Raw Food Haven

As we all know uncooked (raw) foods are good for our bodies, this is because they have not lost all their nutritional value in the process of cooking. By accepting the thought of eating most of your meal in a raw state, you are well on the way to a more healthy life-style.

Now don’t expect to change your eating habits overnight as it is not as easy as you think to start eating foods in their natural state. We have been consuming most of our foods cooked, so we need to change from cooked to raw one step at a time.

Do not think you have to eat all your food raw straight off. This will lead to failure, rather mix cooked and raw (by adding one raw food weekly) and take the change slowly. Make your raw choices wisely and don’t abandon the foods you love, keep the balance (of raw and cooked) to suit your taste as some foods are better digested by the body when cooked, while others are just fine in their raw state.

What is good raw you ask?

* Most vegetables are very tasty raw (but you probably would not eat pumpkin or squash raw)
* Nuts and seeds – some do need to be cooked but most can be eaten in their raw state.
* Sprouts – still cannot get my head around these, though there are a lot of people out there who love them.
* Fruits – other than the odd baked apple I tend to eat all my fruit raw.
* Fish – some fish are very tasty in their raw state, and if you are lucky enough to have freshly caught fish on hand you will never cook it again. Sushi is probably the healthiest way to eat fish, why not give it a try.

A good starting point for changing to raw is to rather add the raw to your normal meal rather than take away your familiar and favorite foods. You may think that adding will increase your weight – nope – because of the raw state of the extra food, more energy is used to digest it thus causing more use of the extra calories you have consumed. An important point to remember here is that you do need to balance the raw foods with the cooked foods, this is to maintain the correct nutrition your body needs.

Remember, once you have started eating most of your food raw, your energy level will be a lot higher, you will feel a lot healthier and cooked food will have less appeal. So start reaching for the Raw Foods when you feel a snack attack, there is nothing healthier than a handful of mixed nuts or a juicy apple.

This change of eating habits will assist in maintaining your weight and some weight loss will occur if you are overweight (and not over eating the cooked foods).

If you have ever tried dieting before, you know that there are certain foods that seem impossible to give up. There is a mental connection that attaches them to good feelings, and so we call them comfort foods. Everyone’s comfort foods are different, but there are some common ones that most people enjoy and have a hard time giving up. Unfortunately for us, this often stands in the way of getting to our ideal weight or health. One of the diet plans growing in popularity for health and weight loss is the raw diet. Eating a diet consisting of 50-100% raw foods can be an easy way to lose weight quickly, and people who go 100% raw have claimed health benefits ranging from lower blood pressure and cholesterol to fighting cancer and diabetes. As with any change in diet, there are bound to be some comfort foods that give you cravings when you try to leave them behind. One of America’s most popular foods is ice cream. Especially during the summer months, an ice cream cone is a universal treat enjoyed by many. So, what’s the problem with ice cream? For starters, it’s loaded with cholesterol and saturated fats. The next time you take the pail from the freezer, check out the nutrition label, most ice cream also states the serving size as 1/2 cup, which is about half of what’s normally served up. The good news is that there are delicious alternatives to ice cream. You can purchase non-dairy ice cream at the supermarket, but you can also make your own healthy recipes. My favorite ice cream alternative is Banana Fruit Creme. Which is just blended up frozen bananas. It comes out thick and creamy, just the texture of ice cream. It’s also a great way to use up bananas that are getting brown. What you’ll need:

• at least 5 bananas, depending on how much fruit creme you want to make
• a good blender or food processor

What to do:

1. First peel the bananas, and break each one into 3-4 pieces.
2. Put the pieces into tupperware and into the freezer.
3. Let them freeze overnight.
4. When you are ready to eat, put the frozen pieces into your blender with a little bit of water. Use less than 1/4 cup, you just want to help the blender to mash up the fruit.
5. Blend like crazy!
6. Enjoy right away, the fruit creme doesn’t keep well in the freezer, so it’s best to eat it all the first time.

This stuff is really delicious and satisfies that ice cream craving. It’s a hit at parties, especially with kids. Try making a berry sauce and drizzling it over the fruit creme.

