Why Eat Raw?
Why Raw? Raw plant foods are simple, easy to find, fun to eat, enjoyable, contain thousands of health-giving nutrients, and conform to the biological design of the human digestive system. The sun is the source of all life and raw plant foods represent the purest form of transformed sun energy. There is solid evidence that a living plant food diet eases digestion, boosts energy, and eliminates carcinogens. Eating a balanced mix of raw plant foods can restore health on a molecular level by building strong cells, raising alkalinity, and detoxifying and re-mineralizing the body.
1. Raw foods are better quality, therefore you eat less to satisfy your nutritional needs. The heat of cooking depletes vitamins, damages proteins and fats, and destroys enzymes which benefit digestion. As your percentage of raw foods increases you feel satisfied and have more energy on smaller meals because raw food has the best balance of water, nutrients, and fiber to meet your body’s needs.
2. Raw foods have more flavor than cooked foods so there is no need to add salt, sugar, spices, or other condiments that can irritate your digestion system or over stimulate other organs.
3. Your body is over seventy percent water! A great way to get a head start on becoming hydrated is to consume food that has not had the natural water removed from it through cooking. Cooked food does nothing to provide your body with much-needed water and dehydrates you further in your bodies attempt to digest it. Everything you put in your stomach needs to be turned into liquid to be digested. How easily is your current diet liquefied?
4. Enzymes are responsible for every metabolic process that takes place in your body from digestion to healing. Most prepared food is served with up to 100% of the natural enzymes destroyed. One hundred percent! When the lipase and amylase enzymes are destroyed, the body cannot digest fats or carbohydrates and they are stored in the body, causing you to gain weight. When you consume living, enzyme rich food, it practically digests itself. This leaves you with a surplus of energy to play harder, work more efficiently and do more of what you love!
5.. Eating a diet of raw foods can reverse or stop the advance of many chronic diseases, including heart disease and cancer. Remember, cooking creates free radicals, which are the major cause of cancer. When you lower the number of free radicals your cells are bombarded with, you lower your risk of cancer.
6. A raw food diet can protect you from acute diseases such as colds, flu, measles, etc. Raw foods maintain a healthy body and a healthy body will not become diseased.
7. Learn easy food combining with raw foods and you will soon reach a level where you no longer suffer from heartburn, gas, indigestion or constipation. (Proper food combining is not difficult and you will feel better than ever before!)
8. Eating raw saves you money on food, vitamins, pots and pans, appliances, doctor bills, drugs, and health insurance.
9. Raw foods take very little preparation so you spend less time in the kitchen. Even a child of 5 or 6 can prepare most items for breakfast, lunch or dinner. This gives children a sense of self-esteem and independence, not to mention the break it gives Mom or Dad.
Tips For Raw Success!
I MUST say, When I started eating raw, I read story after story of how this or that person 'went 100% raw and never looked back'! Well, it wasn't that easy for me! Cravings for breads, cheeses and chips were strong. And besides having all the right stuff ready and available there was ONE little thing that REALLY helped me stay focused on the positive change in my diet: Working on my inner self. For me, that means kundalini yoga. I am a kundalini yoga teacher. When I keep a strong, consistent personal practice, anything is possible. I understand what my ENTIRE being needs and although poor food choices still cross my mind ocassionally, they keep on floating by...no lingering around trying to change what is on the day's menu.
Kundalini yoga is a powerful tool to have in your toolbox for changing behaviors. If you are interested in learning more about kundalini, please check out my yoga page!
Okay, back to tips for staying focused on healthy eating!
1. First thing is first: Upon awakening in the morning (within 10 minutes), drink a tall glass of pure water with fresh lemon juice! (and perhaps a pinch of ground cloves...blend it up!) Putting this refreshing beverage in your body first thing in the morning will rehydrate you from your nights rest and put something in your belly.
2. Within 30 minutes of waking, drink fresh squeezed juice or a smoothie. Do not give yourself time to start feeling 'hungry'. This feeling of hunger will work against you if you are trying to stay away from habitual foods. (toast, eggs, bacon, sugar cereals,etc.)
3. Load your refrigerator with fresh fruits and veggies, washed and ready to be eaten at a moments notice! Take them with you when you leave for the day. Also, nuts, fruits and fruit leathers, spreads and raw crackers are great to take along for snacking if you find yourself begining to feel hungry. (sweet tooth? Take a date, slice it down the middle, take out the pit, stuff it with a sweet pecan and enjoy the quickest pecan pie ever!)
At RawBloom, we often have many extras you can purchase to keep at home or take with you through-out your day to keep you nourished and feeling satisfied! (raw fruit leathers, raw bagels, green/nut smoothies, fresh juices, snacks and desserts. Check out the weekly menu for a list of the extras for that week!