Question about picked and dried fruit

[Apples'nAvos]

Earlier today, I was easing my husband into the idea that I would be eating a raw diet from now on. Naturally, he was astounded. We were at Starbucks (of all places !) and he looked at me with wide eyes and said "So you can't eat any of this stuff <gestures toward the cake/muffin display> anymore? Because it's dead?". Anyway, the conversation progressed and he asked me a couple of questions that I didn't know how to answer. He wanted to know (and I'm putting it the way he asked it) :
1) how it is that fruit, once it is picked from the tree/vine/bush is still considered to be alive? Once it has been picked and cut off from it's source of water, doesn't it start to die? How then, can we say that it is still "alive"?
2) How is it that dried fruit isn't dead either? Drying removes the water from the cells, and what species can survive when their cells are depleted of water, nevermind retain their vitamins, minerals and amino acids?

On a funnier side note, I told him that I had ordered a dehydrator. He said "What's a dehydrator" and I replied "Something that you can dehydrate food with". His response? "You mean like jerky?" ... lol .. I have a long way to go with this! :)

[Raspberry4]

Your husband sounds like a very logical man. At least he got what you were saying and it made him think. To number 1: the fruit is considered to be still alive because it has its own natural enzymes intact. When you eat it, the enzymes will help you digest it better than cooked food. Cooked food destroys the natural enzymes so your body has to work harder to digest it. Overtaxing your body by making it work harder than it needs to to digest food causes breakdowns leading to illnesses and toxic build up in the colon. Also cooked food is devoid of enzymes which means "dead" no longer alive. TO point 2) dried fruit could be considered dead if it is dehydrated above 118 degrees. Over that temp the enzymes get destroyed. So if you buy dehyrated fruit you may be getting some with destroyed enzymes. I buy mine from sunorganic (dates). I hope this info helps. The best way I can explain it is if you cook it - it is surely devoid of life giving nutrients. If you eat it raw - you have a good chance of getting life giving nutrients/enzymes. Good luck and keep going :)

[lavendarJ]

Good points Rasberry4..........I personally believe that fruit should be eaten fresh as much as possible because as rasberry said you get the benefits of live and active enzymes and vitamins... I have seen a lot of recipes which require dehydrating...I have not dehydrated foods before but someone had suggested a "bread" recipe that seemed tasty.....I have a little bit of a personal conflict with dehydrating because it is a form of processing foods and I am trying to stay away from all processed forms of food.... I guess on the up side when you dehydrate yourself, you know what is going into your food, I don't know how I feel yet.....