Simple Steps to a Raw Food Diet

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Raw Food Diet

Raw food experts typically believe that the greater the percentage of raw food in the diet, the greater the health benefits. A raw food diet is usually equated with only eating raw plant foods. Depending on the type of lifestyle and results desired, raw food diets may include a selection of raw fruits, goji berries, pomegranate, vegetables, nuts, seeds (including sprouted whole grains such as gaba rice), eggs, fish (such as sashimi), meat (such as Carpaccio), and non pasteurized non-homogenized dairy products (such as raw milk cheese, and raw milk yogurt).

We have a limited supply of enzymes in our body and the only way to get more is via the food we eat. Without enough enzymes to run our body as well as digest our food, the body starts to degenerate and symptoms such as arthritis and other diseases occur.

Raw Food – High in Nutrition, Tastes Great

There is also the fact that organic food tastes incredible. You need less food to be satisfied because the food is very high in the nutrients you need, so you don’t need to eat as much to get what your body needs. This results in your body reaching the weight it was designed to be and it also causes your body to eliminate all the toxins it’s been holding on to for most of your life.

Another advantage of buying raw food is that while the preparation time is slightly longer, once the food is prepared, it’s ready to be eaten! There’s no cooking time and usually very little cleaning up time either.

Simple Steps To Going Raw food

Raw food is food that hasn’t been cooked over 105F, although some foods can be cooked to slightly higher temperatures before the enzymes are destroyed.

Step 1: Make a commitment to having a go with living food for at least 30 days. This will help you over any sticky patches in your first attempt. If you can get some support from your friends or family and support them in turn, this will help you enormously!

Step 2: One of the first things you need to do is read up about raw food. Find out exactly what you need to do to ensure the food you’re eating is raw. There are loads of books you can buy and there’s even a list below for Amazon’s top results to help your search.

Step 3: Get your kitchen kitted out with a blender, a sprouter and some receipe books. If you’ve got the money a dehydrator, a spiralizer and a top of the line juicer are well worth investing in. The juicer that most people love is by Greenstar because it juices very slowly so it keeps the heat down and makes sure the enzymes survive.

Step 4: Buy organic food. You’ll be amazed at the difference!
Step 5: Start eating raw. To keep your interests up, try different recipes from your raw food books.

By: virgin raw

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Virgin Raw leaders in Raw Food, Organic food, Organic seeds, Raw Anti Aging products, Raw Cacao Nibs, Organic Cacao, goji berry, raw dried food, energy supplement, herbs and more at our super specialist online store…shop today!.For more details Please visit www.virginraw.com/

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Energy Eating by Yuri Elkaim

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Author of Eating For Energy – Yuri Elkaim

Here’s another great article from Yuri Elkaim about howto eat when you need energy. "Eating for Energy" I love reading what this Yuri has to say, it’s obvious he not only knows what he’s talking about, he lives it! He’s a registered Holistic Nutritionist and he’s the author of a great Raw Food Diet book called Eating for Energy! In addition, he writes lots of great articles and has lots of You-Tube videos out. You’re bound to see more of his articles posted here so stay tuned! Here’s the article:

Energy Eating

If you are looking for ways to increase your Energy levels, one of the most important considerations in what sorts of fuel you are putting into your system. Much like a high performance car, your body will run on lesser fuel sources – but don’t expect it to run as well. Many people, when they feel an Energy decrease coming on, will reach for sugary snacks and fatty fast foods. But if you’re serious about your health, you know you can do better. Here are some food items that you should be eating and what you should be replacing them for.

Berries…. A Tasty Energy Treat!

Berries are a wonderful food for energy, particularly blueberries and acai berries. Besides the natural sugars they contain, there are a host of vitamins and anti-oxidants that are essential to your continued good health. If you want to find a place for more berries in your diet, try dropping the Energy bars. These high-sugar bars might give you a temporary sugar high, but they’ll leave you feeling empty in no time flat.

Nuts are another great snacking option. Filled with good fats and oils, these bite-sized wonders will help to fill you up, in both energy and in feeling well fed. If you want to add more nuts to your diet, simply replace the candy you eat. Instead of reaching for a little sugar treat, keep a bowl of almonds and walnuts handy for anytime snacking.

You might have heard bad press about the next item, avocados. People see this fleshy fruit and worry about the high fat content. But really, the fats contained in an avocado are the sorts you want more of in your diet. The contents of an avocado are rich and delicious, and make any salad seem like a real treat. If you want to eat more avocados, you might consider it as a replacement for your pre-processed salad dressing, which is filled with processed oils, fatty creams and extra sugars that will do absolutely nothing good for your energy levels.

