raw food

[Guest guest]

Nowadays there is a trend of eating only raw food.

People who follow this trend say that raw food is healthier than cooked food.

What does Ayurveda teach about eating only (or mainly) raw food?

Is raw food really healthier?

Is raw food more sattvic than cooked food?

[Guest guest]

Raw vegetables are difficult to digest. Humans lack the four-chambered

stomach of ruminants as well as the bacteria that ferment these

starches so they can be assimilated. Non-ruminants like apes and

chimps eat raw vegetable material but do so with relative inefficiency

and thus supplement their diet with a healthy supply of raw bugs and

some game. FWIW raw grains and legumes can actually be toxic to the

gut mucosa, as in celiac disease (see grahani). Raw animal proteins

however are easily digested but there is the risk of bacterial and

parasitic infection. If anything Ayurveda is constantly concerned with

the status of agni as the foundation of health - raw foods are

recognized as weakening agni.

 

> Is raw food really healthier?

> Is raw food more sattvic than cooked food?

 

How do we define what is sattvic? Is sattva an intrinsic quality of

specific dietary articles, or is it a qualitative effect of proper

choices based on individual need and proclivities? In my opinion

sattvic foods are those that make you feel happy and healthy and do not

disturb the equilibrium of the mind. I have worked with several

vegans, some of which are students of mine, who now eat some meat or

eggs in their diet and find that they have a renewed ability to

maintain their focus and concentration, and generally speaking, feel

way more grounded and complete than before. Meat of course isn't

traditionally considered a sattvic food, but perhaps we need to modify

our criteria, esp when talking about what keeps the body healthy as

opposed to theoretical/philosophical concerns. Most raw foodists use a

lower order of logic to argue for their particular perspective,

embracing an "all or nothing" philosophy that is both dangerous and

impractical. In reality humans are omnivores and we have been cooking

out food for an awfully long time now, well before the compilation of

the Agnivesha samhita. Eating raw foods in places like India can be

dangerous of course due to ground water contamination, but conversely,

aspects of Indian cookery which require very long cooking times is

equally unhealthy. As far as plant foods go one must process them by

cooking to denature the cellulose that binds nutrients within the plant

cell - this can be achieved by juicing, or steaming. Other methods

such as frying, boiling and baking are not as efficient and will result

in a net greater loss of nutrients - the exception in stir-frying,

which is a kind of intense steaming method. Chinese cookery in this

instance is a useful addition to the "traditional" Indian diet. As for

animal products they should be either frozen in a deep freeze for at

least 2 weeks before eating raw, or cooked to an appropriate internal

temperature to kill any potential pathogens - nonetheless, this type of

cooking does not typically extend beyond 'rare' to medium 'rare.' As

for grains and legumes they can be sprouted and eaten raw, but

otherwise should be parched by heating (such as frying the basmati rice

in ghee before adding water when cooking) or fermented (e.g. idli,

sourdough, miso, using lemon when preparing rice etc.) which destroys

phytic acid that chelates minerals. Most folks fail to remember that

beans in particular are considered ant-nutrient foods in Ayurveda, and

generally have a cool, dry and light energy, best used in langhana

therapies and are not all sattvic (some are vajikarana like black gram,

kapikachu etc. but all legumes adversely affect agni). Nuts and seeds

should be eaten raw but in small quantities. Most oils and fats should

be eaten raw but some such as ghee, sesame, coconut and olive oils can

be gently heated. Most other oils however, unless they've been

refined, should not- and refined oils should be avoided because of

their high transfatty acid content and total lack of EFAs which has

precipitated gross nutrient deficiencies.

 

In terms of diet I allow my patients to eat raw vegetables, especially

when I suspect parasites, but since little of these foods are actually

absorbed they have almost zero impact upon caloric intake (with the

exception of really sweet foods like sweet corn, carrots, sweet peas

etc, which contain appreciable amounts of sugar and thus are avoided in

diabetes - madhumeha).

