Have you ever gone on a strictly RAW food eating plan? I did this for 3 months once, and so many symptoms of less-than-optimal-health vanished. It happened to be during ragweed season, which is the only substance that seems to ever trigger allergies for me. I had none while eating the raw food during this season.
For 6 months, I had been waking up every morning with “trigger finger” in my left middle and index fingers until I walked around about 10 minutes. For a massage therapist, this can be detrimental. Within two weeks of eating only raw food, I noticed that this was no longer an issue. My complexion seemed clearer and brighter. Hot flashes disappeared. My thoughts were sharper and I was more alert. I wasn't doing it to lose weight, but I lost about 20 pounds (which I needed to do).
The reason for these wonderful side effects of eating raw food is largely because the enzymes are intact. Your body requires enzymes for every metabolic activity it performs. Enzymes are like catalysts. Each thought we have requires an enzyme. Reading this material now is using up some of your metabolic enzymes.
Everytime we eat a meal that does not contain live food (enzyme-rich), we are requiring some of our precious metabolic enzymes to become food enzymes in order for the food to be digested. We are born with a bank of enzymes, and that is all we will ever have. Why not try to include as much raw food in our diets as possible, and give our remaining enzymes the break they need to do their other functions more effectively.
Another thing that happens when we eat live food is that we detox the colon. All the fiber sweeps out the hardened mucus lining the intestinal wall; then, the microvillae in the small intestine are able to get coated with and absorb the vital nutrients we need. We don't feel as hungry when we are truly receiving and utilizing the good nutrients.
I encourage everyone to try incorporating as much raw food as possible in their diets. A good book to inspire you to do this, which also has some awesome recipes, is "Living on Live Food" by Alissa Cohen. Do it for two weeks and see if the benefits do not outweigh the sacrifice of cooked, dead food.
Brenda Briscoe is a Licensed Clinical Massage Therapist with eight years of experience, as well as a Certified Natural Health Professional. She has studied the use and benefits of herbal therapies, as well as health and nutrition, for 15 years. In her practice, she offers health consultations, which include an iridology examination and guidance regarding lifestyle changes, such as nutritional supplementation, exercise, eating habits and how to lower stress levels. She does therapeutic massage, including the Bowen Technique and Neuro-Structural Integration Technique, which both work toward permanent resolution of pain syndromes and other physiological conditions. Brenda is available for speaking engagements at churches, health fairs, homes and corporate environments.