Surely at some point you have tried the sushi, tartar, ceviche or carpaccio. And if you haven't, at least you will meet them. And what do all these dishes have in common? What are made with raw food. The point is that, beyond those recipes known throughout the globe, there is a current called "Raw food" o "raw food". Like everything in life, there are defenders and critics of this fashion that, depending on how it is carried out, can reach entail some risks to health. Do you want to know a little more about it? Attentive!
What is raw food?
The main objective of the raw food is to eat food in the most natural way possible; that is, without overheating or cooking. Well it is true that in this way natural nutrients and enzymes are preserved of food; however, as we have already pointed out, in some cases this can have negative consequences, as we will see later.
There are different types of diets that involve a raw diet. The main ones are raw vegan diet -food that does not come from animals-, raw vegetarian -they allow products such as milk, but not meat or fish-, and raw meat diet -All kind of aliment-. There are people who follow these three routines, but the last one is the least common of all, being the one that involves the most risks.
Risks of raw diets
The most important thing when it comes to eating - whatever your diet is - is that you do it in a balanced way. And that is, in the end, one of the main issues of eating raw food. "Food has to be very controlled and balanced to avoid deficiencies and possible calcium and iron deficiencies, ”said nutritionist Julieta Somodi for National Geographic. It is undeniable that the raw intake of certain foods can be beneficial to health, but “although it is true that in some cases some heat-sensitive vitamins or minerals are lost during cooking, it is easier digestibility of cooked food".
Another reason why we must thoroughly control what type of food we consume raw is because of the diseases that can lead. To name a few, the Hepatitis E., according to the representative of Spain in the network of emerging risks of the European Food Safety Authority, Juan Jose Badiola. This appears "by a virus that is transmitted by the consumption of raw or undercooked pork or wild boar products", as explained to Agencia EFE.
That is why the fashion of some of eating raw meat / fish is inadvisable since, if not cooked and treated correctly for consumption, they can carry parasites and toxic compounds that lead to disease. The same happens with raw milk -which must be pasteurized- or with eggs. With the latter, you must be very careful because they can carry diseases such as salmonellosis. Its consumption in crude -smoothies, very common to ingest them like this among people who practice a lot of exercise- or prepared -for example, in the form of mayonnaise-, they must be very controlled.
Does eating raw food have any kind of benefit?
It is true that raw food -some, not all as we have already explained-, can be beneficial for our health. We are talking mainly about certain fruits and vegetables, nuts or cereals. We already pointed out the first thing before: keep all the nutrients -covering vitamins, fiber and minerals-. Furthermore, they can be cleansers and detoxifiers and they give us a lot of vital energy.
Again, it's about maintaining a balanced diet in which you consume all kinds of foods -Treated properly-. That means that, although some may be better the more natural, there are others that are not and you have to respect and be aware of that. So much so that raw diet it is usually 60% -70% composed of raw food, and 40% -30% for treated foods. The reason for this is that a totally raw diet can cause health problems if it is not balanced, by needing nutrients that only cooked can be eaten. And you, what do you think about this trend of eating without cooking?
