RAW FOOD BASICS
What is Raw food?
Raw Food:Raw food also known as fresh food, living food, sun food and all healthy food.
Raw food consists of the following;
Raw food consists of the following;
1. Fresh Fruits. Organic fruit is best, yet can be pricy and not always available. Plant a garden! There are hundreds of fruits out there for us to try. Eating fruit is a great way to get energy and kill cravings for sweets. Try a new fruit each time you go grocery shopping.
2. Fresh Vegetables. There are also many varieties of vegetables to try.
3. Fresh Greens. Spinach, kale, collards and romaine are among the best nutrition wise. Greens are filled with chlorophyll and rebuild your blood. If you can't stand eating salad all the time. Start with a little handful of spinach in a smoothie. Even the kids will drink it.
4. Nuts. Okay to consume raw, but soaking nuts with skin breaks down the enzyme inhibiting coat, making them easier for your body to digest. You don’t need to soak white nuts unless you want a creamy sauce. Nuts are high in good fats, but put fourth on the list for a reason. You can consume as many fresh, whole fruits, veggies, and greens as you want, and feel great, and never put on a pound. Nuts should be secondary to those. However, people differ in their needs and for me, I can tell when I need to eat more nuts.
5. Seeds -Same as nuts, but sprouted can be highly nutritious! Sunflower and bean sprouts are great for you. I once grew sunflower sprouts and my little kids couldn't wait for them to sprout so they could eat them.
6. Grains. Grains are best when sprouted by soaking, planting, or ground up. Grain is most nutritious when sprouted into a living food.
7. Natural oils. Coconut Oil and First Cold Pressed Extra Virgin Olive Oil are among the top pure oils to consume. Coconut oil has some amazing benefits. Use in making foods or for your skin!
8. Natural Sweeteners. These are used mostly when making a raw dessert. Agave, Raw Honey, Pure Organic Grade B Maple Syrup, fruits like dates, figs, raisins, and other dried fruits, as well as fresh fruit all make great sweeteners.
Consuming Raw Food, or Living food, gives your body all the enzymes and nutrients it needs!
NOT Raw Food
Meat -Raw or Cooked
Dairy -cows milk, cheese, yogurt, etc.
Eggs
Canned Foods
Processed Foods
Refined Sugars
Anything cooked or processed over 118° degrees
Why 118° degrees? That is the heating point at which a foods chemical make-up starts to change from raw and living food to a cooked and dead food. The more you heat it, the more it is altered, changes, and dies. The heating process starts with boiling down to baking, then frying, broiling, and grilling being the best way to kill any life out of a food.
Raw foodists use low temperatures (Under 118°) to dehydrate and warm foods. Freezing foods changes it little. You can make raw soups by blending different veggies and spices. You can heat this on the stove until it becomes warm to the touch. If it starts to boil, you know it's been heated too high.
Why not meat or dairy?
Meat protein is actually hard for the body to digest and most of it goes strait to your stool or clogs up your arteries.
We can get every nutritional need met through consuming a good variety of raw foods
Milk: Humans produce milk for baby humans, cows for baby cows, goats for baby goats. They don’t drink our milk, why should we drink theirs? Also, animals are given so many hormones that we don’t need to consume, a lot of which cause allergies, eczema, and sickness. Milk and milk products line your body with a coat of mucous, protecting your body from the milk.
If you love milk, try almond or rice milk. These are both great alternatives without the added fat, mucous, and hormones. Canned and Processed foods are packed with preservatives, and are not real foods.
If you love milk, try almond or rice milk. These are both great alternatives without the added fat, mucous, and hormones. Canned and Processed foods are packed with preservatives, and are not real foods.
What your body needs vs. what it is addicted to:
We all eat some amount of raw foods. It is up to you to decide how much you eat. The more raw food you consume, the better you will feel and the less you will crave cooked foods. Eventually your body starts to crave what it needs. Instead of you wanting to stuff yourself with what tastes good to your tongue, you will feel satisfied.
I have learned that we are generally raised to be addicted to cooked foods. Especially salty and oily foods. Have you ever wondered why people want to go to sleep after a Thanksgiving feast? The FOOD (meat, bread, butter) has addictive qualities and act as "drugs" to your body making them tired. (Read 12 Steps to Raw Foods for more on this.)
