And most often only products of plant origin. There are four main dietary options for raw foodists.
1. Raw food diet consists of fresh raw fruits, berries, vegetables and their juices, air-dried fruits and berries, wild edible plants, nuts, raw oilseeds and other plants, sprouted grains, whole grains or cereals close to whole grains soaked in cold water, vegetable oils obtained by cold pressing, natural honey. Pickled vegetables are acceptable. The drink is pure raw water. Juices of fruits, berries and vegetables, as well as drinks of raw grain products or nuts, are classified as food and not as a thirst-quenching drink.
This diet is common among supporters of a raw food diet. In terms of the range of food products, it is very close to a strictly vegetarian diet - veganism. What distinguishes it from ordinary veganism is that heat treatment of foods during cooking is completely excluded.
2. Raw food diet basically repeats the previous one, but whole grains and cereals soaked in cold water, pickled vegetables, and sometimes vegetable oil are excluded from it. Sprouted grain is acceptable. This is the strictest raw food diet. The most consistent raw foodists include mainly fresh raw fruits and berries in their diet. This diet is called fructoriapism.
3. Raw food diet represents products of the 1st diet, but is supplemented with raw milk and, in some cases, dairy products: yogurt and other fermented milk drinks, cream, sour cream, cottage cheese. At the same time, true raw foodists reject industrially produced dairy products. You can include raw eggs.
Raw foodists who eat raw plant and dairy products are called “omnivores,” in contrast to absolute, or ideal raw foodists, who eat only raw plant foods. The word "omnivore" has a relative meaning, since raw foodists of any type do not consume meat or fish.
4. Raw food diet corresponds to the 1st or 3rd diet, but is supplemented with bread baked, if possible, from whole grains and without the use of yeast. If baked bread is included in a 3-1 diet (vegetable-milk-egg), then such a diet can be considered the least strict in a raw food diet.
Many raw foodists consume whole apples and other fruits with the seed pod, so as not to disturb the “food complex”. In grated apple or ground pumpkin, the seeds are less noticeable. Great importance is also attached to the peel - fruits, berries and vegetables should be eaten with the peel. A whole egg is considered more nutritious than one yolk or white, and whole milk is more nutritious than cream or sour cream.
You should not eat a lot or often. Only once a day can you eat thoroughly, and two more times - little by little. This is the limit. Anything beyond this is harmful, especially snacking between three meals. You need to eat slowly, chewing your food thoroughly. This is especially important when it comes to raw plant foods. If they are poorly chewed, gastric and intestinal disorders and bloating occur.
When eating a raw food diet, you can do without table salt, hot spices, spices and seasonings. Due to the complete or almost complete exclusion of table salt from the diet, thirst decreases and excess liquid is not introduced into the body, especially since fruits and vegetables contain natural juices.
A diet menu of raw fruits and vegetables could be like this:
Breakfast:
- Apple salad (see recipe below), 20-30 g of nuts - separately or in a salad, 100-200 g of fresh fruit, dried rosehip tea.
- 150-250 g of fresh fruit, 50-100 g of green salad, 100-150 g of fresh vegetables, 20 g of nuts, fresh fruit or vegetable juices.
- Same as breakfast.
Soak 1 tablespoon of oatmeal for 12 hours in 3 tablespoons of water, then add the juice of ½ lemon or other sour fruit, 1 tablespoon of milk, kefir or honey, 2 grated apples and 1 tablespoon of grated nuts if they are not given for breakfast. separately.
A raw food diet can help normalize body weight, especially in obesity, strengthen muscles, and facilitate body movements. The famous Australian naturopath K. Jeffrey in his book “Natural Food” (1974) indicated an approximate set of products (in percentage) that should comprise a daily food ration with a total weight of about 1.5 kg:
- raw fruits and berries (except bananas) – 50%;
- raw vegetables (except potatoes) – 35%;
- grain products (mainly whole grains), legumes, potatoes, bananas - 10% of the diet; these products can be eaten after light cooking or raw;
- dried fruits, nuts, seeds, cottage cheese, cream, eggs, honey – 5-10%;
- boiled vegetables (except cabbage) can be consumed 1-2 times a week, provided they are heated briefly;
- vegetable oil, fruit juices, onions, garlic, table salt and other seasonings - 1% of food consumed.
