The deal with raw

Next time you sit down to eat, check out what’s on your plate. Are there any raw elements other than a salad? Probably not.

Uncooked foods, such as fruit, nuts and vegetables, have many dietary benefits, but relatively few meals get prepared with them.

Here are just some of the reasons raw food is considered good food:

• Raw foods benefit the environment by eliminating the need for processed-food packaging and the energy needed to prepare the products.

• Raw-food diets have been linked to the reversal of chronic diseases, such as heart disease.

• Raw foods contain the important vitamins, proteins, fats and digestion-aiding enzymes that are often lost through cooking.

• Raw foods have more distinct flavors than cooked foods.

• It takes very little time to prepare raw foods.

• Cleaning up after preparing uncooked food is easy compared to scrubbing baked-on, fried and other cooking messes.

Source: www.rawfoodhowto.com