Military Diet, Ketogenic Diet, Carnivora Diet, Paleolithic Diet and Mediterranien Diet

 

1. What is the Raw Food Diet?

Have you started hearing about the Raw Food Diet? It’s gaining popularity and buzz, not just as a diet to lose weight, but a diet for a long and healthy life. We eat so much in the way of processed food that we don’t even stop to think about what we’re putting into our bodies, and how far we’ve come nutritionally from our ancestral, agrarian roots.

A raw food diet means consuming food in its natural, unprocessed form. There are several common-sense rationales for why this is a good idea. Processing and cooking food can take so much of the basic nutritional value away. Think of some of the conventional wisdom you’ve heard about for years, such as: If you cook pasta just to the al dente (or medium) stage, it will have more calories, yes, but it will have more the nutritional value in it than if you cooked it to a well-done stage. Or you probably remember hearing not to peel carrots or potatoes too deeply, because most of the nutrients and values are just under the surface.

The raw food diet means eating unprocessed, uncooked, organic, whole foods, such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, legumes, dried fruits, seaweeds, etc. It means a diet that is at least 75% uncooked! Cooking takes out flavor and nutrition from vegetables and fruits. A raw food diet means eating more the way our ancient ancestors did. Our healthier, more fit ancestors. They cooked very little, and certainly didn’t cook or process fruits and vegetables. They ate them RAW. Their water wasn’t from a tap; it was natural, spring water. Maybe they drank some coconut milk on occasion. 

Doesn’t it just make sense that this is how our bodies were meant to eat? It’s a way of eating that’s in harmony with the planet and in harmony with our own metabolisms. Our bodies were meant to work, and need to work to be efficient. That means exercise, certainly, but it also means eating natural, raw foods that require more energy to digest them. 

2. Why The Raw Food Diet

Because cooking takes so many nutrients and vitamins OUT of food, you automatically start feeding your body what it needs when you stop cooking food and start eating uncooked, nutrient-rich foods. A raw carrot has exponentially more nutrition than a cooked carrot.

Cooking also alters the chemistry of foods, often making them harder to digest. Why do we have so many digestive problems in this country? Because we’re putting foods into our bodies in a form that we weren’t designed to absorb. High fiber, high water content fresh produce abolishes constipation of the bowels, cells and circulatory system. Obstructions are cleared and blood flow increases to each and every cell in the body. Enhanced blood flow is significant for two reasons: as mentioned above, blood delivers nutrients and oxygen to living cells, and carries away their toxic metabolites.

Obesity is endemic in this country. The diet industry is more profitable than the oil companies. Why? Because the way we eat and prepare our food practically guarantees that we’ll overeat. Psychologists tell us that we overeat because our souls are hungry. But in reality, our bodies are hungry, even though we may feel full. When you start giving your body the nutrients it craves, overeating will cease.

Eating raw foods is a boost to your metabolism as well. It takes a little more energy to digest raw foods, but it’s a healthy process. Rather than spending energy to rid itself of toxins produced by cooking food, the body uses its energy to feed every cell, sending vitamins, fluids, enzymes and oxygen to make your body the efficient machine it was intended to be.

You’ll naturally stop overeating, because your body and brain will no longer be starving for the nutrients they need. A starving brain will trigger the thoughts that make you overeat. The brain and the rest of your body don’t need quantity; they need quality.

3. Raw Food and Skin Health

What’s the largest organ in your body? It’s your skin! It provides a protective covering for the other organs of the body. It changes to regulate your internal body temperature. And it’s a good indicator of overall health and well-being.

People spend thousands of dollars on skin preparations  to make your skin look vibrant and glowing. They’re all topical products – products that we put on top of our skin. But if we spent just a fraction of the money we spend on these preparations on RAW FOODS, we’d begin to see an immediate change in the texture of our skin.

When you eat raw foods, you put more of the essential vitamins and amino acids your body needs into it. You’re also adding moisture – naturally. Raw foods have a much higher moisture content than cooked foods, simply because the cooking process takes out so much essential moisture.

Your skin is a mirror of what’s going on in the rest of your body. And when your organs and blood are fed the nutrition they need to function properly, that shows in your skin. Get your vitamins and moisture from foods like apples and carrots. When you do, then phrases like “inner beauty” and “inner glow” will be applied to YOU. Your skin is what’s presented to the rest of the world and healthy, glowing skin makes the best first impression.

When you start adding raw foods to your diet, things will just naturally fall into place. You’ll feel better. You’ll look better. People will react to you more positively. You’ll have so much more energy for your work, your friends, and your family. And this kind of energy is a self-perpetuating thing. You don’t need self-help books and expensive moisturizers and plastic surgery. When your body and skin are getting their essential nutrition with raw, uncooked foods, you’ll look and feel your best, NATURALLY!

4. Skin tone drinking water, coconut milk, etc.

The best way to have healthy, glowing skin is to start from the inside out. Eliminating caffeine in the form of coffee and soda is one way to start. Caffeine dehydrates the body and skin. And lack of moisture is a sure way to create lines and wrinkles. It’s also a diuretic, causing increased urine output, again depleting your body and skin of the moisture it needs. We try to combat this with moisturizers, but the better way is to put the moisture INTO your body, not on it.

Drinking pure water, unprocessed fruit juices or coconut milk will give your body and skin the hydration it needs. The colors in fruit juices are the colors of the earth and these colors will reflect themselves in warm and healthy skin tones.

The overall effects of caffeine on your body will manifest themselves in your skin. Heavy caffeine drinkers can experience osteoporosis, headaches, depression, sleeplessness. These can all be reflected in your skin.

When you replace colas, coffee and teas made with boiling water with water, fruit juices “sun tea” and coconut milk, you’ll soon start to feel better and sleep better. Your skin will reflect the good health of all the organs and cells of your body, once you’ve kicked the caffeine habit.

Another reason for drinking pure water, juices and “sun tea” is that when you boil water, you’re releasing oxygen from it. When the body rids itself of toxins, it passes through the skin which is the largest elimination organ. Raw food increases your detoxification rate. Drinking water helps the body rid itself of toxins. Seaweed is high in vitamins and minerals beneficial to the skin and also helps rid the body of toxins.

To achieve a healthy complexion, drink plenty of water and eat plenty of raw food. What goes into your body is reflective in your overall appearance.

5. Raw food, less water

 

When you start eating more raw foods, you may find you’re not as thirsty or don’t need as much water or other beverages as you normally do. There are several reasons for this.

First of all, raw foods, such as raw fruits and vegetables have a higher volume of water in them, so your body is getting the hydration it needs from foods.

This doesn’t mean you should stop drinking water or juices. You don’t want to adopt some of the more radical elements of the raw food trend. First and foremost, listen to your body. It will tell you what it needs. If you’re overweight, sluggish, tired, depressed, your body might be telling you to make some dietary changes, and raw foods might be one way to alleviate some physical disorders.

But if you’re overweight and have symptoms of Type II diabetes, overwhelming thirst can be one symptom. When you start consuming more raw foods, with a higher fiber and moisture content, you may start to lose weight, and that can go a long way to reducing your blood sugars.

If you’re not overweight, or don’t have Type II diabetes, you still might find you’re not as thirsty as you normally are. First of all, if you’re drinking water and juices, you’re not consuming caffeine, which is so dehydrating and makes you thirstier. And by not consuming as much in the way of cooked foods or especially highly processed foods, which have astronomical sodium counts, you won’t be as thirsty either.

By consuming more raw, uncooked food, and pure water and fruit juices, you’re putting your body into balance. Keeping sodium to normal levels found in foods means you’ll start to require a more balanced amount of water.  Don’t think of this as changing or taking away. Think of it as adding balance, and it will make the process of eating healthier much easier.

6. Why not processed foods?

Have you ever seen a picture of your blood plasma after you’ve eaten a meal from McDonald’s or Burger King? It’s not a pretty picture. It looks thick and cloudy. Fast foods are loaded with fat and sodium. They use white bread and rolls, which means they’ve used white processed flour, with very few nutrients in them.

And how do you feel after a Big Mac and french fries? You need a nap, don’t you? All that fat will drag you down and make you feel sluggish.

Going on a diet is hard, but think about some of the things you do when you go on a diet. You eliminate those high fat, processed, high-sodium foods. You eat less, true. But you also eat more raw fruits and vegetables. You drink water. And the results of eating this way are increased energy, less need for sleep. Processed foods, with their high fat content are hard to digest. They take an enormous amount of the body’s energy to consume. When your body’s energy isn’t used up digesting all that fat, it’s available for YOU – for work, play, love, exercise – in other words, for LIFE.

These aren’t drastic concepts. You don’t have to make drastic changes in your lifestyle. But take a good look at what you consume without even thinking about it. We reach for the potato chips, or stop at McDonald’s or Taco Bell when we’re hungry and we want something in a hurry.

It’s much easier these days to have snacks on hand so you don’t have to stop at a fast food place when you’re hungry. If you’re on the road a lot, and get hungry, pick up a bag of vegetables or apple slices at a grocery store. Yes, it’s easier to drive up to Wendy’s, but taking a few extra minutes, not to mention a few extra steps, will be well worth it in energy and vitality. 

7. Vegetarian compared to raw

Is there a difference between vegetarian and raw food diets? A raw foodist is a vegetarian, but one who generally is not going to cook his vegetables or fruits. A vegetarian is someone who simply doesn’t eat meat, fish or poultry, but only consumes vegetables, pasta, and rice. A vegetarian might eat meatless spaghetti sauce or order onion rings in a restaurant. (Not the healthiest choice, but sometimes it’s hard to find something to eat in a restaurant if you’re vegetarian – even harder if you’re a raw foodist.)

There are different categories of vegetarians, like vegans, or fruitarians, and raw foodist is a category of vegetarianism. We haven’t seen anything about sushi being considered a raw food, but it is. Raw food, though, generally means eating raw, uncooked fruits, vegetables, dried fruits, seaweeds, etc.