According to Katsudzo Nishi’s “Health System” (1936), which incorporates raw food nutrition, fasting, yoga, bioenergy and other techniques, you should start the day with juicy fruits, which should be eaten raw and whole - with peel and seeds. It is not wise to juice them. In winter, you can soak dried fruits and eat them as a separate dish along with the infusion.
For people who still continue to eat “unnatural” cooked food, K. Nishi recommends taking a contrast shower or air baths after eating. It is imperative to combine cooked food with raw vegetables. In this case, there should be 3 times more raw products than cooked ones.
Breakfast:Raw fruits in season (2-3 oranges or 200 g of grapes and one apple or 2 pears, etc.) or in combination with soaked dried fruits.
Dinner:A salad of raw grated or finely chopped vegetables (carrots, cabbage, turnips, etc.) with herbs and, if desired, with the addition of vegetable oil; instead of vegetables, you can use sour fruits and berries, adding to them 100 g of nuts or oil seeds (sunflower and etc.).
Dinner:Vegetable salad, nuts (seeds) or a combination of green salad, green or red pepper, beet tops and nuts; Instead of vegetables, you can eat fruits as for breakfast.
To salads, mainly in winter, you can add dried herbs, powdered seeds and berries (rowanberries, blueberries, etc.). In the summer it is worth drying pine, nettles, and other wild plants. It is advisable to use apricot kernels and pollen (2-3 g per dose). Raw vegetables can be eaten with vegetable oil, fruits and dried fruits with honey. Fresh fruits can be replaced with freshly prepared vegetable juices.
Raw foodists believe that the main cause of obesity is eating unnatural food. When eating natural, raw food, obesity cannot occur. Indeed, firstly, it is difficult to overeat raw plant foods. Secondly, calculations accepted in nutrition science show that the energy value of the recommended six diets ranges from a maximum of 2.94 to 5.88 MJ (from 700 to 1400 kcal) per day. This corresponds to diets used in the treatment of obesity in modern dietetics.
Switching to a raw food diet requires a lot of endurance and the ability to limit yourself in food. Becoming an absolute Raw Foodist, a person not only stops consuming animal products, but also abandons the familiar taste of boiled, baked, stewed, fried, salted and other foods. In addition, switching to raw food rarely occurs without adverse side effects of varying severity and severity. Therefore, rules for the transition to a raw food diet have been developed.
Rules for switching to a raw food diet
The doctrine of a raw food diet provides for a gradual transition from a regular diet to eating only raw food and gradually limiting the range of foods until the diet consists predominantly or entirely of raw fruits, berries, vegetables, wild plants, nuts, seeds and sprouted grains. Only a few supporters of a raw food diet, in particular G. Shelton, recommend a quick, without hesitation or addiction, transition from “dead” food to “live”, raw plant food.
The first step to a raw food diet is to exclude animal and poultry meat from the diet, then fish. Further, if desired, eggs can be excluded from the diet. A diet consisting of raw and cooked plant and dairy products or plant-milk-egg foods is called a semi-raw food diet.
Raw foodists believe that the transition to a semi-raw food diet usually occurs without significant difficulties, especially for those people who have already been able to wean themselves off meat and fish. However, the transition from cooked food, not even meat or fish, to a complete raw food diet is rarely accomplished immediately, easily and irrevocably. In adults, such a transition should be careful and gradual. We need to “re-educate” our digestive system.
The amount of time required to switch to raw food depends on the person's age, health, character, profession and other factors. Adaptation can take years, since the body's habits play a huge role in nutrition. In addition, during the period of getting used to raw food, one must endure a number of possible unpleasant sensations or disorders from the gastrointestinal tract and general malaise.
- in the morning and evening - raw foods, in the afternoon a lunch of raw and boiled food or only boiled;
- in the morning and evening - boiled food, in the afternoon - lunch of raw food;
- During each meal, they first eat a raw dish, then a boiled one; Fruits and nuts should be eaten before a main meal, and not after it, then they are better used by the body.