Another great anytime treat are bananas. Full of potassium and nutrients, bananas are particularly good for after a hard workout, so that the potassium can help to repair your worn and worked muscle tissues. If you need to leave something out to make room for bananas, try leaving the ice cream at the store. Still want a cool, creamy treat? Freeze a whole banana overnight, then peel and blend. Serve immediately, and you’ll be shocked by how similar it is to ice cream!

Water – Nature’s personal energy drink!

And lastly, but most importantly, is water. You might look at water and see nothing but an empty fluid, but keeping your body properly hydrated is essential to keeping you energized. A dehydrated athlete is one that is not performing at their peak. Simply switch out your usual energy drink or sports drinks, and add more water to your daily diet. You’ll be surprised at how much better you feel when you don’t feel thirsty.

These are just some of the food choices you can make to give yourself more energy. The best rule of thumb here is, the less processed and cooked, the better.

Yuri Elkaim is a Registered Holistic Nutritionist and author of the raw food diet book Eating for Energy. Visit http://www.eatingforenergy.ca to get started with his FREE “Energy Secrets” e-course and discover what your diet has been missing.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Yuri_Elkaim

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Enzymes – The Sparkles of Life by Tarja Anchor

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Enzymes play an important role in almost every biochemical activity going on in the body. They are needed for digesting food, stimulating the brain, providing the cellular energy, and repairing all tissues, organs, and cells. Life could not exist in the form we know it without enzymes. Each enzyme has its own specific function that no other enzyme can fulfill. Because of this, the body must produce a great number of different enzymes.

What Do Enzymes Do?

Enzymes are divided into two groups; digestive and metabolic.
Digestive enzymes break down food particles enabling the nutrients to be absorbed into the bloodstream. There are three main categories of digestive enzymes; amylase, protease, and lipase. Amylase breaks down carbohydrates, protease helps to digest protein, and lipase aids in fat digestion.
Metabolic enzymes catalyze various chemical reactions within the cells, such as energy production and detoxification. All of the organs, cells, and tissues are run by the metabolic enzymes. Two very important metabolic enzymes are superoxide dismutase (SOD), and its partner catalase. Superoxide dismutase is an antioxidant that protects cells by neutralizing a common free radical superoxide. Catalase breaks down hydrogen peroxide, which is a metabolic waste product, and liberates oxygen for the body to use.

Enzymes – The Vital Organs Assistant

After digestive enzymes have broken down the food particles, they will be stored in the liver or in the muscles for later. Then others will convert this stored energy for use by the body when necessary. Enzymes assist the kidneys, lungs, liver, colon, and skin removing the waste products and toxins. They also utilize the nutrients ingested to construct new muscle tissue, nerve cells, bone, skin, and glandular tissue. Proteolytic enzymes have been shown to be beneficial as inflammatory agents. Pancreatin is used to treat pancreatic insufficiency, cystic fibrosis, digestive problems, food allergies, digestive problems, autoimmune disorders, viral infections, and sport injuries. The functions of enzymes are too numerous and too diverse to list and name them all.

Eat Raw Foods – Get Enzymes!

Enzymes are extremely sensitive to heat. To get adequate amount of enzymes from food, it is necessary to eat Raw Foods. Alternatively there are enzyme supplements available. Sprouts are one of the richest sources. Superoxide dismutase is found naturally in Brussels sprouts, cabbage, wheat grass, barley grass, and in most green plants.

Most of the enzyme supplements available are digestive enzymes. Synthetic production of enzymes has not been successful, so the supplements are made from animal enzymes. There are also supplements made of aspergillus, which is a type fungus. SOD and catalase are also available as supplements.

Enzyme supplements are in the form of capsules, tablets, powders, and liquids. Some products also contain garlic to aid in digestion. SOD supplements should be enteric coated. For the maximum benefit of the supplement it should contain all three major enzyme groups. Supplements should be taken after meals. You can make your own enzyme supplement by drying papaya seeds. Then put the dry seeds in a pepper grinder and grind in your food. It has a nice peppery taste.

Research has shown as we grow older our body’s ability to produce enzymes decreases. For the elderly, taking supplements seems to be vital.

Author Resource:-> More information about nutrition, diets, health supplements, herbs, probiotics, enzymes, organic produce, body cleansing, vitamins, and minerals. at Nutritionbases.com

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Benefits of Eating Raw Vegetables by Rohini Mohan

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There are several lifesaving benefits of eating raw vegetables. It may seem like an alien thought initially, however with time you will begin to notice the positive changes taking place in your body.

Not all vegetables can be eaten raw; simply because neither are they appetizing when uncooked and nor are they easily processed by our digestive system. Digesting the food is of greater concern than being able to savor it, because there are many people who have comparatively weaker digestive systems and cannot eat all vegetables raw. Of course, there are many vegetables which taste delicious in their natural state and can be eaten raw. Some of these vegetables include cucumber, carrots, zucchini, beetroots, pumpkin and sweet bell peppers. Let us learn more about the various benefits of eating raw vegetables.

