My mission here is to prove that eating "raw" doesn't have to be boring. It is believed by some that cooking food destroys it's enzymes and nutrients and chemically changes food making it harder for us to digest and thus contributes to health problems. Raw food is the least processed of food. Many people have found that following a raw food diet has helped them with digestive problems, has improved their energy levels and helped them to recover from serious illnesses. Some have claimed it has reversed their type 2 diabetes, lowered their cholesterol and blood pressure, and some have even attributed it to curing their cancer! One thing is for sure, a raw diet is alkalizing and an alkaline body is a healthy body. Here is a good article about the benefits of alkalizing the body.
I am by no means a raw foodist, nor am I vegetarian or vegan. I have had a few people ask me if I eat meat. Yes I do eat some meat, I see nothing morally wrong or unhealthy about eating meat, but I do believe it has to be organically and traditionally raised and should be eaten sparingly. Even the Dalai Lama has been said to eat some meat for health reasons! Having said this, I do try to follow a diet that is highly raw and vegan. Most people who switch to a raw and unprocessed diet have found they were able to lose weight without really trying.
There is a misconception that a raw diet consists of only raw fruits and vegetables, but that's not true. There are some raw diets that include meat , but I won't get into that aspect. The most common raw diet is made up of plant matter and includes seeds, nuts and grains. Food starts to lose it's nutritional value once it's heated over 115 degrees, and it's for this reason that many raw foodists use a dehydrator to "cook" their food. When dehydrated properly, food retains 95% of it nutrition and enzymes.
Eating raw is anything but boring so get that image of nibbling on carrot and celery sticks out of your head. There are many recipes available for things like pizza, cakes and deserts, breads, granola's, crackers, etc. A favorite of mine is cookies!
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| Apple Walnut Raisin Chunkie Dunkie recipe here. |
These ones are pretty tasty too.
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| Lemon Pie Cookie Bites |
*Lemon Pie Cookie Bites*
3/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup fresh lemon zest
2 cups raw cashews, ground into flour
2 cups shredded unsweetened coconut
1/4 cup raw honey
pinch of sea salt
Process everything in blender or food processor until smooth. Scoop onto mesh dehydrator screens and dry at 110 for 8-10 hours.
These next cookies are sweetened with dates and have no added fats and can be left undehydrated and just stored in the fridge. To make them healthier, I've used walnuts that I soaked and dehydrated.
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| Raw Brownie Bites |
*Raw Brownie Bites*
1 1/2 cups walnuts
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla powder - I used 1 vanilla bean, split and scraped; discard pod
dash sea salt
3/4 cup soft dates, packed
1/3 cup raw cacao powder
2 teaspoons filtered water
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
In food processor pulse and process using S blade the 1 1/2 cups walnuts, vanilla powder/pulp, and salt to make a rough flour. Add dates and process till well mixed; add cacao and water and process till it forms a dough. Remove processor blade and stir in the chopped nuts. At this point you can form into balls and refrigerate or you can scoop onto dehydrator screens and dehydrate at 110 for about 12 hours.
Stay tuned for part 2!
Those could convert me. ☺ ☺ ☺
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