Is A Raw Food Diet For You?

Interviewer: You're basically on raw food diet all the time now. Is that correct?

Paul Nison: Yes. 100 percent raw vegan diet. 

Interviewer: When you talk to other people and speak at conferences about that. What have you heard from your experiences that other people have been able to be cured from using that same kind of diet. 

Paul Nison: Well I'm always clear to say that the raw food diet or no diet is a panacea. There's no one food or one way to eat anything that's going to say this is going to alleviate all diseases and illnesses. So being clear to say that first and to make that clear with people. People aren't expecting miracles by, oh, I 'm going to switch to eating a raw food diet and get better from my disease. But I will guarantee that it will improve their condition. Because you're eliminating a lot of the issues, a lot of the things in the diet when you go to eating a raw food diet. So there not as surprised and I say a raw food diet a 100 percent might not be for everyone. So I'm very clear to leave it open for people to do the best they can do for their situation and what they're willing to do. Not everyone's willing to stop eating cooked food. And they don't have to. Cooked food is not poison and there's no special power of raw foods. It's a whole lifestyle and it's a whole diet in general that's going to make the change. Not one food or one way of eating. 

Interviewer: When it comes to raw food what's the underlying reason that's beneficial. Why is that good for our body.

Paul Nison: Well there is several reasons. First thing we have to understand is health doesn't begin with what we add to our diet it begins with what we eliminate. So we're eliminating a lot of the mucus forming foods that take place when there's a chemical change by heat in the foods. Not every food but a good amount of foods. For example fats. There are some raw fats, vegetable fat specifically that can digest pretty well. But when you heat them the body can't even recognize them. They become so damaged and it creates mucus in the body and it affects our digestion. The other thing is enzymes. When you cook a food over a certain temperature you destroy the enzymes in the food. And the enzymes is what gives the body life. That's why they call raw food, live food. So now when you're eating a food that do not have it's enzymes in it, it's known as dead food. And they say you are what you eat. So you have live food or dead food. So enzymes the most important thing. A lot of people mistakenly think that if we cook our foods that we're destroying the vitamins. Not necessarily. A lot of vitamins are preservable even when you cook them. But it's the enzymes and it's the fats that are really destroyed when you start cooking the food.

Interviewer: Are there different levels of destruction, I guess, for lack of a better word. Cause a lot of people say, well what about steaming. And compare that to baking. 

Paul Nison: Absolutely, absolutely. 

Interviewer: Can you do a little bit of that?

Paul Nison: Basically if you go over 100 and some people say 108. Some people say 110 degrees you start destroying the enzymes in the food. Now, yes, frying and microwaving are by far the worst you can do to the food. So if you are going to cook your food, steaming and baking wouldn't be bad as frying and microwaving. 

Interviewer: OK. 

Paul Nison: But in all it's still not raw and I believe raw's the best way now. Some people will say, you know there's study that say if you cook something like a tomato you might get more nutrients out of them. Well on the other hand, tomatoes the most acidic food on the plant. So for my research raw food diet is that for digestion is a great way to eat food if somebody's healthy. Now if somebody has a disease or an illness it's a completely different story. In certain cases cooked foods might be better for them than raw foods. So it, you got to look at each person on an individual basis. But if somebody's just looking for a diet that can give them what they need or get the most out of the food. Raw would be the way to go. I believe one of the key important parts of health when it comes to diet is looking for foods that are going to give us the most, while using the least amount of energy. And that would be raw food. It has the most nutrients that are not destroyed. It digest pretty easily and so on. Now cooked food will give us the least while making us work the hardest to get it. So that's why I don't believe it's the best ideal thing for us to have a lot of cooked foods in our diet. So I don't necessarily recommend everyone has to go 100 percent raw but the more the better.