There is a huge movement sweeping through our world right now as people realize they can reverse almost any disease by eating properly. There are so many benefits to eating raw foods, like feeling more alive and having mounds of energy, thinking clearly with focus, staying calm and unreactive in stressful situations, skyrocketing your immunity, and most importantly, increasing your nutrient intake exponentially.
Why do we choose to destroy the nutrients in our food by cooking it, then pay ridiculous prices for synthetic supplements in an attempt to replace them? I am not sure of the answer, but it probably has something to do with human psychology and marketing.
Cooked foods are hard to digest, and if you eat them all the time, require an exhausting and constant production of digestive enzymes from your poor worn out digestive system, aka your stomach, pancreas, liver, gallbladder and small intestine. Easy raw food comes prepackaged with live digestive enzymes, which help to break down the food particles, releasing their nutrients without added stress on you or your digestive system. Raw foods have all nutrients intact; highly unsaturated essential fats, undamaged proteins and carbohydrates, useable vitamins and minerals, live beneficial enzymes and undamaged, protective phytochemicals.
Cooking food is a waste of nutrients, so why not eat your food raw wherever possible? Here are some simple tips on how to do just that.
1. Eat a salad every day!
Raw Wild Rice Salad. Soak 1 cup of wild rice in water for two days, changing soak water several times. Rinse off, drain and toss in bowl with ¼ cup unrefined sesame, sunflower, hemp or flax oil; the juice of one orange (or about 1/8 cup white wine vinegar, general vinaigrette rule of thumb is 2 parts oil to 1 part vinegar); a handful of naturally dried cranberries; a handful of chopped apple with skin; and a handful of raw mixed nuts like brazil, cashews, almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts or pecans. Throw in a few pumpkin seeds if you like for extra zinc!
Find indispensable recipes for Basic Vinaigrette, Basic Balsamic, Sweet Honey Dijon Vinaigrette, Vivacious Vinaigrette, Fabulous French; Gorgeous Greek Salad and Gorgeous Greek Pasta Salad, in Salad Strategies.
2. Make a smoothie for breakfast!
Try the Basic Green Smoothie.
Favorite variation on the basic green smoothie is the Chai Green Smoothie.
Or try the Orange Banana Smoothie.
When you get really good at making smoothies, you will be using a variety of fruits, green leafy vegetables, raw nuts and seeds, and highly unsaturated fats like hemp oil, flax oil or unrefined sesame oil, to give you a full range of nutrients.
3. Make your own juice!
Instead of pasteurized (cooked) cranberry juice from a carton or jar, try making your own raw refreshing, Cranberry Cleanser with your blender, You will never buy commercial cranberry juice again!
Add the juice of one fresh orange, lemon or grapefruit to a tall glass of water with ice for a refreshing drink.
4. Keep your herbs and vegetables raw!
Add your vegetables in the last couple minutes of cooking time, or chop them really tiny and add completely raw after cooking. Scrambled eggs are delicious with raw, finely chopped shallots, tomatoes, broccoli and coriander, added just before serving.
Roll baby kale and cut into thin ribbons. Toss into cooked potatoes just before mashing. Add chopped fresh raw garlic, slivered French shallots, a good pinch of unrefined sea salt and a quick swirl of olive oil.
Always add fresh raw herbs after cooking … always!
5. Try some new raw food recipes!
Raw Banana Spice Cookies. Mash two large or three small bananas in a bowl, sprinkle with ½ teaspoon each of powdered cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger. Drop from a spoon onto parchment paper and dehydrate into a delicious, healthy treat. Little people love these cookies. Don’t have a dehydrator? Place the cookies in the oven on the lowest setting with the door ajar, until the cookies are dry.
Learn from the masters of raw food preparation, The Raw Family (The book, Fresh is my personal favorite!) or Ani Phyo, from Ani’s Raw Food Kitchen. Many of my raw recipes are derived from their amazing, original creations.
The point is to make raw food more a part of your life. Gradually make the shift and tip the balance. No one has to be 100% raw but the more raw foods you eat, the better.
Warning:
Raw food will make you feel healthy and look hot!
Afterthought:
Many people have used raw foods to cure disease, including diabetes and cancer and other chronic, degenerative diseases. Here is more information about that:
Healing Cancer From The Inside Out, is both a book and documentary film, featuring testimonials of people who have cured themselves using The Rave Diet, a raw food diet.
