Article:A Food Chart Guide to Which Raw Foods Are Best

A Food Chart/Guide to Which Raw Foods Are Best
Copyright © 2004 Nora Lenz

FOOD CLASSIFICATION	COMMON TYPES	TO EAT OR NOT TO EAT?
FRUIT	All types	Among the thousands of fruits, there are but a mere handful that are harmful to the human body when eaten in their fresh, raw, whole, unprocessed state, in reasonable and healthful quantities and to satisfy genuine hunger. Allow your taste preferences to guide you.
NUTS AND SEEDS	Almonds Pecans Coconuts Brazil Nuts Pistachios Macadamias Cashews Filberts Peanuts Sunflower seeds Pumpkin seeds Flax seeds Sesame seeds	In nature, nuts are encased in a shell which makes eating them slow and laborious. Early humans with other more appealing and expedient food options would likely have selected them over nuts. It can be assumed from this fact and from what we know about how difficult they are to digest that we are not designed to subsist on large quantities of nuts and/or seeds. Nuts fill the strong desire during transition for dense, concentrated foods, so they should be eaten to the extent that they keep you from eating less healthful foods, but it's best to continually try to cut back. When possible, obtain them unshelled. The best varieties are almonds, filberts, pecans, macadamias and young coconuts (mature coconut is hard to digest due to its high starch content). Digestibility of nuts and seeds can sometimes be improved by soaking. Peanuts should never be eaten, even raw, as they contain toxic compounds. Cashews are heated for removal from their shell so are not truly raw. Flax and sesame seeds are difficult to chew well so they remain largely indigestible.
VEGETABLES		Generally, in spite of the unqualified stamp of approval these foods get from mainstream nutrition "experts", the fact is that most vegetables are not optimal human food. If our palates and senses weren't perverted by years of abusive eating practices, we would be able to judge their lack of suitability by their unappealing taste, smell and appearance. Lacking this skill, we can compensate with our knowledge that these foods are difficult to digest and even toxic in some cases. Most are fine for the transition process but as you continue to make improvements, the following information should be taken into consideration.
Cruciferous Vegetables	Broccoli Cauliflower Cabbage Brussels sprouts Kale Bok choy (greens) Collard greens Spinach	All are disqualified as optimal or even appropriate due to high cellulose content. Our bodies have limited ability to access the nutrients encased in the cellulose structure, so most of what we eat of them must only be eliminated from the body, which unnecessarily taxes our eliminative processes. These vegetables also contain irritating and indigestible oxalic acid and are bland or unpleasant to eat in their raw state. The exception in this category is young or baby spinach, which has what most people describe as a pleasant flavor and is relatively easy to digest in moderate quantities since its oxalic acid content is low at this point in its growth.
Tubers	Carrots Turnips Beets Jicama Potatoes Yams Kohlrabi	All vegetables that grow underground are modified roots. One job of a root in nature is to store nutrients for the plant above. Starch is one of nature's best food storage mechanisms, and it promotes storage on our bodies, too (fat). These foods are too excessively high in starch and cellulose to be considered optimal. They are also low in nutrients. They are commonly cooked because of their indigestibility in the raw state, which is no answer because cooking causes harmful oxidation and destruction of nutrients. While these foods are not optimal, they can be helpful in transition (eaten raw) because, like nuts, they can provide a feeling of "fullness".
Beans, legumes and peas	Lentils Navy beans Pinto beans	These foods must be cooked to be palatable, which automatically disqualifies them as being human food. Their digestibility is low due to their complex make-up and concentrated protein, fat and starch content, which causes them to putrefy and ferment in our bodies, which results in gas production.
Non-sweet fruits	Tomatoes Cucumbers Bell peppers	These are optimal foods. They are water and nutrient rich. Eat all you desire, especially if you want foods that are nutritious and juicy but low in sugar. Note that "nightshades" have an undeserved negative reputation due to the fact that other parts of the plant, such as the leaves, are poisonous to humans. The fruit is NOT. Green bell peppers are unripe and should never be eaten (all other colors are good).
Squashes	Pumpkin Zucchini Acorn Butternut Spaghetti Etc.	These foods are high in cellulose, difficult to digest, low in sugar and flavorless. Similar to tubers in digestibility. They are generally cooked and flavored to make them palatable and digestible.
Lettuces	Romaine	An optimal food, water and nutrient rich, easily digested when well-chewed.
	Iceberg	This is an underrated food. Watery, pleasant and even sweet tasting, it combines well with non-sweet fruits (as romaine and other lettuces do), and is easy to digest.
	Red and Green leaf	Slightly bitter taste suggests less digestibility than romaine or iceberg, not optimal but acceptable as determined by personal preference.
	Wild or exotic greens	Includes: dandelion, frisée, watercress, maché, escarole, mustard greens and many others. Most have slightly to moderately bitter taste suggestive of less digestibility and toxic constituents. Wild greens that have a pleasantly mild or nutty flavor are desirable and appropriate (for example, Miner's lettuce).
Sprouts	Alfalfa Sunflower Buckwheat Wheat grass Bean sprouts (all kinds)	These foods are highly over-rated. They are high in cellulose, low in energy value, limited nutrient value, and have some toxic compounds. For those with an acquired taste for sprouts, they are fine for transition. They are not optimal, however, and do not deserve the favorable reputation they enjoy.
Herbs	Basil Parsley Oregano Sage Fennel Etc.	Used to "enhance" the flavor of foods or to suppress the symptoms of disease. Do not qualify as human foods. Contain irritating alkaloids and other noxious chemicals that the human body cannot digest
Toxic "Foods"	Onions Leeks Garlic Radishes Arugula Radiccio Hot peppers (all varieties) Scallions Shallots Ginger	Contain toxic acids and alkaloids that irritate tissues and harmfully excite nerve endings. These foods are eaten only for the abusive thrill reaction they force upon the body, reactions which are easily mistaken as "energizing" the body, when in reality the body is losing its energy stores and creating unnecessary metabolic waste as it eliminates the offending substances. Best completely avoided, even in transition.
Miscellaneous Vegetables	Corn	Too starchy to be optimal but an acceptable transition food when eaten fresh. Fresh corn off the stalk is usually sweet, indicating an easily digested high sugar content, but it soon turns starchy and less digestible within a few hours of picking.
	Asparagus	Lower than corn in starch content, but still too much to be optimal. High cellulose content and slightly bitter. Acceptable in transition.
	Celery	An optimal food! Water and mineral rich, a highly digestible, highly alkaline food that combines well with everything except melons.
	Bok choy (stalks)	Similar to celery, a bit more dense in cellulose, slightly bitter taste but very rich in water; an acceptable food.
	Rhubarb	Acidic stalk vegetable, unpalatable in raw state
	Mushrooms (all varieties)	Difficult to digest, low in water and nutrients, low in energy value, sometimes poisonous. Acceptable in transition for entertainment or variety purposes.
	Avocado	An excellent food but high fat content requires that it be eaten in small to moderate amounts.
	Olives	Also high in fat so should be eaten in moderation and ONLY if tree-ripened and sun-dried. Often bitter, especially if not allowed to fully ripen.
	Artichokes	High in starch, bitter, bland, unpalatable in raw state, an unredeemable, useless food for humans when other alternatives are available.
	Okra	Not optimal, high in cellulose, starchy, hard to digest, low in available energy, edible in transition as preference dictates as a "bulking" food.
	Eggplant	High in cellulose, similar to zucchini, unpalatable and bland in its raw state.