Health Benefits of Eating Raw Vegetables

More Nutrition Supply
Raw vegetables are rich sources of essential vitamins, minerals, and enzymes which our body does not receive in adequate quantity when consuming cooked foods. These essential nutrients are easily destroyed as a result of the heat being used to cook the vegetables. Vegetables are also rich in amino acids, which are crucial for building body muscle and tissue. The same gets broken down when cooked, causing it to be stored as fat.

Cleanses the Digestive System
For those who can digest raw vegetables without any difficulties, this diet improves their bowel movements. The reason being that vegetables are rich in fiber which blends with the waste matter and water so as to create proper stool. This helps keep health problems, such as diarrhea, constipation, stomach ulcers and gas at bay. Secondly the enzymes present in the food help digest the food better, without having to eat too much. Since vegetables take longer to digest, it keeps the stomach satiated and prevents hunger pangs.

Natural Healing
Eating raw vegetables or including it in your daily diet will increase your body’s resistance to diseases such as common cold, heart and liver disorders, etc. The kidney will no longer need to process artificial sugar. The body will have sufficient supply of glucose, which would have been derived from natural sugar, which is easier to digest and actually helpful for the system. This will help prevent or avoid conditions such as diabetes and kidney failure.

Adequate Hydration
Raw and fresh vegetables contain lots of water, whereas cooked food are saturated with oil or completely dehydrated because of being cooked. The heat evaporates the water stored in the vegetables. The body needs a continuous supply of water, which can be provided though the consumption of fresh vegetables.

No Carcinogens
Carcinogens are artificially created during the cooking process using oil. The fats in the oil burn and convert into cancer inducing carcinogens. Fortunately, a raw vegetable diet does not contain these deadly substances and is safe to eat. These foods and fruits may actually help prevent cancer and further research still needs to be done, in order to validate this claim.

The many health benefits of raw vegetables certainly prove it that they are good for us. It can be very difficult to suddenly switch your eating habits, which is why you can try eating raw vegetables along with your usual meals. Gradually, you can try and reduce the consumption of oil cooked foods and instead opt for boiled meals, as they retain much of the water and nutrients while in this state. The moment they are cooked with oil, the food loses its nutrients as well as its hydration.

However, it would be safer to try growing your own vegetables at home if you are considering eating them raw on a daily basis. Try growing a small garden at home where you can grow all the vegetables you will require. This small but rather significant step will ensure that you are not consuming contaminated food. Vegetables these days are treated with pesticides and other chemicals, which are not meant for human consumption. Your own garden will not have these harmful chemicals and the vegetables will be safe. Hopefully now that you are a little bit more enlightened about the various benefits of eating raw vegetables, you would try to include these in your daily diet. By

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How To Make Raw Food Salads by Helena Reimer

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Raw food salads are always a hit for those pursuing the raw food diet. Not only are they fast and easy to make, but they are also tasty and filling. There really are no rules on how to make them, as just about anything goes, and everyone will have to experiment what they like best. Most people tend to favor fruit salads over leafy green salads, as well as over garden salads. This is mainly due to their sweetness, but leafy greens and garden salads can be just as tasty.

Fruit Salads

Fruit salads are a great pick-me-up in the afternoon due to their natural sugar content. They are also a hit when served as a dessert, even for those who are not raw foodists, as the fruit is naturally sweet.

To make a fruit salad, all one needs is a variety of different fruits such as grapes, mangoes, pineapple, peaches and pears. These foods, when combined in a salad will be naturally sweet. However, if extra sweetness is desired, one can drizzle over a natural sweetener such as honey, agave nectar or stevia. Spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves also add to the great flavor of fruit salads.

Garden and Leafy Green Salads

Garden salads are another easy salad to make. Just about anything that grows in the garden such as tomatoes, cucumber, peppers, radishes and leafy greens go well in a garden salad.

Leafy green salads might not always be the first item on the list for foods to eat. They are nonetheless, one of the healthiest salads to add into the diet. They offer up many essential nutrients such as calcium, amino acids and natural sodium that the body needs. However, due to the bitterness of many leafy greens, the salads might take some getting used to.

With raw food salads, one cannot use the commercial salad dressings that are available for garden and leafy green salads. Therefore, it is important to learn how to make homemade salad dressings from scratch using fresh fruits, oils, and herbs and spices. It may sound daunting, but really, making a salad dressing at home is quite simple, and can taste just as great, if not better than anything that can be purchased in a bottle.

