Raw foodism

Raw food in a broader sense includes any fresh, unheated food of both plant and animal origin. In a narrower, but linguistically dominant sense, the term only unheated or even completely unprocessed food of plant origin says.

Definition

Explanatory dictionary of the German language as well as encyclopedias and dictionaries in the Bibliographic Institute define raw as a vegetable food consisting of raw ( uncooked ) fruits and vegetables.

According to the definition of the Giessen Raw Food study of the 1997 raw food diet is a diet, " which is largely or exclusively unheated vegetable (also animal ) food contains ." There will be food involved, the process-related elevated temperatures are exposed (eg, honeycomb or extracted honey and cold pressed oils ), as well as food, in whose preparation a certain heat input is required ( eg, dried fruit, dried meat and fish, and certain types of nuts ). In addition, (eg meat and fish), raw fish such as sashimi or raw meat such as beef tartar and vinegar and milk and sour vegetable be part of the raw food diet cold-smoked products. However, there is no consensus on this definition. There are the German-speaking several raw food diet teachings, whose representatives have their own definition.

Choice of food

The diet with 100 % pure raw food can be vegan, vegetarian or omnivorous. It is crucial that the food will not heat treated.

For vegan raw food diet include fruit and fruit, vegetables, everything edible leafy greens, herbs (especially weeds ), avocados, olive oil, nuts and seeds, mushrooms, milchsauervergorene foods like raw sauerkraut and others who have not been pasteurized. As part of a vegan raw food the chlorophyll contained in leafy vegetables is the main basis of a functioning pure raw food diet - even to the need for proteins to cover.

The vegetarian raw food diet may also include raw milk cheese and other raw milk products of all kinds and eggs. In the non-vegetarian raw food diet and animal products (fish: salmon, tuna, herring, Bismarck herring ) are and also ham, carpaccio, tartare and other raw meats consumed (see eg Instinctotherapie ).

Raw food finds, for example, to as a salad or fruit dessert in the mixed diet as part of many menus.

Theory

By ( longer ) heating temperature-sensitive substances ( such as vitamin C, chlorophyll or unsaturated fatty acids ) are destroyed and their content in the diet thereby decreases, at the same time, the content of substances for which only arise by heating to a greater extent, such as acrylamide. When heating fat produced numerous decomposition products such as conjugated fatty acids, polymerized triglycerides and their degradation products ( free short chain fatty acids, mono-and diglycerides, aldehydes, ketones, polymers, cyclic and aromatic compounds ).

The benefits of raw food are seen in

• That this will also heat-sensitive or unmodified native "ideal " materials are included in the diet, in particular secondary plant substances and vitamins, enzymes, fats and unrefined carbohydrates and denaturing proteins or amino acids.
• That this reaction products formed during the heating of food (for example, heat-denatured proteins), not recorded.

The so-called Verdauungsleukozytose, which is considered as a load of the body by the immune system, to thereby be avoided.

According to the ancient Indian philosophy of ahimsa (Sanskrit word for nonviolence ) the pure fruit diet ( Frugivore ) creates a perfect harmony.

Today in Iran and India are nations known to feed exclusively on raw foods, ( the spiritual roots of Ayurveda).

It is also alleged that the Hunzukuc in the Hindu Kush and the Matyodi in Southeast Africa (Zimbabwe ) fed on raw food exclusively, but the reports seem - at least over the Hunzukuc - not to be proved or based on distortions.

Many nutritionists like Joel Fuhrman, Gillian McKeith and Colin Campbell (head of the so-called China Study ) recommend a high proportion of raw, natural foods. They see this as a precaution against many diseases of civilization. Reference is also made to the ripe old age known raw food: Norman W. Walker ( 99 ), Max Otto Bruker (92 ), John Tilden (90 ), James Caleb Jackson ( 84), Linus Pauling (93 ), Ralph Bircher (90) Walter summer (99). However, there are many counter-examples: Maximilian Bircher -Benner (72 ), Emil Drebber (70 ), Gustav Schlickeysen (70) Otto Greither (63 ), Theodor Hahn ( 59) ( the average notional life expectancy for male newborns was 2010 in Germany at 77 years and 4 months, in 2007 at 77 years and 2 months ).

