Eating all raw food is a diet style that has been around for ages, but is recently re-blossoming with such celebrity fans as Demi Moore.

Local chef and practitioner on living raw, Chef Mary Beckerman, met up with me (over a salad of course) to describe the many benefits of eating raw vegetables, fruits and nuts.

So what is raw food exactly? Food that is cooked to 104 degrees or less. When food is cooked past this point, the nutrients breakdown and lose their enzymes that make them so good for you. Another way to prepare these plants is to dehydrate them. This way they lose moisture while maintaining the vitamins and minerals.

According to Chef Mary B, eating raw foods will give you tons of energy and vitality. Your skin and hair will glow since you will be no longer pumping it with pesticides and preservatives. You will notice an increase in your overall health as well.

If you are considering switching to this healthy way of living, Chef Mary B has some great tips and words of advice for you. For one thing, don't overdue it right away, start a little bit at a time, and see how you like it and how your body adjusts, then go more and more. And just because you are eating raw foods, you don't have to become a vegan. Every person is unique and requires different things, so listen to your body.

Now that you have your mind set up to all the things that eating raw can do, it's time to get your kitchen set up. Chef Mary B has a few recommendations for must haves. First and foremost, she highly recommends the AeroGarden where you can grow your own veggies and spices in your kitchen. By utilizing this you will always have fresh plants at your fingertips and will save money since you will just snip off what you need and not waste the rest. For your first raw cookbook, Chef Mary recommends Raw Food Made Simple by Jennifer Cornbleet.

So who is this Chef Mary B that is about to change your life? She is a graduate from Wayne State University as well as the Living Light Culinary Arts Institute in California. She is the president of Lovin' Goodies and Marbec Ltd.

Active in the community, Mary sits on the "Healthy U" steering committee program at the Jewish Community Center, where she is developing programs in partnership with health organizations such as Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit Medical Center, Abbott Labs, and Weight Watchers.

She has been seen cooking on Fox 2 News and will be seen with Peter Nielson in the upcoming weeks. She has also catered for David Bowie, Kiss and Aerosmith.

Soon you will be able to read her book RawValation: Your Guide to a Taste of a Good Life.

The bottom line is, you don't have to eat all raw food all the time, or cut out meats and cheeses, just become more aware of what you are putting into your body and try to make an effort to put the right ingredients in there. It is the only body you're going to get!

Check out more of Chef Mary B at www.lovingoodies.com