Raw Food Resources

Thinking of making a radical lifestyle change to improve your health? Then perhaps you should consider a raw food diet. Consuming raw foods can have many health and financial advantages, so it's certainly worth looking into.

Why Raw Food?

Being a raw foodist entails that your diet consists of about 75% - 100% raw and unprocessed food. While this may seem crazy to a lot of people, this lifestyle actually makes a lot of sense, health wise.

For one thing, heating foods above 118 degrees Fahrenheit creates toxins and carcinogens that can cause various ailments. Cooked food also contains less enzymes, vitamins, and minerals, which means that you aren't getting all the nutrients that food has to offer if you consume cooked food.

Since raw food gives you more of the nutrients and enzymes that your body needs to function well, living the raw foodist lifestyle can give you more energy, help you be more alert, and improve your general well-being.

Additionally, since you would be consuming less oil and fat, your physical appearance will also improve. Oil, fat, and other preservatives are notorious for causing acne and other sicknesses, so consuming less of these things will allow you to look and feel great at the same time.

You'll also be consuming less sugar and carbohydrates which means that you'll be losing weight naturally.

Raw Food Myths

If you're used to eating cooked meals and fast food, it's only natural to have some resistance to the raw food diet. It's only too easy to buy into the myths about the lifestyle, and it doesn't help that there are tons of misconceptions about raw food. The following are the top 3 myths surrounding this particular raw food.

#1 Expensive

So is living the raw food lifestyle pricey? Not at all! Quite the opposite actually, as buying foods and consuming foods at their most natural state is a whole lot cheaper than buying or cooking up meals.

Think about it. Cooking requires more ingredients, and thus more dollar signs. Dining out at restaurants can be extremely costly, and can certainly put a dent on your budget. Fast food on the other hand, may be cheap in the short term, but it will take its toll on your body (and medical bills).

#2 Difficult to prepare / time-consuming

What can be easier than peeling a banana or taking a bite from a big juicy apple? Raw food dishes aren't difficult or time-consuming to prepare at all. Often, it's just a matter of pealing, slicing, and mixing.

#3 Boring / Bland

Think that a raw food diet is all about salads? Think again. The raw food lifestyle can be colorful and fun… if you let it. You can concoct yummy shakes and smoothies as well as delicious wraps to mix up your diet. Do some research and experiment with recipes in your kitchen.

Resources

To educate yourself further with the raw food lifestyle, check out the following websites:

RawGuru's Diet for the New Age - An interesting article about the many benefits of raw food.

Julie's Lifestyle - Recipes - Yummy raw food recipes you ought to try!

Living and Raw Foods - An online community that's all about teaching the world about raw living and raw foods.

The Science of Raw Food - A thorough scientific explanation of why raw foods is good for the health.

Health Benefits of Raw Foods - A great article on the many advantages of a raw food diet.

Choosing Raw - Get Started - Thinking about going the raw food route? Here's a great beginners guide to help you get started.

Raw Recipes - More raw food recipes that are definitely worth trying!

Image credit: ilovemypit on Flickr

Search