You might be wondering why anyone would want to skip the cooking process of any meal.  Maybe you keep your raw food in your salad bowl—and that’s it!  Maybe you should think again.  A raw diet is based on eating unprocessed, whole plant-based (hopefully) organic foods, and to really adhere to this way of life, ¾ of your diet should be made up of uncooked food.  Followers of this way of eating believe that the more raw your diet, the healthier you’ll be.

The truth is that we could all do with less processed food, but does a raw diet really make you healthier?  Here are the pro’s:

The Digestion Question:  While some people report problems with irritable bowl when they begin a raw diet, most said that these symptoms improved over time.  Most raw foodists report that their digestion improved when they made the switch to a raw diet.  One reason raw foodists believe that people shouldn’t cook their food is that they believe that natural and essential enzymes in food are destroyed at temperatures above 116 degrees Fahrenheit.  When you eat raw food, your body is more easily able to digest and absorb the nutrients, and so digestion moves more quickly and comfortably.

Watch the Pounds Melt like the Butter You’re Not Eating:  Another benefit people point to is weight loss.  It only makes sense that when you replace your (probably) higher calorie snacks with fruits, veggies and nuts that you’ll begin to lose weight.  We all know that dieting can sometimes make people feel deprived and hungry, but when you’re eating nuts and seeds, which naturally contain loads of protein and healthy fats, you won’t spend the day listening to your stomach growl.  You’ll be getting loads of vitamins and minerals and losing weight without feeling like a starving bear. Win!

Energizer Bunny:  Raw foodists also say that after a period of adjustment to the diet, they feel more energized, lighter (see above), and ready to go!  They also purport having better skin and sharp-as-ginzu-knives memories.  A big boatload of vitamins and minerals are coming into your body on a raw food diet—instead of empty calories and heavy foods— so it only makes sense that your body will respond with a renewed sense of energy and life, right?  Vitamins and minerals are good stuff!

The Great Germ Blocker:  When you eat a raw food diet, your chances of developing heart disease, diabetes and cancer are reduced as well.  A raw food diet helps people maintain a healthy weight and eliminates unhealthy, fatty foods from your diet; and if you’re not eating them, then they’re not clogging your arteries!  Raw foodists also report having fewer coughs and colds and generally stronger immune systems.

Having said all of this, we should also say that consuming raw meats is discouraged due to the possibility of bacteria, parasites and viruses, though some eat them anyway (although the majority of raw foodists seem to be vegetarians and vegans).  Here’s a list of some foods that health professionals say should be eaten with caution:

Buckwheat

Kidney Beans

Cassava

Raw eggs

Peas

Alfalfa Sprouts

Apricot kernels

Parsnips

Meat

Milk

Even though we describe this as a raw food “diet,” it’s really more of a way of life.  You have to change some major things in your life to do this.  Are you a proponent of raw foods?  Tell us a little more about it on our Facebook  or Twitter pages—we want to know what you think!

You’re seeing them everywhere this time of year—big, fat, orange pumpkins—and they just scream autumn, but pumpkins are more than cheery, fall decorations.  Pumpkins are a super food!  Most of you think of pumpkins and two things immediately come to mind—jack ’o lanterns and pumpkin pie—but what you’ll be missing if you simply carve yours up and throw away the innards or load your pumpkin up with sugar and spices are some great health benefits.  Here are some of the reasons you should be eating pumpkin, not just in the fall, but all year ‘round.

1.  Pumpkins are orange, right?  Know what it means when fruits and veggies have a red or orange color (the deeper, the better)?  It means that they are loaded up with beta carotene, a potent antioxidant; and while beta carotene is not itself an essential nutrient, our bodies convert it to Vitamin A, which is.  Vitamin A is important to our bodies because it promotes healthy skin and mucous membranes, helps our eyes stay healthy, and it supports our immune systems.  Getting your beta carotene from natural food sources is the safest way to get your A.  In case you didn’t know, you can get too much of a good thing—at least you can from supplements.  If you overload your body with vitamin A supplements, the vitamin can be toxic; but if your beta carotene is coming from your food, your body converts only what it needs, so no toxicity.  Studies have shown that antioxidants like beta carotene protect the body from free radicals and can reduce the risk of cancer and heart disease.

2.  Did you know that pumpkin is a great source of fiber?  Fiber is important in a healthy diet because it keeps things moving, digestively speaking.  Fiber is the part of fruits and veggies that your body doesn’t digest; it creates bulk and that bulk helps to move things through the digestive system.  Not enough fiber, not enough moving, and people become constipated and irregular.  Fiber helps prevent colon cancer because it helps to move harmful things like carcinogens through your body and send them on their way.  If you don’t eat enough fiber, and those same carcinogens sit around in your body, that’s not good.  It also reduces your risk of heart disease and lowers cholesterol.  Anything else, you ask?  Yes!  It may even help you lose weight.  Fiber, because it creates bulk, can give you a “full” feeling which helps you eat less.  Other good news about pumpkin—it’s a low calorie food.  There are only about 49 calories in a one-cup serving of pumpkin.

3.  Pumpkins are rich in potassium.  You may have been told to have a banana after a workout to give your body some much needed potassium and replenish your electrolytes, but pumpkin is even better.  Bananas have about 422 milligrams of potassium, while one cup of cooked pumpkin has about 564 milligrams.

4.  Don’t skip the seeds!  The seeds of a pumpkin rival the goodness and health benefits of pumpkin flesh.  Pumpkin seeds are rich in phytosterols which can help to lower LDL (the “bad” cholesterol) levels, which in turn, helps your heart stay healthy.  Along with your healthy heart, you may even get a happy mind.  Pumpkin seeds contain tryptophan, an amino acid important in the production of serotonin.  Serotonin helps to regulate our moods, sleep and appetite–all pretty important to an overall happy person.  Pumpkin seeds aren’t going to change your life, but they may give your body the boost it needs to focus on trying.

