Your Raw Wellness

When starting out on a raw food diet it will be prudent to get some perspective as to where you stand right now. First and foremost, don’t just accept the hype surrounding raw food diets and just jump into it.

Rather take it slowly and easily and incorporate a raw food diet into your daily life.

So here are the most important things that you should know when starting out on a raw food diet:

a. Raw food is rich in dietary fiber: This is almost critically important to maintaining a good digestive system, in fact every stomach related problems from stomach burns to gastritis, constipation and even appendicitis.

b. Raw food is high in caretenoids like beta-carotene which is extremely important in protecting you against cancer and other life threatening ailments.

c. You can eat as much as you like and still not get fat.

d. raw foods can help you conquer obesity and help you stay slim.

e. It can boost your body’s natural defenses against colds, flu, measles etc.

Clearly even just incorporating a raw vegan food diet in bits can yield more benefits that you can enjoy.

The biggest fact that will most probably stop you is the “routine” that you have become acclimatized to. You know the old 3 meals a day routine that is so common everywhere. While being an office goer might warrant the need to have three meals a day (although by no means necessary) you should try to have little “snacks” or “mini-meals” several times a day.

Eat only as much as you feel like. The biggest problem with the three meal routine is that people end up literally stuffing themselves as they wont get to eat for many hours.

Try some raw recipes and see what works for you, in the end only you have to gain and there is absolutely nothing to lose.

When starting out on a raw food diet it will be prudent to get some perspective as to where you stand right now. First and foremost, don’t just accept the hype surrounding raw food diets and just jump into it. Rather take it slowly and easily and incorporate a raw food diet into your daily life. So here are the most important things that you should know when starting out on a raw food diet:

a. Raw food is rich in dietary fiber: This is almost critically important to maintaining a good digestive system, in fact every stomach related problems from stomach burns to gastritis, constipation and even appendicitis.

b. Raw food is high in caretenoids like beta-carotene which is extremely important in protecting you against cancer and other life threatening ailments.

c. You can eat as much as you like and still not get fat.

d. It can help you conquer obesity and help you stay slim.

e. It can boost your body’s natural defenses against colds, flu, measles etc.

Clearly even just incorporating a raw vegan food diet in bits can yield more benefits that you can enjoy. The biggest fact that will most probably stop you is the “routine” that you have become acclimatized to. You know the old 3 meals a day routine that is so common everywhere. While being an office goer might warrant the need to have three meals a day (although by no means necessary) you should try to have little “snacks” or “mini-meals” several times a day. Eat only as much as you feel like. The biggest problem with the three meal routine is that people end up literally stuffing themselves as they wont get to eat for many hours.

Try some raw recipes and see what works for you, in the end only you have to gain and there is absolutely nothing to lose.

Are you concerned about your health? Chances are you will say yes but are you really doing anything about it? If you want to remove those toxins that are collecting in your system, one method you can try is known as the raw food detox Diet.

The Raw Food Detox Diet happens to be one of the most popular diets around. This is because while many will only let you lose weight, none of them are specifically designed to help you get rid of these harmful toxins.

But why eat raw food when you can cook it ? This is because when food is prepared and then cooked, some of the nutrients and vitamins which are also important for the body are lost.

What is even more astonishing is the fact that when it is cooked, you changed its natural state. Thus, new chemicals are created and the natural enzymes are destroyed.

When you take it out of the pan and put it on your plate, it somehow slows your metabolism and impedes certain primary functions of the body especially the flushing and detox functions of the organs.

If this does not yet convince you that eating raw food is much better than cooked ones, note that the raw food diet boosts your immune system, may help decrease or increase weight and again, detoxifies your body.

Compared to an average meal consisting of animal flesh which normally takes 8 hours to digest, the only thing it gives you is energy to burn what you ate and nothing else.

It may a significant change for you to eat food raw when you are used to eating it cooked. This is why the switch should be done gradually like having a quarter of the food cooked while the remainder is raw. Who knows? You may like to eat raw food that will give you the complete nutritional value found in each one.

The detox diet consisting of raw fruits and vegetables only lasts a few days. When it is all over, you can go back to eating other solid foods including fish, chicken and meat. You may even want to mix a few raw dishes sometimes like sushi which is also great to eat.

Before you start eating raw food, you have to prepare yourself both physically and mentally for what is about to happen next. You can prepare physically by starting an exercise routine and cutting down on certain food and then substituting it with beans, organic fruits and vegetables.

Although detox diets are generally safe, it will still be a good idea to consult your doctor because you could be one of those individuals that are not cut out for the program.

