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!

The raw food diet is not an ‘all or nothing’ diet.  Without question, the more raw fruits and vegetables you eat the healthier you’ll be as all plant based foods are extremely high in easily assimilated nutrients that feed the body at a cellular level.  “Fruits provide the highest percentage of vitamins per calories consumed with vegetables coming in second.  Vegetables provide the highest percentage of minerals per calories consumed with fruits coming in second.”* With a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds to choose from in the raw diet, nutrients such as bone-strengthening calcium, protein, iron, vitamins C, D, E, and B’s to name a few can easily be obtained.  “Almost every vegetable that can be eaten whole, fresh and raw contains all eight of the essential amino acids and therefore provides us with complete, usable, easily assimilated protein.”*  Processing nutrients from whole foods to sell as supplements is the most costly way to improve your nutritional balance.  Most nutrients are known to interact symbiotically with at least eight other nutrients, WHOLE fruits and vegetables provide a superior complete source of vitamins and minerals.

Fiber found in plant-based foods is lacking in a meat-based diet; fiber is important to keep the digestive tract clean of waste products which can lead to disease. 

Plant-based foods are alkaline in nature, as apposed to animal products and grains which are acid forming.  A highly acidic bloodstream pulls minerals from our muscles and bones to neutralize the acid content.  

Most animal products have been treated with antibiotics, steroids, coloring agents, flavor enhancers, growth hormones and other chemicals that humans ingest when eating these foods.  How healthy is it to eat THAT?  Whole fresh organic fruits and vegetables are free of any of these treatments. 

Cooking foods changes its atomic structure, creating a toxic food where up to 80% of the nutrients can lost in the cooking process.  Cooking foods at high heat (such as steaming, boiling, and grilling) creates carcinogens that can lead to cancer and auto-immune diseases.  The body’s first line of defense is the white blood cells; research has proven the white blood cell count increases almost 300% after consuming cooked foods.  The body perceives cooked food as toxic and rushes to its defense.  Cooking is a process of destruction, not of ‘construction’.  If you placed your hand on a hot burner, within seconds the skin would reflect how destructive ‘cooking’ is.  It matters little if it is ‘slightly’ cooked or blackened………..the result is the same. 

Switching to a raw food diet, high in low calorie nutrient dense fruits and vegetables increases your energy and unwanted pounds melt away as you are no longer consuming food that is made up of processed sugar, processed flours and grains, and cooked foods – all foods that put on the weight and drain you of energy.  With there being over 150 varieties of available fruits and vegetables to choose from, meals are seldom boring.  Couple this with learning HOW to prepare these fruits and vegetables into great tasting familiar recipes (e.g. pasta, desserts, ice cream etc) you’ll soon be experiencing a higher level of health and energy, beyond anything you dreamed possible.

It is interesting that people think little about the quantities and health quality of prescription drugs, supplements, or processed foods they consume and yet shy away from eating whole fresh fruits and vegetables as being ‘radical’ and ‘difficult’.  It couldn’t be any simpler.  Sometimes we’re looking so hard for the dietary cure-all, we don’t see the bright colored jewels in our produce markets beckoning us to ‘just try me!’   

Is the raw food diet a healthy diet?  It is all that and then some!  It is a diet/lifestyle that fits everyone, whether you’re consuming 20% more fruits and vegetables or 100% more, with every bite you’re improving your health.  Who can argue the benefits of THAT!

Bon A Petite’

Beth

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*Dr Douglas N Graham, On Nutrition and Physical Performace: A Handbook for Athletes and Fitness Enthusiasts

Question:

What is the best way to get calcium in a raw diet? I’m at risk of osteoporosis.

My answer…

CALCIUM:

Most people believe osteoporosis is caused by a lack of calcium and by increasing the intake of calcium (including direct supplementation) osteoporosis will be avoided.  This does little to reduce the incidence of osteoporosis or to counteract the effects of a predominantly acid forming diet and lifestyle. 

The actual cause of osteoporosis is typically due to excessive calcium loss from an overly acid bloodstream.  Animal proteins, tobacco inhalation, caffeine and drugs contribute to an acid bloodstream.  The body maintains a blood pH that is slightly alkaline and when the blood is too acidic, the body brings it back to a more alkaline state by leaching calcium (an alkaline mineral) from the bones and boron from muscle. Boron helps prevent calcium loss and is found in raw fruits and vegetables, milk has little, meat and eggs have none. 

Studies have shown a direct correlation between eating animal proteins (e.g. meat, eggs and dairy) and calcium loss.  Fruits and vegetables are alkaline foods which help maintain your blood at the correct pH.  Easy to assimilate calcium (and boron) is found in abundance in most leafy greens (e.g. romaine lettuce, spinach, dandelion greens etc), in seaweeds (e.g. Nori, Arame, Dulse) and in sesame seeds (1 oz. has 276 mg).   By eating large, green leafy salads with dressings made from Tahini (ground sesame seeds), you’ll get more than enough calcium (along with all the other elements your bones and muscles need) to satisfy the body’s need. 

Most raw fooders eat mostly fruit and vegetables and have no bone weakness.

Beth

Instead, when I met my opponent she complained to me how tired she felt, and had been feeling for some time. She knew our game would be lopsided and she would lose, as I knew then with certainty I would easily win.  I was disappointed there would be no competitive match. 

 If you often feel tired regardless of how much sleep you get, try to eat right, and how much you work out it’s a safe bet you are overly acidic – most people are. When you are, you’ll never feel as good as you like. When acidic waste accumulates, it is destructive to your organs causing them to malfunction and break down.

Most foods on the western diet are acid-producing.  The raw food diet however is high in alkaline-producing foods.  How simple it is to correct this health damaging problem.  By consuming more raw fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds you’ll quickly turn your health around.  To help identify what foods are both hindering and helping you feel your best see my ALKALINE  CHART which you can download from my website http://www.sensationalrawfooddiet.com/alkaline-chart.html

“Your energy will increase, you’ll find new mental clarity and powers of concentration, you’ll build strength and stamina, and you’ll lose excess body fat while increasing muscle mass. You’ll have bright eyes and clear skin. You’ll look better. You’ll improve your athletic performance. Your entire body will function more efficiently. Dr Robert O. Young, MS, D.Sc., Ph.D., Author of “The pH Miracle”

To be top in your game, feeling your best, and enjoying life…….for better health, enjoy all the delicious ways you can prepare raw fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds and become more ALKALINE.

Bon A Petite’

Beth Wilke, Raw Food Chef