Why eat raw foods in the first place? Well, there are some amazing benefits from eating a raw foods diet. After reading several books and hundreds of articles on the subject I have highlighted some of the major features of a raw foods lifestyle:

1) Resistence to disease -  Humans are the only species that cooks their food, the only ones that suffer cancer, heart disease, strokes, diabetes.Scientific evidence shows that raw vegan diets decrease toxic products in the colon (From: J Nutr 1992 Apr;122(4):924-30). Furthermore, studies have shown eating more raw foods such as leafy greens extends one’s life span, although this is probably due to the fact that you live longer when not fighting illness or disease.

2) Digestion -  Raw foods are easily digested, requiring only 24-36 hours for transit time through the digestive tract, as compared to 40-100 hours for cooked foods. This means less risk for colon and digestive cancers as well as a "lighter" feeling in your gut, and less heartburn and indigestion.

3)  Energy - Raw foods will not leave you with a tired feeling after the meal, unlike their cooked counterparts that leave you fighting the urge for naptime. Raw foods require less total sleep and achieve a more restful sleep. Some people who’ve adapted to the raw food lifestyle have noticed a change in sleeping habits to the extent of only needing 5-6 hours sleep per night! Imagine what you could do with an extra 3 waking hours per day.

4) Nutrition - Cooking destroys protein (50%) in foods, brings about loss of water content, and not to mention destroys between 50 and 80 percent of the vitamins and minerals in our food. Then there are the enzymes. Enzymes are lost when food is heated above 118 and some studies have suggested that this brings about immune dysfunction and inability to lose weight.

As you can see there are many different benefits to eating more raw foods. And it does not take a total switch to raw foods to see results. Just adding one raw meal or snack to your current diet can bring about an increase in energy and a more restful sleep. Who knows where it could take you?