5 Benefits of Eating Raw Foods

While experts don't suggest going 100 percent raw, they do acknowledge the amazing health benefits of uncooked and unprocessed fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds. Five reasons to include raw foods in your diet include:

1. Raw foods are nutrient-rich. Nutrient rich foods provide more vitamins, minerals and essential nutrients for fewer calories.  These include brightly colored fruits and vegetables, whole grains and beans. 

2. Raw foods are high in fiber. Raw foods are plant-based and contain plenty of fiber. Fiber is the part of plant foods we don't digest or absorb.  According to the Mayo Clinic, benefits of fiber include:

  • Prevents constipation
  • Lowers your risk digestive disorders including hemorrhoids, diverticulosis and irritable bowel syndrome
  • Lowers blood cholesterol levels
  • Helps control blood sugar levels
  • Aids in weight loss. High-fiber diets require more chewing so you have more time to feel your fullness and you feel full longer

Recommendations for daily fiber intake include 25 grams per day for women and 35 grams per day for men. 

3. Raw foods are low in total fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol. While some healthy fats are needed for good health, high levels of saturated fat are linked to increased blood cholesterol levels and greater risk for heart disease.  Eating a diet high in raw foods decreases your overall intake of high fat foods.

4. Raw foods are naturally low in calories. Many raw vegetables contain only about 25 calories per cup, and fresh fruits provide only about 60 calories for a small or medium piece or ½ cup raw.

5. Many raw foods are high in water. According to the book Volumetrics by Barbara Rolls, Ph.D. and Robert A. Barnett, foods with a high water content help you to feel full and therefore, help you control your calorie intake.

A raw food diet consists of uncooked and unprocessed foods in their most natural state.  Foods in a raw food diet include beans, fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds, whole grains, sprouted seed and fresh sprouts, raw olives and seaweed and green powders. 

While including plenty of raw foods in your diet is beneficial, eating only raw foods isn't necessary for good health. 

 


Sources:

1. American Dietetic Association www.eatright.org

2. Mayo Clinic www.mayoclinic.com

3. Volumetrics by Barbara Rolls, Ph.D. and Robert A. Barnett, HarperCollins Publishers, NY 2000.