Diet Questions Time Sundays - All About Raw Food Diets

As we are about to start our Raw Food Detox, I thought it would be good to share some background to Raw Foods.

Why Eat Raw Food?

The Rawfood diet has been around for a few years now, it is a diet based on the beliefthat eating raw foods are more healthy for your body.  Cooking foods can diminish its nutritionalcontent and value. Certain vitamins are destroyed by heat.  Although most food is eaten raw, heating foodis acceptable as long as the temperate stays below 104 to 118 Fahrenheit.

A raw food detox can be very energizing and appealing. Instead of eatingprocessed foods that only ten to fill your body with toxins, on a raw fooddetox you will eat lots more fresh fruits and vegetables that will help yourbody get rid of these toxins, and which will help you feeling more energisedand healthier. 

Your body is always in the process of cleansing out the toxins, but it canonly do so much, especially if you continue to consume the foods that containthe toxins your body has just cleansed itself off.  However, a raw diet helps to replace thetoxic foods with clean foods, and helps to speed up the detoxification process.

On this diet, you are consuming only fresh fruits and vegetables, which aremade up primarily of water. Because the body doesn’t need to work very hard todigest these foods, the body has the ability to remove the toxins at thecellular level. But this is not going to be easy, your body will still cravethe toxins that it has become accustomed to, such as cakes, sweets,coffee.  You may experience skin problemsin the first few days, headaches, tiredness and some nausea.  The first few days can be rough, but bydrinking lots of water, continuing to eat and exercise you will find you feelbetter than you did before going on the programme.

What Do I Eat On a Raw Food Diet?

There are different ways that people follow a raw food diet. Most people whofollow a raw food diet are vegan. Some consume raw animal products, such as rawmilk, cheese made from raw milk, sashimi, ceviche (raw fish), or carpaccio (rawmeat). Some people eat only raw foods, while others include cooked food forvariety and convenience. The percentage of raw food is usually 70 percent ormore of the diet.

Fruits

Staple fruits include:

• Apple
• Avocado
• Banana
• Blueberry
• Dates
• Grapes
• Lemon
• Lime
• Mango
• Orange
• Raisins
• Raspberry
• Strawberry
• Young coconut

Vegetables

Staple vegetables include:

• Bell peppers: red, orange, yellow
• Celery
• Garlic
• Ginger
• Jalapeno pepper
• Kale
• Lettuce
• Onion
• Spinach
• Tomato
• Zucchini

Nuts and Seeds

Dried, raw, and preferably organic.

• Almonds
• Cashews
• Macadamia nuts
• Pine nuts
• Flax seeds
• Chia seeds
• Hemp seeds
• Sunflower seeds
• Raw almond butter
• Nut "nutter"
• Nut "milks"
• Seed crackers (e.g. chia, flax)

Grains

• Millet
• Buckwheat
• Quinoa
• Oats
• Cereal
• Granola
• Bread

Beans and Legumes

Dried, raw, and preferably organic.

• Lentils
• Chickpeas
• Adzuki beans
• Mung beans

Oil

• Cold-pressed, extra-virgin olive oil
• Raw, virgin coconut oil
• Raw coconut butter
• Chia oil

Beverages

• Water
• Vegetable or fruit juice – freshly squeezed or frozen, unpasteurized
• Young coconut water
• Herbal tea (made with water heated to less than 118 F)

Miscellaneous

• Young coconut
• Carob powder
• Raw cacao nibs
• Raw protein powder
• Raw vegan ice cream
• Fermented foods such as miso, kimchee and sauerkraut

Herbs, Spices, and Condiments

• Bragg’s raw apple cider
• Bragg’s liquid aminos
• Cayenne pepper
• Celtic sea salt
• Chocolate, raw
• Cinnamon, ground
• Cumin, ground or seeds
• Curries
• Dill
• Nama shoyu (raw soy sauce)
• Raw honey
• Himalayan salt
• Seaweed
• Sundried tomato
• Vinegars

Sweeteners

• Raw honey
• Agave nectar
• Coconut nectar
• Stevia
• Date sugar
• Yacon

Animal Products

**In addition to plant foods, some raw foodists eat raw animal foods such asraw eggs, fish and meat, and non-pasteurized, non-homogenized milk, yogurt andcheese.

• Fish
• Beef
• Spence and Co. gravlax
• Proscuitto
• Milk
• Raw milk cheese
• Organic egg

**Consuming raw or undercooked meat, fish, milk, or eggs products mayincrease your risk of foodborne illness.

Don't forget to sign up to our 5 day Raw Food detox.... Click on the tab at the top of this blog...  http://londonfitgirls.blogspot.com/p/join-our-5-day-detox.html

Colette Morris  SAC Dipl. (Diet &Nutrition)

LFGC Founder

    

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Colette Morris is a qualified Nutritionist and Herbalife Independent Distributor so if you want advice on your diet for weight loss, weight gain or sports nutrition, email LondonFitGirlsClub@gmail.com  or simply click on the tab here  to join our program.