According to the findings biogerontology, life expectancy can be influenced not only by the diet.

The civilization and diet-related diseases show the raw food advocates the view that the human body has not yet adapted to cooked food in the course of evolution. The us closely related chimpanzees eat according to a study by Jane Goodall on average 52 per cent of fruits and berries, 35 percent of leaves, wild plants and sprouts to 7 percent from roots, seeds, bark and gall, to 5 per cent of flowering and to one percent of small animals and insects.

Different concepts

Among the most famous raw food variants include:

• Urkost by Franz Konz, vegan, raw food diet emphasizes fruits in addition to the wild herbs and wild vegetables (eg dandelion, sorrel, nettles, etc.).
• Primal Diet by Aajonus Vonderplanitz, non- vegetarian with a greatly reduced intake of carbohydrates and emphasis on the consumption of meat, fat, freshly squeezed vegetable juices, raw milk and raw milk products.
• Instinctotherapie by Guy- Claude Burger, vegetarian or non -vegetarian possible. It is - following the instinct - eaten everything smells good and tastes in its natural state. The food is not mixed, all original, unprocessed foods are allowed.
• Fit for Life by Harvey and Marilyn Diamond, mostly vegan, almost exclusively raw food diet. As drinks are permitted only distilled water and freshly squeezed orange juice.
• Light fare after Fritz -Albert Popp, vegetarian, with an emphasis on sprouts, raw vegetables, grains, nuts, and raw milk.

The Giessen Raw Food study

The Giessen Raw Food study was conducted from 1996 to 1998 by the Department of Nutrition at the University of Giessen, led by Claus Leitz man. Their goal was to capture the different directions of the raw food in Germany as well as to investigate the feeding behavior and the health status of raw-foodists. The study participants were between 25 and 64 years old and ate at least 70% raw food. They had to be Non smoking and eat in this manner for more than 14 months. In the main phase, there were about 700 participants, complete data sets were the end of 201 people before. 63 which is fed almost exclusively of raw foods, 73 to 80%. 57 people were vegans, vegetarians 88, 56 so-called raw food omnivore who eat well ( uncooked ) meat and fish. The nutrient supply was determined by blood tests.

Key findings of the study: 57% of study participants had lower weight, only 1 % overweight. Within four years the men had on average lost nearly 10 kg, women about 12 kg, regardless of the initial weight. About a third of women under 45 years had no menstruation, so suffered from amenorrhea. The supply of vitamins A, C, E, B1, B6, folic acid, beta-carotene, selenium, and antioxidants was optimal, that was higher than the recommended guideline values ​​. For calcium, zinc, iodine, vitamin D, and vitamin B12 is a clear lack was noted. The magnesium intake through diet was adequate, although the blood levels were below the recommended values ​​. In addition, the intake of iron was not sufficient, so that 43 % of men and 15% of women suffered from anemia. It was found more frequently, the longer a study participant was already raw food.

Leitz man deduced from the study results that an almost exclusive raw food diet for health reasons is not recommended.

Ideological criticism

A percentage of raw food in the food intake is generally recommended. In contrast, the different variants of the pure raw food diet be counted among the ideological diets. The vegetarian and vegan forms an enhanced animal welfare concept is added. Be criticized for being partly based on scientific evidence principles. In addition to the ideological criticism nutritional deficiencies and health problems are criticized. A joint assessment of the raw food diet is due to the different teachings and different proportions of raw food in the respective diet ( vegan raw food, ovo - lacto -vegetarian raw food, raw food diet with raw meat and fish, some raw vegetables with or without cooked meat ) is not possible, but must be considered in each individual case. Max Rubner threw the developers of the pure raw food diet, Bircher -Benner and Kollath, a " boundless ignorance of physical, chemical and physiological knowledge " before and designated representatives of the pure raw food diet as " food sect".