A common way to make a salad dressing is to start off with the basics such as an oil, lemon juice and sea salt. Then from there, one can add other herbs such as dill, rosemary, thyme, garlic and many others. A mashed avocado and fruit juices such as pineapple, mango or apple juices can also serve as a base for the dressing, thus eliminating the need for the oil.

For more information on how to prevent disease and live a long and healthy life, visit LivingFood101. There you will find tasty raw food recipes along with other raw food diet tips. You can also visit http://livingfood101.blogspot.com/ for more articles.

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How To Get Started With Raw Food When You Haven’t Got A Clue!

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How To Get Started With Raw Food When You Haven’t Got A Clue!

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Karen Knowler

If you’re new to raw foods you may have noticed that even though there are now hundreds, if not thousands of raw food web sites on the internet, what seems to be lacking is real basic nuts-and-bolts info about how to get going from a standing start. Only too often books and web sites jump in at step 2 or 3 (food or equipment) before setting the context in which raw food needs to be placed, or explaining how to get going when everything about raw food is new.

And what newbies want to know of course is: “How can I do this?” , and when they ask me, apart from recommending my own book, I genuinely struggle to find a written resource to point them to that will take them from the very first basics up (which is why my new book is going to be a life changer).

Now, even if you feel that you’re personally beyond what you’ll learn about here, this information may well be perfect to pass on to a friend or family member who is struggling to comprehend just what you’ve been getting so excited about, or who may want to hear it from someone other than you! (Don’t worry, mine are like that too!). Either way, the information that follows is well worth a read as you may just get a little boost of much-needed inspiration.

1. Understand what all the fuss is about. The concept of eating raw food isn’t new by any means, but it has gained much greater popularity during recent times owing to its unquestionable benefits on health, energy and overall vitality, as well as its ability to basically make us look and feel a whole lot better than we ever have before. As old as time itself, raw food was, of course, what we ate before fire was discovered (we must have done OK on it to get that far ;) and more recently, thanks to the efforts of pioneering authors such as health researcher Leslie Kenton and others outside of the UK who bravely waved the flag for raw food in the 1980′s and beyond, we now find ourselves in an era where raw food is no longer seen as the domain of extreme health ‘fanatics’ but instead merrily making its way into the mainstream media, celebrity diets, healing centers and retreats, increasing numbers of health and nutrition books, products and seminars, as well as featuring more significantly in supermarkets, health food stores and much more besides. And not a moment before time – because when you look at it up close and personal, it really does make a whole lot of sense…

2. So why raw? While I’m the first to admit that the word ‘raw’ is hardly inspiring, if you can get beyond that and see that raw equals pure, fresh, vibrant, enzyme-rich, oxygen-rich, unadulterated, whole organic living nutrition then we’ll all be on the same page! But before we get to the whys exactly, and to prevent ourselves from falling into the common trap of seeing raw food as somehow ‘less than’ cooked, let’s take a moment to look at what cooked food is, exactly.

Cooked food: Natural food which has been processed and/or heated to high temperatures where chemical changes have occurred and the food has changed from its original state to something which, depending on the severity of its treatment, can end up looking like a very pale shadow of its former self (think of spinach cooked and raw!). While cooked foods may most certainly tantalize the taste buds, this is largely because of their stimulant effects on the body which – in actual fact – doesn’t actually ‘understand’ a lot of what it’s taken in as many of the chemicals within cooked foods are unnatural and therefore the body sees them as foreign bodies! Indeed, fascinating research in the 1930′s showed that when someone eats cooked food without having eaten some raw food first, the body sends the white blood cells (which fight toxins) to the digestive system in order to deal with the perceived ‘invader’. Interesting, don’t you think? And while yes, we can glean nutrition from this fractured, denatured ‘food’, every time we cook our food or buy something pre-prepared and cooked in a can, box or bag we lose up to 70% of the vitamins, some of the minerals, all of the enzymes, all of the oxygen, the important plant feel-good hormones and a high percentage of the water – all of which we need to reward us with truly vibrant health. So that’s cooked food! Doesn’t seem quite as attractive when we look at it that way does it? Raw food by contrast is replete with everything that enabled it to sprout and grow in the first place – life force, enzymes, water, oxygen, hormones, vitamins and minerals and so much more besides. Untouched, untainted, raw food is quite literally honest food – what you see is what you get. No hidden ingredients, nothing messed around with, just pure delicious fresh live food that we are designed to eat – living food for living bodies. And the good news for you is this: when you start dabbling with more raw food, you don’t just understand this conceptually, you actually start to ‘get it’ experientially as your whole body cheers, shifts up a gear and the concept of what real food and nutrition really is about takes on a whole new meaning.