However, most people do not need morning food and it is better to limit themselves to two meals: around 11 and 17 hours. In the morning and evening, the same liquids are recommended: juices diluted with water, vegetable “milk”, raw “teas” from herbs, leaves, roots or flowers. From a vegetable-milk or vegetable-milk-egg diet, including boiled food, you should step by step eliminate first eggs, then dairy products, then milk, while at the same time replacing cooked food with raw food.
Raw foodists claim that the gradual elimination of all animal products provides the “purest and most toxin-free” diet. It is recommended to carry out a “trial raw food diet”: every semi-raw foodist who has the will, endurance and a healthy digestive system, who is already partially accustomed to raw vegetable and dairy products, can carry out such a trial course for 2-3 weeks. Raw foodists believe that even such a trial raw food diet “cleanses, heals and rejuvenates the body, provides it with rest and a solid vitamin boost.”
Late summer and autumn are the most suitable time for a “trial raw food diet”, especially during the holidays. According to raw foodists, as a result of a trial of eating only raw food, a person feels extraordinary ease of movement, clarity of mind and cheerful mood. Body weight almost always decreases, but then after the body adapts to the new diet, it returns to normal.
During the trial period of a raw food diet, at first it is better to eat little rather than a lot, and only when you have an appetite. It is advisable to eat mainly seasonal products of this time of year. Thorough chewing of raw food is extremely important, and if the chewing apparatus is poor, some raw foods (for example, nuts) must be finely crushed, ground or pureed.
You should not eat after drinking or drink while eating. In the cold season, raw food must be heated in a warm room to the air temperature of the room. Cooked raw foods should not be left for long periods of time. Table salt, vinegar, spices, seasonings should be replaced with tomato, lemon, cranberry and other juices.
Of course, these rules retain their meaning even with a complete transition to a diet consisting of raw fruits, berries, vegetables, nuts, seeds, sprouted grains, etc., i.e. on an absolute raw food diet. Consumption of yeast-free bread baked from whole crushed grains or from wholemeal flour with the addition of bran is acceptable during the transition period. Some raw foodists include such bread in their regular diet.
We all know the existence of raw foodists. Some consider them truly strong people, others cannot understand how they can live without delicious home-cooked food. But adherents of a raw food diet claim that this way of life allows them to always remain healthy, energetic and emotionally balanced. However, such nutrition also has its opponents. Nutritionists suggest that if you adhere to such a nutrition system for a long time, the body will not receive all the nutrients it needs and will not be able to properly resist diseases.
What is a raw food diet?
Raw food diet is a special nutrition system in which only fresh products can be used in food. People who eat such food believe that thermally unprocessed vegetables and fruits can bring much more benefits to the body than, for example, soup and chops. But raw foodists should not be confused with vegetarians. Unlike the latter, they can easily eat fish and meat. They marinate these two products or dry them. In addition to raw foods, their diet also contains cereals. They just don’t lend themselves to heat treatment, but rather soak them in water for a long time. When the cereal begins to sprout, it can be eaten.
The benefits and harms of a raw food diet for the body
Every year the number of supporters of thermally unprocessed food only increases. And if some people switch to such a food system simply out of curiosity, others consider it a panacea for all diseases. Of course, fresh fruits and vegetables cannot be called unhealthy food, but by eating exclusively on them, a person deprives his body of the proteins and fats he needs. And this immediately affects his health. But, on the other hand, scientists have proven that people who eat raw food almost never get heart disease or cancer.
