[ronb]

Re grains - they're harder to digest, so if one goal of a raw food diet is to make digestion easier....I cut them out. Not suggesting that this is a universal thing to do. I am now very aware of my digestion, and i know that when i eat cooked food of any sort, or grains etc - it takes a few days instead of a few hours to move through...with constant processing. The nice thing about the raw diet is that food is digested within a few hours and afterwards the energy usually being used to digest is available for the rest of the body....that sounds a bit clinical as if i'm measuring...but i can actuallly feel the difference.

Regarding the comment about how one's body CAN'T digest raw food, eg vegetables fruits sprouted grains etc - that's wrong. Cooking above 120 degrees kills the enzymes that are IN the food that help one's own digestion break the food down. Raw food theorists tell you that cooked food is a whole lot harder to digest because it's without those enzymes, essentially the food is dead fiber with some nutrients, rather than a live enzyme rich food. Think about the difference between digesting a decent salad vs a hunk of lamb, no matter how well prepared - what sits in your gut for longer?

Re the query about sleep - I now am completely rested after 5 - 6 hours of sleep, which is very solid sleep, as opposed to before when i could sleep 7 - 9 hours waking up a few times at night. Because your body isn't working so hard during the day it requires less sleep....and because it's not still digesting stuff at night...better quality of sleep.

I know it sounds like a lot of wacko stuff, and i was not all that convincable except by having the experience myself. Note - that i got the suggestion from my physician (who is WAY out there though...but I trust him because everything he said was accurate...this guy was quite scary, but in a good way....the first time i saw him, in huge (back) pain, he put his hands on my feet and said...."you're alergic to x y & z, you don't drink coffee or tea but do eat chocolate etc etc, he knew exactly what was going on with me. I then went to a more "normal" doc and had tests, and everything the first guy said was completely accurate...just from careful observation / energy awareness etc, and a deep understanding of ayurveda).

Anyway....other benefits of the raw food thing for me have been a lot of small things clearing up that i just assumed was due to aging etc...I have a pretty vigorous daily physical practice, and since i made this dietary switch, i've made more progress with that than in the 4 previous years. Was quite astounding (and measurable ie against my training logs and notes, etc)