Is Raw Food or Cooked Food Better?
Back in 2014, I decided to go raw in an attempt to detox my body.
By going raw I meant eating nothing but uncooked fruits and vegetables.
My goal was to make it for three days.
Day one was amazing. Day two was even better. By day three I felt like total dog sh*t. I got what I asked for as the detox symptoms became very real.
I felt nauseous, fatigued, my hair started falling out a little bit, and I started to develop a skin rash on my forearm.
Luckily I lived in Houston at the time and I was able to connect in person with a raw food expert – Fully Raw Kristina!
She told me that my body was seriously starting to detox. She encouraged me to keep going.
I felt INCREDIBLE
My body was loving all of the fresh food, the nutrients, the high amount of carbohydrates!
My goal of three days extended to a week, which extended to a month, which then extended to a year.
I went way down the rabbit hole with raw veganism….
It was amazing – I was hitting PRs in the gym and I was the most shredded I’ve ever been in my life.
Until it wasn’t amazing – I also had days where I had a ton of digestive distress from all of the raw foods. I eventually became too skinny and my lifts started to suffer. My precious muscle mass started disappearing too! Lastly, the high amount of sugar I was eating from all of the fruit was starting to wreak havoc on my gut biome in silence which I to deal with later.
Eventually, I stopped eating only raw foods. I started to travel more and realized how hard it was to maintain my diet. It was a bacon and egg roll in Australia that got me and I’ll never forget that moment!
Why raw vegan?
Raw vegans eat only raw foods for purity and because raw foods contain active enzymes.
Some nutrients and vitamins are destroyed with cooking such as vitamin c and therefore there is merit to eating some foods raw.
Why cooked food is important
Heat breaks down the walls of plant cells which can unlock more nutrition from the food!
Heat also allows some antioxidants to increase in certain foods.
Some compounds require heat to be formed like when cooking broccoli and kale.
So which is better – cooked or raw?
It is great to eat both uncooked and cooked vegetables.
In other words, sometimes you can eat cook your carrots and sometimes you can eat them right out of the dirt.
If you notice your body cannot digest raw foods well it will be evident in the toilet. Gross, I know, but it is very real. If this happens to you, you can use a digestive enzyme supplement that can help break down what your body can’t do on its own. I like the one from Onnit. Side note – did you know that I used to work in the quality department for Onnit Labs before I became a trainer? Trust me when I say that this product is great and comes from an excellent source!
When deciding to cook, or not to cook, let your body and digestion make the call for you.
ALWAYS listen first to your digestion when thinking of food and you are already 90% of the way there.
For more tips on how to personalize your eating check out my blog post – “How I Eat as a Nutritionist.”
Thanks for reading,
Krista
PS. Sometimes all you need is a guide. Someone to help you with the specifics and hold you accountable. Book a time on my calendar in three easy steps to see what the power of upgrading your nutrition and habits around food and exercise could do for you!
You can learn more about me and you can reach your highest potential with the right help at livinglargewellness.com
Also, I really did eat 172 bananas in one week. I told you I went way down the rabbit hole!