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/.

The notion of eating RAW foods sounds foreign… even odd… to most of us when we first hear it.

When I first moved to Los Angeles and heard of eating this way, the very first thing I envisioned was sushi and steak tartare (which I tried once and thought was awful). But usually when someone is talking about raw foods, they aren’t talking about these foods at all.

What they’re talking about is live, nutritionally-dense, organic (when possible) minimally processed plant-based food. Not the “food-like products” that we’ve become accustomed to grabbing on the go.

Live foods that nurture our bodies, strengthen our immune systems and help keep us healthy. Foods that consist of raw vegetables, greens, fruits, seeds and nuts. Sounds pretty boring, right? But it’s not. I promise.

Although some people are purists, meaning they eat 100% raw 24/7, you will reap benefits from ANY additional amount of raw food that you add to your diet.

My twin toddlers and I aren’t purists. We’re what is considered “high-raw,” which means that our diets consist predominately of raw, live foods.

Personally, I strive to feed myself and my sons 90% plant-based foods with 60-70% of those foods being raw. A significant portion of the other 30% is lightly steamed or gently sauteed.

There are several compelling reasons for adding more raw foods to your diet. Here are 7:

1. ASSIMILATE MANY MORE VALUABLE NUTRIENTS

When food is cooked, its biochemical structure is altered from its original state and up to 90 percent of water soluble vitamins (vitamins B and C) and lipid soluble vitamins (vitamins A, D, E and K) can be lost.

When eating a good portion of your foods raw, you reap the full nutritional benefits of your foods and every cell, tissue and organ of your body benefits.

2. REDUCE RISK OF CHRONIC DISEASE

The typical American diet consisting of mostly commercially processed refined “foods” is very acidic.

And an acidic body is also an inflamed one. Inflammation plays a central role in heart disease-the number one killer of Americans.

Furthermore, when you eat an acidic diet, you provide a fertile breeding ground for chronic diseases such as cancer. Dr. David Servan-Schreiber discusses this in great detail in his book, “Anti-Cancer, A New Way of Life.”

Vegetables, greens, sprouts and some low-sugar fruits all add to the alkalinity of your blood, making it much more difficult for diseases like cancer to breed-therefore protecting you from heart disease and cancer… and many more serious-and potentially fatal-diseases.

Then there are the nutritive components of a diet high in unadulterated plant foods: the invaluable phytonutrients, fatty acids and antioxidants that further reduce your risk of disease by adequately feeding your tissues and boosting your immune system.

3. INCREASE ENERGY LEVELS

The increase in energy is amazing.

I’ve fallen off the wagon several times in the last 5 years that I’ve been practicing a high-raw lifestyle-and there’s a huge difference in the way I feel.

When my diet is low in raw foods, I’m very lethargic. When it’s at its highest, I enjoy a natural energy.

Why is this?

It’s because digestion is a very energy-intensive process, especially when the body is faced with heavily processed foods and large amounts of animal proteins.

When we free up some of this energy by fueling it with easy-to-digest foods, we FEEL it-and our enzymes are free to do other important work, like releasing toxins and healing itself.

4. EASY WEIGHT LOSS

When I first became interested in the raw lifestyle, I lost five very stubborn pounds pretty much overnight. Weight that I’d been trying to lose for months. This weight and a couple more pounds came off easily and stayed off.

The body has no trouble digesting most raw foods. It processes them easily and fully.

According to Natalia Rose, author of “The Raw Food Detox Diet,” this isn’t the case with processed and some cooked foods. Foods that tend to create a type of waste that the body has a difficult time processing.

Some of this waste remains in the body, stored indefinitely, contributing to issues such as weight gain and toxicity.

5. BETTER DIGESTION

Raw plant-based foods contain live enzymes which actually help your foods digest themselves.

Also, unless you’re eating a lot of improperly combined, complex raw dishes (which you can easily do at a buffet-style raw food function), you won’t have to deal with much-if ANY-bloating when eating high-raw.

I never feel bloated when eating high-raw. Never. Even if I’d just had three raw brownies with sweet raspberry sauce. I definitely can’t say that when I’m eating mostly cooked foods.

