Benefits, What You Eat, & More. The Promise. Your oven gets a rest on this diet. You'll mostly be eating raw fruits, vegetables, and grains. The idea is that heating food destroys its nutrients and natural enzymes, which is bad because enzymes boost digestion and fight chronic disease. In short: When you cook it, you kill it. Some fans of raw food diets believe cooking makes food toxic. They claim that a raw food diet can clear up headaches and allergies, boost immunity and memory, and improve arthritis and diabetes. What You Can Eat and What You Can't. Think uncooked, unprocessed, mostly organic foods. Your staples: raw fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and sprouted grains. Some eat unpasteurized dairy foods, raw eggs, meat, and fish. Your food can be cold or even a little bit warm, as long as it doesn. Eating out can be tricky, and if you go organic, you may need to go to specialty stores for a wider selection than your usual grocery store.
Cooking and shopping: Prep work can be extensive. Many raw food fans become experts at blending and dehydrating foods. Some germinate nuts and sprout seeds. Because some uncooked and unpasteurized foods are linked to food- borne illness, you. Soy is a very healthy food, but the estrogen in soy is. Just make sure your diet meets your nutritional needs. A dietitian can help you with that. Gluten- free: Most raw foods, including fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds, are naturally gluten- free. What Else You Should Know. Eating lots of veggies and fruits helps control blood pressure. Most vegetarian diets are low in or devoid of animal products.The diet is low in sodium, so it might help lower your chance of stroke, heart failure, osteoporosis, stomach cancer, and kidney disease. Losing weight and keeping it off can help prevent or manage type 2 diabetes. But because most people who eat raw foods exclude animal products, you may need to take vitamin supplements to make up for any gaps in your diet. Cost: You don. Organic ingredients tend to be more expensive. Kitchen appliances like juicers, blenders, and dehydrators are another expense. Support: You can do this diet on your own or find online resources, like recipes. What Kathleen Zelman, MPH, RD, Says: Does It Work? You'll probably lose weight on this diet, since most of its foods are low in calories, fat, and sodium, and high in fiber. One study found that people who followed a raw foods diet lost a significant amount of weight. You'll also get nutritional perks. Most of what you eat will be high in vitamins, minerals, fiber, and disease- fighting phytochemicals. But there are lots of drawbacks. The diet is difficult to follow and inadequate in many essential nutrients, such as protein, iron, calcium, vitamin B1. Plus, contrary to the claims of many raw food fans, cooking does not make food toxic but instead makes some foods digestible. Cooking also boosts some nutrients, like beta- carotene and lycopene, and kills bacteria, which helps you avoid food poisoning. There is no scientific evidence that raw foods prevent illness. Is It Good for Certain Conditions? It is not recommended for any specific health conditions. But losing extra weight is good for general health. If you are considering a raw diet, talk to your doctor before starting the plan. The Final Word. A raw food diet is low in calories, high in fiber, and based on primarily healthy whole- plant foods, so eating this way will lead to weight loss. But the diet is a nutritionally inadequate and highly restrictive plan that will be hard to stay on for the long- term. The risk of food poisoning from eating raw or undercooked foods outweighs the benefits of this plan. In general, cooking makes your food more easily digestible and safer. There are some nutrient- rich super foods that can. Myths of Vegetarianism - The Weston A. Price Foundation. Read this in. Portugu. Tanya was particularly upset. Why did I miscarry my baby?” The young couple had come to see me mostly because of Tanya’s recurrent respiratory infections, but also wanted some advice as to how they could avoid the heartache of another failed pregnancy. Upon questioning Tanya about her diet, I quickly saw the cause of her infections, as well as her miscarriage: she had virtually no fat in her diet and was also mostly a vegetarian. Because of the plentiful media rhetoric about the supposed dangers of animal product consumption, as opposed to the alleged health benefits of the vegetarian lifestyle, Tanya had deliberately removed such things as cream, butter, meats and fish from her diet. Although she liked liver, she avoided it due to worries over “toxins.”Tanya and Bill left with a bottle of vitamin A, other supplements and a dietary prescription that included plentiful amounts of animal fats and meat. Just before leaving my office, Tanya looked at me and said ruefully: “I just don’t know what to believe sometimes. Everywhere I look there is all this low- fat, vegetarian stuff recommended. I followed it, and look what happened.” I assured her that if she and her husband changed their diets and allowed sufficient time for her weakened uterus to heal, they would be happy parents in due time. In November 2. 