Benefits of a raw food diet for the human body:
1) Carcinogens do not enter the body
2) Much less salt and fat is consumed
3) Saturation occurs faster
4) Improves the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract
5) Gums are strengthened
6) Weight returns to normal
7) The overall tone of the body increases
The harm of a raw food diet to the human body:
1) Tooth enamel is quickly damaged
2) The belly increases slightly
3) Kidney failure may develop
4) Joint problems appear
5) The menstrual cycle is disrupted
Raw food diet: results and reviews
Lillian: I decided to try eating raw foods when I was 22 years old. After twenty, I began to gain a lot of weight. My volume increased so quickly that very soon I could no longer fit into my favorite dresses and I had to radically change my wardrobe. Having listened to the advice of my friends, I went on a strict diet and started exercising. Everything was fine, I worked out, the weight came off little by little, but as soon as I switched to a normal diet, the volume returned again. Seeing my torment, a neighbor suggested that I switch to a raw food diet. At first I was a little doubtful, but then I finally decided to try. After about six months, I finally began to feel like a real woman. Now I'm already 30, but sometimes it seems to me that I look much better than when I was 20 years old.
Anastasia: I have always had poor health. I was constantly sneezing, coughing or having a sore throat. There was a period when I ate almost nothing but pills. All this chemistry was slowly killing my immune system and each time it became more and more difficult for my body to cope with the consequences of illness. On top of all this, I began to have terrible skin problems that I could not cope with. Therefore, I decided to radically change my life. To begin with, I found a person who practices a raw food diet and asked him to tell me everything about this method of eating. And when I realized that I was mentally ready for this, I began to act. At first it was very difficult, but when the illnesses began to recede, it became clear to me that I was on the right path.
Switching to a raw food diet: where to start?
To make the transition from processed food to fresh vegetables and fruits as painless as possible, you need to learn as much as possible about a raw food diet and its effects on the body. After all, if a person is prepared for problems to arise, he will be able to cope with them much easier. Therefore, before you change your lifestyle, be sure to find out what foods raw foodists can eat and how to spend fasting days. Only reliable information and the right moral attitude can make the transition period as comfortable as possible.
Basic rules for switching to a raw food diet:
1) Gradually reduce your consumption of processed foods
2) Eliminate meat and fish from your diet
3) Cleanse the intestines and liver
4) Find your like-minded people
5) Avoid visiting regular restaurants and cafes for a while
The main stages of a raw food diet
People who are planning to start eating unprocessed food should know that such a nutritional system will only benefit their body if they eat raw food for a long enough time. For people who are at the very beginning of this path, Victoria Butenko wrote the book “12 steps of a raw food diet.” In it you will find answers to all your questions, and also find out what problems may arise during the transition process. You will also find out whether a raw food diet is beneficial for the human body and learn how to build relationships with people who eat regular food.
Stages of raw food diet:
1) Give up your beliefs
2) Open yourself to new experiences
3) Learn to cook raw food
4) Try to build harmonious relationships with the people around you
5) Avoid temptations
6) Find like-minded friends
7) Learn something new
8) Listen to your inner voice
9) Don’t eat your failures
10) Never eat on the go
11) Refuse common stereotypes
12) Help beginner raw foodists
Raw food diet for weight loss: raw diets
A raw diet is a special nutritional system that slows down all aging processes and promotes gentle shedding of extra pounds. Thermally unprocessed foods maximally saturate the body with useful fiber, which removes waste, toxins and excess fluid from the body. If you manage to set yourself up correctly, then such a diet can help you completely wean yourself off junk food and never return to your normal lifestyle.
Types of raw diets:
Vegetarian. This diet does not include the consumption of eggs and lactic acid products. For 10 days, a person losing weight can eat exclusively raw vegetables and fruits. A person can eat no more than two kilograms of food per day. On the eleventh day, you can add nuts to your diet.
Meat. This diet is more suitable for those people who could not completely give up meat. In addition to vegetables and fruits, a person losing weight can afford 300g of raw or dried meat. Fish may also be present in the meat diet. You can make delicious and healthy tartars from it.
List of foods for raw foodists
Many people are afraid to switch to a new lifestyle for fear that the raw food menu is quite limited. But if you start studying information about this method of eating, it becomes clear that the list of products is quite large. Moreover, the list of products is so huge that a raw foodist certainly does not face monotony in his diet.
Foods that a raw foodist can eat:
1) Organic vegetables: cucumbers, tomatoes, zucchini, eggplant, cabbage, carrots and beets.
