Raw Foodism

Now, I love me my smoothie. I'm even into experimenting with "green smoothies". Especially seeing that I am overweight, would like to lose some, and the stuff just tastes yummy. In fact, among all the stuff that's supposed to be healthy, home-made smoothies are my top favourite.

But.

Seriously, some people just overdo it. "Going raw" has become a marketing fad recently, and the logic some folks use is just... awful. "The strongest animals are vegetarian, so we should be vegetarian too", "Cooking destroys the enzymes, therefore don't cook your food", "If you plant the apple in the ground, it can grow a tree, so the apple is still alive, while processed food isn't."

Seriously. I'm doubtful about processed food as the next person, and I'm pretty sure that most meat that we eat is really harmful - but that's not because meat is bad in and of itself, it's because of the industrial mode of production.

I mean, look at this dude:

Come on... why do we always have to make a damn religion out of everything??

edited 27th Apr '11 6:36:10 AM by vijeno

... or this guy:

I like processed food. Pasta is heavily processed food, and it is also one of the most healthy sources of carbs around. So is red wine, and a moderate amount of it has been proved again and again to be very good for heart health.

The problem is not processed food, it is unhealthy food, which can be either raw or cooked: for example, many kinds of wild mushrooms - even some of those which are theoretically edible - will mess your liver something fierce if you have too many of them.

But they seem to know where they are going, the ones who walk away from Omelas.

^ Yeah, the thing about processed food is that it's a rule of thumb, not a real law. Basically, the more substances are printed on the package, and the more of those you can't understand without a degree in chemistry, the more probable that food is to be unhealthy.

But of course, quite a few things aren't edible in a raw state, or are more healthy when cooked.

Still, I think, for a short time when your goal is to lose weight, raw fruit and vegetable smoothies are quite a good option.

As for meat meat, though, I'm pretty certain that all industrially processed meat is pretty bad. Antibiotics in my beef can hardly be good for me.

Btw, love your sig!

edited 27th Apr '11 7:00:21 AM by vijeno

I think there was a wife swap episode with this gimmick. They drank raw eggs.

Read my stories!

^^ Yeah, meat is a delicate issue. I think that free range meat, or high quality meat in general, is mostly fine, but obviously one has to be careful. But in any case, good meat is seriously expensive, so this regulates itself :)

Thanks for the comment about the signature!

edited 27th Apr '11 8:50:42 AM by Carciofus

But they seem to know where they are going, the ones who walk away from Omelas.

I like how they hold up South East Asia and Africa as examples of people living in healthy socieities.

THEY LIVE TO BE A HUNDRED!!!!!!!!*

Charlie Tunoku is a lover and a fighter.

I watched the first video while eating Lays potato chips. I should probably really start eating better and all that, but raw foodism seems extreme.

Raw food can be good or bad on a food-by-food basis, some (like broccoli) are more nutritious cooked, others (like carrots) are more nutritious raw.

The only bad thing about meat is if you get cuts with a lot of fat, much like eating fatty vegetables, lean meat is among the healthiest foods you can eat. Er… there is actually one bad thing, now that I think of it, though it's a bit specific. Some types of seafood (depends on species and fishery, for instance, tuna are among the worst, while sardines are among the best) have heavy metal contamination, so regular consumption should be controlled.

Eric,

of course, much of that contamination is the fault of human beings so...yeah, we have ourselves to blame.

I'm kind of amused by ignorance of the fact that there's some foods which actually need to be cooked and/or processed in some way to become safely edible.

(For instance, kidney beans are poisonous if not cooked, and maize needs minor processing to unlock its vitamins.)

Apparently I am adorable, but my GF is my #1 Groupie. (Avatar by Dreki-K)

I'm still waiting for this food fad to go away.

I'm kind of amused by just people in general who try to go for any sort of "new-agey" diet, if you know what I mean. Some of the unhealthiest people I know are vegans who don't realise that they need to plan their meals to get the protein and all the vitamins and minerals they need, since by cutting out meat and dairy, they've lost most people's major source of them. Vegan doesn't automatically equal healthy, you guys; you've gotta put some thought into it.

Vegan is not a healthy diet, actually. Without dietary supplements a vegan will eventually die of malnourishment.

Long story short, humans are just not meant to be one hundred percent herbivores. (Being a vegetarian is fine because even as a vegetarian you're still eating animal products.)

edited 27th Apr '11 11:23:26 PM by annebeeche

Banned entirely for telling FE that he was being rude and not contributing to the discussion. I shall watch down from the goon heavens.

Well, vegetarian is more or less okay for most people, but it's still not the optimal diet. The optimal diet is mostly balanced between animal products and veggies, unless your doctor has you on something else for medical reasons (like ketogenic diets for epileptics).

"I don't know how I do it. I'm like the Mr. Bean of sex." -Drunkscriblerian

Yay, a thread about fad diets turning to veganism. This has never been done before.

The nonsense about cooking destroy enzymes must be stopped. Because digestion destroy enzymes too, like any other proteins.

If a chicken crosses the road and nobody else is around to see it, does the road move beneath the chicken instead?

I think even cave men figured out that some food is much better cooked.

Is using "Julian Assange is a Hillary butt plug" an acceptable signature quote?

Aw, but I like using them in soups...

While carrots have more nutrients while raw, cooking it makes it easier for the body to absorb the said nutrients.

edited 28th Apr '11 12:24:14 AM by Blurring

If a chicken crosses the road and nobody else is around to see it, does the road move beneath the chicken instead?

Well and also, "less nutritious" doesn't equal not nutritious at all. Just like living only off ice-cream might be a bad idea, but having one once in a while probably won't kill you.

I really resent completely flawed logic, such as "some strong animals are vegetarian, therefore humans should be vegetarian too" or "it got slaughtered, so it's dead, while the apple is still alive".

While ignoring the fact that those vegetarian animals have vastly different physiology and biochemistry compared to a human.

If a chicken crosses the road and nobody else is around to see it, does the road move beneath the chicken instead?

Or that some other, equally "strong" animals, are pure carnivores. Or that the definition of "strong" might be slightly subjective (are insects strong? After all, they've been around for quite a while).

Hmmm, "possessing viable seeds = healthy 'living' food" - so those seeds that only become viable after being activated by the digestive juices of some animals and then shat out (thus ensuring that only seeds that have been transported a distance away from the parent plant and provided with a healthy dollop of manure will ever get to grow) must be a good healthy living food as well, neh?

I've also never understood why some people frown upon individually-wrapped cheese slices (compared with the blocks of cheese) and say that they won't eat "processed cheese". They think the blocks of cheese aren't processed?

Hmm... is it possible that those individual slices of cheese are hardened in much the same way as margerine is, therefore containing lots of trans-fats? It would make some sense then.

The part about the apple is really just basic vitalism, in my view. It's a shortcut through all logic to arrive at a predetermined conclusion. Ugh!

edited 28th Apr '11 6:14:54 AM by vijeno