Are raw foods a raw deal?

Better Nutrition, Dec, 2004

One of the fastest rising diet trends seems to be hot, although the temperature in the kitchen is not.

Previously popular only among those at the extreme vanguard of the natural food movement, the raw food diet has been moving out of metropolitan areas and to the hinterlands.

But what does a raw food dinner really dish up?

The food being prepared at trendy restaurants never enters an oven or touches a pan. And it is never exposed to more than 110 or 115 degrees Fahrenheit. A vast variety of dishes are prepared using dehydration, blenders and food processors. Making pasta from zucchini or dehydrating fruits is time-consuming, and many raw meals can take days to prepare.

Raw foodists say high temperatures can destroy a food's natural enzymes, which some claim are needed for digestion. Some authors also maintain that raw foods boost the immune system.

Nutritionists agree that raw vegetables and fruits should be a component of a healthful diet. But they are not sold on a diet of exclusively raw foods. Some foods--beans, for instance--are more healthful when cooked. And the food enzymes destroyed in cooking are not needed by the body, which uses its own internal digestion enzymes. Nor has any immunity improvement been conclusively proven.