| -- End Ad Box ---> | | | | regularly ate meals composed of vegetables and |
| It seems like every time you turn your head, you | | | | some chapati bread. |
| hear confusing and misleading information from every | | | | If we look at wild animals, we also see that they do |
| corner of the natural health movement. First, you | | | | not eat balanced meals. A meal for an |
| have mainstream experts who rely on | | | | orangutan might consist of nothing more than |
| outdated and inaccurate data to advise us on the | | | | rambutan (a tropical fruit) or durian (another tropical |
| subject. And then there's the raw food or natural | | | | fruit). |
| health movement itself, within which most people | | | | There is absolutely no need to worry about eating a |
| seem to disagree on what constitutes the healthiest | | | | very simple diet where most of our meals are |
| diet. | | | | composed of a few foods only. As long as we eat a |
| In this article, I will review 5 wrong assumptions | | | | large variety of food from week to week, it doesn't |
| about natural living, spread by conventional | | | | matter if our meals are not composed of |
| experts. In the second part of this article, I | | | | carbohydrates, protein and fat. |
| will expose 5 false assumptions being spread by | | | | You can't sustain yourself on just raw foods |
| various raw-food advocates and naturopaths. | | | | Most nutritionists look at the raw food diet and claim |
| From the mainstream, we hear the following... | | | | that it's impossible to sustain ourselves from |
| You have to make sure you eat enough | | | | only fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds. Letting alone |
| protein | | | | the fact that hundreds of thousands of people are |
| Without a doubt, the issue of getting enough | | | | doing just that and are still alive to tell about it, there |
| protein is the number one concern of anyone | | | | is no scientific reason to believe that we can't live on |
| switching to any kind of diet for any reason. Even | | | | raw foods. |
| though decades of vegetarian and vegan traditions | | | | Nutritionists will claim that it would be very |
| and extensive research have proven that our actual | | | | difficult to eat enough fruits and vegetables to |
| protein requirements are fairly low and easy to meet | | | | consume enough calories. |
| - as long as we eat enough food - most people who | | | | The problem is that they are still stuck with the view |
| will advise you about diet will likely make a much | | | | of cooked nutrition and its balanced view and |
| bigger deal about protein than it actually is. | | | | can't think outside the box and realize that it is |
| Bodybuilders go beyond all extremes known to | | | | actually possible to consume enough fruits and |
| humankind by consuming upwards to 350 grams of | | | | vegetables and get the calories you need. It just is a |
| protein per day, an amount that is completely off the | | | | lot of food! |
| charts and only possible through the consumption of | | | | The truth is, eating a raw food diet will mean that |
| refined protein powders. | | | | you'll be consuming more fruits and vegetables in a |
| At the same time, most people on the planet get by | | | | day than some people may consume in a week or |
| on less than 60 grams of protein a day, and many | | | | even in a month. But as you learn to eat this way, |
| people in these cultures possess wiry and explosive | | | | you'll find that this huge amount of fruits and |
| strength that would put most gym goers to shame. | | | | vegetables is actually the right amount. |
| In the end, the evidence is still conclusive: as long as | | | | You should never expose your skin to the sun |
| you eat enough calories to meet your needs, you will | | | | Although we know that too much sun isn't good for |
| at the same time consume enough protein, even if all | | | | us, the advice we get from dermatologists these |
| you eat are fruits and vegetables. | | | | days defy all reason. Apparently, we should never |
| There is no reason to make protein more important | | | | expose our skin to the sun unless we are fully |
| than it actually is. | | | | protected by chemical lotions. |
| You need to eat a balanced diet | | | | Did you forget the important fact that sunlight is |
| According to our nutritionists, a balanced meal | | | | essential to our well-being, and that regular sun |
| is composed of carbohydrates, protein and fat in the | | | | exposure at safe periods of the day are actually |
| right proportions. | | | | beneficial to your health, even in 2006? |
| A meal of bread (carbohydrate), with cheese | | | | You need the sun. The question is just how much! |
| (protein), and a salad containing a dressing of olive oil | | | | If it's natural it's good for you |
| (fat) and a desert (carbohydrate) would be, in their | | | | The word natural has been abused more than |
| opinion, a balanced meal. | | | | any other term in the food industry. We now have |
| That meal might be a digestive disaster for most | | | | natural potato chips, natural coffee and |
| people, but that aside, we don't find any evidence | | | | natural beer. |
| that our bodies need to receive nutrition in such a | | | | The fact that these foods come from a factory |
| manner. | | | | should make it obvious that they are definitely not |
| If we look all around the world, we see different | | | | natural, nor healthy. |
| cultures that have enjoyed excellent health eating far | | | | The truth is, even if a food were natural, it wouldn't |
| from balanced meals. In China, rice with | | | | automatically make it healthy. There are plenty of |
| vegetables is a meal. In the Great North, the Eskimos | | | | plants and mushrooms that grow in the wild that are |
| have lived on almost nothing but meat. The Hunzas | | | | not only perfectly natural, but also deadly! |