Raw Food Diet

Is there a difference between vegetarian and raw food diets? A raw foodist is a vegetarian, but one who generally is not going to cook his vegetables or fruits. A vegetarian is someone who simply doesn\’t eat meat, fish or poultry, but only consumes vegetables, pasta, and rice. A vegetarian might eat meatless spaghetti sauce or order onion rings in a restaurant. (Not the healthiest choice, but sometimes it\’s hard to find something to eat in a restaurant if you\’re vegetarian – even harder if you\’re a raw foodist.)

There are different categories of vegetarians, like vegans, or fruitarians, and raw foodist is a category of vegetarianism. We haven\’t seen anything about sushi being considered a raw food, but it is. Raw food, though, generally means eating raw, uncooked fruits, vegetables, dried fruits, seaweeds, etc.

But to be a raw food purist means raw broccoli, not steamed. To a vegetarian, someone committed to not eat meat or fish or animal products, steamed vegetables are just as good, although everyone would agree that steaming can take out nutrients from foods, rendering them less nutritious. A vegetarian might consume dairy or egg products; however a vegan will not consume any animal products at all. And a raw foodist is a vegan who consumes only uncooked, unprocessed raw foods. Proponents of the raw diet believe that enzymes are the life force of a food and that every food contains its own perfect mix. These enzymes help us digest foods completely, without relying on our body to produce its own cocktail of digestive enzymes. It is also thought that the cooking process destroys vitamins and minerals and that cooked foods not only take longer to digest, but they also allow partially digested fats, proteins and carbohydrates to clog up our gut and arteries.

Followers of a raw diet cite numerous health benefits, including:

• increased energy levels

• improved appearance of skin

• improved digestion

• weight loss

• reduced risk of heart disease

Who doesn’t like Saving More Money? If you’ve recently gotten interested in the raw food diet and lifestyle and are trying to find more ways to save money doing it, here is a collection of money saving tips for you.Finding a way to make this diet sustainable for you and your wallet is probably one of the most important factors in making it work for you. The other two factors are that you have to make it fun and healthy/balanced!

Invest in a dehydrator and make your own chips,crackers,cookies,dehydrated nuts, etc.A good idea would be to copy down the ingredients of packaged raw food snacks and make your own version of them at home.It can be more fun this way and you can make enough for some friends too.

Additional Book Options : You can organize a book exchange with some other health-conscious friends. Or you can buy those books you know you want for your personal collection from an online bookstore.Buy your supplements online and preferably in bulk, if possible.If you don’t need or want that much product, create co-ops with your friends, buy in bulk, and split the shipping.Make your own beauty products out of the foods you now have in your kitchen.

Make and Exchange Food with friends in order to try out new recipes and Save on Money and Time : Either make raw food recipes in big batches and share among friends, or organize your own potluck and invite some friends. To make it easy on them, you can give them some easy recipes to choose from or direct them to one of the many raw food recipe websites online.

Buy Used Kitchen Equipment : Check online, at local health food stores on the notice board, or ask your friends and family if they have a food processor, blender, or juicer they don’t use that you could borrow.

Always search several websites online for the best possible price before buying online (especially supplements). It’s usually the same product online versus at a raw food restaurant or health food store.Make your own Rejuvelac and/or Kombucha if you can. Do a search online for ingredients and instructions. It’s very easy and economical to do. It could save you money on Probiotic supplements as well.Sprout your own sprouts. Each tray of sprouts will only cost you about .20-.30 cents each and $4-5 dollars at the store.



Shop where the Organic Food is most Affordable First : Buy whatever good organic food is available at the farmers market or smaller produce stores before going to the big chain natural food store. Then figure out your menu or recipe ideas for the week, based on what you have to work with in your fridge.

Buy all your spices and nuts, seeds, grain, and dried fruit in the bulk section of your big chain natural food store. Because you’re not paying for the packaging, it’s a lot less expensive.If available, buy mint, basil, rosemary and other fresh herbs in the bulk section of the natural foods grocery store for substantial savings.

Many people have heard of juice fasts as a means of detoxifying the body. Followers of a raw foods regimen also include juices as part of their nutrition. Nearly anything can be juiced – fruits and vegetables, primarily. It’s a form of concentrated nutrition. Some raw foodists drink only fresh fruit juices.

In addition, fruit and vegetable juices are good sources of the traditional nutrients. Citrus fruits (grapefruit, oranges, etc.) provide a healthy portion of vitamin C. Carrot juice contains large quantities of vitamin A, in the form of beta carotene. A number of green juices are a good source of vitamin E. Fruit juices are a good source of essential minerals like iron, copper, potassium, sodium, iodine, and magnesium, which are bound by the plant in a form that is most easily assimilated during digestion.

