Eating organic raw foods may be the most nutrient-rich lifestyle for humans to adopt, and with a little creativity, one can easily begin transitioning to an all-raw food diet.
Many proponents of the raw food diet acknowledge that the journey to eating only uncooked foods is a long one, but with patience, taste buds will fall in love with the vitality of organic raw fruits and vegetables.
The Raw Food Breakfast
Testing the waters with a raw food breakfast is a good idea. This could include three different "acid" fruits (it's important not to eat acid fruits with other foods, as this can cause digestive problems).
Acid fruits include citrus, pineapple, grapes, plums, and nectarines.
Mid-morning is a good time to eat a non-acid fruit with slower-releasing sugars, such as an apple or a banana, to keep you through to lunch.
The raw food diet may require that one eat smaller, more frequent meals. Angela Stokes, renowned for her remarkable physical transformation with a raw food lifestyle, herself says she normally eats four to five small regular meals.
Adopting Alkaline Foods Toward a Raw Food Diet
The blood pH of the body determines how well it is able to use oxygen and is thus a major determinant in one's vitality on many levels; the acidity conferred by the standard American diet is responsible for the current epidemics of cancer, heart disease, arthritis, and diabetes.
Acid foods include all junk food, animal and dairy products, and grains; alkaline foods include vegetables (particularly green leafy vegetables), wheatgrass, sprouts, and certain non-sweet fruits.
Adopting more alkaline foods in the diet is a critical step in transitioning to an all raw food diet; to do so, begin by eating more leafy greens; juicing vegetables is a great option for the adventurous.
The ideal blood pH is 7.365, which is slightly alkaline (this is in reference to a 14-point scale in which 0 is the most acid, 14 the most alkaline).
To test blood pH, you can buy pH test strips from a health store.
The Health Benefits of Eating Raw Foods
The raw food diet has a lot of health benefits. Eating raw, organic food is an easy step up toward healthier living. A study carried out by the European Union in which raw organic produce was found to have 50% more cancer-fighting antioxidants than non-organic produce.
In addition, organic raw fruits and vegetables have more vitamins and minerals, have not been irradiated, do not contain preservatives, and have not been sprayed with pesticides.
Consider buying these products organic, as they contain the most pesticides:
* meat and poultry
* dairy products
* strawberries
* bell peppers
* spinach
* cherries
* peaches
* celery
* apples
* green beans
Many raw foodists choose veganism not only due to the high level of toxins in meat and poultry but out of concern for the widespread environmental and health ills spurred by meat consumption.
Raw Food Living for Optimum Health
With small changes, the palate will be gradually conditioned to learn to like what vivifies the body most.
By adopting a more natural approach to diet, not only will one be ingesting fewer toxins and harmful processed foods, but encouraging such a lifestyle on a wider scale.