3. What foods are raw? To give you a brief overview of what raw food means in real terms, here’s a list of the 20 different raw food groups: Fresh fruits; Vegetables; Salad vegetables; Leafy green vegetables; Herbs and wild greens; Nuts; Dried fruits; Beans, pulses and legumes (sprouted); Grains (sprouted); Seeds; Sprouting seeds; Indoor greens; Vegetable seeds (sprouted); Edible flowers; Mushrooms; Sea vegetables; Algaes; Oils; Stimulants (e.g. chili, ginger, onion); Spices; Super foods; Flavorings and natural sweeteners (e.g. honey, stevia, carob). Rather more variety than perhaps you first thought? Rather than being limiting, I have found that 99 times out of 100 raw food expands a person’s culinary horizons – and if you pick up a good raw food recipe book such as Raw Food, Real World (one of my personal favorites), I promise you’ll be blown away at what can be achieved – ‘burgers’, pizzas, live milks, ice-cream, cakes, cookies, smoothies, soups, dips, dressings, lasagnas, wraps, crackers and so much more are possible when you know what you’re doing – now we’re talking, right?

4. How to get started. A new but extremely common myth that I’m very keen to bust is that eating raw takes lots of time and energy to prepare. Wrong! I am quite possibly the busiest person I know, and one of the many reasons I choose to eat raw is because when done correctly it’s actually the fastest food on the planet. Getting started and keeping it doable is easy when you adopt the pure and simple approach: whole raw foods, prepared quickly, eaten simply and you must only eat the foods you love! This must always be fun, easy and delicious – that’s rule number one! Rather surprisingly to those new to raw food, the discovery process of what raw food is really all about is a never ending journey – the kind of journey that everyone I’ve ever met wished they had embarked upon sooner. So don’t wait to get ill, overweight or lethargic before you start tending to your body’s dietary needs (like I did) – start your journey to exciting and rewarding pastures new today! These first steps I’m about to outline are very straightforward but will make a massive difference – and even better, anyone can do this!

First, try your best to eat fresh fruit or a dairy-free smoothie for breakfast every day instead of your usual toast, cereal or coffee. Eat or drink as much as you want (of the raw stuff) but keep it clean. What you eat first sets you up for the day – so make sure you step out on high-energy, revitalizing foods rather than charred bread, lifeless sugar-coated grains or caffeine-laden hot drinks! For lunch and dinner, this is so easy. If you can make at least half of your plate consist of fresh living foods (salads, nuts, seeds, sprouted seeds, beans or any of the foods mentioned above in point 3 – but not all of them!!) then you’ll be doing fantastically well and will typically start to feel the difference within a matter of days (look forward to more energy, better sleep, clearer thinking and clearer skin). Improve your results even further by drinking as much pure water as possible, eat only when hungry and not beyond full, and keep the remainder of your food as whole and pure as possible (no e-numbers or hydrogenated fats and so forth) and you will feel the benefits all the more. Also, of the raw foods you do choose, make sure that most of them are fruits and vegetables as these are the most nutritious and the highest in water content. Handfuls of nuts just don’t work the same – they’re very dense and fatty, but in small amounts are very good for you. If you can put most or all of the above into practice then you’ll be amazed at the difference!

5. What you need and where to get it. Raw recipe books tend to focus on the more complicated dishes and therefore often fancy foods and equipment are utilized as part of the recipe creation – but don’t be put off, raw food prep doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive! While it’s by no means imperative that you own every kitchen gadget going, it really does help to own at the very least a tabletop blender, a cheap juicer and a basic food processor – all of which you could buy for under $100 or even cheaper if you visit eBay; but if budget is an issue then a good sharp knife will take you a long way for free! However with the three items listed new and exciting vistas will open up to you, and if and when the time feels right to invest in something more durable and powerful then you’ll be amazed at what’s available in the health world right now. As for foods, I personally find that I can get most of what I need in the organic section at my local supermarket, and I also visit a local organic farm shop/farmer’s market for the really good stuff that no supermarket can compete with in price or quality. If I didn’t have a good supermarket then I’d opt for an organic box delivery service which can be wonderful. Most of my specialized items such as truly raw olives (most are pasteurized), nut ‘butters’ (they’re made from just pure ground nuts but spread like butter), natural sweeteners and flavorings I buy mail order. But what I do need to emphasize if you haven’t cottoned on already is the importance of choosing organic – pesticides are never a healthy option, even if they are on raw food!

6. How to keep it interesting. When you’re new to raw food it’s easy to assume that salads, soups and smoothies is as good as it gets when you’re watching the clock. While it’s true that the more elaborate recipes often do take more time and energy, there are always short cuts and whipping up a delicious dressing, dip or even a nut ‘cheese’ or veggie pate takes literally seconds and can totally transform a meal! When you’ve tasted a fabulous raw food pizza and raw ice-cream (no dairy, no white sugar), there really is no going back!

