Apples: The Other Red Meat
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For the record, here's a somewhat "official" explanation of a raw food diet: "The raw food diet is a diet based on unprocessed and uncooked plant foods, such as fresh fruit and vegetables, sprouts, seeds, nuts, grains, beans, nuts, dried fruit, and seaweed. Heating food above 116 degrees F is believed to destroy enzymes in food that can assist in the digestion and absorption of food. Cooking is also thought to diminish the nutritional value and 'life force' of food."
Then, of course, there's the added bonus of being like my friend Charles "Chuck" Balcer and using your bike power to make your raw smoothies. All kidding aside, Balcer's transition to a raw food lifestyle is instructive and motivating. Since switching from a "diet of pizza, KFC, and pork fried rice," he's no longer suffers from "high blood pressure, a heart murmur, migraine headaches, high cholesterol, and pretty severe acid reflux. Chuck sez:
"In the book version of The Wizard Of Oz, the Cowardly Lion mentions how odd it is that humans cook their food first. And he's right, if you compare us to the rest of the animal kingdom. Sure, cooking is an ancient tradition that's probably been around as long as fire, but that doesn't mean it's the most ideal way to eat. Take a seed and plant it in the ground; it'll grow. Take that same seed and roast it first, then plant it. Nothing will happen. That seed is dead. When you eat raw, not only are you eating food in its freshest state without any vitamin or mineral loss, but there's a vitality in it that fire destroys."