Also, I have learned that after being raw for a while and then you binge or "cheat" on junk foods, they don't actually give you anything you are truly craving. It is just another sign that one is addicted to those foods. When people emotionally eat or are bored, they are usually seeking a feeling of love, acceptance, or escape, none of which are actually achieved by eating unhealthy foods. You may gain only a temporary state of relief, followed by a guilty feeling or a sick tummy. Deciding to eat all healthy all the time is easier talked about than done, but it can be done if you have a true goal. Making lifestyle changes can be hard, but having a supportive spouse or friend, or even a online support group to help encourage and even join you, is also a huge help.
*Eating at least 75% Raw food is recommended. I personally feel best at 99.9% Raw!
Most people find "Raw Food" when searching for better health, healing, or alternative “medicine” (I did) It was a process to come to Raw foods, and continues to be, sticking with it.
What are some of the health benefits of eating raw food?
Reversing,
improving, and curing diseases such as (cancer, diabetes, heart
disease, depression, auto-immune diseases, skin irritations, etc.)
Weight Loss
Weight Loss
Clearer Skin
Whiter Teeth
Stronger Nails
More vibrant health
More Energy!
More in tune with the spirit, clearer mind.
More in tune with what your body needs
Isn’t it expensive to buy so much produce?
Price Match your produce to Super Wal-Mart and get the best prices around. Also-Bountiful baskets.com.(in Utah) Check your local produce co-ops.
Shop the farmers markets.
Shop the farmers markets.
Use the money you would normally use to buy meat, dairy, eggs, and other canned or highly processed foods, to buy healthy delicious raw fruits, vegetables, greens, nuts, and seeds.
Make your own lunches and dinners and eat out less.
Think of it as “health insurance” or an “investment” in your long term health-it really is!
How Can I get my Family to eat more raw foods?
My Tips
* Pray about what is best for you individually, and as a couple/family. Go with YOUR inspiration!
* The stronger you are as an example, the more others will want to follow. Spouses, support each other.
* Plan Family Home Evenings around the Word of Wisdom and what you choose to do in your family on top of the basics.
* What were Adam and Eve given to eat when placed in the Garden of Eden? Fruits, Flowers, Seeds, Vegetation of all sorts...Living food.
* Plant a Garden! Eat from the ground!
* Temptations: If it is not in the house, you will not eat it. Make a raw dessert instead!
If you are trying to cut down on something, resist the temptation to buy it again. Pray for help.
* Your spirit is stronger than your flesh!
*Ask yourself, "Is this a real/raw food, or a made up food?" Apple? Real food. Pretzels? Made up food.
Kids even like joining in on this question and can be a game for them, to help them realize when they are eating real or "made-up" foods. If it grows from the ground or a tree, it's real/raw food. If it has to be processed, cooked, added to, or something taken away, it is not a real food.
* Your spirit is stronger than your flesh!
*Ask yourself, "Is this a real/raw food, or a made up food?" Apple? Real food. Pretzels? Made up food.
Kids even like joining in on this question and can be a game for them, to help them realize when they are eating real or "made-up" foods. If it grows from the ground or a tree, it's real/raw food. If it has to be processed, cooked, added to, or something taken away, it is not a real food.
*Introduce one new thing into your normal meals.
* Add a salad every dinner. *A fruit or two with every breakfast or lunch. *Greens in a smoothie.
* Have fruit and veggies out for you and others to snack on.
* Have fruits and veggies cut up in containers in the fridge so they are ready to grab for snacks or to have with meals.
* Go to the fridge before the pantry!
* Write down what you learn.
* Log what you eat for a couple days and decide what you want to change.http://cronometer.com/
* The more Alive a food is when eaten, the more Alive you will feel.
I am asked "Don’t you get bored eating salad, carrots, and apples all the time?" I do like those, however; there are hundreds of different fruits and vegetables to try, and many many ways to prepare and have fun with them.
* HAVE FUN! Make "boring" fruit into shapes or try it with something you've never thought of trying it with.