Here’s the short story on pumpkin—eat it.  It’s good for you.  Eat it in breads, soups, stews, stir-fries, pies or all by itself.  Even more good news—canned pumpkin may be even better for you than the original.  The canning process concentrates the pumpkin, locking in all of the vitamins and nutrients that pumpkin is famous for; and the process of cooking the pumpkin also makes it easier for the body to process and absorb (the same is true of tomatoes!).  What are some of your favorite ways to eat pumpkin?  Drop us a line on our Facebook  or Twitter pages and let us know!

Apparently, climate change and the resulting warmer temperatures and increasing carbon dioxide are extending our fall allergy season.  We can almost hear you groaning, and we’re right there with you.  Normally, the fall allergy season ends with September, but experts are predicting it to last through October this year.  So, what can you do besides run out for more Claritin?  You might just be able to hit your local farmer’s market!

Ever heard of the “Crucifer family”?  It’s not as scary as it sounds.  Some members of the crucifer family are cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli and bok choy.  The cool thing about this family of veggies is that they’ve been to shown to clear up blocked sinuses.  The veggies contain quercetin, a natural antihistamine; and some of them, broccoli, for instance, also contain a nice amount of vitamin C.  The RDA of vitamin C/day is 500 mg; one cup of raw broccoli will give you 80 mg.  Not bad for a healthy, delicious side, huh?  Every fall and winter, we hear a lot about another crucifer—kale.  Kale can also be an allergy helper because, in addition to its great crucifer qualities, it also contains carotenoids, which are rich in a form of vitamin A that is thought to improve allergy symptoms.  Studies have shown that people with low vitamin A reserves are more likely to have allergies, so it can’t hurt to build those stores up with a nice green dinner (or lunch!).  You can also try some collard greens—they’re loaded with carotenoids as well.  For a bonus of nutrients, use the water you cook the greens in to make soups or even rice, so you don’t lose a drop of nutrients.

You might want to wear a warning label to use these next veggies to fight the stuffies.  Onions and garlic contain lots of that quercetin that we mentioned above, which acts as an antihistamine, as well as an anti-inflammatory agent.  Why is that a good thing?  Anything to reduce the swelling of tissues in your body when your nose is stuffy is a win!  Warn your friends, eat up or run out for some supplements of these two smelly saviors—you’ll reap the benefits.

Fall’s favorite color, orange, might also be your favorite color if you have fall allergies.  Two popular fall flavors, pumpkin and carrot, are also rich in carotenoids, the vitamin that we mentioned before when we talked about kale.  Pumpkin isn’t only used to flavor your coffee, either.  You can make soups with it, pair it with beef for a main dish, or (of course!) bake it in a pie!  Carrots are great just steamed and eaten (and this happens to be a GREAT way to get the most vitamin A and beta-carotene out of them), but you can also eat them raw, dipped in dressing or sliced on a salad.  And for a vitamin C boost, grab some celery!  You can eat it raw or cook it without losing nutrients (bonus!).

Some of these fall favorites, great as they may be, are on the Dirty Dozen list of fruits and veggies that retain the most pesticide residue.  Check the list to find out which ones you should always be buying organic, and then load up your diet, stockpile that vitamin A and power up with vitamin C!  May the force of natural foods be with you this allergy season!

There’s been a lot of talk lately about BVO (Brominated Vegetable Oil) in different packaged beverages; in fact, just last week, we blogged about food and drink ingredients that have been banned in many countries but are still legal in the US.  BVO happens to be one of those substances.  BVO is a vegetable oil that has the element bromine bonded to it; and it is currently used in many citrus-based drinks to keep citrus flavors from separating out.  The high density of BVO helps the natural fat-soluble citrus flavors stay suspended in the drink, and it’s been used in the beverage industry since 1931.

In 1958, BVO was “generally recognized as safe” by the FDA, but in 1970, that distinction was withdrawn.  There are currently restrictions on the use of BVO in food and drinks, but it is allowable.  Some common drinks that have contained (or currently do contain) BVO are Mountain Dew, Fanta, Powerade, Fresca, Squirt, and Gatorade.  Gatorade (a product of PepsiCo) was petitioned in 2012 to stop adding BVO to its sports drinks.  The argument was that since Gatorade is already sold sans BVO in countries where BVO is banned, there was already a formula for the drink; therefore, producing that same formula in the US would be no great hardship.  In January 2013, PepsiCo agreed to stop using BVO in Gatorade but still adds it to their product, Mountain Dew.

So, what’s the big deal with BVO?  It stems from the addition of bromine (which is also found in brominated flame retardants).  It appears that bromine builds up in the fatty tissues of the body.  There have been some reports of memory loss and skin and nerve damage by those drinking excessive amounts of soda containing BVO (2 liters or more/day), but more research is needed to confirm these reports.  At any rate, drinking 2 liters of any kind of soda/day is not recommended by anyone.  Early studies show that the build-up of bromine in the body can cause hormonal issues, which can lead to problems with the development of the brain in children, infertility, thyroid function, and possibly cancer.

There are alternatives that beverage manufacturers can use, but the better choice is to reduce (or eliminate) the amount of soda and sports drinks containing BVO that you ingest.  The better choice, as most of us know, is water.  At the very least, take a look at the ingredients on any citrus-flavored beverage that you consider drinking.  The effects of small amounts of BVO are still being studied, so for now, avoidance is your best bet.

How do you feel about additives like BVO in your food and beverages?  Go to our Facebook or Twitter pages and let us know!