Raw food (natural food, veganism) in its purest form does not exist in any world culture. Dr. Boris Akimov talks about the advantages and disadvantages of such a diet.
Since man has tamed fire, he roasts, cooks, and bakes almost everything, especially in a country with such climatic conditions as Russia. Food from the fire becomes hot, thereby maintaining thermogenesis, and undergoes destruction, which makes it more convenient to digest (try nibbling wheat or rice grains!), the products acquire a different, more familiar taste for us (raw potatoes generally seem inedible).
However, everything can be eaten raw, and some people practice the Paleolithic raw food diet.: everything – from apple to meat – is only raw. Raw food, in its classical form, refers to vegetarianism and to more strict veganism. Vegans consume only plant-based foods, excluding dairy products consumed by vegetarians.
In favor of the consumption of raw food says:
— its higher biological activity;
– preservation of all useful and necessary nutrients (nutrients);
– the presence of fiber, which strengthens the teeth and is necessary for digestion;
– the absence of harmful substances formed in food during heat treatment.
If you eat only boiled or fried food, and Russians mostly eat this way, then the body will not receive all the necessary nutrients. Experiments of the famous physiologist A.M. Ugolev showed that autolysis (self-digestion) is 50% provided by enzymes that are in the food consumed and are activated by enzymes found in saliva and gastric juice. During heat treatment, some of the autolytic enzymes are destroyed, as are most vitamins. Therefore, scurvy was the scourge of seafarers, until they decided to take lemons and sauerkraut on the voyage.
In addition, raw food does not excite the appetite, as it contains little essential oils, which is very important for overweight–the scourge of modern man. Although, if you take a glass of sunflower seeds in your hands, you will not stop until you over-click it all!
The raw food menu is about the following: a salad of greens and vegetables with the addition of nuts and ground sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, poppy seeds, and pumpkin seeds. Cereals soaked, ground or sprouted. Fruits are fresh and dry (accepted separately). Green tea or made from herbs and berries with honey instead of sugar.
A supporter of raw food is the legend of world weightlifting Yu. P. Vlasov and naturopath G. Shatalova. Raw food is the best remedy for certain diseases of the stomach and intestines, metabolic disorders, cardiovascular diseases, decreased immunity… Raw foodists believe that natural nutrition can cure most diseases.
However, a complete rejection of animal products (dairy) seems superfluous to me. And boiled porridge tastes better than raw. And for a stomach with a weak enzyme function, boiled dishes are better. And man is originally an omnivore – the more diverse his diet, the more useful. And the British Institute of Nutrition considers a vegetarian raw food diet unacceptable for children.
Therefore, raw food is better considered as a health and cleansing diet, applying it, for example, one or two days a week, especially after the “food holidays”. In its raw form, it is definitely worth eating fruits and vegetables — in terms of the content of vitamins and minerals necessary for a person, they are in the first place of all products!