With about 8.3 million Americans choosing “forks over knives” and eating a meat-free diet, it is clear that we are becoming more aware of the health benefits obtainable by choosing a whole food, plant-based diet. Under the umbrella of a meat-free diet, you’ll find the raw food diet. Since the Raw Foods Movement has been garnering much interest of late, we have interviewed a local Raw Foodist, Robert Freeland, to fill us in on what raw food can do for us.

What is a Raw Food Diet?
A raw food diet is an ever-evolving process of incorporating and adding more foods in their natural state into our diet. By eating foods in their raw state, we are able to extract the ultimate from the foods’ full nutritional spectrum of benefits.

What does it involve?
Contrary to popular belief, a raw diet doesn’t mean switching to cold meals of just fruits and vegetables! When people move to a raw diet, they are incorporating food into their meals that has not been heated past a certain temperature, usually 98°F or higher. This retains the healthy enzymes and other nutritious benefits that can be destroyed by heat.

What are some of the health and nutritional benefits?
Most people on a raw food diet can’t stop talking about the many benefits, including weight loss, better skin, increased energy and digestive function, balanced hormones and mental clarity. These benefits are not just anecdotal, many comprehensive lifestyle studies—like the China-Cornell-Oxford Project, which was conducted over a 20-year period and followed 6,500 participants—have found that plant-based diets, such as a raw diet, greatly reduce the risk of chronic diseases and conditions.