But to be a raw food purist means raw broccoli, not steamed. To a vegetarian, someone committed to not eat meat or fish or animal products, steamed vegetables are just as good, although everyone would agree that steaming can take out nutrients from foods, rendering them less nutritious. A vegetarian might consume dairy or egg products; however a vegan will not consume any animal products at all. And a raw foodist is a vegan who consumes only uncooked, unprocessed raw foods.

Proponents of the raw diet believe that enzymes are the life force of a food and that every food contains its own perfect mix. These enzymes help us digest foods completely, without relying on our body to produce its own cocktail of digestive enzymes.

It is also thought that the cooking process destroys vitamins and minerals and that cooked foods not only take longer to digest, but they also allow partially digested fats, proteins and carbohydrates to clog up our gut and arteries.

Followers of a raw diet cite numerous health benefits, including:

• increased energy levels
• improved appearance of skin
• improved digestion
• weight loss
• reduced risk of heart disease

8. Raw only?

A diet is considered a raw food diet if it consists of at least 75% raw, uncooked fruits, vegetables, sprouts, etc. Raw and living foods are believed to contain essential food enzymes (living foods contain a higher enzyme content than cooked foods). The cooking process (i.e., heating foods above 116°F) is thought to destroy food enzymes.

People who follow the raw diet use particular techniques to prepare foods. These include sprouting seeds, grains and beans; soaking nuts and dried fruits; and juicing fruits and vegetables. The only cooking that is allowed is via a dehydrator. This piece of equipment blows hot air through the food but never reaches a temperature higher than 116°F.

Do you have to follow the regimen that strictly? Of course not. But it’s certainly worth it to incorporate some of these techniques and ideas into your diet. If you tend to snack at work, try taking in carrots or apple slices. Many of the bigger grocery stores now offer packaged vegetables or fruits that make it easier to pack them and take them to work. We’re a nation of convenience, and much of the resistance to healthier eating is that it does generally take a little more effort and time to buy and slice fruits and vegetables. Food retailers have been catching on, slowly, and it’s much easier now to get bags of sliced carrots, celery, apples, nuts and raisins.

Of course these aren’t necessarily organic foods, and organic is the better way to go, but we think anything raw is infinitely better than cooked, processed food. If you have the time, do buy organic and slice them yourself. But if you’re in a hurry, and nowhere near a natural food store, then don’t beat yourself up or sabotage your efforts because you can’t do this 100% all the time. That’s not realistic. Anything from the fruit and vegetable aisle is going to be better for you than a potato chip, or worse yet, a french fry.

9. Fruitarian

You’ve probably been hearing a lot about the value of a raw foods diet. A raw food diet consists primarily of uncooked, unprocessed fruits, vegetables, sprouts, seaweed, nuts and juices. It’s a vegetarian diet, but one that rejects any animal products. Its central tenet is that cooking and processing take out the majority of essential vitamins, enzymes and nutrients that our bodies evolved to thrive on.

Fruitarians, as the word implies, eat primarily fruits, with nuts and grains as well. A fruitarian diet also includes foods like tomatoes or avocadoes, which are fruits.

Fruit is nourishing and refreshing for your health. It doesn't clog the body's vital arteries; better still, it actually flushes and cleanses. A fruit diet also lightens our bodies and spirits, in line with the general lightening of our planetary vibration rate which many higher sources tell us is taking place at this time.

You need to eat carefully if you choose a fruitarian diet, because it can be more of a challenge to get enough essential protein in your diet. A fruitarian eats nothing which has been killed or stolen. That supplants meat, dairy, and plants with the thousands of fruit and nut combinations on the planet. E.g., a fruitarian can eat an avocado sandwich, a coconut milk shake or the purest coconut ice cream made from the milk and meat of the fruit, veggie burgers made of lentil or bean paste or tofu, a succotash of corn, limas, peas, and tomatoes, sweets made with pure maple syrup or date sugar, pecan pies made with fruit sugars, fruit shakes made of a mixture of orange and banana, pear and peach, pomegranate, papaya, and plum. A pizza of tofu, tomato, and pepper (not pepperoni), salads of tomato, cucumber, green and red peppers (but not lettuce, cabbage, or celery), nut butters such as almond butter or tahini, hummus {chickpea paste}.  In other words, fruitarian may eat fruits 99.9% of the time, but occasionally do indulge in the delicacies of other food groups.

10. Sproutarian

Vegetarianism and raw food enthusiasts fall into many different groups with different theories of what kind of natural foods are best. Most vegetarians eat fruits, vegetables, nuts and grains. Vegans eat no animal by-products at all, including dairy or eggs. Fruitarians eat primarily fruits. And some vegetarians eat only sprouts.

Sprouts are very nutritious because they contain all the elements a plant needs for life and growth. The endosperm of seed is the storehouse of carbohydrates, protein and oil. When the seed germinates, these become predigested amino acids and natural sugars upon which the plant embryo feeds to grow. This life force we eat is filled with energy which is capable of generating cells of the body and supplying us with new vigor and life. For this reason sprouts can retard the ageing process.

Sprouts contain goodly amounts of male and female hormones, as well, in their most easily assimilated form. Research shows that sprouts are among the highest food in vitamins. They are not only a low cost food but are also tasty and easy to grow. Children and the elderly can make sprouting a profitable hobby. All of us can profit from the boost to health they provide

Almost any seed, grain or legume can be sprouted though some are tastier than others. You may try mung beans, alfalfa, wheat, peas, fenugreek, chickpeas, radish, fennel, celery seed, etc. These are most readily found in natural food stores. Remember to soak small seeds only for 4 hours and beans for 15 hours. You also can mix these seeds. Get a 2 liter wide-mouth jar and a piece of cheesecloth or old nylon stocking to fasten as a cover with a rubber band. Put seed into the jar as follows:

2 Tsps alfalfa, 2 Tsps radish or fenugreek, 1/4 cup lentils, 1/2 cup mung beans. Soak these seeds for 15 hours and drain the water. Afterwards rinse and drain well twice daily for about 3-5 days. If you wish to make larger amounts of sprouts, so you may share with others, place 2 cups of mixed seed into a large porcelain pot, in the bottom of which holes have been drilled for easy rinsing. Simply place underneath the faucet and rinse morning and evening with warm water. Cover with a plate. The seeds grow beautifully and abundantly in a few days.

11. Juicearian

Many people have heard of juice fasts as a means of detoxifying the body. Followers of a raw foods regimen also include juices as part of their nutrition. Nearly anything can be juiced – fruits and vegetables, primarily. It’s a form of concentrated nutrition. Some raw foodists drink only fresh fruit juices. 

In addition, fruit and vegetable juices are good sources of the traditional nutrients. Citrus fruits (grapefruit, oranges, etc.) provide a healthy portion of vitamin C. Carrot juice contains large quantities of vitamin A, in the form of beta carotene. A number of green juices are a good source of vitamin E. Fruit juices are a good source of essential minerals like iron, copper, potassium, sodium, iodine, and magnesium, which are bound by the plant in a form that is most easily assimilated during digestion.

While fruit and vegetable juices are the most common form of juice, wheatgrass juice has been getting a lot of attention lately because of the denseness of nutrients it contains.

The primary advantage of truly fresh wheatgrass juice - juice made from raw, live, soil-grown wheat grass, is the apparent high level of life force energy that it contains. It is one of the few truly fresh foods available (sprouts are another). The grass is alive and growing right up to the time it is juiced, and hopefully you are drinking it within a few minutes or so of juicing. Most of us get our green veggies from markets, and they were picked days ago and refrigerated - losing vitality the whole time. (It is an even worse situation for fruit, which may be picked weeks before you eat it, and in some cases, held in cold storage for months - losing vitality the whole time.) In contrast, one can grow wheatgrass indoors, and enjoy it when it is truly fresh. 

In conclusion, drinking plenty of fresh fruit juices daily will cleanse your system, make you feel completely energized and last but not least, you will look beautiful.  People will wonder what you are doing differently!

12. Raw nourishment

You might agree on an intellectual level that eating raw foods is a good idea. But does the thought of abandoning a lifetime of eating habits for the sake of what seems like a good idea seem like more than you can do?

So don’t! That’s silly and the surest way to guarantee you won’t even give a raw foods diet a fighting chance. “Everything in moderation” and we think that applies to even the healthiest notions. It’s not healthy if you won’t do it!

Don’t think of trying a raw foods diet as taking anything AWAY. Try adding them in. We think if you add in things like raw vegetables, sprouts, fruits and juices, you won’t be as hungry and when you’re not hungry, you won’t give into impulsive eating. If you want that steak, or even a McDonald’s hamburger, plan for it and enjoy it. Once you start eating raw foods though, and notice how good you feel on them and how much more energy you have, that hamburger just won’t look as good to you.

You do want to be sure though, that you’re getting enough of the right kinds of nutrition. Eating raw foods doesn’t mean eating only the raw foods you like. Watermelon is good for you, but it’s not enough. The same with most foods. You’ll need to do a little research into which raw foods have the essential proteins, or what combinations of food you need to eat to get enough protein. Raw food eating is intended to nourish your body in a completely different way, but just being raw isn’t enough. You want to do this to be in balance, and you need to balance the raw foods you’re eating for proper nutrition.

One way to ensure that you are getting enough nutrients is to incorporate a new vegetable every week.  Buy something you have never heard of, like a “leek”, or “swiss chard.”  You will find a whole new world of tastes and textures open up to you.  You will feel more and more deterred by fast food.  I guarantee it.

13. Junk food

Try this, just for the heck of it. Once you’ve started incorporating raw foods into your food plans, keep adding them in and reducing the number of cooked and processed foods from your diet. Especially things like fast food, chips, cookies and snacks.

