying for some creamy milk chocolate, then I have it and it tastes like sugary wax!! I got the “best” quality, and it still tasted nasty. I can certainly say that I am done with cooked sweets. Raw treats just taste so much better, so much more real. My brain still thinks that it wants cooked food, but when I have it, it’s like I’m forcing myself to eat it like, “you’re supposed to like this”. I think that 100% raw is ok, but I am still going to have unraw stuff like maple syrup and spices. I think that’s ok. What would that be, like 95%?
I think that would be over 95% Maple syrup and spices make up a tiny part of what you eat! Unless you drink the stuff or something1:)
i don’t view all cooked food as toxic or poison, i believe thats a really extreme view that is generally unfounded. i view cooked food as inferior to raw food (most of the time), but cooked say, steamed veggies and brown rice, is definitely not toxic in comparison to a mickey d’s burger. health is all relative, and when i think of something as healthy or unhealthy, i usually have to compare it to something else to get a valid answer.
It’s interesting to read the different perspectives here. I’m new to raw (researched and ate 80% raw for the past year). I feel that cooked food caused me so many illnesses that weren’t cured by going 80% raw. Maybe after I detox for a while, things will be different.
So I’ll have to see what my new concept of raw is in a 6 months, a year, two years. Did anyone have a shift in what they thought of cooked food after being raw for a while?
Victoria Boutenko made a point about the difference between 99% and 100% raw is that your body is still producing mucous to protect itself from that bit of cooked food, and not getting all the vitamins from the rest that you’re eating. I think the difference in absorption was about 3% to 30%.
If given the choice, I’d much rather have a bowl of steamed veg and cooked brown rice over a raw version of junkfood like the ‘Big Matt’ or a raw double fudge ice cream brownie cake with raw tripple cocunut butter cream frosting. Seems to me I’d feel much better with the first choice. Some of the raw versions of junkfood feel toxic to my tired and old bod!
And I heard a nice little piece of gossip about a certain big-name raw fooder who has gained like 40lbs recently with all the gourmet and decadent dinners and desserts. (he/she shall remain nameless)
Don’t get me wrong, I love eating raw, but sometimes I can’t believe all the gross fattening stuff in raw cookbooks and the raw websites. Just because a brownie is raw doesn’t mean you can eat a ton and feel great just because it’s labeled ‘raw’. Give me a fresh ripe pineapple over that crap anyday.
Raw deserts, like anything, should be eaten in moderation. I love raw cocoa goodies the same as I love pinapple or avocado etc. Sweets deffinately have their place, it’s all about joy. And variety makes me happy!!:)
I agree with rawkinroll. Most of the gourmet raw recipes out there are just pure fat with small amounts of vegetables. I prefer to eat lighter meals of fresh fruits and vegetables with a small amount of fat. Too much fat makes me feel lazy and drunk. I also enjoy herbal teas which are not raw but from my experiences they have very beneficial properties.
Yes, moderation is the key for anything and I definitley like to have a few sweets every once in a while or on a special occasion as life should be celebrated. BUT when that does happen, I go for the real, authentic version: a lovely old fasshioned home-made, freshly baked sweet! The real deal is not going to make me any feel worse than the raw version (raw desserts treat me so much worse than homemade baked desserts). And no matter how hard we try, you just can’t emulate a fluffy baked italian pastry or a true New York style bagel.
Tha’s good for me, I am one of those freeks of nature that doesn’t like stuff made with wheat. Never liked bread! Wierdo! I guess since my mother has been dealing with celiac for the last 20 years, I have gotten used to things with a denser texture.
I think of cooked food as a unhealthy diease promoting food but at the same time I’ve ate that way for 26 years. As I go raw more and more I do find myself eating some cooked but only when I crave it and to my surprise it never taste as good as it use to and this has helped me go and stay raw by allowing myself to have the cooked if I craved it. I hate cooked pizza it use to be my favorite food but now I might be sick if I try to put it in my mouth it does not taste the same now, just nasty.
I think we all have to find what works for us. I truly believe 100% is best but not everyone will be able to just drop from a long life of cooked and go 100% but I think gradually can work as well. I have heard of those people who are extrimist and have to be one way or the other but it just goes back to doing what works for us.
