At first glance, many are scared of the idea of a totally raw diet, envisioning a monotonous rabbit-like life based on lettuce, carrots and celery. But fret not. A well designed raw-based lifestyle can be a more rich and varied cornucopia of foods, flavors, recipes and colors than our more familiar fare.
One major difference between a gourmet raw food diet and the Standard American Diet is that the recipes often require advance preparation. The recipes do not necessarily require more hands-on time (usually less, actually), but they do require more planning. For example, you might need to soak nuts, sprout seeds, ferment or dehydrate something. These steps are generally not difficult or time consuming, but you do have to remember to do them. Because of this extra bit of necessary forethought, your daily schedule and your willingness to plan can make or break you on this diet. Your daily itinerary is therefore just as important as your food selection.
Below are a few ideas to get your imagination gears turning. Note that this menu plan roughly mimics the heaviness of cooked food. As many raw fooders become more experienced with the raw food lifestyle, often they report eating lighter and lighter fare as their bodies adjust to the difference. Feel free to experiment to see what works for you.
Breakfast: Homemade raw granola with almond milk. Raw hot chocolate made from almond milk, 1 tsp raw cacao powder and 1 tbsp maca powder, heated to a low temperature.
Raw Granola Recipe
Lunch: Live sunburgers in romaine leaf wraps served with tomato, dill pickle, and onion. (See I am Grateful recipe book.) Large salad of fresh salad greens, grated carrot, bell pepper and chives with homemade honey mustard dressing.
Snack: Carrot flax crackers with raw cashew cheese. Apple
Dinner: Asian rainbow stir(un)fry – half-plate serving size (See Raw: The Uncook Book for one such stir fry recipe.) Asparagus spears with honey mustard dressing dip (left over from lunch) Marinated kale salad Sauerkraut (Cultured® is one high-quality brand.)
Potential Risks
To Avoid Food Poisoning
Potential Benefits of a Raw Food diet
A raw foods diet, often called ‘Living Foods,’ consists of eating mostly uncooked, unprocessed and mostly organic foods. Raw food theory suggests that cooking natural foods over 115 degrees Fahrenheit destroys the natural enzymes that our bodies need (exact temperature varies among raw food theories from 104 -118 degrees Fahrenheit). According to Raw Food theorists, the enzymes found in natural foods aid in digestion, absorption and processing of food and nutrients. Eating a diet of raw food increases the amount of enzymes needed for good digestion and results in increased availability of vitamins and minerals for absorption. This higher concentration of nutrients from natural raw foods has been suggested to prevent disease, reduce the aging process, increase energy and promote overall health.
Raw food theory suggests that when food is cooked over 115 degrees, the enzymes are broken down and we are unable to utilize them, making digestion more difficult and harder for our digestive systems to properly extract and use food nutrients. When these enzymes are destroyed in cooking, our bodies have to work harder to break down food and this may accelerate the aging process. Without proper absorption of nutrients, health may begin to degrade and toxins will build up. Extremely high cooking may even be carcinogenic. Overtime, continuously eating highly cooked and processed foods could lead to deficiencies in key nutrients and lead to major health problems such as cancer, heart disease, and degenerative diseases. Most raw foodists eat at least 70% raw foods, most of which are organic (no irradiation, preservatives, pesticides or genetically modified products).
A Raw foods detox is a short term diet to cleanse the body of toxins. This diet follows a strictly raw food diet for 3 to 21 days to replenish the body with natural enzymes, vitamins and minerals. This detox is designed to rid the body of built up toxins accumulated from eating a diet high in highly processed foods.
Potential Risks
To Avoid Food Poisoning
Potential Benefits of a Raw Food diet
Click here for Raw Food meal ideas
What to eat on a Raw Foods diet
Acceptable Minimally processed foods
Foods to Avoid on a Raw Foods Diet
