Fiber is essential for proper digestion and nutrient assimilation, and is seriously lacking in the Standard American Diet (SAD).  Animal products have little to no fiber and are harder to digest than plant foods, taking nearly three times longer to digest.  Fiber helps to move digested food through the digestive tract and keep the colon clean.  Not enough fiber in our diet can easily create toxic waste in our system making us more vulnerable to diseases, while excess waste in our system can increase our weight as much as 25 pounds.  Cooking fruits and vegetables will reduce and change the quality of the fiber, reducing its ability to ‘sweep’ the colon clean.  Blending fruits and vegetables into a fresh, revitalizing empowering drink will help break down the fiber in the plant, improving both the digestive process and nutritional assimilation.

All uncooked fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds come with their own digestive enzymes to assist the body in digesting protein, fats and carbohydrates.  For example, the avocado is rich in the enzyme Lipase, the fat dissolving enzyme.  These plant enzymes help to pre-digest the food in the early part of digestion thus improving the digestive process and bioavailability (the absorption and assimilation) of nutrients.  Cooking foods at high temperatures can dramatically reduce the quality and quantity of these enzymes. 

Plant foods are also rich in phytochemicals (including antioxidants) and healthy fats to support optimal health.  Antioxidants fight free radicals – free radicals are known to accelerate aging and contribute to diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.  Phytochemicals found in whole plant foods number in the 100,000’s and;

Perform anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, and anti-viral activities;

Fight Macular Degeneration, cataracts and Alzheimer;

Have anti-inflammatory activities;

Help bone density (reduce risk of osteoporosis);

Help prevent and rid body of carcinogens (anti-cancerous activities);

Prevent blood clotting, lower cholesterol, strengthen blood vessel walls and fight heart disease;

And enhance Immune Function.

The process of heating foods can significantly reduce the phytochemical content of most foods.  To receive the enormous benefits of these health promoting nutrients eat your fruits and vegetables as Mother Nature grew them – whole, fresh, and uncooked.

Healthy fats are necessary for food absorption, healthy skin, lubricating our joints, protecting our internal tissues and organs, and to providing satiation (that feeling of ‘fullness’ which helps eliminate ‘over-eating’).  Healthy fats can be found in coconuts, olives, avocados, and raw nuts and seeds.  The unhealthy fats (i.e. saturated fats and trans-fats) are found only in animal products, never in fresh plant foods.  Eating healthy fats have an added benefit  -  the same ‘fat dissolving’ Lipase enzyme found in raw plant foods like avocados, nuts and seeds, will help to dissolve saturated fat from the body.

Take your diet and health a notch higher; feel like the ‘reset’ button was pressed and your body ignited with new energy.  Eat whole fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds in their natural raw/uncooked state and reap the benefits!  You’ll be amazed how your body responds to those added antioxidants, phytochemicals, enzymes, fiber and healthy fats!

If you’re like me, you wake and bless the Almighty for being alive and feeling alive with new energy pushing you out of bed. If you’ve been eating the raw food diet, you discover you don’t require as much sleep as you did when you were eating the standard American diet. With fewer toxins to clean from your system and with a more efficient system your body enjoys a higher level of energy and well-being!

I’m fully awake now, but still feeling the chill of the fall season and crave a warm breakfast! Most people think that when you eat raw that you can’t eat anything heated, they’re quite surprised to discover they’re wrong. A food is still considered ‘raw’ if it isn’t heated above 118 degrees Fahrenheit; all the nutrients and enzymes remain intact. Eating heated foods is highly desirable when the temperatures drop!

I’m craving warm apples, apple cobbler, apple pie, caramel apples, apples….apples…..apples! Apples are in season now and everywhere I look their bright colors beckon and memories of childhood favorite apple dishes surface. Did you know that there are over 7500 varieties of cooking and dessert apples? They range from very tart (crab apple) to deliciously sweet! You can eat them out of hand, prepared in a raw dish or a heated one. If you’re like me, you want lots of options particularly when you’re transitioning to a high raw food diet. As a Recipe Club Member I share my favorite apple recipes with you – recipes I know will satisfy and delight you for both how tasty they are and with how easy they are to prepare.

Learn more about this wonderful healthy fruit on my website: www.sensationalrawfooddiet.com.

The sun is peaking through the clouds now, and I’m off to get breakfast. I wonder, “Why would anyone wish to eat a boxed cereal with milk when there are warm sweet apples beaconing?”

Have a terrific day!

Bon A Petite
Beth Wilke