How to understand and eat raw foods

Raw food is a plant based vegan lifestyle, that does not include any type of cooking. While raw food can be difficult to understand, when it is ingested, the benefits are physically apparent almost immediately. The reason that most people have a hard time grasping the idea of only consuming raw food is because it goes against all we have been made to believe about proper nutrition. Our Food and Drug administration has set up a system that includes a fair amount of meat, dairy, bread and other carbohydrates, fruits and vegetables. More frequently, we are discovering that not all of these foods are necessary for our overall health. More importantly, we are finding that, while each food does provide some type of nutritional value, almost all of these qualities could be found in fruits, vegetables, and nuts. This has lead to a lot of debate over whether human beings were ever meant to ingest animal based products or high carbohydrate foods at all, or whether it was simply an evolutionary convenience.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• An Open Mind
• Desire to understand raw foods
• Desire to improve health

1. Raw food, by definition, is a diet composed of vegan, unprocessed, and uncooked fruits, vegetables, and nuts. The raw food movement also promotes the choosing of organic products. The exception to this philosophy are the occasional use of bee pollen and honey. Both of these elements enhance flavor, with minimal contradictions to the overall idea behind the lifestyle. The reasoning behind the uncooked aspect of the raw food diet is to preserve enzymes in the vegan food that we eat. Specialists in this cuisine have claimed that these enzymes are most beneficial when raw, vegan, and organic food is chewed, and the enzymes are released and absorbed through the mouth. The digestion process is enhanced by this process, allowing for a more efficient digestive system as a whole. The life changing attributes to eating in this way are attributed to renewed energy, physical beauty, anti-aging, emotional balance, and curing of otherwise terminal diseases.
2. The origin of raw foods as a practice dates back to not only prehistoric man but also to the many humans, who have investigated history and argue that we were meant to eat this way all along. Raw food seemed to lose it’s steam after the monumental discovery of fire. Fire changed the way that food was dealt with, and aided in the immersion of animal flesh into our diets. Animal flesh was more convenient, due to droughts and increased population. Fire allowed humans, such as Homo Erectus, to not only cook their newly found meat, but also their vegetables.
3. Embracing raw foods can be as extreme as completely renouncing meat, cooked and processed food or as simple as incorporating more raw and organic vegetables into your diet. One of the simplest things that you can do is eat more fresh salads and fruits throughout your day, with an emphasis on the organic. The truth is that you should aim for a very simple meal, because the digestive system actually benefits more from processing a more minimal amount of ingredients.
4. Support and research is essential in embarking into any new dietary lifestyle. Raw Foods are no different. There are many books available to educate an individual in this exceptional cuisine. When studying, you should understand that a lot of complicated recipes require not only a great deal of time, but also equipment, such as dehydrators. Dehydrators are the alternative to cooking, as they dry the vegan products, while preserving the enzymes. However, dehydrators generally serve as a way to create a creative cuisine with raw food that substitutes those in other cuisines. Simply, having smoothies and salads, as well as fruit and vegetables as snacks can be a very effective way to feel exceptional.