Francis M. Pottenger, Jr.'s laboratory work with generations of cats fed on either cooked or raw foods concluded that a diet exclusively of raw milk and meat was the only adequate intake of nutrition which insured the maintenance of optimal health for the cats.Leslie Kenton's book, The New Raw Energy, in 1984 popularized food such as sprouts, seeds, and fresh vegetable juices, which have become staples in many different food cultures. The book brought together research into raw foodism and its support of health, citing examples such as the sprouted seed enriched diets of the long lived Hunza people, as well as Max Gerson's claim of a raw juice-based cancer cure. The book advocates a diet of 75% raw food in order to prevent degenerative diseases, slow the effects of aging, provide enhanced energy, and boost emotional balance.Restaurants catering to a raw food diet have opened in large cities, and numerous all-raw cookbooks have been published.Currently, there exist many proponents of the Raw Foods lifestyle, that have resources available on proper nutrition and transitional lifestyle diet changes.

Among them, include Matt Monarch, Angela Stokes, David Jubb Ph.D., Norman Walker Ph.D., Douglas Graham Ph.D., David Wolfe, Alissa Cohen, and Paul Nison. Vast resources, including forums, recipes, personal testimony, nutritional guides, medical information, and products exist online as well and are available for anyone interested in researching Raw Foods.In the documentary film "Supercharge Me!" an overweight woman filmed her experience of eating exclusively raw fruits and vegetables for 30 days to show the results, taking the opposite approach of, "Super Size Me." Beliefs:Common beliefs held by raw foodists:Raw foods contain enzymes which aid digestion, meaning that the body's own enzymes may work unimpeded in regulating the body's metabolic processes, and heating food above 110-120 degrees Fahrenheit degrades or destroys these enzymes in food. Eating food without enzymes makes digestion more difficult, which could lead to toxicity in the body and cause excess consumption of food, obesity and chronic disease.

Raw foods contain bacteria and other micro-organisms that affect the immune system and digestion by populating the digestive tract with gut flora. Raw foods have higher nutrient values than foods which have been cooked. Wild foods, particularly edible wild plants, are the most nutritious raw foods. Freezing food is acceptable, even though freezing lowers enzyme activity. Research: Early 20th century:A 1933 paper by E. B. Forbes says, "Cooking renders food pasty, so that it sticks to the teeth, and undergoes acid fermentation. Furthermore, the cooking of food greatly diminishes the need for use of the teeth; and thus tends to diminish the circulation of blood to the jaws and teeth, and to produce under-development of the maxillary and contiguous bones—thus leading to contracted dental arches, and to malocclusion and impaction of the teeth, with complications of great seriousness."In a 1936 work entitled Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, dentist Weston A. Price observed dental degeneration in the first generation who abandoned traditional nutrient dense foods which included unprocessed raw foods eg.un-pasteurised milk products, fruit and dried meats. Price claimed that the parents of such first generation children had excellent jaw development and dental health, while their children had malocclusion and tooth decay and attributed this to their new modern insufficient nutrient diet (which would have included a proportion of raw food).Dr. Edward Howell, an Illinois physician, wrote Food Enzymes for Health & Longevity in 1941.

Natural Foods

Natural foods are foods that are minimally processed. Natural foods do not include ingredients such as refined sugars, refined flours, milled grains, hydrogenated oils, sweeteners, food colors, or flavorings.Sucanat, stevia, raw honey, agave syrup and maple syrup are sweeteners often used in place of white sugar in a natural foods diet. Sea salt is also preferred over table salt.Proponents of natural foods diets argue that refined ingredients promote obesity, diabetes, cancer, and heart disease. Natural food movement:Natural foods were made popular in America and Western Europe during the 1970s. Its principles include avoiding artificial ingredients and 'processed' foods such as refined sugar and white flour.Food produced or sold according to the ideals of the natural food movement is sometimes known colloquially as 'health food,' although many people also use that term in a broader sense to mean any type of healthy eating.Although in modern times the natural food diet has largely been only practiced by a minority, it has frequently influenced the way the wider population eats.

Many groceries, restaurants and cookbooks utilize and promote natural foods. Natural foods are sold at natural food stores, food cooperatives, and larger chains such as Whole Foods MarketRaw foodism:Raw foodism (or 'rawism') is a lifestyle promoting the consumption of uncooked, unprocessed, and often organic foods as a large percentage of the diet. Depending on the type of lifestyle and results desired, raw food diets may include a selection of raw fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds (including sprouted whole grains), eggs, fish, meat, and unpasteurized dairy products (such as raw milk, cheese and yogurt). A raw foodist (or 'rawist') is a person who consumes primarily raw food, or all raw food, depending on how strict the diet is. Raw foodists typically believe that the greater the percentage of raw food in the diet, the greater the health benefits.Members of the raw food community claim that raw food encourages weight loss and prevents and/or heals many forms of sickness and many chronic diseases.

Critics of this nutritional approach argue that archaeological and anthropological evidence as well as medical research suggest that cooking is obligatory for humans. Background: History:The consumption of raw food is a practice among animal species. Archaeological evidence suggests that the controlled use of fire pre-dates the modern human and was first used by Homo erectus or Homo ergaster.Raw foods gained prominence throughout the 1900s, as proponents such as Ann Wigmore and Herbert Shelton claimed that a diet of raw fruits and vegetables is the ideal diet for humans. Interest in the "Raw Foods Movement" continues to grow today, and especially prevalent in the Western United States, like California where many resources are available for one to learn more about and practice a raw foods lifestyle.Artturi Virtanen (1895-1973), showed that enzymes in uncooked foods are released in the mouth when vegetables are chewed. It is believed that these enzymes interact with other substances, notably the enzymes produced by the body itself, to aid the digestion process.