00. Bill and Tanya happily gave birth to their first child, a girl. The Evolution of a Myth. Along with the unjustified and unscientific saturated fat and cholesterol scares of the past several decades has come the notion that vegetarianism is a healthier dietary option for people. It seems as if every health expert and government health agency is urging people to eat fewer animal products and consume more vegetables, grains, fruits and legumes. Along with these exhortations have come assertions and studies supposedly proving that vegetarianism is healthier for people and that meat consumption is associated with sickness and death. Several authorities, however, have questioned these data, but their objections have been largely ignored. As we shall see, many of the vegetarian claims cannot be substantiated and some are simply false and dangerous. There are benefits to vegetarian diets for certain health conditions, and some people function better on less fat and protein, but, as a practitioner who has dealt with several former vegetarians and vegans (total vegetarians), I know full well the dangerous effects of a diet devoid of healthful animal products. It is my hope that all readers will more carefully evaluate their position on vegetarianism after reading this paper. Myth #1: Meat consumption contributes to famine and depletes the Earth’s natural resources. Myth #2: Vitamin B1. Myth #3: Our needs for vitamin D can be met by sunlight. Myth #4: The body’s needs for vitamin A can be entirely obtained from plant foods. Myth #5: Meat- eating causes osteoporosis, kidney disease, heart disease, and cancer. Myth #6: Saturated fats and dietary cholesterol cause heart disease, atherosclerosis, and/or cancer, and low- fat, low- cholesterol diets are healthier for people. Myth #7: Vegetarians live longer and have more energy and endurance than meat- eaters. Myth #8: The “cave man” diet was low- fat and/or vegetarian. Humans evolved as vegetarians. Myth #9: Meat and saturated fat consumption have increased in the 2. Myth #1. 0: Soy products are adequate substitutes for meat and dairy products. Myth #1. 1: The human body is not designed for meat consumption. Myth #1. 2: Eating animal flesh causes violent, aggressive behavior in humans. Myth #1. 3: Animal products contain numerous, harmful toxins. Myth #1. 4: Eating meat or animal products is less “spiritual” than eating only plant foods. Myth #1. 5: Eating animal foods is inhumane. Myth #1: Meat consumption contributes to famine and depletes the Earth’s natural resources. Some vegetarians have claimed that livestock require pasturage that could be used to farm grains to feed starving people in Third World countries. It is also claimed that feeding animals contributes to world hunger because livestock are eating foods that could go to feed humans. The solution to world hunger, therefore, is for people to become vegetarians. These arguments are illogical and simplistic. The first argument ignores the fact that about 2/3 of our Earth’s dry land is unsuitable for farming. It is primarily the open range, desert and mountainous areas that provide food to grazing animals and that land is currently being put to good use (1). The second argument is faulty as well because it ignores the vital contributions that livestock animals make to humanity’s well- being. It is also misleading to think that the foods grown and given to feed livestock could be diverted to feed humans: Agricultural animals have always made a major contribution to the welfare of human societies by providing food, shelter, fuel, fertilizer and other products and services. They are a renewable resource, and utilize another renewable resource, plants, to produce these products and services. In addition, the manure produced by the animals helps improve soil fertility and, thus, aids the plants. In some developing countries the manure cannot be utilized as a fertilizer but is dried as a source of fuel. There are many who feel that because the world population is growing at a faster rate than is the food supply, we are becoming less and less able to afford animal foods because feeding plant products to animals is an inefficient use of potential human food. It is true that it is more efficient for humans to eat plant products directly rather than to allow animals to convert them to human food. At best, animals only produce one pound or less of human food for each three pounds of plants eaten. However, this inefficiency only applies to those plants and plant products that the human can utilize. The fact is that over two- thirds of the feed fed to animals consists of substances that are either undesirable or completely unsuited for human food. Thus, by their ability to convert inedible plant materials to human food, animals not only do not compete with the human rather they aid greatly in improving both