7. What about eating out? This is one of the most common questions asked – and the answer is – it’s completely up to you. You can choose to eat ‘normally’, to make healthier choices than usual or to ask for a juicy salad with all sorts of things thrown in, but above all, enjoy what you eat and feel at peace with it!

8. Does it have to be all or nothing? Not at all. Until very recent times very few people ate an exclusively raw food diet ongoing. In fact most people today still dabble for weeks, months or even years at a time until they feel inclined to ‘up the ante’! Also, nowadays people tend to talk in percentage terms – such as “I’m 80% raw” which basically means that they eat most of their food raw but not all of it, and they’re guessing that 80% is about right in terms of plate space & meal make-up etc. – but it’s not really that important. What matters more is the quality of the food you choose – if 80% of someone’s diet consists of nuts, seeds and raw food snack bars then that’s never going to be a good thing (way too much fat!) whereas 80% worth of fresh fruits and vegetables is wonderful! What also matters is not just what you bring into your diet but what you leave out. It’s no good eating lots of fresh vibrant food if you ‘balance’ it out with take-always and aspartame-ridden diet drinks! Much better to do 50/50 and make all of your foods good healthy choices, and then if you want to adjust the proportion of raw foods then you can do so at any time. All that said, the more raw food you eat, for most people at least (those with medical issues need to take professional advice), the better you will look and feel – and here’s why.

9. What you can expect. When you choose raw, as we have already seen, you choose ‘life’. Live food will nourish you at a deep level (deeper than any deep-pan pizza will ever reach!) and it will also start to work its magic on your body in a very short space of time. This magic sometimes doesn’t look so magical though! Because as the toxins and debris begin to leave your body as the raw food starts to cleanse your system, you may experience some detoxification symptoms such as diarrhea, rashes, pimples (spots), headaches, dizziness, coughing and mucous and other similar discomforts. This is usually nothing to worry about, but it may happen! If it does, keep drinking plenty of water and eat even more simply to speed the elimination process up if your circumstances permit it. But if you feel as if it’s all going a bit too fast for you then if you eat something cooked, especially something heavy like meat, potatoes or dairy, then you’ll slow it all down or even stop it completely. You can restart again more slowly or leave it for a few days or weeks and go again when the time feels right. On the flipside, the good news is that when this stuff comes out it means that your body is – of course – all the better for it and this will start to become apparent in your face, your body shape and body tone and your energy levels surprisingly quickly. And if you carry on the good work to any degree for more than a few weeks, then you’ll find it very hard to go back to your old ways because there’s really not a lot of fun to be had there. In fact most people find that very quickly cooked food starts to taste seriously bland and inferior to fresh and raw – especially if they’ve educated themselves in those delicious raw food recipes I keep alluding to!

10. Taking it further. As mentioned before, the raw food journey never ends, but it does get increasingly rewarding and exciting! Not only is there a whole new world of food and drink waiting for you (which is growing fast), but raw food tends to attract some pretty amazing people and takes you on an exciting adventure in terms of getting more in touch with your body and your whole self generally.

Wherever your interest in raw food takes you, what I can guarantee is that you’ll be very glad you took the time to investigate it, because you’ll be amazed at how your relationship with food and your body changes and you’ll be beyond fascinated at what you discover along the way.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/nutrition-articles/how-to-get-started-with-raw-food-when-you-havent-got-a-clue-2912565.html

About the Author

With over 17 years of personal experience of eating a raw food diet, Karen Knowler has been teaching, writing and coaching professionally on raw foods for over a decade and publishes ‘Successfully Raw’ – a free weekly eZine for raw food lovers everywhere. If you’re ready to look good, feel great and create a raw life you love get your FREE tips, tools and recipes now at http://www.TheRawFoodCoach.com

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Break Old Habits With Raw Food Recipes by Todd Butcher

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Thousands of people are quickly learning that a raw food diet is essential to a healthy immune system as well as maintaining a healthy weight. However many people are not aware of how to prepare raw fruit and veggie recipes or they have never even seen this type of recipe book. If you are not used to (not) cooking with raw food, you may not find the plant based diet to be tasty or worth continuing. This is why it is so important for you to find a good collection of recipes before you actually do begin a raw food diet. If you have a large selection of delicious food that is easy to prepare you will have a far greater chance of continuing with the diet. As you begin to expand your raw food recipes you will be able to create more tasteful and creative dishes.

