What Are The Health Benefits Of Eating Raw Food?
Consuming raw food has numerous benefits to our health. Raw food contains it's own enzymes so therefore the body does not have to produce it's own enzymes in order to digest that food. There is are a finite amount of enzymes that the body can produce in a certain time period to digest
food, so by consuming food raw, it places less demand on the body's "enzyme producing" resources.
So, by sparing the body into producing its own digestive enzymes, more enzymes can be available to become metabolic ones increasing energy levels. If the body's demand for food digesting enzymes is not met, then problems with nutrient absorption can occur. This can lead to symptoms such as indigestion, flatulence and nausea.
Raw food, by definition, has not been cooked therefore much of the produces goodness in the form of vitamins and minerals has not been de-natured by cooking. As a result it is suggested that meals consisting of raw food only should be eaten every so often to ensure a good supply of vitamins and minerals.
There are four classes of enzymes, which include:
Digestive Enzymes
As their name suggests, digestive enzymes help to digest food. They are produced predominantly in the digestive system and examples include trypsin, lipase and amylase.
Metabolic Enzymes
Metabolic enzymes, once again as their name suggests, are responsible for speeding up the chemical reactions responsible for metabolism. They are also known as catabolic enzymes, as they are responsible for the breakdown of glucose and fat for energy and also anabolic enzymes as they are required for protein synthesis.
Food Enzymes
These enzymes are enzymes that are contained in the food itself mainly raw food as enzymes in cooked food are destroyed. Food enzymes help to digest food and therefore help the body in the digestion process by placing less of a demand on the digestive system to produce it's own enzymes.
Antioxidant Enzymes
Antioxidant enzymes play a vital in controlling the harmful effect free radicals have on the body. Antioxidant enzymes help to deactivate free radicals which if present, can damage cells.