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Why eat more raw foods?
I'll chop this down to a raw word version that's easy to digest for anyone. When put into simple terms even the most difficult bio-chemical lesson can be easily absorbed by the brain.
ENZYMES are why. In a nutshell.
More specifically, digestive enzymes are the ones we really want to focus our attention on right now.
Our pancreas produces digestive enzymes to battle, fight, break down, and help the body absorb nutrients from our food sources. The more processed and cooked foods we eat the more enzymes our body has to put out in order to get any nutrients out of it.
Why? Cooking food destroys enzymes.... and pretty much all nutrient content. The more you cook it, the less nutritional value it has. When you pulverize and process food enough to shove it in a box or can and label it with an expiration date you've pretty much killed every bit of recognizable life that food has... or, had.
For more reading on enzymes, I recommend The World's Healthiest Foods page on enzymes. This is a great website, when you're done reading about enzymes you really should click over to their food list. This is a great tool to bookmark for those interested in what specific nutritional value certain raw foods have.
If a pregnant woman wants more folic acid (folate), yet despises orange juice... there's asparagus!
If you're feeling run down and depressed more than usual, you may need a vitamin B kick, why not have a banana?
The fresher your foods, the more nutrients you can get out of them Not only because they HAVE more nutrients than something that's been cooked to death, but because fresh foods also provide the enzymes your body needs to get those nutrients out and absorbed into your system. Fresh and raw food do a lot of the work for you so parts of you, like your pancreas and your colon, have less of a work load.
An overworked pancreas and colon are run down and tired and susceptible to illness... like cancer.
So be kind to your body, help it out a little... or a lot! Provide yourself with the simple tools your body needs to function! Even adding just one raw food to each meal will lighten the work load on your digestive system. Keeping raw and living foods available to grab and snack on makes it easy to do!
Plant a garden! If you can't plant a garden, plant a pot. Have a fresh herb pot in your windowsill or some sprouts in your fridge. If you can grow a food, make sure the produce section of your store becomes your FIRST and LAST stop when you go grocery shopping. Keep bananas around, Apples, carrots and incorporate them into every day routines. Have one raw side dish at every meal. Chop an apple or celery stalk or throw down a hand full of baby carrots.
Adding living foods to your life can and will add life to your living!
Great post Cheri! Thank you! I definitely intend to keep lots of raw munchies prepped and on hand long after the cleanse is over.
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