People who should not try the detox diet in any form include pregnant or nursing mothers, those who have just undergone surgery and individuals that have been diagnosed with certain medical conditions. If you insist on trying it, make sure that this is being done under medical supervision.

Eating food raw may be different but it is one way to get all the essentials you need to detoxify your system. Will it be challenging? Yes during the first day since there is a lot of adjustment involved but if you are able to stick to it, then you will surely feel good thereafter.

Looking to shed off some extra pounds through healthy weight loss diet? How about exercise? I guess most people know that! And if you are looking into lifelong weight management, you should pay more attention to your daily diet intake.

1. Eat Healthy Fats!

Consume healthy sources of fats like raw nuts, seeds, avocados, coconut oil, egg yolks and grass-fed meats. Having enough healthy fats is vital for keeping your fat burning and muscle building hormone at appropriate levels in your body. Your appetite will be in control when you eat enough healthy fats in your daily diet.

Try eating a handful of raw nuts like almonds, walnuts and pecans half an hour before meals three times a day. It will provide your body with some protein, fiber and healthy fats and helps to suppress your appetite at the same time making you eating fewer calories in your meals.

2. High Quality Protein Source!

Grass-fed meats, grass-fed raw dairy, nuts and beans should be consumed to suppress your appetite for easier control of your calorie intake. Eating quality protein also helps you to build lean muscle and increased your metabolism at a higher rate.

Your body blood sugar and insulin will be at healthy levels when you eat enough protein with most of your meals because protein helps to decrease the breakdown process of ingested carbohydrates.

3. Avoid Excessive Processed Carbohydrates!

Most people struggle to lose weight throughout their lives for eating too much refined grain based starches and sugars in their daily meals. You can consume natural sugars in whole fruits and berries. Your body blood sugar response will be slow and stable as the fiber in fruits will help to control that.

If you’ve been hearing a lot about raw foods lately it’s because people are finally starting to pay attention to what they’re putting into their mouths and the effect it’s having on their bodies. It’s long been known that healthier diets are those that include a lot of fruits, veggies, nuts and seeds and are often referred to as the raw food diet.

Raw food diets are not the kind of diet you go on to just lose weight although you’ll lose a lot of weight fast, but a lifetime approach to a better quality of life and superior health.

Raw foods are also called living foods, and are essentially foods that are alive. Cooked foods include all those foods that have been cooked, canned, processed, packaged or refined, etc., in other words, anything that is no longer alive.

Adding more living foods to your diet has many health benefits. People find they need less sleep, have much better mental clarity, can focus and concentrate on tasks, have lots of energy, lose weight, get sick less often or not at all, get rid of various ailments, have less aches and pains and more.

Raw foods retain the enzymes they need to digest it properly. If foods are not raw then the enzyme structure has been tampered with by heating and they can no longer do their natural job which is to digest the food they are a part of. This makes the body work harder and the raw food community experts believe it’s because the body has to tap emergency enzyme supplies in the pancreas to digest the cooked food. This makes one feel tired and less energetic after eating whereas if you eat living food you feel energized after eating.

Heating, (including pasteurization), also damages or nullifies many of the vitamins, minerals and beneficial phytonutrients.

It’s easy to start incorporating more fruits and veggies into your diet without it being a totally raw food diet. I believe we need a lot more fruits and veggies than is now promoted in the media.

For breakfast you can have two or three fruits along with whatever else you’re having except try to eliminate as much cooked, dead food, as you can. For lunch have fruits and veggies or a huge salad and eliminate any bad foods. Or have the huge salad for dinner along with some fruit and then have whatever you’d like for dinner. For snacks eat more fruit or nuts, for example.

You can easily learn to fix some of the simple raw food recipes that are found in raw food un-cookbooks. You can make things like candy, fudge, pie and cakes that are all healthy and include nothing cooked. Of course the best diet is one of all raw foods but if you’re unable to do that you’ll still greatly benefit from changing your diet to a more healthy way.

You can buy fruit at reasonable prices if you shop farms, farmer’s markets and watch sales in the whole foods stores etc. Or maybe grow some of it yourself if you can or join one of the community gardens! Besides you may be giving up some expensive healthy food in the process because your body won’t have room for it with all the fruit, veggies, nuts and seeds you’re eating!

I’m in excellent health after changing my diet to all raw foods in 1999, curing myself naturally of breast cancer, arthritis, fibromyalgia, acid reflux, sinus infections, digestive problems and many other ailments.

Try changing your diet to include more living or raw foods even if it’s slow-going and you’ll start to see some wonderful changes in your health. You don’t have to eat an all raw food diet to enjoy great health. Soon you may find that besides loving feeling great you really do enjoy raw foods.