Healthy Cooked Foods For Raw Foodists?

Now doesn’t that sound like a contradiction! But seriously, I am inspired to write about this after a similar post by Kevin Gianni from the Renegade Health Show earlier this week that discussed what cooked foods he eats along with his mostly raw diet. I thought I’d share about our experiences with cooked foods after being raw as well, since this is a topic that a lot of raw foodists are talking about lately.

Cooked Foods Are Not Poison

Contrary to what some raw food fanatics or newbies would have you believe, all cooked food is not created equal and all cooked food is not poison. All processed, packaged and refined foods ARE bad for you, but simple, whole cooked foods generally are not.

If you’re active, you need CALORIES and adding some calorie-dense, low fat cooked foods to your raw diet helps supply carbohydrates, calories and some additional nutrients without the bulk and volume of fruits and vegetables. It’s hard, especially when starting out, to eat enough calories of fruit every day. You can work up to that, but in the meantime, you might need some concentrated calories and carbs to fuel yourself.

Calories Are Critically Important

Despite what some raw food “experts” might tell you, calories are critically important for raw foodists. Particularly, getting enough calories is what stands between your success on a raw or high-raw diet and failure, health problems and deficiencies. By adding small amounts of healthy, whole cooked foods to your diet, you can boost your calories, keep your fat intake low and stick to a healthier eating plan long term without the negative health consequences of eating refined, processed, high-fat raw or cooked foods and “superfoods”.

But What About The Enzymes?

The “vital enzyme” theory is controversial and you certainly do not need living enzymes in absolutely everything you eat. Many experts, including some raw foodists, now recognize that most enzymes that are present in the food we eat are denatured when they come in contact with our stomach acid. Also, our body creates its own enzymes for digestion and doesn’t utilize many of the enzymes from foods.

100% Raw vs. 100% Healthy

A 100% raw food diet isn’t always healthy. The SAD (Standard American Diet) version of the raw food diet that is high in fat (nuts, seeds, coconuts, avocado) and emphasizes powdered, concentrated and dried superfoods, supplements and processed “raw” foods like kelp noodles and packaged “raw” snacks, is simply not healthy. I ate that way for several months and it wrecked havoc with my health. Instead, it is better, and much healthier in the long run, to maintain a high-raw, low fat diet than to maintain a 100% raw, high fat diet that contains “raw” processed foods and lots of nuts.

There are actually very few long-term, 100% raw foodists. Many prominent, respected raw foodists add small amounts of cooked food to their diets. My feeling is that 100% raw shouldn’t be the goal at all. The goal should be 100% health and balance, and if that means eating some brown rice with your raw veggies a couple nights a week, then that’s what you should do. If eating 100% raw provides you with that energy and balance, then that is what you should maintain.

How To Tell If Cooked Foods Hurt or Help You

Even healthy, whole cooked foods can affect people differently. Basically, you want to look for feelings of increased energy, efficient digestion (no gas, bloating or other issues), clear skin (no breakouts as a result of cooked foods) and overall sense of balance. A good sign for me is how clear my eyes are. I’ve noticed that certain foods will cause my eyes to get bloodshot from the inner corner outward to the iris. I had this same issue when I was eating 100% raw gourmet with lots of fat. I don’t get this when I eat low fat raw or with simple, whole cooked foods.

Roasted red potatoes might help you achieve an overall sense of balance while others might get it with brown rice or quinoa. You might rotate 2 or 3 cooked foods and eat them a couple times a week or every evening.

What you want to avoid are cooked foods that make you feel guilty, that cause digestive distress, that cause your skin to break out and that decreases your energy or disrupts your feeling of balance.

I also make sure that I don’t overdo spices; salt and other condiments with cooked foods, or else my results might be affected by my body’s reaction to the excess salt, oil or seasonings rather than the food itself. Of course, I stay away from processed foods as well.

Healthy Cooked Food Choices

• Potatoes (Choose organic, heirloom if available)
• Squash/turnip/beets
• Brown rice
• Quinoa, oats and millet
• Lentils
• Beans
• Whatever makes you feel good, healthy and BALANCED!

I recommend that everybody take at least a 30-day, 100% raw food challenge eating a low fat, fruit-based diet. After that 30-days is finished, keep it up as long as you wish to, but if you feel that your health and energy isn’t what you think it should be, then by all means, experiment with some of the cooked foods listed above or find others that help you feel healthy and balanced.

A great way to kick off a 30-day raw food challenge is by taking it one week at a time.

Transition To A Raw Food Diet In 21 Days Or Less

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Tags: beans, brown rice, lentils, millet, oats, potato, potatoes, quinoa, Raw Food Diet, squash, steamed vegetables