Over the years I have bounced back a fourth between normal food pyramid diet, vegetarian, preparing clean foods, now I am very happy at 85% raw vegan. Now before you make any assumptions, I like to sit down to a juicy steak like the next guy. I am by no means a radical vegan, I am in the process of changing my diet to achieve overall better health and I like how eating this way makes me feel. And, it is a heck of a lot easier to clean up after "cooking" as well. It is easier to rinse a few utensils than scrub a sink full of greasy mess. Haha!!Though at this point I can't see myself going 100% raw just yet with a family of 4 and one having food texture sensitivity due to sensory processing issues that take a bit more creativity in preparing healthy meals the he can swallow. If you want to read more about living raw feel free the read the excerpt from the article below the click on the images above this or the link at the end to get more of you questions answered.
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"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! While cooked foods may most certainly tantalise 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. 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 is really all about starts to take on a whole new meaning.
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; Superfoods; Flavourings and natural sweeteners (e.g. agave nectar, stevia).
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 (my personal current favourite), 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?!"
© Karen Knowler 2006. Karen Knowler, The Raw Food Coach is the UK’s most sought-after raw food expert 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, resources and recipes now at www.TheRawFoodCoach.com.