2) Natural fruits: citrus fruits, plums, apricots, apples, pears, bananas, watermelons.
3) Berries: strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, currants, gooseberries.
4) Greens: all kinds of salads, dill, parsley, cilantro, basil.
5) Mushrooms: you can pick wild mushrooms or buy champignons.
6) Unprocessed seeds: rice, buckwheat, corn, oats, lentils, flax.
7) Dried fruits: dried apricots, prunes.
8) Vegetable oils: sesame, peanut, pumpkin, olive.
Victoria Butenko about raw food diet: recipes
We bring to your attention a few simple recipes that will help you comfortably switch from a regular diet to a raw food diet.
Nutritious porridge for raw foodists
- Take a glass of oatmeal and fill it with clean water.
- Let the mixture sit for at least 8 hours. After this time, you can start preparing the porridge.
- Place the oatmeal in a bowl and add chopped dates, raisins and vegetable oil.
- For a more beautiful look, the porridge can be decorated with pieces of fresh fruit.
Nut milk
To prepare this nutritious drink, you will need nuts, seeds and plain water.
- The nuts must first be soaked and then placed in a blender along with water, honey and dates.
- Next, we move on to grinding the ingredients of the future milk.
- After grinding, the drink must be filtered and you can enjoy the pleasant nutty taste.
As you can see, there is nothing wrong with a raw food diet. If you approach this issue correctly, then it is quite possible to improve your body’s health and lose extra pounds. But only you can decide whether raw food will become a way of life for you.
There are two opposing opinions regarding the benefits or harms of a raw food diet, and often many do not even suspect that there are several directions of a raw food diet, and it is unacceptably difficult to say unambiguously whether it is useful or unacceptably difficult. It is believed that a raw food diet is the unsystematic consumption of any raw vegetables and fruits, but in fact it is a real science and even a lifestyle. All raw foodists agree on one thing - foods consumed should not be heated to a temperature exceeding 35-40 degrees, and it is in this case that enzymes are destroyed - protein enzymes responsible for human immunity. What foods can you eat on a raw food diet? This is a question many beginners ask, but it’s difficult to give a definite answer.
List of allowed foods on a raw food diet
As we have already found out, raw foodists consume only raw foods, as well as vegetables or fruits that have undergone minor heat treatment - in some cases this is vital. So, raw peas and beans, for example, contain toxins that disappear during heat treatment. You should also pour boiling water over spinach, rhubarb and sorrel, because in their raw form they contain a large amount of acid, and this prevents the body from absorbing calcium. What to eat on a raw food diet and whether it is possible to include animal products in the diet, in addition to plant foods, is a question that also needs to be answered.
Foods allowed for a raw food diet clearly include all leafy greens, including dandelion, nettle, quinoa, wild garlic and other wild plants. The majority of your diet should consist of raw fruits and vegetables, and if you have the opportunity to grow them yourself, without the use of nitrates and other chemical growth promoters, you don’t have to wonder what you can eat on a raw diet. Organic vegetables and fruits are useful for everyone, not to mention raw foodists, for whom this is the main source of energy.
When answering the question of what you can eat on a raw food diet, it is also worth mentioning forest and garden berries, which can be eaten either raw or slightly dried. An indispensable product for raw foodists are also nuts, various oilseeds (sunflower, pumpkin, sesame and flax), sprouted grains of wheat and buckwheat; representatives of legumes - peas, beans, raw beans and cocoa - are good suppliers of protein. What should you eat on a raw food diet to replenish your body with iodine and other beneficial substances? Seaweed rich in iodine is perfect for this, and you can replace regular salt with sea salt; by the way, raw foodists use a minimal amount of salt, which allows you to normalize the water balance.
