The raw truth about raw meals.

• Author: Ladermann, Dan
• Position: Mind & Body

MOST PEOPLE do not think of cooking their food as a bad thing. Chances are, you love baked potatoes, green bean casserole, glazed cooked carrots, and much more. Sure, you are game for the occasional salad and veggie fray with dip, but the thought of switching to a raw foods-only diet sounds pretty radical. What would you eat, exactly? Would your diet be balanced? Would you be getting the proper nutrition?

Well, it might be worth your while to think outside the box (or skillet). There are a lot more compelling reasons to go raw than you might think. All raw foodists have personal stories about how raw foods helped them lose weight, heal, gain more energy or mental clarity, look and feel better, or achieve some other benefit or goal. This diet even has attracted celebrities such as Demi Moore, Sting, Madonna, and Woody Harrelson.

If you are unfamiliar with the raw food lifestyle, it essentially means that you eat fresh, nutrient-rich plant foods that have not been heat processed. When foods are cooked, many of their nutrients are lost. You can go totally raw if you would like, or you simply can incorporate more raw foods into your existing meal plan to experience the benefits.

Most people report improved health and general well-being within weeks of switching to a raw food lifestyle. The nutrient-rich raw diet is high in antioxidants, phytochemicals, vitamins, minerals, fiber, and healthy fats (such as omega-3 fatty acids), so it maximizes health and vitality.

Raw foods are available in abundant variety and present delicious food choices, especially compared to diets that focus on calorie restriction and deprivation. Temporary diets often are quite unhealthy and doomed to failure because people cannot maintain the regimen as a lifestyle. However, the raw diet is abundant with flesh produce as well as nuts, seeds, grains, and legumes.

The facts are indisputable: a raw plant-based diet leads to lower risk of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, rheumatoid arthritis, and obesity.

Many raw foodists look 20 years younger than people of the same age who eat cooked foods. This youthfulness is due in part to the nutrient density of raw foods, which are rich in antioxidants, phytonutrients, and vitamins that protect the body from free radicals, which attack healthy cells--and people who are well nourished tend to feel good and maintain a healthy body weight well into their golden years.

The body, moreover, will feel hungry until...