Before and After the Raw Food Diet

What is the Raw Food Diet?

The Raw Food Diet has gained a large following in the last decade. Raw food is any food that has not been heated, cooked or processed over 116 degrees F. Once food has been heated past 116 degrees F, important enzymes and nutrients are lost. The enzymes that are in the food contribute to digestion in such a way that frees up energy in the body and leads to many health benefits.

Before the Raw Food Diet

There are many stories of people having raw food transformations after spending a month on the diet or changing their lifestyle completely. Before the diet, they speak of having weight struggles, sugar cravings, issues with cholesterol, health issues like cancer or thyroid issues, sluggishness and migraine headaches. In 2004, nearly 65 percent of Americans made an effort to lose some sort of weight.

During the Raw Food Diet

The first couple of weeks on the diet are the most difficult. There are cravings for cooked food, occurrences of dry skin, and hunger if you aren't easily able to consume the 2,000 U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommended daily calories. But there is also a burst of energy and endurance improvement that occurs nearly right away. Most people who stick to a raw food diet for some amount of time have a moderate to significant weight loss

After the Raw Food Diet

There is a large contingent of people that this step does not exist for; namely, they continue to live a raw food lifestyle and they have large communities like We Like It Raw that help to organize raw potluck dinners and raw food groups. One of the reasons that people stay on the diet is because they experience a large drop in energy when they go back to cooked foods and in some cases, even an immediate illness. Another reason is that many who have success on the raw food diet have not has nearly as much success on other diets, so they want to remain with a lifestyle that will help them to keep the weight off. As with most diets, returning to normal eating habits will eventually lead to a gain in some if not all of the weight, and it will lead to the same energy levels.