The list of what you can eat on a raw food diet can be continued with dried vegetables that have not undergone serious heat treatment; honey is an indispensable supplier of glucose. It is acceptable to consume dried spices that do not cause increased appetite; food can be flavored with vegetable oil - one of the main sources of calories for raw foodists. As we have already said, there are several types of raw food diets, including an omnivorous raw food diet, which does not exclude the consumption of animal products. You always want to eat on a raw food diet - this is what every beginning raw foodist needs to be prepared for, so you need to start with this type of raw food diet, and the diet in this case includes meat, fish, eggs, milk and seafood in raw, dry and dried form form. There is also a “carnivorous” raw food diet, when most of the diet is products of animal origin, vegetarians exclude meat and fish, but do not disdain milk and eggs, and the most stringent is considered a vegan diet, consisting exclusively of raw products of plant origin. Fruitarians eat only fruits and berries, but experts do not recommend starting with this diet.
A raw food diet is the consumption of foods without heat treatment. In other words, the food is not boiled, fried, smoked or baked. Very often, vegetarianism and raw foodism are considered the same thing.
This type of nutrition has several subtypes, which differ in the products consumed. Let's look at each of them:
- Omnivorous raw food diet.People who eat according to this principle eat not only raw vegetables and fruits, but also meat, fish, seafood, milk, and eggs. But all this must be eaten raw or dried. No other processing is permitted. In some cases, milk is also prohibited. They eat only raw meat, fish and plant foods.
- Vegetarian raw food diet People who eat according to this principle exclude fish and meat from their diet. But they can consume milk and eggs.
- Vegan raw food diet.People who eat this type of diet do not consume any animal products. They eat exclusively plant foods. This type is the most common.
- Carnivorous raw food diet.The essence of this type is to eat fish without any processing. Eating raw seafood and meat is also allowed. Eating vegetables and fruits is kept to a minimum. This type is the most rare.
- Fruitarianism The essence of this diet is to eat only raw fruits, fresh fruits and berries. But the diet lacks vegetables and cereals.
Like any other nutrition system, a raw food diet has its own special principles. People who decide to switch to such a diet should stick to them. But this does not mean that it is necessary to strictly follow these rules. Of course, they need to be taken into account, but if you want to switch to a comfortable raw food diet, it is important to formulate your diet based on the individual characteristics of the body and the call of the body.
So, let’s look at the basic principles of a raw food diet. Firstly, raw foodists do not subject food to heat treatment exceeding 43 degrees. They are of the opinion that processing food at high temperatures leads to the loss of its beneficial properties. Secondly, the bulk of a raw foodist's diet consists of raw food. Raw foodists eat vegetables, fruits, grains, and legumes without any heat treatment. Sometimes they also eat raw meat and fish. But most raw foodists also prefer a diet such as vegetarianism.
Another important principle of raw foodists is the rejection of all chemical additives. They eat only natural food and give preference to plant products. Raw foodists consume large amounts of pure natural water.
It is very important, in order for such nutrition to be effective, to understand the purpose of switching to a new diet. Why a raw food diet and not vegetarianism or some other type of diet? The main thing is to make a conscious, informed decision, and not do it because others eat this way, because it is fashionable or unusual. Otherwise, a raw food diet may bring harm rather than benefit.
Here are some factors that favor a raw food diet:
- Firstly, a well-groomed body and a pleasant appearance, because the body is cleansed of waste and toxins. This diet helps you lose weight. At the initial stage, a person may even lose too much weight. But this is not a reason to panic, over time the body adapts, and the return to normal weight is guaranteed.
- A raw food diet helps improve skin condition, complexion, nails will become less brittle, and hair will gain a beautiful healthy shine. After all, it’s no secret that during heat treatment, food partially loses its beneficial properties. By eating raw food, a person receives more beneficial microelements.
- Raw food diet helps normalize the functioning of the digestive system. Food begins to be absorbed faster thanks to the beneficial elements of plant products. A person stops eating heavy foods that are rich in cholesterol and other harmful substances. This also helps normalize the digestive system.
- Raw foodists are more resistant to physical stress. Undoubtedly, in the first stages of a raw food diet you will experience feelings of weakness and fatigue. Be sure to play sports, and this will help quickly tone your body. Do not forget that during intense sports, raw foodists need to take additional nutritional supplements. This will help compensate for the missing elements that athletes on a regular diet get from meat, fish or dairy products.