6. MORE YOUTHFUL APPEARANCE

Raw fruits and vegetables will hydrate and nourish your organs and keep everything more youthful.

A lot of raw foodists report the return of youthful, dewy skin and clearer eyes when they take up the raw lifestyle.

7. YOU JUST FEEL MORE ALIVE

You just feel more alive when eating raw foods.

I’m serious. You do. I think most (if not all) raw foodists and enthusiasts like me would attest to that.

I sometimes get an amazing “high” from some of my raw soups and smoothies. I also feel happier when eating high-raw. There’s a sense of “wellness” that you feel when you nurture your body with nutrients-especially when you eat large amounts at one sitting.

The consumption of Raw Foods is one of the most important keys to good health and longevity. Do yourself and your family a favor and begin adding more raw foods to your diets today!

Jennifer Minar-Jaynes is the author of NEVER SMILE AT STRANGERS. She writes at www.ProjectJennifer.com.

Today, there is a large variety of diets available for people to choose from if they are seeking a way to lose weight. Currently, one of the more popular ones out there is the raw food diet and if you are asking yourself what this diet is, you are not alone. The raw food diet is said to have many health benefits for your body as it is made up primarily of unprocessed, uncooked and organic foods. There is a chance that you have already heard about this diet and you are wondering if it is a good fit for you. If this is the case, this article will show you everything that you need to know about the diet along with some great Raw Food Recipes that you will definitely want to experience.

Basically, if you are participating in a Raw Food Diet, you are not allowed to eat any type of food that has been cooked above 115 degrees Fahrenheit. The reasoning behind this is that it is believed that foods that have been cooked beyond this temperature will lose their goodness. Raw foods contain living enzymes and nutrients which are very good and healthy for your body.

One of the advantages of this diet is that you are not forced to eat 100% Raw Foods. A lot of people choose to eat 75% raw foods and that gives them the freedom to eat other things that they enjoy. On the other hand, you are not allowed to eat animal or most dairy products.
Weight loss is not the only good thing about being on this diet as raw foods contain much less saturated fat or trans-fats than other foods which is much healthier for your body and it is mainly based on fruits and vegetables and that is good news because you can usually eat as much as you want without worrying about gaining weight.

You will also notice that you will have increased energy levels and that is always a positive thing. Raw foods are also known to aid your digestive system as well as to improve the condition of your skin. If you are one of those people who suffer from anemia, you may want to stay away from this diet. You need to carefully weigh the pros and cons of the diet and decide whether or not it is right for you.

There are several raw food recipes that are available for you to try. Smoothies are one of the best as you can blend your favorite fruits and vegetables together to make yourself a good healthy drink. The best thing about smoothies is that there are so many different combinations that you can create that you will never get bored with the same old ones. Always remember that you are not allowed to add dairy products such as yogurt to your smoothies.

Another popular recipe is that of cauliflower soup. This is great to prepare during the cold winter months. Soups are like smoothies, there are many different recipes that you can create on the raw food diet that you will never have to eat the same old ones. You can create soups with tomato and fennel or you can spice them up with parsnip. You can find a lot of good recipes to prepare by searching online for them.

If you get the craving for something sweet, you can try something like chocolate pears or dehydrated sweet potato chips. You can also try recipes like sweet potato pasta, sweet potato bread or sweet potato casserole.

These are some of the more popular recipes that are available to make while on this diet. Even though dairy products are not allowed, you can still have nut milk and herbal teas. This can prove to be a great diet, but there is a chance that you could experience some side effects from it as some people experience nausea and headaches during the first few days that they are on it. The best thing for you to do is to thoroughly research the diet and make the choice whether or not it is right for you.

I hope that you enjoyed this article and if you would like some great free information on healthy living, than please visit my eating healthy web site where you will find some great free tips to help you live a long and healthy life.

I am a 54 year old retired mill worker from Northern Maine. I am happily married with 3 wonderful boys. My main interests are my family and God. I own a eating healthy web site with great tips and information that is designed to help you live a healthier and longer life.

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