After you’ve done that for awhile, have a junk food day. If you really miss your junk food, or think you do, then plan for it. Make it truly memorable and junk-worthy.

If we were gambling types, we’d be willing to bet a LOT of money that mid-way through your junk food day, you’ll stop.

Once you’ve started incorporating raw foods into your diet, and getting most of your nutrition from them, and stayed with it for at least a week, junk food is just not going to have the same appeal to you. Because now you’re thinking about what you’re putting into your body. And if you really think about what junk food does to your body, all of a sudden it doesn’t look so good.

You know, it just happens naturally. We’ve started eating more and more raw foods in our home, and haven’t been able to touch things like chicken or a hamburger in ages. First of all, we really feel pretty strongly about not eating animals. But have you ever read the warnings about handling chicken that you’ve bought in the grocery store? Or ground meat? It’s recommended that you wash your counters with BLEACH if you’ve prepared meat on them. Now, do you really want to put something in your body that requires BLEACH to clean the germs from it off of surfaces in your home? Nope, when we see chicken now, all we see is germs. And there’s no flavor to it anyway. So why bother? 

And other junk food we used to love just doesn’t appeal to us any more. Nachos and cheese? Well, the cheese you use is so processed, it’s nothing but corn syrup and processed cheese and fats and chemicals. We can feel our arteries grinding to a halt just looking at it. We don’t even use dips for our vegetables any more. We really do enjoy the taste of vegetables and fruits all by themselves.

14. Cooked foods on a raw diet

Does moving to a raw foods diet mean never eating hot food again? No, it doesn’t. Sometimes you want something hot. Hot food has always signified comfort for many of us. And on a cold, rainy day, carrot sticks or wheatgrass juice probably won’t cut it for most of us.

Most raw food, like our bodies, is very perishable. When raw foods are exposed to temperatures above 118 degrees, they start to rapidly break down, just as our bodies would if we had a fever that high. One of the constituents of foods which can break down are enzymes. Enzymes help us digest our food. Enzymes are proteins though, and they have a very specific 3-dimensional structure in space. Once they are heated much above 118 degrees, this structure can change.

Once enzymes are exposed to heat, they are no longer able to provide the function for which they were designed. Cooked foods contribute to chronic illness, because their enzyme content is damaged and thus requires us to make our own enzymes to process the food. The digestion of cooked food uses valuable metabolic enzymes in order to help digest your food. Digestion of cooked food demands much more energy than the digestion of raw food. In general, raw food is so much more easily digested that it passes through the digestive tract in 1/2 to 1/3 of the time it takes for cooked food.

Eating enzyme-dead foods places a burden on your pancreas and other organs and overworks them, which eventually exhausts these organs. Many people gradually impair their pancreas and progressively lose the ability to digest their food after a lifetime of ingesting processed foods.

But you certainly can steam and blanch foods if you want your food at least warm. Use a food thermometer and cook them no higher than 118 degrees Fahrenheit. Up to this temperature, you won’t be doing too much damage to the enzymes in food.

 15. Eat raw up until dinnertime

Are you interested in a raw food diet, but don’t think you can do it all the time? You don’t have to, certainly not to start. Many of us are conditioned to think of food as reward and comfort. We look forward to the end of the day, having dinner with our families, or going out to dinner with friends.

Try eating raw foods throughout the day. If you go to work every day, take carrots, apples, grapes or dried fruit with you to munch on. If you usually go out to lunch during the day, try to go places where you can get a salad. If you pack a lunch, include sprouts and fruit with it. Steamed brown rice and vegetables and a little fruit might not sound very interesting, but it’s a good energy lunch. If you’re like many people, those fast food lunches make you want to crawl under your desk and take a nap in the afternoon! They make you sluggish and tired. A lighter lunch of raw foods can keep you energized throughout the day.

The business culture is different these days, and there’s less of a routine than there used to be with a morning “coffee break” and then “lunch hour” and an afternoon “break.” That routine doesn’t work for a lot of people any more, but you can still get hungry during the day. By taking a variety of raw foods with you to work, you can munch periodically during the day. Sometimes it’s better to eat to avoid getting hungry. If we let ourselves go too long until we get ravenous, that’s when it’s easier to make poor food choices. Eating raw foods periodically throughout the day also keeps your metabolism humming along, and keeps your blood sugar at steady levels.  

16. Vegan and raw food restaurants

One of life’s great pleasures is going out to eat and trying new restaurants and dishes. This holds true for raw food and vegan restaurants too! There are, believe it or not, more than 5000 natural foods restaurants in the U.S. alone. Predictably many of these restaurants are in major markets and in college towns. You might not live in an area where you can visit a natural foods restaurant regularly, but if you’re traveling, do some research and see where there might be a natural foods place to visit. Here are a few notable restaurants around the country:

Delights of the Garden has gained amazing popularity in Washington, DC, considering that city is a haven of power lunches between lobbyists and the like. It features a cool-looking cafe with raw and cooked vegan favorites.

Arnold’s Way is located outside Philadelphia, PA in the Bucks County town of Lansdale. They have a raw café and also have classes in raw foods preparation.

Au Lac in Fountain Valley, California serves 7-course raw dinners, although you want to call in advance to give the chefs time to prepare.

Café Gratitude has two locations in San Francisco and one in Berkeley.

Quntessence in Manhattan features an all raw menu, all organic, salads, fresh juices, soup, guacamole, essene bread, almond shakes, and more.

Dining in the Raw in Key West, Florida features macrobiotic, vegan and raw foods.

The Organic Garden in Beverly, Massachusetts is a living and raw foods restaurant.

Suzanne’s Vegetarian Bistro in Miami, FL has a daily raw soup on its menu.

Enzyme Express in Anchorage, Alaska is a raw foods restaurant.

Golden Temple in Birmingham, Alabama is a vegetarian restaurant that features a juice bar.

These are just a few raw foods restaurants in some likely (and unlikely!) cities. Many cities have magazines with restaurants listed by categories. 

17. Organic Products and Raw Food Diet

Fortunately for those of us newly interested in eating organic and raw foods, there are lots of products out there. Natural and organic foods used to be found only in natural food stores, and those could be few and far between. While not as ubiquitous as McDonald’s, there ARE many more stand-alone stores. And the grocery chains are catching on too, with more organic selections than ever before. If you don’t see them in your grocery store, just ask. You’re probably not the only person in your neighborhood who’d like to see more of these options.

Many grocery stores now feature sprouts and other living foods in the produce aisle. Of course, if they don’t, there’s nothing easier to grow for yourself than sprouts!

There are also tons of sites on the Web where you can order raw and living foods. Just do a search on raw foods and you’ll come up with a lot of different places to order the foods you’d like to buy. Many of these sites are also full of useful information, to help you learn about eating raw foods, and help educate you on the specific food values.

What else? Experiment with what you like. Take the time to learn a little about what the different nutrients in foods do for you. A few examples:

Cabbage – High in Vitamin C; important for healthy cell function

Shitake mushrooms – contain essential fatty acids and antioxidants to support a healthy immune system

Kale – Rich in fiber and helps reduce calorie intake with less hunger. We like that!

Barley – Loaded with niacin, fiber and iron and is important for healthy blood sugar.

Pumpkin – So rich in fiber and vitamins; helps reduce appetite by filling the stomach with indigestible fibers

18. Why organic

Food that is grown or raised without chemical pesticides or chemical fertilizers is called “organic.” We’ve become so accustomed to getting by with foods that have been grown with fertilizers and that contain harmful toxins, that we’ve forgotten what it’s like to feel truly “well.” We don’t know how good we can really feel.

Why else would you choose to eat organic food? We pay a lot in terms of flavor and nutrition to eat perfect-looking food. Yes, organic food might have an occasional bruise on its flesh – but so does food that’s been sprayed with harmful chemicals. Organic food, though, are generally fresher and more flavorful. Many times, they’re grown locally, so they haven’t been stored or refrigerated. Consider the difference in flavor between a vine-ripened tomato and a regular tomato. There’s just no comparison.

The body has to process everything you put into it and eliminate what it cannot digest. If your food contains toxins in the form of chemical pesticides and fertilizers, your body has to figure out a way to get rid of the toxins. When the body cannot get rid of toxins fast enough, it stores them until it has time to eliminate them. This can lead to many health problems. Many of the pesticides used in farming have been found to be carcinogenic. Reducing your exposure to these toxins can improve your health. True, some people eliminate toxins well. Still, the body needs to expend energy to eliminate toxins when it could be doing other things such as healing damaged cells, fighting off viruses and bacteria, or patrolling the body for cancer cells. Even people who can tolerate or eliminate toxins could feel substantially better without putting these poisons into their bodies. And if your system is sensitive to toxins, you’ll be much better off eliminating them from your diet as much as possible. Fortunately, it’s easier to do this because there’s a greater selection and variety of organic produce in our grocery stores.

19. Transform your fridge

You don’t have to give up all the foods you’re used to eating to become more healthy and to start eating raw, organic and live foods. You know the best place to start changing your life and your diet? It’s at the grocery store, of course. Even if you’re at a good weight and pretty healthy, take a tip from dieters. Go shopping with a list and don’t go to the grocery store hungry. Make sure this shopping trip you can resist those Oreos and potato chips.

Clean out your refrigerator and your cabinets. Throw out the half-empty bags of snack foods. Put any microwaveable foods in a dark bag and stash them somewhere in the back of the freezer. Out of sight, out of mind.

Do stock up on dried fruits and nuts for snacking. Transform your kitchen from a processed food haven to a healthy kitchen. Invest in a good juicer. Clean out those crisper drawers to get them ready for an influx of new organic and raw foods.

Load up on fresh fruits, vegetables and whole grains. If you can’t give up meat and fish, consider getting super fresh tuna that you can just sear and serve with sesame seeds and a small amount of soy sauce. (I’m getting hungry just thinking about this!)