- Raw foodists perceive foods and their taste in a new way. This is due to cleansing the taste buds of all chemical additives, salt and other seasonings.
- In women who eat raw food, pain during menstruation is reduced, and PMS symptoms are practically absent. But there are cases when menstruation stops completely. This is due to a lack of some vitamin. Therefore, it is necessary to consult a doctor who will help you choose a drug that will help normalize the menstrual cycle.
Raw food diet can also have a number of negative consequences. This is due to an unbalanced diet and, as a result, a lack of vitamins in the body.
If you want to switch to a strict raw food diet, be sure to consult a nutritionist!
Ayurveda is the influence of a particular process on the human body. In other words, this is the science of human life, his health.
Based on the teachings, food must be treated not as a pleasure in life, but as a need for the body. Only this perception of food will allow a person to switch to raw foodism or vegetarianism. Otherwise, a sudden change in diet can bring a person discomfort, psychological problems, and cases of breakdowns are not uncommon.
In Ayurveda, there are three types of people - Vata, Kapha and Pitta. A raw food diet is suitable for Kapha, but there are a number of contraindications. Vata needs to be careful about such a diet, but this does not mean that it should be avoided. There are many different types of food: mixed raw food diet, vegetarian raw food diet, etc. For people who belong to Pitta, a raw food diet is not prohibited, but there are a number of foods that are contraindicated: tomatoes, citrus fruits, garlic, onions, radishes, ginger, mushrooms and honey.
Constant consumption of raw food is not suitable for Vatas. The condition of their body will not improve from such a diet. But they can periodically eat raw vegetables and fruits. It will even be useful.
Kaphas on a raw food diet will be able to improve their health and well-being. Such organisms are often filled with waste. It is the raw food diet that will help cleanse the digestive system and improve its functioning.
Most doctors do not share the opinion that constant consumption of raw food can improve human health. They believe that the most optimal solution is to eat both raw and thermally processed food. But at the same time, almost all doctors argue that raw food should prevail in the human diet. But, unfortunately, rarely anyone listens to this advice.
All the benefits of a raw food diet that raw foodists talk about are true. I experienced this firsthand when I experimented with a raw food diet for two years. An incredible level of vivacity, not a single cold or flu, size XXS, snow-white eyes, no dirty pots and the readiness to run a marathon at any moment. However, after two years, I began to include cooked vegetables and whole grains in my diet. About eight reasons why a raw food diet did not become my way of life - in this post.
Olya Malysheva
Too much energy
When we eat only raw vegetables and fruits, our body releases a lot of energy and resources that were previously spent on digesting thermally processed food. The result is that every day and almost at any time of the day I wanted to run, jump and jump. This is great if you are an athlete, a special agent or a ghost hunter. But if your work requires you to sit at a computer for several hours a day, it is very difficult to concentrate with such overflowing energy. During the working day at the office, my salvation was squats, leg swings and jogging around the office building, as well as large portions of nuts and dried fruits, which somehow “grounded” me. This condition could certainly be corrected with the help of daily and intensive practice of yoga, meditation, etc. But at that moment, I could study in the studio with a teacher only 2-3 times a week, and at home I studied for no more than 15 minutes in the morning, and this was clearly not enough. I know that many raw foodists run daily and do strength training - perhaps these practices really help to tame the amount of energy that is released in the body. But knowing about the load on the joints that running on asphalt causes, I’m not sure that in a few years such a load will not lead to other problems.
Too many emotions
During the raw food diet, I much more often felt a feeling of euphoria and sparkling joy when I saw the seemingly familiar blue sky or heard birds singing. During yoga classes, tears flowed several times from the feeling of overwhelming harmony in my body. This is on the one hand. On the other hand, I could get upset for half a day at the sight of a disabled person on the subway or at the sight of another tragic situation that had nothing to do with me. I am still quite a sensitive person and from time to time I shed tears at the movies - even the harmless film “La La Land” ended in tears. But during a raw food diet, feelings and emotions become tens of times more intense. This is wonderful in conditions of a harmonious and cloudless life, but in the conditions that surrounded me in Moscow, such an emotional state often threw me off balance.
