They are rich in enzymes and other constituents which help with good digestion and with encouraging a healthy bacterial population in the digestive system.

As a successful species, we migrated to other parts of the world where raw foods were hard to come by, and we learned how to use fire to make foods which were otherwise inedible or unsafe for us safe to eat. We have been doing this long enough that we do have the systems to deal with cooked food.

But that doesn't mean we don't still benefit from eating raw foods! The best way to think about including raw foods is to prepare foods in traditional ways. If a food has been traditionally eaten raw, then that's the best use.

Like an apple. It  contributes more to your health raw than baked. But certain vegetables, like fibrous greens or tubers like potatoes are best cooked. Likewise with beans.

For example, if soybeans aren't fermented or cooked thoroughly they can interfere with normal hormone function. So for your kids, plan on frequent fresh fruit and salads as well as cooked protein foods and vegetables.

And get organic and local whenever possible to avoid adding the extra stress of chemicals derived from petro-chemicals and coal-tar which our bodies never have had to deal with until less than 100 years ago. century.

Here's my short video on raw foods. It's #280 in my series on Vibrant Health Through Natural Living.
https://youtu.be/Pi-PqaA2tx4

Randy's Take Home Tips. It's hard these days when we are trying to shop less often, but try to use raw foods within a week. Keep a fruit salad in the fridge for hungry kids. Chop up an apple, a banana and an orange or grapefruit and add some fresh berries. As you chop, cover the pieces in orange juice to keep the apple and banana from oxidizing (i.e., turning brown). In a covered bowl in the fridge it will keep half the week.( I use a ceramic bowl with a plate on top to avoid any migration of BPA from plastic containers.) You can do the same for a vegetable salad. Make it colorful. Lettuce, radishes, carrots, celery, cabbage, mushrooms, or whatever you have. Just leave off the dressing until it's served. Show kids how to add extra virgin olive oil and apple cider vinegar to the veggie salad to enhance taste and absorption of minerals. Better yet, take time with the kids every couple of days to chop up the fruit or veggies for these salads. (Remember, any task takes two to four times longer with kids but it's more fun and adds to their education and growth way beyond the time spent.) Then show them where the salad is stored and how to serve themselves when they're hungry.  Kids are much more likely to eat food they have helped to prepare. And these salads will nourish them and keep them from choosing some processed snack in a bag or plastic sleeve.