What is a Raw Food Diet?

Do you know anyone that follows a raw food diet? The raw food movement is becoming quite popular these days...so we thought it important to review the basics of what this diet is about in this week's edition of What's That Wednesday?! 

Raw Food Diet Basic Theories:

• A plant based diet consisting of only vegan, uncooked foods - fruits, vegetables, roots, nuts, flowers, germinated seeds, sea vegetables and sprouts.
• Plant enzymes are essential to human health - they act as catalysts for detoxification, proper digestion, and absorption of nutrients. 
• Cooking food doesn't add anything in, it only takes away. Food must not be heated over 104-118 degrees F.
• Toxic byproducts can be formed with high-temperature cooking. The safest cooking methods are steaming, simmering, and boiling in broth or water. These methods maintain nutrients and avoid harmful byproducts.
• Soaking, sprouting, and fermenting methods of preparing foods are recommended to improve nutrient value and make some foods more digestible.

People that successfully convert to a raw food diet usually experience weight loss, reduction in inflammation, improvement and regularity in digestion, and increased energy.  So is this the right diet for you? We strongly believe that each person's biochemistry is unique and that no one diet can work for everyone. We also strongly advocate following a diet that makes sense for your lifestyle and body and encourage our clients to make small changes one at a time. For most people, converting to a diet like a raw food diet all at once could be really overwhelming, may be unnecessary for your body, and will likely be very difficult to stick to in the long term because it could feel very restrictive. For these reasons, this is not a diet that we recommend for everyone. 

We do however, feel like there are some great takeaways from the raw food theory that are easy to implement and that we would recommend for anyone wanting to feel better, lose weight, and improve digestion.

Our Top 3 Raw Food Diet Recommendations:
1. Increase consumption of raw foods, especially leafy greens. Try adding a green smoothie or juice to your morning routine. Or add a side salad to your cooked lunch or dinner. Have some raw food at every meal! 
2. Choose raw nuts and seeds over roasted nuts and seeds.
3. Use cooking methods like steaming, boiling, and simmering more often. If you are sauteing or roasting, choose an oil that is stable at high temperatures like coconut oil. You can check out our blog, Best Oil Choices When Cooking, for further recommendations on this.

Check out one of our favorite raw food dishes -Kale Refresh Salad with Tahini Dressing and our newest raw food treat, Raw Coconut Snack Balls.

As always, if you have questions, please post or reach out to us directly! 
~Billie & Jennifer

---