Make eating this way fun. Invest in those big, white square dishes that are good for serving sushi. It’s easier to arrange small portions of different foods that way. And getting new white dishes will be symbolic of this new, purer way of eating.  Get some good chopsticks so you can take your time eating. This is really fun!

Go to a bookstore and get a cookbook or a food book so you can learn about eating raw foods. Buy a big vase and a bunch of sunflowers to symbolize letting the sun into your diet. 

20. Tools for preparation

You don’t need to make a huge investment in eating raw and living foods. In fact, you’ll probably be saving money by cutting back on highly processed convenience foods. All that high-fat, high-sodium microwaveable foods are pricey, too!

If you’re new to this, eating raw foods isn’t just about putting something different in you mouth. It’s an experience that goes beyond the act of eating. When you’re shopping for your food, make it an aesthetic experience as well. Fill your cart up with all the colors of these delicious live foods.

Invest in a good juicer. There are cooks’ catalogues that carry them. Shop online. Maybe you can find a good used juicer on an auction site. A juicer is NOT really a blender. It’s much more powerful because it needs to liquefy foods that can be highly fibrous.

You want some good knives too, for cutting up your fruits and vegetables. Invest in a few good ones. Turn the work of chopping up your food into something artistic.

If you don’t have a steamer, invest in one of those too, so you can lightly steam your vegetables if you want. Buy specific types of steamers. We’ve seen an asparagus steamer that’s especially designed to steam the woody bottoms more than the tender tips.

Get a few chopping tools that are also garnishing tools. It’s just as easy to cut up carrots with a ridged cutting knife to make them more attractive. There are special slicers that get your fruits and veggies really thin and therefore more fun to eat.

And do invest in a new cutting board. You don’t want to use the same cutting board for all your fresh new foods that you’ve used through the years to cut up chicken or other foods. No matter how much you scrub, your cutting board can absorb bacteria. Start fresh in all things – not just your food!

21. Juice vs blend

We saw an interesting article about starvation in which the comment was made that there are really two types of starvation. One, of course, is caused by too little or no food at all. But there is another type of starvation caused by serious malnutrition, and even though the U.S. is the fattest nation on the planet, our bodies are starved for important nutrients and enzymes. It’s partly why we’re so fat, because we keep eating and eating, but we’re eating highly processed, cooked foods that have the essential components burned out of them. Cooking removes up to 80% of food’s important amino acids, fibers and vitamins.

It’s one reason why switching to a raw foods diet makes such compelling sense. When you start eating raw foods, you’re suddenly getting all the nutrition from food that nature intended you to get. It’s the way our bodies were meant to eat, in balance with the planet.

We suddenly become the vibrant, healthy animals we’re supposed to be.

But we still live in the modern world, with all its pressures and time constraints. It’s one reason why getting your whole foods from juicing is a good idea. You can still get all the fiber you need without taking the time to cut, peel or slice the food. Raw foods do take a little more time to chew and swallow and that’s a good thing. But if you don’t have the time for that, then you should consider using juices for at least a portion of your raw foods intake.

You do need to invest in a good juicer though, and that’s different from a blender. A blender can’t process the fruit peels that contain most a fruit or vegetables vitamins and enzymes. A juicer is a more high-powered appliance that will process everything – seeds and stems, peels and pulp. It’s designed to do it quickly and efficiently. They can be expensive, but there are many more options today than there used to be as this concept has gained in popularity.

22. Benefits of juice

Eating raw foods is a way to give your body some of the nutrition it desperately needs. Many of us are at least slightly overweight, and even the morbidly obese are starving for essential proteins and amino acids. All the processed, cooked foods we eat give us only a small percentage of what we need. Consequently, we eat and eat and yet we’re still not nourished. Psychologists try to tell us we’re eating to make up for an emptiness in our souls. Wrong! Our bodies our empty and trying to tell us so.

Eating raw foods is good for us on so many levels. It’s satisfying to eat them. They take more time to chew and swallow, so we don’t eat as fast. And we’re getting so much more in the way of nutrition by consuming fruits, vegetables, nuts and sprouts.

It can take time to prepare raw foods, however. Which is why a juicer is an important addition to your kitchen once your start to be serious about raw foods. A good juicer can process an entire apple – seeds, stems, peel, pulp and all – and turn all that into a healthy, nutritious juice.

Buying apple juice is NOT the same thing!!! Don’t even look at apple juices or even ciders in the grocery store. Put that $2 or $3 aside and save up for a juicer. Buy bags of apples, orange, bananas, carrots and make your own juices to get everything from the fruit that you’d get by eating it raw. Now you’re getting juice that’s as fresh as the fruit or vegetable you made it from. No preservatives, no processing that strips most of the energy from the fruit. And think of all the delicious combinations you can make with the many tropical fruits that are available now in most grocery stores. You can customize your fruits and add non-typical ingredients like pumpkin to an orange juice. Now that’s a powerhouse of a juice!

23. Types of Juicers

If you’re eating more raw foods and making that important lifestyle change, at some point you’ll need to consider investing in a juicer. A blender is NOT the same thing. To get all the benefits of juicing fruits and vegetables, you need to be able to process every part of the food – seeds, stems, peels and pulp. That’s where all the vitamins are. A blender just can’t do that effectively.  A juicer will extract all the nutrients from fruit or vegetable that not even your stomach can adequately do.

Juicers routinely used to cost $300-$400 and more. The best ones still do, but if you’re just getting into juicing, there are less expensive styles on the market as well. Here are a few you can research to find the best one for you. Natural food stores and cooking catalogues like Williams-Sonoma also carry juicers.

Here are some reasonably priced juicers to consider.

Omega 1000 – Makes good, virtually pulp-free juice. It’s a high-yield juicer but not good for juicing leafy greens. This juicer will not process wheatgrass. Price $150-$200

Commercial Champion – Better juice quality, pulpy with good nutritional value. Also a multi-purpose machine that grates and churns and can make nut butters. A good heavy-duty juicer, high volume, good for families. Does not process wheatgrass. Price $230-$300.

Solo Star – Create a pulpy juice, but very high nutrient value because the motor is a lower RPM. This is a multi-purpose machine that can grate, churn, make nut butters and extrude pasta. It can process wheatgrass. Price $190 - $300.

Green Power – A premium juicer, although a more complicated machine with more parts that need to be cleaned. Creates the least pulp with more nutrients. It is a Twin Screw Press type of juicer that is superior to masticating or centrifugal juicers. It will process wheatgrass. Also a multi-purpose machine. Pricey, but may be well worth it. Price $450 - $650.

24. Dehydrate fruits

One of the problems facing anyone trying to eat healthier, especially for someone trying to move towards eating more raw foods is the convenience factor. Raw and natural foods are so much healthier for you, but it’s not as if there are drive-through raw foods restaurants on every street corner in the country.

And of course, there’s no such thing as a raw foods snack machine, is there? So if you get hungry during the day, you’re going to have a challenge of finding something appropriate to eat if you haven’t  packed any raw fruits and vegetables. And when you’re rushing around in the morning, sometimes it’s next to impossible to find the time to put together a selection of healthy snacks to take with you.

One thing to try so that you have healthy snacks available quickly is to dehydrate your fruits or make fruit leathers. Those fruit roll-ups you see in the grocery store are derived from a pretty good idea – fruit leathers. But it’s better to make your own – commercial fruit leathers are going to be loaded with preservatives and sugars – just the things you want to avoid.

When you’re switching to a raw foods diet, that doesn’t always have to mean fresh off the farm. It means not cooking foods with processes that strip all the essential vitamins, amino acids and enzymes from them. Drying fruit is a great way to add variety to your diet and make yourself tasty snacks of dried fruit or fruit leathers. It’s not hard to do. There are recipes and inexpensive food dehydrators on the Web. These are also great snacks to pack for your kids’ lunches!

You get all the benefit of the raw fruit, just packaged and preserved in a healthy, nutritious way!

25. Food Dehydrators

Making dried fruit and fruit leathers isn’t hard and it doesn’t have to be expensive either. While some food processors and juicers can get really pricey, a dehydrator isn’t going to cost that much and it’s a lifesaver to have fruit leathers, dried fruit or fruit jerky on hand when you can’t get out to the store for fresh food.

When buying a dehydrator, some things to consider are the materials and construction used to manufacture the product, the size, heating elements, fans and guarantees. Make sure you have room for the dehydrator in the space you have planned for it.  Choose one that’s multi-purpose, with multiple trays and special trays for fruits and herbs. A side-mounted or horizontal fan is best when choosing a food dehydrator.

Here are some food dehydrators to consider. But do a little research to find just the right one for you!

Nesco American Harvest – A very inexpensive food dehydrator with five trays that don’t have to be rotated. Price is $40-$55.

Excalibur Dehydrator – Has over 12 square feet of drying space. Comes with 9 free sheets and has a horizontal fan for maximum drying efficiency. Fast drying times, no tray rotation needed and fast cleanup. Price approximately $200-$220.

L’Equip Dehydrators – Comes with special mesh for drying sheets, plus special sheets for making fruit leathers and fruit roll-ups. Has a compact design and good, uniform drying. Price is around $150.

TSM Commerical Dehydrator – When you’re really serious about drying foods! Comes with 12 racks, 1600 watts of power, dual 6” fans for strong air flow. Can dry 15-18 pounds of jerky. Priced at $650 and up.

And don’t forget a food slicer for all that fruit drying! The Chef's Choice 645 food slicer has a powerful 130 watt geared condenser motor for smooth, quiet, fast operation. A large 7" nonstick stainless steel slicer blade cuts fruit & vegetables. Micrometer control dial selects slices from deli-thin to 9/16" thick.

