Benefits of a Raw Food Detox

With more and more folks interested in reversing aging, losing weight, increasing energy and just feeling better overall, there has been increasing discussion about the benefits of doing various types of cleansing and detoxifying regimens to help the body eliminate built up toxins.

Those who are proponents of living foods and their benefits are quick to say that one of the best approaches to cleansing is a raw food detox.

A frequently used illustration about why a raw food detoxification is beneficial can be better understood by looking at a baked potato. A plain baked potato is often recommended with some of the "mainstream" detox programs. However, when the potato is baked, it ends up containing more than four hundred chemical components that it did not have when in its raw form. It does not take much to see that this diet detox approach might not be best, since the desired outcome is to eliminate chemicals and toxins from the body as much as possible.

A second reason why a raw food detox can yield better results than a standard diet detox has to do with the way the body reacts to cooked foods. Most folks are totally oblivious that when cooked food enters the body, a reaction is triggered that is similar to a reaction of ingesting poison. An increased level of white blood cells is produced and sent out to protect your system.

This response is triggered by the immune system and is called leukosytosis. By eating a raw food diet, or by making sure that a minimum of fifty percent of your meal is comprised of raw foods, you can prevent this reaction. This is another strong reason why a detox comprised of raw foods will be more beneficial overall than a detox diet that is based on cooked foods.

A true raw food detox means that one hundred percent of the foods you eat are in their raw and uncooked state. Many folks find this difficult to maintain for long periods, because of social situations, family and peer pressure, or simply the inconvenience. However, most folks can successfully get through a detox period of anywhere from one to three weeks and stick to the hundred percent living raw diet.

After a few weeks, some folks decide that they love the way they feel and decide they are able to go raw for good. Others will take a more moderate approach at the end of their diet detox period and scale back somewhat, eating around eighty percent of their food raw and making allowances for some deviations. Advocates of the living foods lifestyle say that keeping your intake of raw foods at fifty percent or above can still deliver significant health benefits.

Some of the biggest benefits that come from doing a raw food detox are improved sleep and energy, lowered blood pressure and cholesterol, and weight loss, especially if followed up with a raw food lifestyle. Other benefits include less allergic responses, a boost to the immune system, and improved mood, in addition to a litany of other types of reported improvements in both mental and physical areas.