Monday, October 25, 2010

Beauty from The Outside In, Know-How on Raw Food

Raw food and beauty

The raw food diet is a very effective way to ensure flawless skin for yourself. Many people have accepted the strict raw food regime mainly because of this extraordinary effect. The raw food diet gives you great skin and makes you look younger than ever before.

Cooking destroys many important enzymes that are present in the food material. Apart from the enzymes, the extremely high temperatures in which cooking is done results in the destruction of many important nutrients as well. Thus, when you consume the cooked food, the enzymes present in your own body are used up. Raw Food does not let this happen. The enzymes present in the raw food help in the process of digestion.

Thus, by consuming raw food, you are getting more enzymes in. papaya and sprouts very rich in enzymes.

Antioxidants are another important thing present in raw food like carrots, apricots and berries. Berries have antioxidants that encourage collagen formation and carrots have beta-carotene antioxidants that protect the skin from sun damage.

The function of the antioxidants is to fight the free radicals that do a lot of damage to the skin, hinder collagen production and result in wrinkles and premature aging. The raw food also protects the skin from harmful rays of the sun. Many citrus fruits, like lemon, grapefruit and orange also help fight the free radicals.

Coenzyme Q10, also called CoQ10, is a great antioxidant that fights open radicals and aging. Raw food like Broccoli, peanuts and spinach are rich in them.

Anti oxidant like alpha lipoic acid, found in spinach, tomatoes, peas and brewer's yeast, is another anti-oxidant that increases the power of Vitamin C and E and encourage the energy production in the body.

Sulfur, a material needed in the production of good skin, tresses and nails, is a mineral. The sulfur present in natural food is said to be destroyed during cooking. The raw food rich in sulfur are asparagus, pumpkin seeds, red pepper, garlic, onion etc.

Silicon, a mineral that decreases in content with age, is required for good skin, hair, nails and bones. Green leafy vegetables and fruits like apples cherries etc are the best source of this mineral.

Different green leafy vegetables, bell pepper etc are rich in a chemical present in plants called Phytochemicals. These are magic chemicals with anti-aging properties.

Vitamin E is also good for the skin and is found aplenty in nuts and seeds.

Selenium is a material, which prevents the skin from sagging. It is present in garlic, onions and shallots.

Skin is an organ. And when the body needs to throw off poison, it passes out throughout the skin. Sticking to a raw food diet and taking in loads of water ensures proper detoxification. Seaweed is very rich in minerals and assists the body in detoxification.

Thus, for great skin, eat a lot of healthy raw food along with at least 8 glasses of water per day!