26. New Raw Food Recipes

Since you’ve been eating raw foods and changing your lifestyle, you’re feeling better, finding you have more energy, and are purging the toxins from your system. You’re also rediscovering the wonderful flavors that raw foods possess, as well as learning about the benefits the raw enzymes have on your health. And summer provides the perfect opportunity to expand your taste buds and try all sorts of wonderful new produce options you’d never dared explore before.

Don’t let your new-found inspiration and energy get lost once you set foot in the kitchen because you’ve run out of new and exciting raw food meal options.  Try some of these fresh ideas to and some zing back to your mealtime and continue down the raw food path to improved health, energy and happiness.

Sunflower Seed Sour Cream

 

1 cup sunflower seeds

1 cup water

4 tbsp. lemon juice

1 garlic clove, pressed

¾ tsp onion powder

¾ tsp salt

 

Blend all ingredients together in a food processor or blender until smooth.  If consistency is too thick, you can simply add a bit more water. (Adding a bit more lemon juice will give it an added zing.) Garlic and onion powder can be increased for your taste preferences.

Portobello Sandwich

1 Portobello mushroom, sliced about ½ inch thick

1 cup vegetable broth

Dijon mustard

2 slices sprouted multi-grain bread

1 Holland Tomato, sliced

¼ avocado, sliced

¼ cup baby lettuce

Cook the sliced mushrooms in the vegetable broth until they are semi soft and cooked through.  Place the desired amount of mustard on 1 slice of bread.  Layer the tomato slices, mushrooms, avocado, and lettuce.  Top with the mushrooms and the other slice of bread.  Cut in half and enjoy!  See some raw foods are barely cooked.

Raw Curry Cantaloupe Soup

1 cantaloupe

½ teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon nutmeg

½ teaspoon garam masala

½ teaspoon curry powder

Combine and blend all ingredients until smooth.  Serve well chilled.

So hit your local farmer’s markets, visit those roadside produce stands, or maybe even enjoy the fruits of your own hard labors and raid the garden and spice up the summer with some cool new twists on some of your favorite produce. 

27. Raw Food Diet isn’t really a DIET

Our busy lives can sometimes make it difficult to stick to our dieting plans when we’re trying to lose weight.  We’re either keeping track of our fat intake, our sugar intake, our carbohydrate intake, or our caloric intake.  With all that counting, it’s no wonder most of us become discouraged and ‘fall off the dieting wagon.’  Add to that the surplus of convenient diet foods that are out there that are chock-full of preservatives and additives that we choose when we’re tired from a busy day and don’t have the energy or time to prepare a nutritious meal, and we’re headed down a wrong-way street trying to navigate our way through our weight-loss journey.

Enter the raw foods lifestyle. Not only are raw foods full of the nutrients, vitamins and minerals our bodies need to perform optimally, they provide enzymes for proper digestion, and will also result in the purging of toxins and the cleansing of your body systems.  The best part?  You can eat as many fruits and vegetables as you like….and you will lose weight.

In addition, the natural high fiber content of most raw foods will help you feel fuller, thereby reducing your food intake. They’ll assist in turning up the thermostat in your body, helping to melt away that excess weight and nourishing your body’s cells to continue with the fat-burning process.  Most raw foods are naturally low in calories, and obviously much lower in calories, fats, sugars, and carbohydrates than the dieting convenience foods we’d been reaching for in the past.  The added bonus of increased energy, regulated blood sugar and blood pressure levels, sharper vision and improved mental functionality, and you’ll wonder why you didn’t become a ‘raw foodie’ earlier in the weight loss and dieting game.  And, once you reach your weight loss goals, you’ll realize how healthy you’ve become in the process, and the raw food lifestyle will then be your way of life.

28. Eating “Raw” triggers detoxification

Cleaning is an every day part of our lives.  If we’re not cleaning the house, we’re doing laundry, cleaning the car, cleaning out the garage or attic, or clearing our desk of the never-ending piles of bills, junk mail, and coupons we accumulate.  For the computer-savvy, cleaning is even an every day process in order to maintain an optimally-running, reliable and safe system. We even clean the outside of our bodies in some form or fashion on a daily basis, from showering to teeth brushing. So, if cleaning is such a healthy part of our every day lives, logic would dictate we should do the same for the inside of our body as well. 

Detoxification and tissue cleansing is the process of purging environmental and chemical toxins from your body.  Such toxins can disrupt every system in your body.  If our body is polluted with such toxins, its own detoxification system – namely the liver, lungs, skin, kidneys and lymphatic system – cannot work properly, and these unruly poisons set up shop in every cell of our body, and soon begin to wreak havoc with our physical, mental and emotional well-being.  These contaminants can create such problems as lethargy, foggy thinking, unhealthy skin, decreased vision, mood swings, and digestive disorders.  

However, by adopting a lifestyle including eating healthy raw foods, our body can conduct its own ‘spring cleaning.’ And contrary to what most might think, raw foods are actually more easily digestible than cooked foods are. It also enables the digestive system to ‘clean house’ and begin the process of purging the dangerous environmental and chemical toxins from the cells of the body, thereby restoring the systems to their optimal states.  In addition, since raw foods are so nutrient-dense, they also simultaneously provide the body with much-needed and missed nutrients, vitamins and minerals it needs in order to continually perform on an ongoing basis.  

29. Detoxification

When you think about it, we’re surrounded by many forms of toxins.  From the bottle of “improved and stronger” multipurpose cleaning we bought to clean our home with, to the higher levels of toxins in our water supply, poisons envelop our world.  Not only do we clean with them, we ingest, breathe in, and absorb the toxins contained in our food supply and environment.  It’s no wonder that our health suffers as a result.  Diseases like cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, respiratory problems, and skin disorders abound, all of which can be related to toxicity. 

The burden that toxins carry can also become our burden as well.  A toxic body is sluggish, lethargic, and listless. We’ve all found ourselves wishing at one time or another, if not daily, for increased energy levels, the ability to think clearly and make sound decisions, and a way to stop suffering from headaches, aches, pains, and digestive and breathing difficulties. 

The process of detoxification can help clear those toxins from our body’s cells, and put us on the path of healing from the inside out.  Detoxification involves a whole host of lifestyle and dietary changes. It includes avoiding both environmental and food toxins, eliminating refined foods and sugars, caffeine, tobacco, alcohol and drugs, and introducing purified drinking water, increasing fiber intake and increasing daily exercise.  By taking these steps, our body can begin the process of purging the poisons from our systems, which will in turn increase energy and mental capacities, relieve lethargy, pain and stress, and improve digestive and respiratory functionality.  Once those things begin to happen, our body is more able to do the job it was designed to do.  Increased energy, a more positive outlook, more stable blood glucose and blood pressure can all be a direct result from purging the poisons from the body.

30. Detoxification Hurdle to Pleasurable State

The process of detoxifying our bodies results in the purging of harmful environmental and chemical poisons from our body. The buildup of these toxins can overwhelm the body’s capacity to detoxify and may lead to such problems as hormonal imbalances, nutritional deficiencies, inefficient metabolism, and digestive and respiratory disorders.  Those who utilize the detoxification process often find it can result in improved energy levels, mental capacity, skin tone and clarity, digestion, metabolism, and breathing while decreasing joint pain, body aches and headaches, constipation, anxiety, irritability, and aiding in weight loss.

Though the end results of detoxification are very beneficial, the actual process of detoxifying can be difficult.  Headaches, nausea, and diarrhea can result as the toxins exit the body.  It’s important to keep in mind that, even though you’re doing a good thing for your body by detoxifying it, you may even develop a cold or flu-like symptoms as your body works to purge the germs and poisons from the cells.  Skin breakouts, anxiety, irritability and lethargy can also occur. 

The healthier a person is when beginning the detoxification program, the lesser and fewer these symptoms will be.  If the body has a great deal to purge, the process will be harder on the body.  If the process is a huge change from the previous lifestyle, these side effects might be more pronounced. 

Don’t interrupt the detoxification process by taking any type of drug to relieve these symptoms. They are a natural side effect of the process. Try instead to get some rest and focus on the end result. Try treating yourself extra special during this time.  Sit down and enjoy a good book, meditate, or even write in your journal about your detoxification experiences, so that during your next one, you can reflect back and remind yourself that what you went through was a natural occurrence, and also how wonderful you felt when the detoxification process was complete.

31.    Can you feed your children raw food?

Every mother wants the best for her child.  You want your child to look healthy, grow proportionately, feel energized and have a great immune system.  So, why do most parents in America feed their children junk food by the time they start eating table food?  Why do most restaurants serve French fries or macaroni and cheese for side orders and not steamed broccoli?  It is really a sad situation to watch young children who are obese.  Even schools offer peanut butter and jelly or ice cream for lunch. 

To ensure that your child is eating correctly you must feed them plenty of fruits and vegetables.  But the trick is to make it delicious and fun.  For instance, for breakfast, arrange a platter of fruit, oranges, grapefruit, bananas, strawberries, blueberries, they will love it!  Make faces out of the fruit.  Have them drink only water and no sugar 100% fruit juice that you juice yourself.  

Get them used to eating vegetables that are uncooked.  Whenever they get hungry, offer small baby carrots, or celery, they will grow to love the taste just the way it is.  You can introduce a new vegetable each week and learn how to hide it into your food.  For instance, chop up Portobello mushrooms in a chopper and add it to your pasta sauce and watch them gobble it up, barely noticing the mushrooms.  Make blanched broccoli (plain) and eat that for dinner.  If they see you eating healthy, they will learn early on to eat that way.  Do not let them eat packaged foods, such as macaroni and cheese, or fried chicken fingers, or anything fried for that matter.  Make sure that they eat vegetables at every meal and be careful when you go out to eat. 

Offer natural desserts that you have made at home, such as homemade sorbet, or fruit smoothie, or peach cobbler pie (all natural).  Stay away from cakes, cookies, etc that have preservatives and other unnatural flavorings.  Make it yourself and offer it occasionally.  You will find that they watch you and what you eat and if you incorporate a much healthier menu, so will they. 