The most common raw food recipe is a salad. There are different types of salads with numerous ingredients. Some salads are simply a mixture of fresh greens and there are others that use nuts and cheeses and fruits. Really the only limit of raw foods to be used in your salad is up to your imagination. To add taste, you could get creative and add some raw fish or a dressing. Try a healthy option like a dill dressing, mango ginger dressing, or cilantro pesto and use fresh pieces of fruits like mandarin oranges and apples for additional taste. It is important to find ways of spicing up your food. This keeps the excitement and joy of eating alive. Remember that being healthy does not have to be boring.

A salad is a great way to start a meal, but for some, there needs to be more. An entree is going to provide more filling nourishment and the list or raw foods entrees is long. As you begin to work with different raw plants, you will learn the qualities that each one has and the list of nutrients they have to offer. This will allow you to create a custom creation for each day of the week and help to keep everything interesting. If you do not work on finding delicious raw food recipes you may give up on the raw food diet, so this is an important area to really focus on when creating a diet plan.

There are other recipe categories in the raw food diet that include desserts and drinks. Just because you eat healthy foods does not meant that you have to be deprived of delicious meals. Even desserts can be healthy, nutritious and great tasting. These items can be made from almost all raw foods. This can include fruit sorbet, berry cream cake, and even carob sauce. Drinks may include ambrosia, a chai smoothie, a cucumber cooler, carrot and orange juice or papaya sunflower nectar. Here are some ideas for raw food dishes, but this really is just the tip of the iceberg, the possibilities are nearly endless.

* Chocolate Smoothie

* Muesli with: Raw Oats and Fruits

* Lots of dried or Fruits and Nuts

* Cashew Ice-Cream

* Italian Noodles

* Noodles with Pasta Sauce

* Fruit Juices with soy protein Powder

* Guacamole Salad

About The Author

Todd Butcher invites you to visit him online at http://www.ToddButcherOnline.com/EatingForEnergy to learn more about raw food diets and healthy living. Also visit my blog at http://ToddButcherOnline.blogspot.com

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Can Athletes Benefit From a Raw Food Diet? by Yuri Elkaim

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Many people have asked me this question. And my answer is a definite… YES!

The problem is that most sports nutrition textbooks and resources tell athletes to eat lots of carbs like pasta, bread, and other grains as a way of maximizing their glycogen stores.

The problem with that, though, is that most people are sensitive to these food. In fact, there’s even debate as to whether the human body has sufficiently evolved to even digest grains.

I can tell you from my own experience that eating a big plate of pasta before a game makes me feel tired, lethargic, and even makes my body crave simple sugars within a few hours.

So how can a raw food diet benefit athletes?

Having played professional soccer and subsisting on pasta and bread, then transitioning to more of a raw food diet, I can tell you firsthand that eating more raw foods can make a huge difference in your performance and your ability to recover from exercise.

First, raw foods are packed with food enzymes. These enzymes facilitate digestion, which means that your body doesn’t feel bloated and lethargic after your meals. It also means that your body can spend more of its energy, not on digestion, but on recuperation and regeneration!

Second, eating more raw fruits and vegetables means that your body will be receiving a huge influx of needed alkalinity.

Why is alkalinity so important for athletes (let alone everyone else)? Well, an alkaline environment promotes high oxygenation. Considering that oxygen is needed for energy and body movement, the answer should be pretty clear.

Furthermore, diseases cannot flourish in an alkaline, oxygen-rich environment. This has been demonstrated by numerous Nobel Prize winners including Otto Warburg and Linus Pauling.

Oxygen is essential for performance. Alkaline foods (fruits and vegetables) oxygenate your body!

Third, you don’t need meat to be strong!

In a study published in the Yale Medical Journal, Professor Irving Fisher conducted a study in which he compared the strength and stamina of meat-eating athletes versus that of vegetarian (both athletic and sedentary) individuals.

The study concluded that of the 3 groups tested (meat-eating athletes, vegetarian athletes, and vegetarian sedentary subjects) the vegetarians’ (including the sedentary group) average stamina was double that of the athletic meat-eaters.

There is strong evidence that a meat-less diet is conducive to greater endurance.

Similar results have been demonstrated by several studies including that of Dr. Ioteyko from the Academie de Medicine de Paris, in which vegetarian athletes averaged 2 to 3 times more stamina and required one-fifth the time to recover from exhaustion compared to their meat eating rivals!

Here are just well-known athletes who are (or have been) vegetarian (or raw vegan):

- World Champion gymnast Dan Milman
- “Mr. International” bodybuilding winner Andreas Cahling
- Tennis great Martina Navratilova
- Olympian Carl Lewis
- Football Hall-of-Famer Art Still
- Four-time “Mr. Universe” title-holder Bill Pearl (described in more detail later)
- Swimming World Record Holder Bill Pickering
- World Class marathoner Gail Olinekova
- Canadian champion tri-athlete Brendan Brazier

If you’re an athlete (or recreation exerciser) and want to have more energy, more strength, greater endurance, and improve your overall performance, then adopting more raw foods into your diet will be greatly beneficial.

