Increase Your Energy with Raw Foods

Raw Foods is a diet that focuses on the consumption of whole, 'living' foods. The diet consists of raw fruits, vegetables, sprouted nuts, seeds, legumes and grains. Typically it is strict vegan (excluding all animal ingredients) however there are some who practice raw foods that do include raw dairy products and sometimes even raw meat.

What are 'Living' foods? Living foods are defined as foods that are alive with active enzymes. Plant foods can remain ‘living’ by being consumed raw, sprouted, or have been exposed to a heat source no greater than 118 degrees. It is believed that up until this temperature the active, ‘live’ enzymes in plant foods can survive and remain present in food.

Raw, living foods can increase energy by requiring less energy to digest. Looking at enzyme content, nutrient density and activating food dormancy through sprouting, we can see how the energy requirements for digestion decreases with the Raw Foods diet:

Enzymes

Enzymes are a key component to cellular chemical reactions. As such they are an important key to digestion. Without enzymes acting as a catalyst to break chemical bonds between molecules, the process of digestion would not only take a long time, but it would require a lot more energy to perform.

Nutrient Density

Packed with an immense variation of vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients, plant foods are on top of the food chain for nutrient density. It becomes easier to reach a nutritional quota by eating less, when consuming plant foods.

Raw plant foods opposed to cooked plant foods, are also shown to have a higher nutrient density. Cooking foods not only destroys the enzyme content of raw plant foods, but it also can degrade the overall nutrient content.

Food Dormancy

The status of nuts and seeds are also important to consider. Nature has engineered nuts and seeds to behave in a self-preserving way: a nut or seed will remain dormant until ‘conditions’ are conducive to germination. A nut can sit on the ground in a preserved state until water is available for proper germination and development. This is because they contain an ‘enzyme inhibitor’.

When water has saturated a nut or seed, the enzyme inhibitor is released and the nut or seed becomes alive and begins to 'sprout'. The practice of soaking nuts and seeds is an important factor in the preparation of raw foods for increased nutrient and enzyme availability.

Digestion

The process of digestion and assimilation is complex and uses a surprising amount of energy. It is said that from the energy produced from the food that we consume, approximately 10% of energy is used by the brain, 20% is used by the organs, and a whopping 40% of the energy is used for digestion! With a total of approximately 70% of energy used on regular bodily functions, we are left with 30% for other activities.

As we see, by eating foods with enzyme content, high nutrient density, or are sprouted (releasing food dormancy in nuts, seeds and legumes), we can increase energy through digestion efficiency.

There are other motives and benefits to chosing a raw foods diet in addition to increasing energy. Some of these include eliminating toxins from the diet and the body, increasing vitality, the enjoyment of eating healthy, and also using it as an avenue for culinary creativity.

Photo in this hub by: Jessica Ann Jacobs, copyright 2009. http://jessicaannjacobs.com