If you are looking to increase your energy, lose weight, reduce your risk of heart disease, improve your digestion or improve the appearance of your skin, then Dr. Mehmet Oz recommends you try a 28-day raw food diet. Eating a raw diet means eating uncooked, unprocessed and preferably organic whole foods such as fruits, vegetables, seaweed, legumes, nuts, seeds and sprouted grains.
Why Raw is Better
Consuming raw food preserves vital nutrients, such as vitamins and minerals, because when foods are cooked above 116 degrees F or processed, some nutrients are destroyed. Heating also destroys the food's natural enzymes that are needed for optimal digestion and absorption, says Dr. Oz. The nutrients you get from food are involved in every single bodily process and your body's ability to combat infection and disease, to repair tissue and your brain's ability to think clearly, are all reliant on the proper intake of nutrients says Phyllis Balch in her book "Prescription for Nutritional Healing."
Week One
Dr. Oz divides the 28-day raw food program into four weekly intervals, and he calls the first week the Transition week. During the Transition week, he recommends eliminating red meat and all processed foods, including foods that contain white flour and any form of added sugar. Your diet should consist of raw fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds, beans and legumes, dried fruit, seaweed, whole-wheat products and grilled chicken. The only liquids you should consume are purified water, freshly juiced vegetables and fruits, and young coconut milk. Finally, he recommends you stop eating three hours before bedtime.
Week Two
Dr. Oz calls the second week the Juice it Up week. During this week, you eliminate all meat, poultry, eggs and dairy. To ensure you are getting enough calories and nutrients, he recommends you consume a lot of fresh vegetable and fruit juices, if you own a juicer, or else to consume them as smoothies.
Week Three
The third week, Dr. Oz calls the week to Go Nuts. During this time, he says you should make raw nuts and seeds a staple in your diet. He recommends soaking nuts in water before eating them because this helps to enhance their natural enzymes and aids in the digestion and absorption of their nutrients.
Week Four
Week four is Hasta la Pasta week, and you need to cut out all pasta because it is a cooked food. He recommends substituting with a raw "pasta" made from shredded zucchini, veggie meatballs and raw tomato sauce. He warns that this week will be the most challenging because it is 100 percent raw foods. Although he does not explicitly state this, eating 100 percent raw means that you need to also eliminate all whole grains, potatoes and anything else that is heated above 116 degrees F.
Considerations
Technically, Dr. Oz's 28 day raw food diet is a 7-day raw-food, and 21-day health-food diet. This does not negate its health effects however and Elson Haas says in his book "Staying Healthy With Nutrition," that a raw food diet should not be followed for an extended period of time. Haas explains that raw foods are usually low in protein, calcium, and iron -- all of which could lead to deficiency-related health problems if you follow a raw food diet for too long.
References
- The Doctor Oz Show: Raw Food Challenge
- "Prescription for Nutritional Healing 3rd edition"; Phyllis Balch; 2003
- "Staying Healthy With Nutrition"; Elson Haas; 2006
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