Try it for yourself and experience the difference!

References:

Fisher, I. (1907). The influence of flesh eating on endurance. Yale Medical Journal, 13(5): 205-221.

Ioteyko, J et al. Enquete scientifique sur les vegetarians de Bruxelles, Henri Lamertin, Brussels, p. 50.

Yuri Elkaim is a Registered Holistic Nutritionist and author of the Raw Food Diet book Eating for Energy. Visit http://www.eatingforenergy.ca to get started with his FREE “Energy Secrets” e-course and discover what your diet has been missing.

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Raw Food Recipes for the Raw Food Diet by June Campbell

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The raw food diet, as its name suggests, advocates eating only raw food that has not been cooked, heated or otherwise processed.

Individuals following this diet are always on the lookout for new raw food recipes.

Raw food recipes are desirable because they incorporate new tastes, textures and flavors to a diet that could otherwise become monotonous. Some believe that raw food recipes are inconsequential and not worthy of consideration. However, this is a fallacy. In reality, there are a great many creative raw food recipes that you can put together in your kitchen. True, they tend to be simpler and faster to prepare than cooked foods, but this doesn’t mean they are less appealing.

The Smoothie

Smoothies are perhaps the first thing that comes to mind when you consider a raw food recipe. Although they are well-known, they are still among the best raw food recipes you can find. There are good reasons why they are staples of this way of eating.

In the morning, the perfect breakfast for you is fruit. Your body will need fruit above any other type of food at this time.

Smoothies are easy to make. Simply combine a banana with some unsweetened orange juice and a serving of frozen berries. Frozen foods are acceptable on the raw food diet. Freezing does not harm the nutrients. Using a stand-alone blender or a hand held blender, puree the fruits for about thirty seconds. This mixture tastes wonderful and will last you for quite some time. If you want a different flavor the next day, use a stoned peach instead of the banana.

Make a Sandwich

This sandwich will not consist of bread. Bread is forbidden on the raw food diet plan. However, most health food stores carry raw alternatives that you can use instead of bread. Dehydrated eggplant is one possibility, for example.

To make a sandwich, take your dehydrated eggplant or other bread alternative, stack any number of vegetables in between slices. Tomatoes are always a good choice. Among other benefits, they provide moisture. Onions, mushrooms, sliced peppers, cucumbers or grated carrots are other options.

Prepare your own Raw Hummus

Raw hummus makes an excellent sandwich filler or a vegetable dip. Typically, this popular Middle Eastern food is made from cooked chickpeas or garbonzo beans, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt and tahini.

Since you want to avoid eating what may be overcooked or over processed chickpeas, you can make your own hummus. To do this, simply soak your chickpeas overnight or for as long as needed. Next, boil some water and drop your soaked chickpeas in the water for sixty seconds.

Purists might bypass this recipe on the grounds that the chickpeas are “cooked.” Most raw foodists would say that this brief immersion in boiling water has no affect on the nutritional components.

Prepare Dried Foods

Like frozen foods, dried foods are permitted on the raw food diet. They are a convenience because unlike fresh foods, they don’t leak or ooze liquid. Moreover, they require less storage space than their non-dehydrated counterparts. Space can be important, especially if one is traveling with foods or on a camping trip, for example.

Although dried foods, especially fruits, are readily available in health food stores, these foods contain a high sugar content. Since sugar is thought to be unhealthy and undesirable, many raw foodists purchase a dehydrator and prepare their own dried foods.

Fruits are not the only foods that you can dry. You can make your own meat jerky. If you are not vegetarian and are planning to eat meat, making jerky is the best and safest way to consume this product.

Eat Raw Veggie Burgers

Veggie burgers are always a tasty and healthy meal choice. They are easy enough to make.

All you do is combine a number of raw vegetables, nuts and seeds. Adding a little raw garlic enhances the flavor. Place your vegetables in a food processor until chopped and mixed. Form this mixture into patties.

Purists would, at that point, put the patties in the dehydrator and dry them. Other raw foodists who are willing to bend the rules a little might place them in a very cool oven. They say that the nutritional loss is minimal, especially compared to what happens if you boil vegetables.

Benefits of the Raw Food Diet

Raw foodists maintain that there are many benefits to the raw food diet, including improved health and vitality.

About the Author

June Campbell has operated a freelance writing business since 1996. Her work has appeared in countless offline and online publications. June specializes in providing writing services and documents to small businesses. Visit her on the web at Nightcats Multimedia Productions for sample business proposals, sample joint venture contracts, non-disclosure agreements and more.

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