What Are The Health Benefits of Eating A Raw Food Diet?

What Is A Raw Food Diet? What Should You Eat?

There are so many diets advocating that they are healthy and a raw food diet certainly fits into this category. There are different variations of this diet but the common feature is eating food in its natural state. So that means it should be uncooked, unprocessed, organic and certainly not exposed to any herbicides or pesticides.

If you want to enjoy the health benefits of eating a raw food diet. Here are a few tips.

• All raw food diets include a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables.
• Some raw food diets include unprocessed nuts and uncooked grains.
• Some raw food diets are a variation on veganism which shuns all animal-based food.
• Other variations of this diet include eggs, milk, cheese and raw fish (sushi and sashimi).
• There are also easy to follow raw food diets to help with your diet.

Then there is just the simple action of eating lots of raw fruits and vegetables to retain all their nutrients. One example of this is the juicing lifestyle, where fresh homemade juices are made from both vegetables and fruits are the mainstay of your daily intake.

Health Benefits To Adding Raw Food To Your Diet

• Weight Loss

The main purpose for most people to choose a raw food diet is to lose weight. Eating raw food will facilitate weight loss because you won’t be eating high fat-filled foods and sugar-laden calories as with most people’s daily dietary habits.

• Disease Prevention

Another reason is to prevent many of the common lifestyle diseases of today. These include type 2 diabetes, hypertension, coronary artery disease and high cholesterol due to a bad diet. These lifestyle diseases are often caused by eating food that is too high on fats and sugars.

• Chemical Free Eating

You may want to avoid the accumulation of harmful chemicals from food that is exposed to pesticides, herbicides, antibiotics and hormones. Fruits and vegetables grown in many commercial farms are usually treated with pesticides and herbicides to keep insects from feasting on the fruits and vegetables. To avoid these issues look for organically grown produce.

• Anti-Aging And Increasing Immunity

If you believe you are what you eat…as I do…a raw food diet emphasizes a healthy lifestyle that will keep you feeling and looking younger. Fresh, unprocessed fruits, vegetables and grains boost the immune system which keeps infectious diseases at bay and it improves your body’s circulation and systemic functioning which provides the benefits of clear skin and healthy hair.

Is It Easy Following A Raw Food Diet?

As with all diets, you should consult your health care provider or nutritionist as they know your background. If you do start to follow a raw food diet, you can do so gradually to see how you feel.

• To begin, start with juicing an assortment of fruits and vegetables to replace those unhealthy colas and desserts. Replace your regular cooked meals gradually with a wide assortment of salads, grains and nuts.

• The most difficult thing about going on a raw food diet is sourcing raw, unprocessed and chemical-free food. If you like going out to eat, you will find it difficult to find restaurants that serve only raw food.

• However, it is easy enough to simply peel a banana or eat an apple for a snack, but if you have to rely on fruits and veggies, you will have to carry some raw foods with you just in case.

• Another problem with the raw food diet is that food grown organically is more expensive, but if you are not buying junk foods…it shouldn’t be considered a problem.

• Also you need to make sure you are eating a wide range of raw foods, to prevent any dangers of malnutrition, as there are nutrients and minerals which you cannot get from eating just a few foods. You need variety! You may have to take extra vitamins and minerals that are 100% natural and organic ingredients preferably.

• You will also encounter fruits and vegetables that are unfamiliar to you. The texture of uncooked food may be difficult for you to get used to at first.

• For those who advocate eating raw fish, eggs, milk and milk products, you might need to conquer your gag reflex first. 😉

Shifting to a raw food diet requires a lifestyle change as well as a change in your mindset. There are so many benefits to eating raw foods. If you don’t want to follow a strict raw food diet you can always simply add more fresh, raw fruits and vegetables to your diet on a daily basis and cut out all processed foods. That alone is a huge step to improving your health, preventing disease and curtailing the effects of aging due to poor nutrition.

As you know one of my favorite sayings is,

“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food!”

~ Hippocrates