 

Caldecott, Cl.H., AHG

Clinical Herbalist

Wild Rose Clinic

******************************************* of Clinical Herbal Studies

Wild Rose College of Natural Healing

*******************************************

400 - 1228 Kensington Rd. NW

Calgary, AB T2N 5P6 CANADA

tel: (403) 270-0891 ext 315

fax: (403) 283-0799

email: phyto

http://www.wrc.net/phyto

*******************************************

[Guest guest]

Dear GB,

The melon rind usage information is interesting and henceforth author

can quote the practice of Yogi Harbhajan. So far, even in his family,

author is the only one who eats melon rinds too, though they have no

sweet taste.

 

Following is the additional list of vegetables, where skin of the

vegatables is separated, ground and made into a chutney by adding few

drops of lemon juice and a a piece of green chilli when grinding.

Sometime the powder of roasted groundnut is also added to chutney.

This brings in all the nutrients of skin in food. The chutney is very

tasty, but when one tastes for the first time, taste may have to

develop.

 

The list gives both latin names and names in Marathi language where

possible.

 

1. snake gourd or pointed gourd (Padval),

2. cucuzzi squash or bottle gourd (Dudhi bhopala OR Louki),

3. zucchini (Ghosale),

4. Ivy or scarlet gourd (Tondale, Coccinia indica),

5. ridge gourd (Dodaka),

6. bitter gourd (Karale, Momordica charantia, bitter taste due to the

presence of quinine),

7. some type of beans such as string beans (Chavalichya shenga also

known as green beans, snap beans, haricots verts, or cowpeas),

8. Hyacinth beans (Val papadi and red velvet variety -Reshami

Ghevada,),

9. French beans (Shravan Ghevada, Phaseolus vulgaries L), lentils

(Masur) or moth beans (Mataki),

10. Indian beans (Pavatyachya shenga, Dolichos lablab L.)

 

When one eats raw part of peel, body is unable to

digest the chlorophyl and it just acts as a fibre for scraping of the intestines. In which case one does not have to do any colon cleanse any time.

 

Dr Bhate

 

 

ayurveda, Guru Khalsa <greatyoga

wrote:

> Yogi Bhajan, who was a master yogi until he passed away 2 years

ago was my teacher. He told his students and I personally heard him

agree with you on eating peels. However, he said that 4 peelings of

food just do not digest and go through the digestive system like they

entered the system.

[Guest guest]

This is very interesting info. In Madhya Pradesh

(Vidisha) where I was born and studied upto 10th class

(HSC), we used to make an additional vegetable curry

known as 'Cheelan' from the peels of Pumpkin. The

peels were cut into thin pieces and fried on an open

pan with a little ghee or veg. oil with spices and

salt to taste. It tastes wonderful and while writing

this, my mouth has started watering.

 

Similarly, the peels of ridge gourd and bottle gourd

were used. I thank you for making me remember such

nice things of yore. I wish, these practices are

revived again for better nutrition. But we have to be

careful to avoid residues of injurious chemical

fertilizers and pesticides.

 

Hence the idea of using organically produced things

or of growing vegetables in the backyard, balconies

and rooftops is nice. I know, some persons including a

well-known surgeon's wife at Narayan Peth, Pune (Dr.

Ashok Lathi who runs the Lathi Hospital and perhaps

Dr. Bhate might know him)), have grown very good

kitchen gardens on the roofs of their houses.

 

S. M. Acharya <smacharya (AT) (DOT) co.uk>

 

--- Shirish Bhate <shirishbhate > wrote:

 

 

 

Dear GB,

 

Following is the additional list of vegetables, where

skin of the

vegatables is separated, ground and made into a

chutney by adding few

drops of lemon juice and a a piece of green chilli

when grinding.

Sometime the powder of roasted groundnut is also added

to chutney.

This brings in all the nutrients of skin in food. The

chutney is very

tasty, but when one tastes for the first time, taste

may have to

develop.

<snip>