How I think of it:
It is not a diet-it’s a lifestyle.
It’s not about eating less; it’s about eating more of the right kinds of foods!
For Raw food starters try eating only raw fresh foods for one meal. You don't have to limit yourself to one apple for breakfast. Try 3 or 4 peaches and 2 bananas! Or try a green smoothie! You shouldn't feel hungry. Then try it for a week. See how you feel. Then try 2 meals. Eventually work your way up to where you want to be. Whether it’s 25-50% raw or 75-90%. Eat often! Eat mono meals.
*Don't let yourself get hungry! When you let yourself get hungry, that is when you are most tempted to give up and eat the first thing you see or smell!
*If these are all new ideas and seem too far from where you are at, start by going away from processed white flours and sugars to whole grains and natural sugars like fruit, agave, and honey. Whole wheat/grain bread. Whole grain pastas. Brown rice, Lentils, Beans, Quinoa, or other grains. Then add vegetables like mushrooms and sun dried tomatoes where you would add meat and so on.
*Experimenting with Raw Foods can be fun. Try a new raw food raw recipe today!
Detox- If you decide to go full throttle in one day, like I did (I was desperate for help and healing!), and even if you already eat mostly fresh and go all the way raw, you will most likely feel some sort of detox symptoms.
Such as:
A headache-don't give into that processed sugar now, you can do it!
Side ache- your body is working to get rid of what you have stored inside and that which you do not need.
Tired- This is new. Eat more than you think you will need!
More bowels than you are use to- again, your body getting rid of what it doesn't need. It will even out eventually.
*Usually after 3-4 days of all Raw I start to feel the "light, happy, and energetic" benefits of eating Raw and remember that I want this feeling to last forever.
But, Yes I've go in and out of high raw/vegan and all Raw. You do best for you and your family. Fresh is Best!
Detox- If you decide to go full throttle in one day, like I did (I was desperate for help and healing!), and even if you already eat mostly fresh and go all the way raw, you will most likely feel some sort of detox symptoms.
Such as:
A headache-don't give into that processed sugar now, you can do it!
Side ache- your body is working to get rid of what you have stored inside and that which you do not need.
Tired- This is new. Eat more than you think you will need!
More bowels than you are use to- again, your body getting rid of what it doesn't need. It will even out eventually.
*Usually after 3-4 days of all Raw I start to feel the "light, happy, and energetic" benefits of eating Raw and remember that I want this feeling to last forever.
But, Yes I've go in and out of high raw/vegan and all Raw. You do best for you and your family. Fresh is Best!
Tips with kids
Read books about health with them. (I like The Adventures of Junk Food Dude)
Teach them about what different foods do to your body, good and bad.
Plant food together!
Get books at the library- though I insert my opinion when "my plate" and such come up. :)
Plant food together!
Get books at the library- though I insert my opinion when "my plate" and such come up. :)
Your body is a temple, just like we shouldn’t have graffiti on the outside, but we should exercise and be fit, what we put inside matters too.
Let kids (or one at a time) go grocery shopping with you and pick one new fruit or vegetable they, or you, might have never tried. Try it together or as a family. It’s OK if you don’t like it, try, and try, again.
If you only have raw (or healthy) food in your house people will eventually eat if they are hungry.
It’s OK for someone to just have an apple...or any fruits or vegetables alone, even for a meal.
I hope you find some of this helpful to you. We love eating fresh food here and hope it finds its way into your home and refrigerator soon! I wish you a Happy and Healthy Eating journey!
I hope you find some of this helpful to you. We love eating fresh food here and hope it finds its way into your home and refrigerator soon! I wish you a Happy and Healthy Eating journey!
Helpful sources:
Books:
The China Study-Campbell and Campbell
Green for Life-Victoria Boutenko
The 80/10/10 Diet -Dr. Douglas Graham
The 80/10/10 Diet -Dr. Douglas Graham
Every Day Raw-Mathew Kenney
Disease Proof Your Child-Joel Fuhrman
Movie:
Forks Over Knives
Movie:
Forks Over Knives
Websites:
http://www.rawfor30days.com (about reversing diabetes)
Google: raw food and read to your hearts content.
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