The best part of raising your children to learn to love fruits and vegetables is that you will notice that they will turn down junk food when you are not around.  At that point you will know that you have done your part in raising healthy adults.

 32. How can you be sure your children are getting the nutrition they need?

Most parents would worry that if they keep their children from eating those fatty foods that they love, and only offer vegetables, that the children will starve, or have nutritional deficiencies.  These parents feel that the kids will just not eat the food.  If you think about it this way, how much nutrients are they receiving from the fatty, processed foods now?  If their diet consists of French fries, mashed potatoes, apple sauce, chocolate pudding, and maybe chicken fingers, how could it be worse if you only offer fruits and vegetables?  Sure, maybe they will demand to have the foods they like, and not eat.  They will eventually get hungry and if you keep offering fruits and vegetables and do not give in, you will see that they will begin to enjoy it, especially if they see everyone else in the family eating healthier.

Incorporate bean soups, such as yummy lentil soup and if that doesn’t work make your lentil soup into a “lentil burger”.  You may have to gradually change their eating styles.  Try making fresh bean and/or vegetable soups with some cheese sprinkled on it.  Make sure it is tasty, and not too spicy.  Make homemade pancakes with wheat and only sweeten it with pure raw honey.  Make fruit shakes and throw in a carrot or romaine lettuce. Make tasty salads with homemade dressings….and also make faces out of the tomatoes and cucumbers and carrots.  Make tasty salmon and have them try it. 

There are so many possibilities and recipes that you can try.  Do not give up on your child because they have shown a dislike for a vegetable or fruit.  Just eat it around them and watch them ask you for a piece.  Keep offering it to them at dinnertime and ask them to eat a couple of bites.

If children eat plenty of fruits and green leafy vegetables, they are also getting their calcium requirements.  But you could also include some almond milk or rice milk if you want.

The focus is to keep introducing them to new foods so that they develop a taste for natural foods that we as humans were meant to eat.

33. Why go “raw”?

So, now that you know what a raw food diet is all about, you need to decide, is it right for you?  Well you do not need to incorporate raw food 100% of the time.  

You can just eat more fruits and vegetables and no processed foods.  Try drinking fruit juices until lunch time and then eating a healthy veggie sandwich.  For dinner, eat some blanched vegetables with a cooked meal with no meats.  

When you gradually detoxify your body, you will see dramatic results.  First, you will go through the detoxify process, where you will feel tired, have headaches, skin eruptions, etc.  

Once you are over this tough time, you will feel light, not dragged down, energetic, vitality, and conscious, among other things.  You will have more mental clarity and therefore be more productive.  Your body will feel cleansed, you will be able to treat disease and prevent new ones from forming.  You will see a dramatic weight loss, for instance five pounds a week.  You will also notice that you do not seem weighed down with colds or sicknesses because your immune system is much stronger.  You will be saving money because you can either grow your vegetables or buy them at a farmers market.  

Buying organic food will save the earth and provide agricultural support, which is much needed.  You will also save time and money because you will not be in the kitchen cooking up a storm.  You will not be eating animals, because these animals have been pumped with high hormones and that wouldn’t benefit you anyway, but instead toxify you.  

This in turn, puts an end to the torture in animal farming.  You will not be plagued with depression, pms, or acne.  In fact, your skin will be absolutely glowing, you will feel rejuvenated.  

This type of eating also slows the aging process.  Your senses will be enhanced; you will be more flexible and fertile.  You will be more creative, motivated, and also relaxed.  You will focus more on relationships and be more environmentally attuned and inwardly attuned.  

What you will notice is an amazing spiritual awakening that you have never experienced before because you have changed your vibrations to a higher level capable of clearer thought patterns.

34.  Final note:  why this is not a fad diet?  

Humans have been eating fresh fruit, vegetables, and nuts 10-50,000 yrs or more b4 we discovered fire, tools and implement to kill animals.

Eating raw fruits and vegetables isn’t the new fad diet, or the new South Beach Diet.  Believe it or not, humans have been eating this way long before they were eating processed junky foods.  We didn’t have access to most types of foods.  We were scavengers, picking fruits and eating vegetables were a delicacy.  Nuts were also eaten for protein.  It was either that or starve.  Humans ate these fruits as is, no additives, no cooking.  One and a half million years ago we learned how to cook.  So for a half million years we ate the food raw, as it was intended.  We are the only animals on the planet that cook their food.  Eating meat doubled the caloric intake of man, which made it easier to hunt and have enough energy to do what needs to be done. 

Today, we have access to every type of food we want at our fingertips.  We can order Oolong tea (which must be handpicked on cliffs in china) from the internet.  You would think that since we have come this far, we would be super human, so healthy we would be living 500 years.  No so unfortunately.  In fact, in some ways we actually have worse health now.  Some of us are developing cancers at an early age.  Some of us are dying of heart disease or obesity.  We are not eating correctly.  We are stuffing our face with hydrogenated oils, fake products, high sodium and sugary foods.  It is simply disgusting.  We are gaining weight at an alarming rate and looking horribly.  It shows in the skin, sags of fat, sluggish attitude, depressed look, lack of sexual drive, etc.  I wonder how long we would live if we adapted the diet of the Japanese. 

What people need to realize is that eating fat free or sugar free foods isn’t going to help.  It isn’t going to help if you stuff your face with snack wells instead of Oreo’s.  What will help is to completely change what you eat.  Remember, you are what you eat, so eat the right things and it will show in your body, mind and spirit.

35. Great foods that pass through body quickly and easily

There are certain types of foods that are eliminated by the body quicker than others. These are unprocessed foods containing adequate fiber in foods such as fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, and whole grains. If these types of food would be consumed more, bodily conditions of diseases, constipation and other bowel complications would be avoided. 

When foods types like beans, peas, green vegetables, fresh fruits of all types, whole grain breads, and cereals are eaten, an easily managed mass of residue is easily passed through the intestines. The time frame of 72 hours or less is normal for the remains of the consumed foods to pass through the bowels with elimination of four to six hours for extremely healthy people. This short time span is easier on the gastrointestinal tract than the consumption of white flour and sugar foods that are low fiber residue.

The body becomes more active and alert when the body does not consume food for a period of time.  It is believed that three hours or more is adequate between meals before another meal should be eaten.  Of course, this varies on the type of meal that is eaten, what types of food, and how much is eaten.

It is also a natural tendency of the human body to rest while it is digesting food: ten minutes before consuming a meal and half-an-hour after consuming the meal is thought to be the most beneficial.  The largest meal of the day should be eaten around noon as the body’s physiological capacities are at their peak during this time.  This would be a problem in today’s world as after the meal, lying down for about half-an-hour may present a problem.  So, many individuals eat their largest meal after work or at the end of the day when they can relax at leisure.

36. Eating foods that are hard to digest

Even if we are not sick and look healthy, we may not be getting enough adequate nutrition.  We can improve our state of health by simply knowing what nutrition we need. Nutrition is about what the food is all about, the amount we need, its function, and the basic materials we need for our body in order for it to continue on with its daily activities.  By knowing how to take care of our body through nutrition, we can maintain its high performance levels instead of being unable to because of the low levels.

When we eat meals, it is important to understand that we should not mix raw food with cooked food, as this will produce acid in the stomach. This acid does not mix well with the raw food and will create indigestion. Another thing to think about is when eating raw fruits and vegetables, we should try to stay with organic foods due to the amount of pesticides that are usually on the non-organic foods.

Foods in different categories that are mixed together can cause an imbalance in the body. For example: when we eat a meal high in both fats and simple carbohydrates, we become tired and exhausted while we develop muddled thinking. The reason is our tissue is not receiving enough oxygen.  Carbohydrates are simple and complex: simple carbohydrates should be totally eliminated while complex ones are very beneficial for us. Fresh fruits and vegetables produce elimination while vitamin D milk and cheese counter it. When we send mixed messages to our body because of our lack of knowledge about its nutrition, it causes disorder and disease.

When we go for periods of time in-between meals, the body becomes very active and more alert when food is not consumed.  It is believed that three hours or more is adequate between meals before another meal should be eaten.

37. You can get plenty of calcium from green leafy vegetables; cow’s milk isn’t the best for your body..

For excellent food therapy, calcium derived from dairy products, leafy greens, some nuts, and any calcium-fortified products are much better than through supplements.  If the body assimilates more than the needed intake of calcium, it will flush out what it doesn’t need.  Calcium is important for building bones but organic calcium does the job better than the inorganic calcium does in the form of supplements.  A juice made from fresh green leafy vegetables and fruits maximize this intake of calcium. The chlorophyll that is found in green plants and vegetables contains magnesium, which is very important in the “uptake” of calcium. Elaine Bruce, experienced naturopath, homeopathic and director of the UK Centre for Living Foods, said, “The chemical composition of chlorophyll and blood is very similar which further facilitates this uptake.”

All vitamins and minerals work together as a unit. A synergistic combination of two or more vitamins is used together to form a stronger unison. But this type of unisons can work against each other. When we take antibiotics for infections and illnesses, we reduce greatly the Vitamin C absorption within the body, which protects against infection itself.  The National Institutes of Health recommend the dosage of calcium per day as 1,000 to 1,500 mg.  If calcium carbonate is taken instead of calcium, it contains only 40% calcium; a 1,500 mg tablet of it provides only 600 mg of calcium.

Cow’s milk is not as good for the body as we have been led to believe. Its protein content is extremely high and creates acidic residue. By continuing large amounts of milk, or acidic food consumption, a loss of alkaline minerals will develop from the bones. By losing these minerals, bones will become weak and prone to fractures.