the quantity and the quality of the diets of human societies. The problem is widespread poverty making it impossible for the starving poor to afford it. In a comprehensive report, the Population Reference Bureau attributed the world hunger problem to poverty, not meat- eating (3). It also did not consider mass vegetarianism to be a solution for world hunger. What would actually happen, however, if animal husbandry were abandoned in favor of mass agriculture, brought about by humanity turning towards vegetarianism? If a large number of people switched to vegetarianism, the demand for meat in the United States and Europe would fall, the supply of grain would dramatically increase, but the buying power of poor . Whereas today the total amount of grains produced could feed 1. The trend of farmers selling their land to developers and others would accelerate quickly. Furthermore, the monoculture of grains and legumes, which is what would happen if animal husbandry were abandoned and the world relied exclusively on plant foods for its food, would rapidly deplete the soil and require the heavy use of artificial fertilizers, one ton of which requires ten tons of crude oil to produce (5). As far as the impact to our environment, a closer look reveals the great damage that exclusive and mass farming would do. British organic dairy farmer and researcher Mark Purdey wisely points out that if “veganic agricultural systems were to gain a foothold on the soil, then agrochemical use, soil erosion, cash cropping, prairie- scapes and ill health would escalate.” (6)Neanderthin author Ray Audette concurs with this view: Since ancient times, the most destructive factor in the degradation of the environment has been monoculture agriculture. The production of wheat in ancient Sumeria transformed once- fertile plains into salt flats that remain sterile 5,0. As well as depleting both the soil and water sources, monoculture agriculture also produces environmental damage by altering the delicate balance of natural ecosystems. World rice production in 1. Human contact with ducks in the same rice paddies resulted in 5. There is little doubt, though, that commercial farming methods, whether of plants or animals produce harm to the environment. With the heavy use of agrochemicals, pesticides, artificial fertilizers, hormones, steroids, and antibiotics common in modern agriculture, a better way of integrating animal husbandry with agriculture needs to be found. A possible solution might be a return to “mixed farming,” described below. The educated consumer and the enlightened farmer together can bring about a return of the mixed farm, where cultivation of fruits, vegetables and grains is combined with the raising of livestock and fowl in a manner that is efficient, economical and environmentally friendly. For example, chickens running free in garden areas eat insect pests, while providing high- quality eggs; sheep grazing in orchards obviate the need for herbicides; and cows grazing in woodlands and other marginal areas provide rich, pure milk, making these lands economically viable for the farmer. It is not animal cultivation that leads to hunger and famine, but unwise agricultural practices and monopolistic distribution systems. Mark Purdey has accurately pointed out that a crop field on a mixed farm will yield up to five harvests a year, while a “mono- cropped” one will only yield one or two (9). Which farm is producing more food for the world’s peoples? Health Benefits of Going Vegan. Vegans are frequently misunderstood as fringe eaters with an unnatural passion for animal rights. While many vegans do feel passionately about animals, its time for others to see that a vegan diet and lifestyle go way beyond animal rights. Following a healthy, balanced vegan diet ensures a host of health benefits as well as prevention of some of the major diseases striking people in North America. Read these blogs to find out about the health benefits or going vegan or just provide better information to your patients. Nutrition. All of the following nutritional benefits come from a vegan diet full of foods such as fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, nuts, beans, and soy products. Reduced saturated fats. Dairy products and meats contain a large amount of saturated fats. By reducing the amount of saturated fats from your diet, you’ll improve your health tremendously, especially when it comes to cardiovascular health. Carbohydrates. Carbohydrates provide energy for your body. When you don’t have enough carbohydrates, your body will burn muscle tissue. Fiber. A diet high in fiber (as vegan eating usually is) leads to healthier bowel movements. High fiber diets help fight against colon cancer. Magnesium. Aiding in the absorption of calcium, magnesium is an often overlooked vitamin in importance to a healthy diet. Nuts, seeds, and dark leafy greens are an excellent source of magnesium. Potassium. Potassium balances water and acidity in your body and stimulates the kidneys to eliminate toxins. Diets high