How to Get Enough Nutrients and Calories On a Raw Food Diet

A raw diet consists of only unprocessed food that is never exposed to heat. According to followers of the raw food diet, cooking something makes it lose its nutrients and damages the food enough to render it useless to the body. Despite fears to the contrary, a raw food diet can provide enough nutrients and calories to maintain a healthy weight and lifestyle, as long as you’re willing to plan properly.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Make sure you consume a good amount of healthy (unsaturated) fat. Nuts and avocados are especially high in this type of fat, and so are flaxseeds and vegetable oils. If you find yourself losing high amounts of weight when following a raw food diet, upping your intake of fats can help you bring your caloric intake to a good level.

2. Make dense fruits and vegetables the main part of your diet. Certain vegetables, such as broccoli and lettuce, contain a lot of fiber but few to no calories per serving, so you’re likely to feel full long before you get enough nutrients. By incorporating bananas (high in calories), dates and seeds to the diet, you ensure that enough calories are present to maintain weight.

3. Drink natural fruits juices instead of sticking only to water. This will add calories and vitamins to the diet and prevent boredom. Most people drink less water when on a raw diet, since produce is naturally high in it.

4. Don’t worry about protein too much. A lot of fruits, vegetables and nuts contain protein. Since you will be eating lots of them on an everyday basis, it’s unlikely that you will lack protein (the FDA estimates daily requirements to be .37 grams by pound of body weight).

5. Consider incorporating some cooked foods if you have trouble adapting to a 100 percent raw diet. Rice, potatoes and beans are a good choice if you find yourself getting bored with only raw produce and want to have more choices. If you are going this route, search online or read books on how to make these foods edible with the minimum amount of cooking, so the benefits of a raw diet are not lost. Foods cooked at a temperature below 118 degrees are considered still raw, so keep that in mind when planning your diet.

Tips & Warnings

• If you’re missing things like cookies, cakes and soups, get a raw-diet cookbook. It’s absolutely possible to have these things without the need to cook.

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[betterbody]

on 10/22/2008 Go Vegans! Thanks for the info. 5 stars!

[lkcooper]

on 7/31/2008 Good ideas!