Trendy terms, explained

A raw diet refers to eating food that is not cooked above 42–49 °C. It is worth noting however that for some foods, cooking in fact boosts the nutritional values.

Be sure to consult with a dietician before embarking on a raw-food diet. On the upside, a raw diet inherently promotes a plant-based diet, which has its own health benefits, seeing as you would be consuming more fruits and veggies, as well as healthy fats and wholegrain. So working some more raw food into your diet is not a bad idea.

This term gets thrown about a lot – note that there is a difference in meaning when talking about, for example, cold-pressed juice, and cold-pressed olive oil. The former refers to a process whereby a hydraulic press is used to extract juice from fruit and vegetables. This process makes no use of heat or pasteurisation (which is common with others kinds of juices). On the other side, it means the juice has a shorter shelf-life. Cold-pressed in terms of oils refers to a pressing of the seed, nut or grain at the lowest possible temperature, without any further pressing to follow.

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