Freedom from pots - addiction to fruits
The complete absence of heat treatment frees the kitchen from pots and pans, and you from the processes of cooking, frying, stewing and baking. What is added is kilograms of fruits and vegetables, which should always be on hand - otherwise you will be left without food. This was quite possible at home, where in addition to the vegetables and fruits I bought daily, I had a supply of nuts and dried fruits, as well as a blender and a juicer, but when traveling, following a 100% raw food diet was sometimes quite difficult. It was also difficult to go anywhere for a long time without a banana in my purse or a bag of nuts and dried fruits.
Fresh vegetables and fruits are digested very quickly
The feeling of hunger after a vegetable salad appears faster than after a bowl of hot vegetable soup. I don’t deny that over time my body would have rebuilt itself and adapted to a raw food diet, but during those two years I often had to suppress my hunger with nuts and dried fruits, which in large quantities are quite heavy foods. Compared to a bag of raw nuts, a serving of stewed vegetables, vegetable soup or a bowl of buckwheat is much easier to digest and at the same time perfectly satiating.
Russia is not Thailand, Moscow is not Sochi
Even with mangoes and strawberries available in supermarkets 365 days a year, each of us understands how different seasonal fruits and vegetables are from out-of-season ones. On a raw food diet, when fruits and vegetables make up 100% of the diet, this difference is felt even more strongly. Even if you sprout sprouts in your kitchen, grow vegetables and fruits yourself in the summer, and dry them in the fall, the winter and spring diet in Moscow will still be very limited. During the raw food diet, finding the right amount of good vegetables and fruits in winter turned into a daily quest for me. Now whole grains, cooked vegetables, as well as some dairy products and eggs help me out a lot during the cold season. These foods make me feel full much faster, and I began to think much less about food.
Shortcut danger
By calling themselves a vegan, raw foodist or fruitarian, many fall into the label trap. The abundance of vegetables, ripe fruits, berries and greens in the summer and early autumn, even in Moscow, allows you to be a completely happy raw foodist, but there is absolutely no need to immediately label yourself a raw foodist or vegan. The absence of a label is the absence of any taboos. Today I am a raw foodist, tomorrow I will eat hot pumpkin soup, and the day after tomorrow I will again eat only fruit. Nutrition should never add stress to us. It should bring us health, joy, pleasure and be built not on rules, but on intuition. Labeling always prevents you from listening to your intuition, which may loudly shout to you that your body really needs hot soup now, but under the influence of the label we continue to choose only cold raw food dishes from the menu.
Detox 365 days a year
Due to the complete absence of thermally processed foods, a raw food diet triggers very powerful cleansing processes in the body. This requires comprehensive preparation and certain actions that will help the body cope with these detox processes.
Unpredictability
A cleanse crisis on a raw food diet can strike at any moment. One of these crises happened to me while on vacation in Thailand, where I came down with a high fever for three days before our flight to Hong Kong. Another fever crisis came at the worst possible time in the middle of a busy work week. This time the high fever only lasted for a day, and the next day I felt like an energizer superhero again. By all indications, in both cases these were precisely cleansing crises, which sooner or later happen to almost everyone who switches to a raw food diet after several years and decades of regular eating. And I don’t know how many more such crises awaited me. If I had been fed only whole foods since childhood, if instead of chips and Snickers I had loved fresh fruit at school and had not eaten dumplings and hot dogs as a teenager, most likely such cleansing crises when switching to a raw food diet might not have happened to me. But since until the age of 18 I was an ordinary omnivorous teenager, and as a child I did not live a day without flour and sweets, my body accumulated too much to switch to such an extremely clean type of nutrition without any symptoms.
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I still believe the raw food diet is a very powerful and effective nutritional system. But I also agree with Ayurvedic doctors who always say that a raw food diet is not suitable for everyone and not always. Those two years on a raw food diet were a fascinating experience for me, and it seems to me that I will return to it again, but somewhere on the warm islands, when I will swing in a hammock with my grandchildren, and juicy mangoes and coconuts will grow around me.