38. Why would you consider getting a colonic as a part of your detoxify program?

Approximately two million people in this country have colon problems such as colitis, ileitis, and diverticulitis.  A colonic, or colon hydrotherapy, is a cleansing of the colon using a warm water flush that lasts about 45 minutes per session along with 15 gallons of water. The primary purpose of the colonic is the rid the body of waster through a series of muscular contractions known as “peristalsis.”  This colonic cleansing removes toxic waste that has been left in the colon, which would have been reabsorbed into the bloodstream resulting in illness or disease.

I would consider cleansing of the bowels essential to improved health. Over the years most of us have developed toxics in our body due to improper eating habits, environmental pollution, medications, recreational practices and anything else associated with our lifestyle. What is lining our colon due to this is impacted dried mucus, which forms a wall similar to plastic lining on the inside of the bowels.  Our bloodstream picks up any and all toxic particles, which will eventually seep into our blood through this colon if left unattended.

The toxic colon is the primary cause of disease and death, degeneration, aging and premature death of individuals who died only because of a toxic colon that inhibited digestion and normal bowel movements. Many didn’t even realize that there were such a thing or they had the option to cleanse it.  But due to our lifestyles, we have about 10 to 25 pounds of dried fecal matter in the intestine. This fecal matter causes body imbalances and eventual death.

39. An Enema will also Keep the system clean and fresh, detoxified.

When an enema is given, there are specific purposes for it.  They are a form of colon cleansing, so other than warming and cleansing the colon through a series of enemas, the system needs to be alkalized, any foreign protein is removed from the colon, and the bowel system is hydrated.  Tap water or soapsuds dilates the bowel and stimulates peristalsis. It also lubricates the stool and feces to eliminate toxics in the lower area of the intestine.

Enemas are used as a treatment for constipation, a colon cleansing therapy, or for any other health reasons person is suffering from. The colonic uses more water than the traditional enema to cleanse and flush. An alternative to an enema is the herbal colon cleanser that is taken by mouth in the form of a drink or capsule.  Many individuals find it more hygienic than the enema, with immediate results within the first two hours.

When a person needs an enema and is full of toxics, they feel out of energy and excessively tired, depressed and bloated … and not entirely in that order. We are designed to have anywhere from two to four bowel movements a day, but if our system is not working properly, constipation will begin to form.  When the bowel begins to get impacted problems will arise such as colon cancer. Symptoms of these problems are headaches, bad breath, allergy symptoms, depression, exhaustion and fatigue, bloating and chronic infections.

An oil retention enema is used in the same manner but in a lesser amount to soften the hardened stool inside the bowels, allowing for a normal bowel movement. Another type enema is for the delivery of mediation to the immediate bloodstream.  Steroid enemas solutions are given for individuals with ulcerative colitis or antibiotic enema solutions for localized bacterial infections.

40. Drinking a daily vitamin packed drink of your choice that includes romaine lettuce, celery, stalks kale, apples, lemon, and fresh ginger (or make your own drink)

To eat healthy we need to eat daily one pound of raw vegetables for each 50 pounds of body weight. By juicing this amount, it is very easy to get 50% of your body weight’s requirement of raw vegetables.  Raw food is important to our body because when it is consumed, it does not raise our white blood cells like cooked food does.  It did not change when raw foods or low temperature cooked foods were consumed.

Health juices are not a new thing over history. Limejuice cured scurvy in the16^th century, saving thousands of sailor’s lives. But our generation has only recently discovered the nutritional and biochemical properties of fruit and vegetable fresh juices.  Juicing is the cheapest and most economical method to maintain the health of the individual in our time today. It was discovered that the best time to take a juice drink is in the morning and during the evening.

Freshly squeezed juices from vegetables and fruit contain more vitamins and minerals, along with enzymes, than any canned or fresh juice. When making your juice, always include a dark leafy vegetable such as spinach, broccoli, cabbage, or beet tops. It was discovered that the best time to take a juice drink is in the morning and during the evening. Within ten minutes after consuming the drink they are absorbed into the bloodstream. This is an advantage to drinking freshly juiced vegetables as compared to eating fresh vegetables and fruit. Eating solid foods take several hours to digest, while a fresh fruit or vegetable drink is absorbed quickly into the system. The fiber is lost due to the juicing process but a higher amount of nutrients goes into the body and its system.

41. Why you should only take sips of water during mealtime?  Large glasses of water impedes the digestive process by diluting the gatric juices.

Taking several sips of water at a mealtime as compared to drinking a couple of large glasses per meal seems to be a personal preference unless there is a medical reason or a weight loss is desired. Several sources say that at the present time there is no proof at all that water aids in the digestion process.  There is enough water in the fruits and vegetables to supply this. 

But what I noticed is that an excessive amount of water consumed at a meal dilutes stomach acid concentration. This is very necessary for food breakdown of protein and other nutrients.  I also noticed that the body couldn’t handle large amounts of water at one time because most water at a meal usually has ice in it. If water is drunk lukewarm or at room temperature, it will not interfere with the body’s temperature as much as ice water does. If a person has a medical condition like a hiatus hernia, too much water at a meal will trigger it.

Water drank between meals, not during meals, is the most important time for its consumption regarding health issues. To remove toxins and waste products from the body, water is needed for the flow of their elimination. It also is important for the circulation of our body’s fluids and temperature regulation.

In 1910, a study was done on a young man who drank 3 liters of water with his meals for five days in a row. The findings showed: an increase in body weight of two pounds in the five days; increased amount of excretion of urinary nitrogen; increased output of ammonia, due to an increased output of gastric juice; decreased excretion of feces and of fecal nitrogen; and a decrease in the quantity of bacteria excreted daily.

42. Although it is difficult for some of you to transform your diet completely, you do not have to go 100% raw.

You can incorporate natural alternatives to the foods you were eating (such as organic raw peanut butter and not regular peter pan).  You can also purchase all organic, stay away from cow milk, incorporate plenty of fresh fruits and veggies and only drink water and you have dramatically changed your life already!

Changing over to 100% raw foods right away may be hard for some people due to their personal preferences. Also, by changing over to raw food, the body will begin to detox on its own within a few days.  Changing over and doing so gradually would be wise so the body will not have to go through detox so hard at the beginning.

One method used was six days on, one day off which seemed to work as the body could compare food tastes. After awhile, the body would choose what was healthy over the unhealthy, allowing the detox to continue on its own.  The feeling of well-being that was felt on the six days was still desired on the seventh day.  Contrasts between food types and their tastes were noted, and personal preferences could win for that one-day.  But eventually, the  non-cooked food won out.

A second method used was to eat raw food “cold turkey” for two weeks straight.  On the end of the two-week period, a list was made to see what was enjoyed most … the processed food or the raw vegetables. At first, the desire for processed food was still there but over time, it lost its appeal. By the end of the month, the feeling of “well-being” due to eating raw foods won over the taste of cooked and processed foods.

Keep in mind that you do not have to incorporate a full 100% raw food diet forever!  You can eat raw foods 80% of the time, for instance, perhaps up until dinnertime, then go cooked for dinner.  Just eating more fruits and veggies alone will change your health drastically.

43. Why you should not drink cow’s milk? 

Many people are firm believers that cow’s milk is the “perfect food” and you will never be able to change their minds. But parents need to educate themselves about milk allergies and lactose intolerances with their children in mind to be forewarned. One main reason why cow’s milk isn’t that great for you is that it was made for cows, not humans.  Secondly, if you are not consuming magnesium along with cow milk, you are not benefiting from the calcium.  Thirdly, if you consume something with iron in it, your body also cannot uptake calcium at all.  So, red meat and a glass of milk, is not a great idea.

The reaction of the immune system to milk proteins and milk products is a milk allergy.  These are signs and symptoms that will appear while the child is an infant.  This affects the digestive system along with skin and airways.  Milk allergies can be life threatening to infants if not recognized and something done about it.  Infants who develop milk allergies are usually put on soy milk by the family doctor.

Lactose intolerance shows up a couple of years later and is caused by the body not being able to break down the milk sugar lactose.  This affects the digestion only, and causes symptoms such as bloating, gas and loose bowels. This occurs only after drinking milk or eating dairy products.  This is not a serious intolerance and many people can still drink milk or dairy products in small amounts and not really feel any symptoms.

If a child or adult is found to be milk-allergic, it is best to know that not all “milk-free” labels are misleading, and they still can have milk protein in it.  Some of the soy cheeses that are labeled as milk free can still have some milk in it, so read the labels very carefully.

Many nondairy foods can be substituted for milk or milk products. Be aware, however, that just because a food is labeled "nondairy," it does not necessarily mean that it is milk free. Even a "milk-free" label can be misleading. For example, some soy cheeses claim to be milk free but may still contain milk protein. That's why it's always important to read all food labels when you have a milk-allergic child.

44.    Why you should reconsider consuming soy milk often?  Soy is the Most mucous forming food on the planet.

Most milk is mucous forming.  When a cold develops or pneumonia sets in, the last thing offered should be a milk product due to the mucous in it. Soy is still milk, even though it is called a “vegetable milk.” Children under two years of age are being advised not to drink cow’s milk due to the high protein in it. Yet soy milk is high protein also, and is seriously being promoted for children today, especially those who have had milk allergies.  The soy milk is curdled and hung in a cheese cloth, this forms a sold curd which is called tofu or soy cheese.  Processed soy products is the most mucous forming food on the planet!

It has been proven in Japan that soy has goitrogens in it, which depresses thyroid function. It also is high in phytic acid and is 99% genetically modified, plus having one of the highest percentages contaminate of pesticides there is.  Scientists are beginning to agree that grain and legume based diets high in phytates are helping spread mineral deficiencies in 3^rd world countries. 

Soy has come to us from the Orient where it is called “the meat without a bone.”  Tofu is a very natural protein based product from soy that replaces meat in the Orient. Traditionally, it was eaten by the Japanese as part of a mineral-rich fish broth.  Recent studies show vegetarians who eat tofu and bean curd as meat substitutes for dairy products and meat, are at risk for mineral deficiencies. Supplements need to be added to compensate for this deficiency.  Vegetarians who consume tofu and bean curd as a substitute for meat and dairy products risk severe mineral deficiencies.