Health aspects

A percentage of raw food in the diet is - among other things recommended by the German Society for Nutrition - in the form of fruit or some vegetables. An increased proportion of raw food is recommended for a diet to reduce excess weight, making the effects of the metabolic syndrome can be mitigated, such as coronary heart disease or diabetes mellitus type II. Pregnant women, infants and immunocompromised advised against the consumption of raw products.

Raw food leads compared to cooked food to a unvollständigeren digestion, which can degrade the absorption of some vitamins and trace elements, as well as deficiency diseases and flatulence favors. The cell membranes of the cells are disrupted completely by heating during cooking, which in digestion more nutrients are available ( higher bioavailability ). Important factors for the absorption of vitamins are the stability of the vitamin and bioavailability. While especially vitamin suffers C under the action of heat and is therefore added in an increased consumption of raw fruits or vegetables, vitamin E and vitamin A can be added after heating the food more from the body. Plant lectins such as stomach poisons some only be inactivated by heating, such as legumes. Consuming large amounts of raw eggs or raw egg whites can cause a biotin deficiency, since they contain egg white avidin, which can escape into unheated, the organism biotin. In raw shellfish and raw freshwater fish, the enzyme thiaminase results in consumption of larger amounts to a reduction of thiamine and thus a thiamine deficiency.

With a raw food diet can result in comparison to heated food to problems with the hygiene of the food, because the raw food diet is not disinfected by heating. When eating raw agricultural products such as fruits and vegetables can cause infections, such as with Escherichia coli (including during the epidemic HUS 2011), Salmonella typhimurium and other Salmonella, and Listeria monocytogenes. In Taiwan, it was reported infections with Angiostrongylus cantonensis the parasite after consumption of vegetable juices. Furthermore, human pathogens can be transmitted by infected people in the harvesting and processing of foods. Strategies to reduce the number of bacteria in raw vegetables include, washing under running water, peeling and lowering the fridge temperature below 7 ° C. In order to reduce cross-contamination of other food storage in separate containers in the bottom refrigerator compartment is recommended, as well as using separate utensils for raw and cooked foods and cleaning of the surfaces and utensils after contact with raw food.

In ovo - lacto -vegetarian forms of pure raw food diet, the consumption of raw milk and raw milk products such as raw milk cheese can additionally infection with Escherichia coli, listeria, hepatitis E, streptococci, Mycobacterium bovis and Mycobacterium avium, Cryptosporidium spp., Brucella spp. and Coxiella burnetii cause.

As part of an omnivorous raw food diets can cause raw beef when eating infections with E. coli, Toxoplasma gondii and mycobacteria. For raw mussels infections with noroviruses, vibrios and hepatitis A virus can occur after consumption.

A long-term pure raw food diet tends to lead to decreased values ​​of vitamin B12, vitamin D, vitamin B2, iron, iodine and zinc. Furthermore, occur frequently elevated homocysteine ​​blood concentrations and lower LDL, HDL, and triglyceride blood concentrations.

According to the German Society for Nutrition, the probability of nutrient deficiency is greater, the more the food selection is limited and the less diverse is the diet. With a vegan diet, the risk of a loss intake of energy, protein, long-chain n-3 fatty acids, iron, calcium, iodine, zinc, riboflavin, vitamin B12 and vitamin insist D. A permanently raw vegetarian diet can lead to a decrease in bone density, the typical lack of n-3 unsaturated fatty acids and vitamin B12 is associated with an increased risk of thrombosis and arteriosclerosis for vegetarians and vegans. Although some older studies have shown that with more varied raw food diet of protein and energy requirements can be met, but raw food is often implemented in practice in the form of a very imbalanced diet with severe food selection. Pregnant women, nursing mothers, children and the elderly is not recommended for a to long-term, pure raw food diet. In patients with immunosuppression, a diet of raw foods lead to increased infections.