in potassium have shown to reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases and cancer. Folate. This B vitamin is an important part of a healthy diet. Folate helps with cell repair, generating red and white blood cells, and metabolizing amino acids. Antioxidants. For protection against cell damage, antioxidants are one of the best ways to help your body. Many researchers also believe that antioxidants help protect your body against forming some types of cancer. Vitamin C. Besides boosting your immune system, Vitamin C also helps keep your gums healthy and helps your bruises heal faster. Vitamin C is also an antioxidant. Vitamin E. This powerful vitamin has benefits for your heart, skin, eyes, brain, and may even help prevent Alzheimer’s Disease. A diet high in grains, nuts, and dark leafy greens is full of Vitamin E. Phytochemicals. Plant- based foods provide phytochemicals, which help to prevent and heal the body from cancer, boost protective enzymes, and work with antioxidants in the body. Protein. That protein is good for your body is no surprise. It may be a surprise to learn that most Americans eat too much protein and in forms such as red meat that are not healthy ways of getting protein. Beans, nuts, peas, lentils, and soy products are all great ways to get the right amount of protein in a vegan diet. Disease Prevention. Eating a healthy vegan diet has shown to prevent a number of diseases. Find out from the list below what you could potentially avoid just by switching to a healthy, balanced vegan way of eating. Cardiovascular disease. Eating nuts and whole grains, while eliminating dairy products and meat, will improve your cardiovascular health. A British study indicates that a vegan diet reduces the risk for heart disease and Type 2 diabetes. Vegan diets go far in preventing heart attack and stroke. Cholesterol. Eliminating any food that comes from an animal and you will eliminate all dietary cholesterol from your diet. Your heart will thank you for that. Blood pressure. A diet rich in whole grains is beneficial to your health in many ways, including lowering high blood pressure. Type 2 diabetes. Not only is a vegan diet a weapon against Type 2 diabetes, it is also . A major study showed that men in the early stages of prostate cancer who switched to a vegan diet either stopped the progress of the cancer or may have even reversed the illness. Colon cancer. Eating a diet consisting of whole grains, along with fresh fruits and vegetables, can greatly reduce your chances of colon cancer. Breast cancer. Countries where women eat very little meat and animal products have a much lower rate of breast cancer than do the women in countries that consume more animal products. Macular degeneration. Diets with lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, especially leafy greens, carrots, pumpkin, and sweet potatoes, can help prevent the onset of age- related macular degeneration. Cataracts. Much the same way macular degeneration is headed off by a vegan diet, cataracts are also thought to be prevented through the intake of the same fruits and vegetables. Produce high in antioxidants are also believed to help prevent cataracts. Arthritis. Eliminating dairy consumption has long been connected with alleviating arthritis symptoms, but a new study indicates that a combination of gluten- free and vegan diet is very promising for improving the health of those suffering from rheumatoid arthritis. Osteoporosis. Bone health depends on a balance of neither too much or too little protein, adequate calcium intake, high potassium, and low sodium. With a healthy vegan diet, all four of these points set a perfect scenario for preventing osteoporosis. Physical Benefits. In addition to good nutrition and disease prevention, eating vegan also provides many physical benefits. Find out how a vegan diet makes your body stronger, more attractive, and more energetic. Body Mass Index. Several population studies show that a diet without meat leads to lower BMIs–usually an indicator of a healthy weight and lack of fat on the body. Weight loss. A healthy weight loss is a typical result of a smart vegan diet. Eating vegan eliminates most of the unhealthy foods that tend to cause weight issues. Read more about weight loss and a vegan diet here. Energy. When following a healthy vegan diet, you will find your energy is much higher. This blog post in Happy Healthy Long Life describes how NFL tight- end Tony Gonzalez started eating vegan and gained energy–while playing football. The nuts and vitamins A and E from vegetables play a big role in healthy skin, so vegans will usually have good skin health. Many people who switch to a vegan diet will notice a remarkable reduction in blemishes as well. Longer life. Several studies indicate that those following a vegan or vegetarian lifestyle live an average of three to six years longer than those who do not. Body odor. Eliminating dairy and red meat from the diet significantly reduces body odor. Going vegan means smelling better. Bad