[Extract] 'It's not the food in your life but the life in your food' - Bernadette Bohan

In order to help herself through cancer treatment, Bernadette Bohan focused all her energy on getting informed about health. She soon learned that a nutrient-dense, primarily plant-based diet can lower the risk of chronic diseases, such as heart disease, diabetes and cancer, and can help us to live longer, vibrant and energetic lives. Following a raw diet plan changed Bernadette’s health for the better and she became passionate about sharing the benefits of her positive, healthy form of eating. She developed her own programme for diet and lifestyle change, which has helped thousands of people to get back to better health. Now, in her highly-anticipated cookbook, Bernadette reveals her very own raw recipes for radiant living.

Whether you are already a raw diet aficionado or entirely new to the world of living food, Bernadette’s recipes are guaranteed to nourish you with kitchen inspiration. But for those who are just beginning their journey and getting to grips with raw, living food, Berndatte explains it best:

What Are Raw, Living Foods?

‘Dead or Live’

The logic underpinning the raw, living foods diet is pretty much common sense. Think of it in terms of ‘live foods’ or ‘dead foods’. Live foods are foods that have not been denatured by heat, and as such their nutrients and enzymes remain intact. Eating raw, living foods has become the ‘in’ thing among consumers who are concerned about the foods they eat. Naturally, live foods nourish your body more than dead foods.

It’s wonderful to see people get back to some grass-roots solutions to protect their health. It’s not surprising that people make the switch, when you consider that many of the foods we eat today are often far removed from their original natural state, and can be highly processed, laden with sugars, additives and preservatives, all of which have negative effects on our health. The scandals in the food chain over the last few years have made us think twice about the foods we eat. Foods we blindly trusted and thought were good for us, we subsequently found are detrimental to our health. Yet a few years ago, we ate and gave them to our children in abundance.

Most of us have tunnel vision when it comes to food, but the fact is that many of the foods that are eaten today not only lack nourishment but also contain harmful ingredients. Some foods labelled as being the ‘healthy option’, ‘healthy choice’ or ‘healthy alternative’ should possibly be better labelled ‘buyer beware’. Let’s not beat about the bush here: the desire for profit is the motivating force behind much of the food that is available for sale, as it is based on economics and not health. By eating living foods, you won’t need to waste time checking out the hidden ingredients in these not-so-healthy products.

Thankfully, consumers are waking up to the fact that food manufacturers are now selling ready-meals in the guise of health foods. If you were to check your kitchen cupboards or freezer, how much of that food have you bought because of convenience, and how much has been bought to nourish your body?

If you really want to recharge your batteries, eat more raw, living food. Heating your food is not as good for your health because cooked food causes an inflammatory response in the body called leukocytosis (elevated number of white cells in the blood). Leukocytes play an important role in the body’s immune system to fight against infections. When food is heated above 40 degrees Celsius, its molecular structure changes: oils turn carcinogenic and proteins, vitamins and live enzymes are destroyed in the cooking process. The Max Planck Institute in Leipzig found that cooking denatures proteins, which means that our bodies have to work harder to assimilate these dead foods. Because the beneficial enzymes have been destroyed by cooking, the food is difficult to digest and provides very little nourishment.

It is definitely worth making the effort to prepare foods that will provide your body with much more nutrition. As the saying goes, it’s not the food in your life, but the life in your food that nourishes your body.

Dead Food

You cannot expect to thrive on the lifeless energy of dead foods. Food gives us energy, but when we consume ‘dead’ foods we feel lethargic and heavy. Many of the valuable nutrients that are needed for repairing and rebuilding our cells are heat sensitive. Cooking destroys enzymes and forces the body to produce more of its own enzymes, which are secreted by our pancreas, and this leaves little left over to fight off disease. Enzyme depletion has been associated with arthritis, allergies, cancer and cardiovascular disease.

Foods that are stripped of nutrients will not fuel the cells of your body. Rather, they will leave you with an exhausted immune system.

Living on raw, live foods is a much healthier option than one based on cooked foods. If you are not inclined to give up your cooked meals, you could always try my dehydrated recipes. This recipe book will help you achieve your health goals. It’s a recipe book that’ll get you eating healthier and better than ever, and I am so passionate about the benefits of eating raw foods that I absolutely guarantee you will notice the difference.

For more information, visit Bernadette’s website: www.changesimply.com.

This is an extract from "Raw", which is available now in bookshops nationwide & in the Gill Books Online Shop – Buy Now!