Raw Food Haven

The raw food movement has been growing rapidly over the last few years, by now you have probably heard someone talking about a raw diet, or their friend on a raw diet. What does this mean, and why would anyone want to eat raw?

Food that’s considered raw ranges from fruits and vegetables to unpasteurized dairy, raw nuts and seeds, and uncooked meat products. Most people who eat raw consume a mainly vegan diet, so raw milk and sashemi are not consumed regularly. Most who convert to a raw diet do so to achieve the health benefits that many claim to attain after changing their diet. Some of the reasons people eat raw are as follows.

1. Nature knows more about digestion and nutrition than science. It’s true that our scientific knowledge about the body and nutrition is growing steadily, but the amount that is unknown is still astronomical. Some people dislike the compartmentalization of the body by science and the isolation of singular nutrients from food, saying a holistic approach is much more effective to health and vitality.

2. Raw food contains enzymes that help with digestion. These enzymes are destroyed by heat, so once food is cooked over a certain temperature the enzymes become damaged. Some people think this is why those who eat mainly raw food tend to look younger than their years.

3. Uncooked and unprocessed foods have life force. Also known as chi or prana, life force is the energy that is contained in living foods. Consuming this life force has spiritual and health benefits for the consumer.

If these are a little too ‘airy fairy’ for you, there are more tangible reasons to eat Raw Food. People report substantial weight loss after switching to a raw food diet, and all the health problems that came with their weight problems disappear. With the help of a healthcare professional, people have ‘cured’ their diseases including (but not limited to) high blood pressure, allergies, skin conditions, bowel conditions, cancer, diabetes and more. You can find a success story for just about every condition out there, that someone has cured themselves of using mainly dietary changes.

So, how much is enough? The general consensus is the more the better. If you want to receive the best health benefits, more than half of your food intake should be raw fruits and vegetables, with a few nuts and seeds. There is also evidence to show that organic and fresh food is best. Although depending on your location, it’s more important to do your best than to stress about eating 100% organic.

The best way to get started eating raw food, is to switch one meal per day to be raw. If it’s breakfast you could start juicing your own fruits and vegetables and switch that out for your regular cereal and milk. You’re likely to lose a few pounds just making that one small change. If you don’t want to splurge on a juicer, make your lunch a raw salad every day and try making your own salad dressings to keep things interesting. Once you create the new habit for yourself, it only gets easier.

Kimberly Sawchuk has more information about raw food including easy Raw Food Recipes at http://www.realrawhealth.com. If you or someone you know is looking to lose weight naturally or just want some questions answered about a Raw Food Diet, check out the coaching services at http://realrawhealth.com/services/.

At New Years, I gave up sugar. Of course, this does not mean that I never have sugar but I make a conscious choice to not eat sugar or sugary stuff. If you had told me a year before that I would no longer be driving up to the Right Bite for an incredible cinnamon roll (or two). It was a short leap from no sugar to Raw Food.

Leap might not describe it best because the journey begins with short steps. I stopped sugar by avoiding the cinnamon rolls and the candy and sweets and desserts that were a large part of my life. Then I began extending my sugar free journey by cutting out other sources of sugar.

I knew I had it the sugar addiction over and done with when I went to my friend’s house for a meal. She served home made beans, rolls, red wine, and fruit cocktail. It sounds healthy enough. Lentils, fruit, and a glass of wine now and then is good for you. After I ate, my heart began to pound. It was literally knocking against my chest the sugar rush was so bad.

Her beans were made with brown sugar and molasses, and the fruit cocktail was canned and she had added pumpkin preserved in a heavy liquid. The wine was a sweet wine. There was more sugar in that meal than in three cookies. I was sugar sensitive and the journey had been almost invisible. Just one step at a time.
Raw food transition would be about the same procedure.

At least for me. I plan to begin slowly by trying vegetable juicing and cold vegetable soups.

If you want to know more about raw foods, check out her Raw Food Living. Joanne Reid studied nutrition at Mount Allison University years ago and has always known the rules of healthy eating. (Now she just has to learn how to follow the rules.)

A Raw Food Diet is simple. It consists of eating food in their natural state. The food is neither cooked nor adulterated in any way. By eating the bulk of your food in its natural state, you will enjoy a huge improvement in your health and vitality.

The Raw Food Philosophy

More than just a weight loss plan or a fitness diet, this diet is a philosophy based on a lifestyle choice. It demands awareness of the live nutritional value of unprocessed food and provides numerous health benefits. They are low in saturated fats and sodium and high in antioxidants and magnesium, and low in sodium. They are almost free of harmful trans-fats. A raw food diet will detoxify your system. It will lead to natural weight loss.

Raw Foodists

Switching to a Raw Food diet will be much easier if you are vegan, or at least vegetarian. Those who choose this diet are referred to as raw foodists. This diet is popular with those seeking to be disease-free and full of energy. There are no useless calories, hence no weight gain. The diet also optimizes the nutrition in your food because cooking often kills essential vitamins and minerals in food. By not eating animal flesh or animal byproducts, there are no steroids and hormones to absorb. In addition, the body will quickly begin to flush out toxins with this diet.

Since the diet consists of nuts, seeds, vegetables and fruits, sometimes it is necessary to take dietary supplements like protein shakes. However, supplements are not necessary if the diet has been precisely calculated for the various macro and micronutrients the body needs to be healthy and strong.

Variety is added to the diet by making food combinations, using food dehydrators, processors, and blenders. For instance, you can make crackers by blending various raw foods into dehydrator. Chopping or blending it can alter the texture and taste of food.

Digestion is improved on a raw food diet because of the abundance of enzymes in the food. Cooking–microwave heating, frying, or baking–denatures enzymes and this makes it harder for the body to absorb the nutrients in the food. Besides enzymes, raw foodists also believe that certain beneficial microorganisms help break down the food in the body.

The general idea is that the higher the amount of uncooked food, the better the health results. It is not the same as a vegan diet because although no animal flesh or byproducts are eaten with that diet, most of the food is still cooked. In addition, this type of diet may, depending on the philosophy of the dieter, include animal products that are eaten in their raw state. Besides seeds, nuts, vegetables, and fruits, the diet may also have eggs, sashimi fish, carpaccio, and unpasteurized milk, cheese, and yogurt.

The Value of Raw Foods

Consuming these type of foods have many benefits:

- They’re full of vitamins and minerals.

- The food is digested better because of food enzymes.

- The food has been charged with the energy from sunlight.

- The diet can be included into a regular diet, or it can be completely uncooked.

The inconvenient aspect of fresh food is that it is subject to spoilage, as there are no preservatives to increase their shelf life. So the food has to be regularly purchased in smaller increments. Uncooked food can be defined as anything not heated above 40 degrees Celsius.

Raw foods are foods from the earth that have not been altered or processed. Since they are rich in fiber, plant phytochemicals, magnesium, and potassium they metabolize into energy quickly and one does not need to eat much because of the abundance of nutrients in each meal. These foods are also alkaline and not acidic, and they don’t cause inflammation in muscle tissues.

For more information on the Raw Food Diet, visit http://www.dietplans.com/166574-raw-food-diet.cfm.