One way to reduce your impact on the environment 3 or more times a day is to try eating a “raw” or “living foods” diet. This way of eating is a lifestyle promoting the consumption of uncooked, unprocessed, and often organic foods as a large percentage of the diet. Raw and Living Foodists eat all fruits, vegetables, sprouts, nuts, seeds, grains, sea vegetables, and other organic/natural foods that have not been processed. In some instances, there are special ways to prepare the foods, such as soaking/sprouting nuts, seeds and grains before consuming them. The idea behind raw and living food is that when food is cooked at over 112 degrees (this temperature can be felt as warm to the touch) we destroy all of its enzymes. This is a problem because we need enzymes for every function in our body: to walk, to talk, to breathe and to move. As we age, our bodies natural source of enzymes becomes depleted and we need to replenish this source through the foods we eat. If we do not do this and we continue to eat cooked foods, then we eventually begin to use up our body’s enzyme reserves. Cooking makes it harder for our bodies to break up and digest the foods that we eat. This food then begins to get stored in our bodies as toxins; which can lead to all kinds of diseases and illness.

Raw foodists claim that eating raw has healed them of diseases and ailments such as diabetes, fibromyalgia, acne, migraines, back pain, neck and joint pain, asthma, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, hypoglycemia, colitis, diverticulitis, Candida, arthritis, serious allergies, depression, anxiety, mood swings, heartburn, gas, bloating, skin diseases, obesity, chronic fatigue, cancers and many more. Weight loss is another plus of the raw food diet. Environmental benefits vary, but raw and living food programs save energy (from cooking and freezing) and encourage local and organic food consumption, which is always a benefit to the planet and to you!