Introduction to Raw Living Foods
A diet of whole, ripe, raw, organic fruits and vegetables, sprouted nuts, seeds, and grains will
greatly increase one’s chance of achieving optimum health.
One of the most important keys to excellent health is excellent digestion.
The human body requires enzymes to digest food. Whole raw foods contain naturally occurring
enzymes—enough to digest each particular food. Enzymes required for digestion are present
within the food.
Sprouted nuts, seeds, and grains are living foods. Through the process of soaking the seed, nut, or
grain, the enzyme inhibitors are removed and germination can occur. This improves digestion,
increases the life force and vitality in the food, and adds more nutritional value.
Whole raw foods are rich in phytonutrients and micronutrients that give plant foods their color.
Research suggests that phytonutrients can help reduce your risk of heart disease, strokes, certain
cancers, and type II diabetes, slow the aging process, and preserve eyesight and brain function.
Organically grown living foods provide the highest quality of usable nutrition, naturally support
the digestive system, and support good immune function. Through the ingestion of these life-
giving foods, the body naturally tends to be more alkaline—another key factor in building excellent health.
The SAD (Standard American Diet) of meat, bread, dairy, processed/cooked foods, caffeine, and
alcohol creates an acid state in the body and can cause a variety of health problems. The human
body requires a predominately alkaline state to absorb nutrients and oxygen efficiently and to have
the ability to expel toxins.
Other important keys are pure ionized water, sleep, rest, yoga, exercise, laughter, and love!
Suggested reading:
Conscious Eating by Gabriel Cousens,
Vision Books International: Santa Rosa, CA, 1992
Survival Into the 21st Century by Viktoras Kulvinskas Omangod Press: Wethersfield, CT, 1975
The Hippocrates Diet and Health Program by Ann Wigmore Avery Publishing Group; Wayne, NJ, 1984
12 steps to RAW FOOD Victoria Butenko
Living Cuisine by Renee Loux Underkoffier Avery Books, NY,
History of raw food
Eating Purely Raw Food is not the ‘Newest Thing’. In fact, it’s the oldest thing. Humans started out eating only raw foods. We began to cook only after we mastered fire. From the beginnings of recorded history, in countries like Iran and India, there have always been people who ate only raw vegan foods.
In ancient Greece, Pythagoras founded a philosophical and religious school whose inner circle, known as the ‘Mathematikoi’, were required to be vegetarians. One student there, Hippocrates, is considered the father of medicine and the Hippocratic Oath. He is also famous for saying “Let food be your medicine”. Pythagoras and Hippocrates are believed to have eaten primarily raw vegan foods.
In 1930, Dr. Paul Kouchakoff, at the Institute of Clinical Chemistry in Lausanne, Switzerland showed us that our bodies “normal” toxic reaction to eating, know as “Digestive Leukocytosis”, occurred only when cooked food was eaten. He found that ‘Digestive’ Leukocytosis (the immediate increase in our white blood cell count) did not occur if plant foods were eaten in their natural, unheated state. Leukocytosis is the stress response found normally when the body is invaded by a dangerous pathogen or trauma. He showed us that we have no stress response when we eat Purely Raw foods!
In 1966, A. Hovannessian published “Raw Eating” in Iran. He had healed his sick child with raw food. They both went raw, guided only by intuition, without any outside information or support. His book is a motivating polemic which deems that raw food is the proper diet for us all, and cooked food is our biggest health problem.
In America, Viktoras Kulvinskas was working with Ann Wigmore, discovering what eating raw can do for very ill people. They eventually began curing people of ‘incurable’ diseases, by feeding them wheat grass juice, and other raw foods. They opened The Hippocrates Institute in the late 60’s, which is still going strong today.
In 1975, Viktoras Kulvinskas published ‘Survival into the 21st Century’, the first Western raw food book. Slowly, raw food began to nudge at the main steam. “The New Raw Energy” by Leslie Kenton, published in 1984, was widely read. Other raw food healers, like Max Gerson also began curing cancers with fresh fruit and vegetable juice.
%50 greens & vegies
%25 fresh and dry fruits
%25 seeds, nuts, sprouts, algae,