Among the different types of common food we can find vegetarianism, veganism, the flexitarianism, the paleodiet … One of the trends that is gaining more importance lately is the raw food or crudismo: Do not consume food (whether of origin animal or vegetable) cooked over 41 degrees Celsius or processed at a fairly high percentage of the diet.
Gradually have emerged more restaurants with raw food or raw vegan offer, especially in the big cities to visit one of these restaurants is a good way to meet new feeding options and see if we like. Today we see a little more in detail what the crudismo or raw food.
What is based raw food?
If we talk strictly nutritional issue, raw food, as we said, is based on the consumption of processed food cooked over 41 degrees, which are those that form the bulk of the diet (more than 60% our food). Why 41 degrees? Because it is around that number the higher temperatures that can reach food on earth, in its natural state. The premise is not change with cooking methods.
The raw food in general does allow the intake of animal foods, as long as they have not changed. A raw food person could then, for example, eating oysters, sashimi or carpaccio, all food from animals.
However, keep in mind that most raw food are also vegans : these people are called raw vegan , and choose not to consume animal foods, such as chicken or fish, but also other foods rejected by vegans such as milk or eggs.
Why eat raw food?
There are several beliefs among raw food that led them to adopt this type of food. The best known is the one that says that raw foods contain enzymes that destroy or degrade when cooked; however, humans produce their own enzymes and does not need the food to regulate their metabolic processes, as we explained Paul Zumaquero, dietitian, so this would not be a compelling reason to consume raw foods.
Other reasons cited for the intake of raw foods is that they contain a higher than cooked food microbial load that promotes intestinal flora of who consumes, or which enhance the immune system. This too is unclear, since there are few studies about this power option, and instead it is true that most cooked foods retain nutrients possessing raw, and even increases the bio availability of some of them.
Of course, just the fact banish processed products, many of which are present in the daily diet of many people, and make it a healthier choice than traditional Western diet diet.
Raw food diet can be perfectly valid as long as it is well – planned, hopefully by a nutrition professional although it is a difficult task to maintain a correct balance of macro and micronutrients, and proper energy balance. And, in the case in question a raw vegan diet, it will always be necessary to supplement vitamin B12, as in the case of vegetarians and vegans.
What eat raw food?
Food “header” of raw food are fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, cereals and legumes sprouts for easy digestion. They may also include, as noted above, fish and raw meats, eggs and unpasteurized milk, although not usually as usual.
Although at first glance may seem to us raw food supply very limited, all is well. The food is not cooked, but they can be modified by other techniques such as soaking or germination in the case of cereals and legumes, or use of juicers or blenders in fruits and vegetables. Other cooking techniques are also used as marinating, maceration or dehydration.
The food consumed, to be eaten raw, usually always in season and proximity, a pluspoint to encourage local consumption. Many raw food also choose foods from organic farming.
Tags: cooking, Eat, Raw food, trending