While fruit and vegetable juices are the most common form of juice, wheatgrass juice has been getting a lot of attention lately because of the denseness of nutrients it contains.

The primary advantage of truly fresh wheatgrass juice – juice made from raw, live, soil-grown wheat grass, is the apparent high level of life force energy that it contains. It is one of the few truly fresh foods available (sprouts are another). The grass is alive and growing right up to the time it is juiced, and hopefully you are drinking it within a few minutes or so of juicing. Most of us get our green veggies from markets, and they were picked days ago and refrigerated – losing vitality the whole time. (It is an even worse situation for fruit, which may be picked weeks before you eat it, and in some cases, held in cold storage for months – losing vitality the whole time.) In contrast, one can grow wheatgrass indoors, and enjoy it when it is truly fresh.

In conclusion, drinking plenty of fresh fruit juices daily will cleanse your system, make you feel completely energized and last but not least, you will look beautiful. People will wonder what you are doing differently!

This interview is an excerpt from Kevin Gianni’s The Healthiest Year of Your Life, which can be found at http://thehealthiestyearofyour life. com. In this excerpt, Nomi Shannon shares on kitchen equipment and recipes for preparing raw foods.

The Healthiest Year of Your Life with Nomi Shannon, raw gourmet, author and raw food educator.

Nomi: People get really tired, really fast of salads. I do, but you can take the same things that you put into a salad and throw it in the blender and do it up, it’s amazing what the addition of a tomato or slice of mango or something can do to a concoction like that and you can make yourself some really delicious things really fast.

Kevin: What kind of blender do you use?

Nomi: There are only two great blenders, in my humble opinion, Kevin. One is the K-tech which is the one I do recommend for several reasons. The other is the Vita-mix. They’re both fabulous blenders. I prefer the K-tech. The main reason is it’s a whole horsepower stronger but there’s a few others.

The difference between one of these blenders and a Hamilton Beach or whatever is the difference between a Pinto and a Rolls Royce. They’ re both cars but need I say more? In my book, for example, I assumed everybody would have a regular blender. They’re not inexpensive. I would say to make this dish,grate the carrot, grate the parsnip, then put it in the blender. Well, one of these blenders, you throw the darn thing in whole. I throw two frozen, rock hard bananas, whole and 45 seconds later I’m eating whatever it is.

You can do with one of these blenders things you could never do any other way. I will take a couple of apples and cut them up and throw them in the blender with some cinnamon, I have to baby the blender a little because there’s no liquid in there, and I can turn it into applesauce in a minute or two, because people think applesauce? Raw applesauce? No, it’s completely easy and possible if you have the right equipment.

Kevin: It’s great for kids, too. I think the price comparison, you can tell me if I’m wrong or not, is if you break two or three $100 blenders, you can eventually, you kind of go for the bigger one.

Nomi: Well, I personally have taken two, probably $30 to $50 blenders, smoking,outside to finish their smoking process in the air where I tried to make a pate or something in it. They couldn’t handle it. I do understand Kevin that there are plenty of people interested in this kind of food that are never going to be able to spend $400 on a blender. I appreciate that and that’s why in my DVDs I use a regular blender. One or two hints about that, if you have an old Oster blender or you can get your hands on one and that would be like at garage sales, 40 or 50 year old blenders grab it, because they have the most amazing motor. Now, they don’t compare with the Vita-mix or the K-tech. But they’re still nice and strong. My first few years I was raw I had an old Oster.

Kevin: I think that people sometimes just think that the only thing you can make in a blender is a frozen drink or a yoghurt smoothie and you mentioned applesauce and then you just talked about pates. How versatile is a blender for making things?

Nomi: There’s a big crossover in equipment. When I make a pate I use a food processor because a blender needs a lot of liquid. The pate I like best, it’s in my book, called the Sunflower Pate, and it’s 3 cups of sprouted sunflower seeds and lemon juice, because that’s a good preservative and some tahini and then some onion and scallion and different spices. I use it in the food processor. The secret to blending is it needs liquid. Food processing is for things that are drier. The food processor could never work with as much liquid as a blender would. It would leak all over the place.

Kevin: What about Salidako. Can you explain what that is, for people who don’t know?

