The Virtues of a Raw Food Diet

"It is easy to eat raw (food)," says Evansville, Ill. dietitian, Linda Ruff, "it's just not easy to give up cooked foods."

When you think about it, most people eat raw food all the time without really thinking about it: Leafy salad greens, fresh fruits, vegetables like carrots, cucumbers, peppers, celery, radishes, broccoli, cauliflower and tomatoes and even raw nuts and seeds count as familiar foods.

But giving up cooked food eliminates a lot more that most people are quite attached to: Meat, poultry and fish, for sure, but also our beloved breads, familiar hot cereals and grain products (sprouts are OK), dairy and eggs in addition to traditionally cooked-before-consuming root vegetables like potatoes.

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That's a diet of a different stripe.

And it's not for everyone, Ruff says: "Various bodies, various metabolisms are designed for different foods (and) I will not put down any food except junk food."

Ruff says, however, that in the past 20 years she has become increasingly passionate about the health benefits associated with a raw food diet because she knows how she feels and she sees how other people respond to it.

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Ruff defines "cooked" as any food that is heated past 118 degrees, after which natural enzymes in food are killed off. This allows for the use of a dehydrator -- one of several appliances Ruff keeps in her kitchen, along with a blender, food processor, food chopper and spice/coffee grinder.

Although passionate about the virtues of maintaining a minimum 75 percent raw diet, Ruff is not a fanatic. She is registered dietitian with a lengthy resume that illuminates her path toward this international, albeit not locally, familiar regimen.

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