Raw Rawks and I feel it’s better for us but the rode to being more raw is different for everyone..
I would love to be 100% raw, right now, forever – I know it’s the best way to eat for me. Realistically though, it just isn’t going to happen like that.
I love food. That’s just all there is to it. Since choosing mostly raw food I have made huge changes and have noticed huge results. I’m just not ready to go all the way yet.
There are certain things that are an absolute ‘no no’ – like coffee or tea or cheese. I have learned that the effect on my body is going to be really bad so I don’t even bother. There are other things though – like a bit of ezekial bread or some peanut butter – that I know isn’t good for me, but I just can’t always say no to.
So, I guess moderation is the way for me. It’s nice to hear that others struggle with this also.
Hey SarahJ,
I think your approach is great, I think we have to go raw in whatever way works for us, I think getting stressed out about being 100% doesn’t make you healthier, I believe it makes us more toxic. Stress can kill.
I think we all have to find what works for us. For me eating the cooked when I craved it has worked and most cooked food taste bland now. There are a few that taste the same but for the most part I think we naturally will move into more raw foods if we keep up with eating raw on a regular basis.
But on the other hand just as I think being not so strict is ok, I do on the other hand I think getting any addictions we might have under control is important.
I believe that if anyone makes a decision to go raw, that is a big thumbs up.. Later on in the process they might want to start working on the addictive part of food and I am only talking about people who have a food addicition like myself. I’m a lot better though but I’m sure a lot of raw fooders tend to eat when they are not hungry just because.
I am constantly working on trying to get better.
I know for sure that if I was told I had to be 100% I would have failed but now I’m so close to being almost 100% raw just because I didn’t put those restraints on myself. A couple times I have put some restraints on myself and it backfired on me I end up at KFC eating nasty greessy chicken.
Its really easy to become fanatical so I have definitely tried to keep an open mind about things. for a little bit i went into the “cooked food is toxic/poison” stance but like Luna says, its not like you’re drinking bleach or something… also from a recent discourse with a friend i discovered that when you get into the extreme almost dogma side of it, its easy to subconsciously disrespect the rest of the world that does eat cooked food because you view it as so inferior.
Its confusing because some people say you can’t stay on raw food long term unless you eat around 20-30% cooked food, and other people say you will never know the true bliss of raw unless you are totally 100%, at least for a month or 2. In the end all i can do is go by what i experience, and i have to say my experience with cooked food is not good!
i agree, cooked food is not the same as it is remembered to be. i try it every once in a blue moon and i dont feel guilty at all, but i do suffer through how i feel later. As it so happens i had cooked food the other day… vegan thai food, and it was an interesting experience. when i ate the “chicken nuggets” made out of that processed soy protein i could totally physically feel every organ in my body that was struggling with it! from my stomach to my liver to my kidneys… and for the first time i could taste how extreme the amount of salt was in the food. ive eliminated salt from my raw foods even, so that must be one reason why but still, wow… also, here’s the embarassing part, it was just as spicy going out as is was coming in! anyway, i had insomnia all that night i didnt sleep till 4:30am, and also that night and the next days until today i came down with headaches and sinus flu…ickh…sucks cuz it made me miss ballet darn evil cooked food lol
I find it an extreme to be 80% Raw and the other 20% SAD Foods. Some who consider themselves 100% Raw drink coffee and smoke, like how do you consider a percentage for coffee and smokes? I personally find it more balanced that if you are unable to be 100% Raw for whatever reason it is best to combine a mostly Raw diet with some simply cooked grains and beans. Like Lunablu wrote “TOXIC” is Bleach.
yeah, I think that if you are going to eat cooked foods, it should at least be healthy, like RawNutrition.ca said and definitely vegetarian. I mean what’s the point of being 80% raw and then eating McDonalds and Burger King? I don’t think that cooked foods are toxic, just not the best possible thing. Of course having some unraw is a thousand times better than stressing out and going fanatical, as many of you said. I agree, kundalalita, it’s really just whatever works for you personally.
I agree, if you do eat cooked you should at least eat healthy cooked like steamed veggies and brown rice. I personally stay away from diary, meat and soy. I think The Raw Food Detox Book by Natalia Rose is good for pointing how how to eat some raw and cooked food.