Nomi: It’s an odd name, it’s also called a spiral slicer and some people call it a spiralizer. Another name is garnishing machine. I finally just said, listen, I’m confusing everyone because every time the company changed the name, I changed the name. And it’s called the Salidako. It’s now made in China. It’s just a simple plastic gizmo, but what it does is really amazing. Here’s what is does that’s wonderful. It will take a vegetable, and the most commonly used vegetable is a zucchini. You put a three-inch piece of zucchini in this little thing and you turn the handle and what you get is pasta-shaped zucchini. It has this fascinating way of shredding it and you get long, long strands. I’ve had three and four feet long strands, where I’ve had to cut them in the bowl, of angel hair sized pasta made out of zucchini or carrot or beet or sweet potato or parsnip. It won’t work with anything soft. Just turn like a tomato to mush, most cucumbers to mush. It has to be a good firm vegetable and this has revolutionized sort of the palate of raw people. You just never have to eat a salad. You can sit your kids down and they can eat this spaghetti and it’s tossed in a pesto sauce, which I’m sure as you know is garlic and olive oil and lots and lots of basil and pine nuts, just no cheese and it doesn’t taste any different, and then top it off with a raw marinara and suddenly it smells like and it looks like and it tastes like Italian spaghetti. The only difference is, it’s not hot. This has, literally this little gadget has revolutionized, because you’ve got to have ways of doing food fast that’s tasty.

There’s another one I’ve just learned about from Germany and it’s called a Spiralo. If you do like a parsnip, beet, carrot, and turn it into this little skinny pasta — I’ve done this at shows and little kids have walked by and I’ve got it on the table next to the machine to show what it does, and these little three year olds will grab it and eat it. The mother or the grandmother will go, “I can’t believe it, he won’t eat any vegetables!” Something about cutting that vegetable into facets, let’s say, really brings out the sweetness like no grating or slicing ever could.

Kevin: Not only does it bring out the sweetness, I think, but it’s just so much easier to eat. You look at a carrot and you’re like, oh, a carrot. I got to chew this thing forever and when it’s in that small kind of form, you can eat it and you just keep eating it and eating it and eating it.

Nomi: When I started with raw food, I actually had a Champion juicer at the time, but it was in storage. When I started with 100% actually all I had was an everyday blender, a good sharp knife and a grater and I didn’t have any other equipment for at least for the first 6 months. So I do like to say to people when people say, “I don’t have the money to go out and buy all that stuff.” And you really don’t have to, but on the other hand, I have to say, that having some of these gadgets, the Salidako I mean is $24.95, really the ability to change these foods, their shapes, their size, pureeing or taking and turning into this little strand what suddenly is delicate and tender instead of chomping down on some hard. I would never eat a parsnip the way you might take a carrot and chew on it the way you would a carrot. I just wouldn’t, but it’s so delicious when you turn it into the pasta. It’s insane. It’s like a whole other thing.

Kevin: You talked about some of the quick things you can do, like the applesauce. What are some other real quick ideas that someone can do to maybe make a meal like in 5 minutes and go?

Nomi: Let’s not forget that almost any raw fresh raw fruit and vegetable can be eaten as it is. If you start out with a bowl on your counter filled with apples, oranges, bananas, whatever you can find seasonally, grapes papaya, mango whatever and then in your fridge you have different kinds of greens, like broccoli, cauliflower and all that there’s nothing wrong with going and sitting down and eating three apples and two bananas and a mango. I mean literally. I very often eat a red pepper like you would an apple. I found some that are so delicious and I just literally just wash the thing off and bite it and even if I get some of the seeds they’re not hot or anything like they can be. We’re so removed from going into the back yard and plucking fruit from the tree or a walnut from the tree that we literally forget, especially the younger generation, that food doesn’t really come in a box.

I’ve got a gadget called the Toss ‘n Chop. It’s such a clever gadget. You just throw everything that you want for your salad into the bowl and your dressing ingredients, everything, goes in a bowl but no cutting, no cutting board, no knife, no chopping, nothing. Then you just go at it with this thing, sort of a cross between a scissors and a tossing implement.

The other thing is, and I’m sure you already know this, is there’s just a huge craze going on with something called green smoothies, which I actually did mention in my book, suggesting you could put your sprouts and things, sneak them in smoothies. Would you like my green smoothie recipe which is my current passion and crave?

Kevin: Sure.

Nomi: Okay. I put a cup of either orange of tangerine juice in the blender and that’s taking about four tangerines at the moment. Personally I put about 8 cups of greens in, I wouldn’t start with that many because it might taste bitter to you at first. So, if there are any supplements that I’m taking, and I’m usually taking some supplements, put that in. Then if I can get my hands on papaya and I put that in. Yesterday I put a little bit of mango in instead, or a handful of blueberries and then I top it off with two frozen bananas. I like it, because I like my smoothies to be thick and cold. It gives me about 24 oz of smoothie. It’s fabulous. I have it at least once a day, every day. I vary out. You don’t want to eat the same thing every day, no matter how good you think it is for you, because you need variety.