breath. Vegans frequently experience a reduction in bad breath. Imagine waking up in the morning and not having morning breath. Hair. Many who follow vegan diets report that their hair becomes stronger, has more body, and looks healthier. Nails. Healthy vegan diets are also responsible for much stronger, healthier nails. Nail health is said to be an indicator of overall health. PMS. When switching to a vegan diet, many women tell how PMS symptoms become much less intense or disappear altogether. The elimination of dairy is thought to help with those suffering with PMS. Migraines. Migraine suffers who go on vegan diets frequently discover relief from their migraines. Read more about the food- migraine connection in this article. Allergies. Reduction in dairy, meat, and eggs is often tied to alleviation of allergy symptoms. Many vegans report much fewer runny noses and congestion problems. Too Much in the American Diet. The typical American diet not only consists of too much food, it also relies on too much of unnecessary food products or toxins. The following list explains how a vegan diet can eliminate these problems. Animal proteins. The average American eats twice as much protein as necessary for a healthy diet and much of that is from red meat. Getting protein from beans and grains is much healthier and reduces the risk for osteoporosis (see above). Cow’s milk dairy. The human body is not designed to digest cow milk and cow milk dairy products, yet the idea of milk being healthy is pushed through advertising. As many as 7. 5% of people in the world may be lactose intolerant and many people suffer from undiagnosed milk allergies or sensitivities. By eliminating cow’s milk from your diet, you are improving your overall health. Eggs. Many nutritionists believe that the number of eggs in the American diet is too high. While sometimes disputed, it has been shown that eggs can raise cholesterol levels. Mercury. Most of the fish and shellfish consumed has mercury in it. While some fish have less than others, it is almost impossible not to be putting mercury in your body when you eat fish. Sugar. Most people have heard that Americans consume way too much sugar. Relying on other sweeteners that are not synthetic, processed, or derived from animal products is a healthier way to eat. Many vegans do not eat processed sugar due to the fact that most of the cane sugar is refined through activated charcoal, most of which comes from animal bones. Other Benefits. In addition to the health benefits above, following a vegan lifestyle and diet also provides these benefits as well. From helping the environment to avoiding serious bacterial infections, learn other benefits to eating the vegan way below. Animals. Many people begin a vegan diet out of concern for animals. Whether opposed to the conditions of animals intended for food or eating animals in general, going vegan will help your conscience rest easily. Environment. Growing plants takes much fewer resources than growing animals. By eating vegan, you can help reduce the toll on the environment. E. Young children, those with compromised immune systems, and elderly people can become extremely ill or die from E. Eating vegan means completely avoiding the risk of E. Another gastrointestinal illness from animal products, salmonella food poisoning is closely related to E. How Plant- Based to Lower IGF- 1? Just a few days of walking and eating whole healthy plant foods, and our IGF- 1 levels drop low enough to reverse cancer cell growth. What if we stick with it? Going to some Pritikin spa and getting healthy for two weeks is one thing, but what about long- term? Does your IGF- 1 start to creep back up to standard American diet levels again? No. People eating plant- based diets for 1. IGF- 1 in their bodies, and more than twice the amount of IGF- binding protein than those on the Standard American Diet. We know decreasing animal product consumption decreases our IGF- 1 levels, but how low do you got to go? How plant- based does our diet need to get? Well, let. And this is what they found. Only the vegans had significantly lower levels. And the same relationship found with IGF- 1 binding capacity. Only the vegans were significantly more able to bind up excess IGF- 1 in their bloodstreams. This was a study on women. They found the same thing. So, even though vegan men tend to have significantly higher testosterone levels than both vegetarians and meat- eaters. So, more testosterone, but less cancer. The bottom line is that male or female, just eating vegetarian did not seem to cut it. It looks like to get a significant drop in cancer- promoting growth hormone levels, one apparently has to eliminate animal products altogether. The good news is that, given what we now know about IGF- 1, we can predict that “a low- fat vegan diet may be profoundly protective with respect to . Greger may be referring, watch the above video. This is just an approximation of the audio contributed by Kerry Skinner. 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