I have always been interested in eating more raw foods in my diet and pretty much eat a 50/50 ratio of raw/cooked foods when I pay attention to what I eat.....when I don't it more like 40/60, still above what the standard American eats but not great in my book. So I would love to learn more and eat more raw in my diet. My goal this summer is to get to 80/20, which is a reasonable goal and what most raw foodies recommend. Yes, yes, we would all love to be 100% raw but I have to start somewhere. Just with any alterations to a diet, you need to slowly make changes....life sustaining changes.....in order to make it work forever. So as I learn, so will you..
First don't think that all I will be eating is Navel Oranges and Salads every day, its much more than that, and raw doesn't always mean hard crunchy foods, it can be delectable and highly flavorful foods! So yesterday I started to do some research on what "raw foods" really means and why eating more raw foods is better for you. This is what I found out:
Its considered raw food when:• Uncooked - never heated above 42 C/118 F degrees.
• Unprocessed - as fresh (and wild) as possible.
• Organic - no irradiation, preservatives, pesticides.
WHY?
Heating your food above 115 degrees F (45 Celsius ):- Kills the enzymes. Enzymes help you digest your food. Your body can create enzymes but that process takes a lot of energy. This makes you tired - remember how you feel after a heavy cooked meal? Further, the enzymes your body makes are not as good as the ones that were destroyed in the food. The food will not be broken down as well and thus harder to digest.
- Changes the PH of the food and makes food acidic. We like to eat alkaline foods. Eating acidifying food makes your body acidic and thus a welcome feeding ground for disease.
- Transfers minerals in food into inorganic - hard to absorb - minerals. Inorganic minerals such as calcium are hard to absorb and might cause calcium stones, whereas organic ones are easier to digest, make you alkaline... and help you take in more oxygen, which is good!
- Destroys most vitamins
- Destroys the life force. Eating cooked food is eating dead food. This will make you feel heavy and tired. Live food has live energy. Simply put. A raw seed will grow, a cooked seed won't. When you pick (raw) fruit it continues to ripen. Cooked fruit starts to decay.
Its true that most people find the Raw Food diet because of the desire to rid their body of an illness and this type of diet gives them the nutritional balance they have been lacking for most of their of life. But that doesn't mean you need to wait until you are on deaths door to do something about your health!
The benefits ofraw foodsare endless. The major benefits areweight loss, detox, andimproved health. When your diet consist of more than 75% raw foods, these and many more improvements might happen to you!!!
• More energy• Up to 3 hours less sleep• Weight loss• Detox• More beautiful skin• Healthy long-life• "The glow"• No more colds and flu• No more headaches• Clarity of mind and better memory• Improved immune system• Lower cholesterol• No more candida• Preventing or reversing cancer• Improved fertility• No more PMS• Better sex life• Better digestion• Reduced risk of heart disease• Prevent or even reverse diabetes• Get rid of allergies• More flexible• Less sensitive teeth• No more arthritis I recently read an article for someone with MS went on the raw food diet and within a year was walking again...after years of being wheel chair bound!
While this is all great and amazing, I'm not looking to cure anything accept my lack of energy. In my work I use
tons of emotional energy.....feeling like I've run a 5k after every client leaves....and switching careers is not an option as I love my work and feel called to do it so I need to find a way to give myself more energy....and more importantly, sustained energy over time.
So this is the beginning of the journey. Each day I will blog about what I learn and what I do, like a diary of sorts, so that you can learn along with me. Don't be afraid thinking that its too demanding. From what I've read it can be
if you let it, or it can be quite simple if you just look for the solutions to an easy raw food life.
So hang on....its going to be a bumpy ride in the beginning I"m sure....
First don't think that all I will be eating is Navel Oranges and Salads every day, its much more than that, and raw doesn't always mean hard crunchy foods, it can be delectable and highly flavorful foods! So yesterday I started to do some research on what "raw foods" really means and why eating more raw foods is better for you. This is what I found out:
Its considered raw food when:
• Uncooked - never heated above 42 C/118 F degrees.
• Unprocessed - as fresh (and wild) as possible.
• Organic - no irradiation, preservatives, pesticides.
WHY?Heating your food above 115 degrees F (45 Celsius ):
- Kills the enzymes. Enzymes help you digest your food. Your body can create enzymes but that process takes a lot of energy. This makes you tired - remember how you feel after a heavy cooked meal? Further, the enzymes your body makes are not as good as the ones that were destroyed in the food. The food will not be broken down as well and thus harder to digest.
- Changes the PH of the food and makes food acidic. We like to eat alkaline foods. Eating acidifying food makes your body acidic and thus a welcome feeding ground for disease.
- Transfers minerals in food into inorganic - hard to absorb - minerals. Inorganic minerals such as calcium are hard to absorb and might cause calcium stones, whereas organic ones are easier to digest, make you alkaline... and help you take in more oxygen, which is good!
- Destroys most vitamins
- Destroys the life force. Eating cooked food is eating dead food. This will make you feel heavy and tired. Live food has live energy. Simply put. A raw seed will grow, a cooked seed won't. When you pick (raw) fruit it continues to ripen. Cooked fruit starts to decay.
Its true that most people find the Raw Food diet because of the desire to rid their body of an illness and this type of diet gives them the nutritional balance they have been lacking for most of their of life. But that doesn't mean you need to wait until you are on deaths door to do something about your health!The benefits ofraw foodsare endless. The major benefits areweight loss, detox, andimproved health. When your diet consist of more than 75% raw foods, these and many more improvements might happen to you!!!
• More energy• Up to 3 hours less sleep
• Weight loss
• Detox
• More beautiful skin
• Healthy long-life
• "The glow"
• No more colds and flu
• No more headaches
• Clarity of mind and better memory
• Improved immune system
• Lower cholesterol
• No more candida
• Preventing or reversing cancer
• Improved fertility
• No more PMS
• Better sex life
• Better digestion
• Reduced risk of heart disease
• Prevent or even reverse diabetes
• Get rid of allergies
• More flexible
• Less sensitive teeth
• No more arthritis
I recently read an article for someone with MS went on the raw food diet and within a year was walking again...after years of being wheel chair bound!
While this is all great and amazing, I'm not looking to cure anything accept my lack of energy. In my work I use tons of emotional energy.....feeling like I've run a 5k after every client leaves....and switching careers is not an option as I love my work and feel called to do it so I need to find a way to give myself more energy....and more importantly, sustained energy over time.
So this is the beginning of the journey. Each day I will blog about what I learn and what I do, like a diary of sorts, so that you can learn along with me. Don't be afraid thinking that its too demanding. From what I've read it can be if you let it, or it can be quite simple if you just look for the solutions to an easy raw food life.
So hang on....its going to be a bumpy ride in the beginning I"m sure....