My feeding raw chicken to my cats Scruff and Damsel.

See Raw Food Eater Matt Monarch of www.mattmonarch.blogspot.com Angela Stokes-Monarch of www.rawreform.com in this spectacular, The Raw Food World TV Show Episode. Today we make a Tahini Salad Dressing with Tania Lightfoot… Enjoy another ‘The Raw Food World’ episode. … tahini salad dressing raw food diet foods matt monarch angela stokes tonia lightfoot

The raw food diet is a diet based on unprocessed and uncooked plant foods, such as fresh fruit and vegetables, sprouts, seeds, nuts, grains, beans, dried fruit, and seaweed. The eating of meat or fish raw is not something that the majority of raw foodies advocate.

It is a scientific fact that heating food above 116 degrees Fahrenheit is believed to destroy enzymes in food that can assist in the digestion and absorption of food. Once the enzymes are dead then your organs have to work harder and they become overworked and for many they no longer function as they should. Cooking is also thought to diminish the nutritional value and life of food, often rendering the food toxic to your body. I don’t advocate a complete raw food diet, but I do recommend incorporating 50% or more raw foods into your lifestyle.

There is no denying that there are many reasons why one should incorporate more raw foods in their diet. Here are 5 possible benefits when eating a raw food diet, or at least incorporating more raw foods in your diet.

1. Lowers Free Radicals and formation of Disease

The reversal or elimination of many chronic diseases, including heart disease and cancer can be accomplished through a raw food diet. When food is cooked it creates free radicals; a major cause of cancer. When you lower the number of free radicals in your cells, you lower your risk of cancer. A diet that is mostly raw eliminates the need for over cooking foods which in turns lowers the creation of free radicals in the body.

2. Saves Money

When you eat raw foods you save money. This is because when you eat raw your body is getting more of the necessary nutrients than it needs so there is no need for all the supplements and vitamins that those who eat more cooked food tend to consume. Also with raw food you eliminate many of the pots, pans, and appliances needed for cooking because you prepare it as opposed to cooking it. Another way you save money is because a diet that is high in raw foods eliminates many of the illnesses that are caused by over cooked foods so you are not bothered with many medical expenses.

3. Saves Time

Raw foods take very little preparation so you spend less time in the kitchen. Most raw food meals that even your children can help in the preparation and some can do the preparation alone.

4. Normalizes Body Weight

Consuming raw foods will help you achieve your ideal body weight. With raw foods you won’t feel fat and if you are too thin, you will actually start to look healthier. And a huge plus is that you won’t have to worry about counting calories.

5. More Energy

An excellent benefit of raw food is that most people feel more energy. With raw foods your metabolic rate is higher and you feel like actually doing something. Cooked foods load your body down making it feel tired and you are not as active as you would like to be.

Overall raw food consumption is a great way to create a body that is healthy and looks great inside and out. If you are thinking of adopting a raw food idea make it an aim to have a diet that is 50% to 75% raw.

Our busy lives can sometimes make it difficult to stick to our dieting plans when we\’re trying to lose weight. We\’re either keeping track of our fat intake, our sugar intake, our carbohydrate intake, or our caloric intake. With all that counting, it\’s no wonder most of us become discouraged and \’fall off the dieting wagon.\’ Add to that the surplus of convenient diet foods that are out there that are chock-full of preservatives and additives that we choose when we\’re tired from a busy day and don\’t have the energy or time to prepare a nutritious meal, and we\’re headed down a wrong-way street trying to navigate our way through our weight-loss journey.

Enter the raw foods lifestyle. Not only are raw foods full of the nutrients, vitamins and minerals our bodies need to perform optimally, they provide enzymes for proper digestion, and will also result in the purging of toxins and the cleansing of your body systems. The best part? You can eat as many fruits and vegetables as you like….and you will lose weight.

In addition, the natural high fiber content of most raw foods will help you feel fuller, thereby reducing your food intake. They\’ll assist in turning up the thermostat in your body, helping to melt away that excess weight and nourishing your body\’s cells to continue with the fat-burning process. Most raw foods are naturally low in calories, and obviously much lower in calories, fats, sugars, and carbohydrates than the dieting convenience foods we\’d been reaching for in the past. The added bonus of increased energy, regulated blood sugar and blood pressure levels, sharper vision and improved mental functionality, and you\’ll wonder why you didn\’t become a \’raw foodie\’ earlier in the weight loss and dieting game. And, once you reach your weight loss goals, you\’ll realize how healthy you\’ve become in the process, and the raw food lifestyle will then be your way of life.