The Chinese did not eat soybean as other legumes and lentils. They felt that the soybean contained large amounts of harmful substances.  Many reasons are cited for it, but soy products continue to grow in the United States at an alarming rate. Chocolate soy milk and vanilla soy milk are just a few products that we find in our grocery stores today.

45. The next best alternative to ice cream?  Easy to make homemade sorbet. (fresh fruits)

Probably one of the best desserts you can eat yet is tremendously good for you is Sorbet. It is a frozen dessert made from iced fruit puree and any other ingredient you would like to add for a light dessert.  It is sort of a gelato that has no milk in it so is very good for lactose free individuals or milk allergies.  Some sorbets contain alcohol that lowers the freezing temperature and makes it slightly softer.  It is very dense and flavorful, matching ice cream for quality and taste.  The Villa Dolce, makers of Italian gelato, are one of the best producers of sorbet on the web.

Sorbet has a history behind it that says the Roman Emperor, Nero, invented it during the first century AD.  The story said Nero had runners along the Appian way, passing buckets of snow to the mountains to his banquet hall, where it was mixed with honey and wine.  Other countries also laid claim to the original invention, but the mixture of snow, juice and fruit pulp is delicious.  The French served it traditionally between the starter course and the main course, and is served as a non-fat and vegan alternative to ice cream.

Sorbet is made from water, and fruit puree.  It is an excellent source of Calcium and Vitamin C, and is naturally fat free and low in calories.  They make excellent fruit smoothies and are good for you in health aspects. They would be similar to fruit whips where you put ice, fruit, and some light flavoring in a blender to whip a light and airy, non dairy drink.  Very tasty, natural, and healthy.

46. Find natural Alternatives for flavor!

Alternative seasonings are becoming very familiar in the kitchens in today’s world.  Rows after rows of organic or alternative spices now line the cupboards in our kitchens as compared to the few we grew up with. We had salt and pepper, and maybe some garlic or onion salt. Slowly this changed to garlic powers or onion powders. We learned that the corn cooking oil we used was bad for us, and moved to olive oil and canola oil. We learned to educate ourselves on a daily basis.

Organic kelp granules are a wonderful salt alternative with low sodium and have iodine in it.  Low temperature dried and untoasted kelp granules spice up the kitchen dishes in a healthy way with a unique flavor. I like to boil spinach pasta and add it as a flavoring.  There is only 45 mg of sodium per ½ tsp that is very good for me also. The main ingredient is organic raw kelp.

Butters are becoming a thing of the past we have all grown up with. High fat content, it possibly contains residues of pesticides along with environmental toxics which both tend to concentrate in the fat.  When we walk down the dairy counters at the grocery store, we have many choices available to us. At one time it was a choice between butter and margarine; now neither is totally good for us. Peanut butter is now made from whole peanuts, as compared to the original peanut butter made from sugar and salt.  This healthy peanut butter avoids hydrogenated fats, which will add years to our life and our heart can maintain its low blood pressures along with normal pulses.

Red wine vinegarette dressings on salads and honey as sugar are just a few of the changes in the alternatives we have today for our kitchens.  The old fashioned meals we ate at our grandmother’s table are gone – what is available are meals with health in mind.  Even pancakes made out of wheat  is covered with pure maple syrup instead of the sweetened corn Karo syrup we grew up with.

47.    No more cans!  Fresh is the way to go!

Buying food items in cans lack in nutrition and are usually loaded with salt and preservatives in today’s food markets. The process of freshness goes from fresh fruits and vegetables, to frozen foods, and down to canned foods. Last on the list, these canned items are slowly becoming a thing of the past.

When the canned foods go through the cooking process, this heating process destroys about one-third to one-half of the vitamins A and C, riboflavin and thiamin. And then the sit on the shelves as they are stored, losing an additional 5% to 20% . But the remaining vitamins only decrease their values slightly.

A lot of produce when picked for harvest will begin to lose some of its nutrients. If it is handled properly and canned quickly, it can be more than or as nutritious as fresh fruit or vegetable.  This fresh produce will lose half or more of its vitamins with the first two weeks: but if not kept chilled or preserved, the fresh vegetable or fruit will lose nearly half of its vitamins within the first few days.  The average consumer is advised to eat a variety of food types each day as compared to only one type of food.

The thing to remember is everything depends on the time between the harvesting and the canning and freeing process. Generally, the vegetables are picked immediately and taken to canning or freezing divisions when their nutrient contact is at its peak. How the food is canned affects the nutrient value also. Vegetables boiled for longer than necessary and in large amounts of water lose much of their nutritional value as compared to those only lightly steamed.

When we pick fresh vegetables or fruit at the farm, they are always more nutritious than canned or frozen – this is a fact. If you cannot buy fresh, at least buy frozen.

48.   Ethnic restaurants,what to eat and what to avoid like the plague

With today’s massive cultures in our country, it is almost impossible not to see several ethnic restaurants in today’s towns.  Block after block of one ethnic food group after another are choices we have the luxury of today with so many ethnic groups within our country. No matter where we go in our country, we have choices of restaurants, cafes and coffee shops to choose from with most of them ethnic.  The immigration policy lately has been eruptive, but we are a wonderful example of being the melting pot of the world. We see this in the small “cities” within the big cities throughout the suburbs of where we live.

Food areas are clearly defined; many of them in the inner suburbs, and many are clearly ethnic, drawing from different cultures. Tables and chairs sit outside in patios as compared to the old world of being inside; we have outdoor food areas that are similar to those in other countries.

When an ethnic restaurant is found, try to avoid fried, high sodium/sugar foods and processed foods because of the high grease content that is high in animal fat, and preservatives.  If you must eat flesh, stay with broiled or baked fish.  Steamed or baked vegetables, along with tossed salads, are the chosen side items that are considered safe in most ethnic restaurants today.   Bring your own dessert (raw chocolate treat), or wait until you get home.

Many large cities have combined sight-seeing tours with walking tours en masse that visit these ethnic food courts. People and tourists visit areas that allow them to enjoy different foods and surroundings. Normally, these tourists or visitors would never venture into some of these areas to eat different food types. But the walking tours have opened up avenues of experimentation and adventures of new countries within the old. 

49. Christmas Food

Christmas is a time when we think of family get-togethers and abundance. It is memory lane for most of us, enjoying friends, memorable times and good comfort, traditional foods. But the weeks after the holidays are usually weight gains, health problems from too many sweets and food. 

Today white sugar, white flour, dairy products, trans and saturated fats, refined cars and excess calories are on the “no-no” list … and with the holiday times it feels as if the cakes, cookies and candies will become obsolete. And we begin to feel deprived and panic stricken. After all, it is a long-time tradition.

One answer is to make some raw food desserts and take them to get-togethers and family meals. Use nuts, dried fruits, and avocadoes instead of white flour and white sugar. They have a lot of flavor, looks and are good for you. Oh yes … and they are easy to put together.  Jenny Cornbleet has a book out called “Raw Food Made Easy for 1 or 2 People”. In it there are desserts – cakes, cookies, fruit crisps, pies, tarts, puddings, mousses, shakes, and ice cream recipes all raw – for holidays and all meals. Guess what?  They taste better than their sugar laden counterparts.

One recipe is for a “Flourless Chocolate Cake with Raspberry Sauce” which calls for 1 ½ cups raw walnuts, dash of salt, 8 pitted medjool dates, ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa or carob powder, ½ tsp vanilla extract, and 2 tsp water.  For the raspberry sauce you use 1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries (thaw and drain if frozen) with ¼ cup pitted medjooy dates, soaked for 30 minutes and drained.  Place the walnuts and salt in a food processor with the S blade and process until finely ground. Add dates, cocoa powder, and vanilla … process until mixture becomes sticky. Add water and process briefly.  Transfer to a serving plate and form a 5 inch round cake. Place the raspberries and dates in a blender and mix until smooth, pouring over the cake just before serving.

You do not have to give up all your comfort foods, just find a healthier recipe for it.  You will find the dessert to be much tastier.  But should you choose to nibble on a few old foods, do so in moderation, do not go overboard, and remember to wait and let your stomach digest properly before the next meal.

50. Eating organic and going raw can get expensive.  Here are some tips.

When we change over to eating raw foods it can be quite expensive. The ultimate is to grow your own garden. If you have a back yard you can grow a pretty decent sized one. Otherwise, get a few planters and grow a couple of tomato plants along the patio wall, and put a couple of eggplants inside the porch door with one large circular planter. Make each vegetable plant its own design with surrounding works of art. I put a little garden here of one type of veggies and then another one on the south side of the yard. The sky is the limit what you can do.

If you can find someone who has an organic garden, offer to help them in exchange for food items. Most people need help, and the larger the garden the more help they will need. You could weed, take care of the greenhouse, monitor customers who need assistance, and prepare plants for reselling.  Very few people refuse good honest labor; I know I wouldn’t! Working in a garden all spring, summer and fall is exhausting work; someone to help us would be a blessing.

If you can find sales on organic or fresh vegetables toward the end of the summer seasons, buy them at bulk and either freeze or can your favorite dishes.  If you have a large deep freeze you can freeze quite a bit of items. Otherwise, get a dehydrator and dry your food items. These do not need special storage and can be added to soups and stews, casseroles, or just eat by the hands full in the middle of winter as it is snowing outside.

Look around and see what you have in your neighborhood or local city area. There are many, many opportunities that are waiting for your attention and skill, but they won’t come knocking on your door!

 

Good luck with your new raw food ways!

Ailyth

Tetap Menyerah Jangan Semangat! Kalo orang lain bisa, kenapa harus saya? Kalo orang lain saja tidak bisa, ya.. Apalagi saya!

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