Raw food is more important than you might imagine. If we eat only cooked food we run the risk of our bodies treating our food as if it were an invader. Our bodies do not react in this way to raw food.
51% is the is the key figure. If we eat more than 51% of our food cooked then we risk it being treated as an invader. If we eat 51% of more of our food raw, then this will not occur. If our immune system starts to treat food as an invader then all sorts of problems can occur. Inflammation, immune havoc and the development of food allergies and intolerances. In the long term this can lead to serious health problems such IBS, colitis, auto-immune disease, etc.
The key is to mix raw and cooked foods. For example fresh sprouts like mung beans, aduki beans, alfalfa and chickpeas are great mixed with cooked grains like rice, millet and quinoa.
Remember milk or any food that has been pasteurized count as cooked. Raw milk is one of the best sources of Vitamin C. But pasteurization destroys it all.