Are you interested in a raw food diet, but don\’t think you can do it all the time? You don\’t have to, certainly not to start. Many of us are conditioned to think of food as reward and comfort. We look forward to the end of the day, having dinner with our families, or going out to dinner with friends.

Try eating raw foods throughout the day. If you go to work every day, take carrots, apples, grapes or dried fruit with you to munch on. If you usually go out to lunch during the day, try to go places where you can get a salad. If you pack a lunch, include sprouts and fruit with it. Steamed brown rice and vegetables and a little fruit might not sound very interesting, but it\’s a good energy lunch. If you\’re like many people, those fast food lunches make you want to crawl under your desk and take a nap in the afternoon! They make you sluggish and tired. A lighter lunch of raw foods can keep you energized throughout the day.

The business culture is different these days, and there\’s less of a routine than there used to be with a morning \”coffee break\” and then \”lunch hour\” and an afternoon \”break.\” That routine doesn\’t work for a lot of people any more, but you can still get hungry during the day. By taking a variety of raw foods with you to work, you can munch periodically during the day. Sometimes it\’s better to eat to avoid getting hungry. If we let ourselves go too long until we get ravenous, that\’s when it\’s easier to make poor food choices. Eating raw foods periodically throughout the day also keeps your metabolism humming along, and keeps your blood sugar at steady levels.

Thinking about, or starting a raw food diet? Here are a few points to consider and help you along the way.

Raw foodism is the practice of eating a raw food diet and is practiced by people known as raw foodists.

Raw food recipes can be found in cookbooks devoted to the category, or hidden away in more traditional cookbooks. When you find a recipe you like, be sure to save it so you can enjoy it any time.

Enzymes are proteins that are made in living cells and help certain biochemical processes. Raw food diets focus on the enzymes that promote health and aid digestion. Heating food past 116F kills these beneficial enzymes, which is why raw food is better.

Most raw foodists do eat cooked food, but only sparingly, and even then with an eye on the overall quality and purity of the food. Cooked food is any food that is heated above 116F, this includes pasteurization which is designed to kill micro-organisms.

Sprouts can come from seeds, beans, or grains that have started to grow – or ’sprout’. This process unlocks more nutritional value and improves the taste. You can do it yourself or buy special sprouters, and sprouting kits.

Weight loss is a natural consequence of eating a raw food diet. Some people start a raw food lifestyle for the purpose of losing weight, but soon find it is about much more than just dropping a few pounds

Digestion is the process of breaking down food, absorbing its nutrients, and eliminating the waste. Raw foodists believe that by leaving naturally occurring food enzymes intact that it will aid in digestion – allowing the body to get the full value of the foods it is taking in. And because your personal energy is not being used more than needed for digestion, you will have more physical energy

Fruits and vegetables comprise a large portion of most raw foods diets. For those interested in raw foodism, fruits and vegetables are a good way start as they tend to be more familiar to us. Then you can simply add new, or more exotic, fruits and vegetables as you go along

Nutrition is the overall benefit that food imparts to us. However this benefit can be severely limited by poor digestion and other health issues. Raw foodism helps promote ideal nutrition at all levels.

Dried fruits make handy snacks. Be sure the temperature does not go over 116F if you are dehydrating at home. If you purchase store bought dried fruit be sure to check the label to make sure it is 100% organic and contains no additives or preservatives.

Nuts also make another handy snack and have the benefit of being high in protein and fat – the right kind of fat. People that worry about not getting enough fat or protein in a raw food diet need look no further than nuts. One word of caution, be sure to avoid nuts that have been roasted, as the temperature at which this is done is too high.

Beans come in a lot of varieties, and are high in fiber and protein and low in fat. They can be combined in many ways. As they are not to be cooked, soaking and sprouting are two common ways to eat them.

Grains are very versatile and can be eaten any time of the day. You should choose whole grains that are certified organic. Grains can also be sprouted.

The vegan diet causes some confusion. Vegans that cook their food are not raw foodists, though it would be fairly easy to make the full switch. Raw foodists are not always vegans, as some do eat dairy products, or the occasional piece of fish

Health improvements of all kinds are claimed by raw foodists. While some of the evidence for a raw food diet to cure even the most harmful of diseases is anecdotal, there is no question that eating better food than the typical Western diet affords is a smart choice.