Raw Food Diet

The Raw Food Diet For Fast Weight Loss

2010-08-05T12:00:00.000-07:00

Obesity has taken the shape of an epidemic in the modern world. More and more people are falling prey to obesity due to an unhealthy lifestyle and bad food habits. But obesity can have disastrous effects on a person's health, so it is imperative to find a solution to this out-of-control health problem as soon as possible. Many people have been trying for ages to lose weight by following untold numbers of different kinds of diet plans and workout programs but have not succeeded. In frustration, they often end up just quitting altogether and falling back into their old habits of fattening fast food and little exercise.
A raw diet has proven to be of great aid in this regard after people following different variations of the diet have claimed drastic weight loss in a relatively short period of time, and without feeling hungry or miserable like you would with most diets. There is an ample amount of truth to this claim as the diet practitioners have proven that the raw food diet truly helps in losing weight quickly and effectively. This is because the calorie content of raw foods like vegetables and fruits is very low. Therefore, even if you consume fairly large amounts of raw food every day, you still would not consume many calories. Often people who are striving to lose weight prefer to starve, but starving has many negative effects. By following a raw food diet, you can lose weight without ever feeling starved.
Another great advantage of raw food is that it contains many digestive enzymes that processed and cooked foods lack. These enzymes help to break down these basic forms of foods that we consume, rendering the food suitable for use for a number of purposes. On the other hand, if food remains in an unbroken state, it tends to be stored in the body causing us to gain weight. Therefore, the natural presence of digestive enzymes in raw food can be of great help.

There are some additional benefits that the raw food diet offers other than the fact that it is known for causing very fast weight loss. For instance, the diet helps to remove harmful toxins from the body which pose a great threat to the normal functioning of internal organs. By washing away these harmful toxins, the raw diet plan boosts the immune system of the body, and it can be of great benefit to one's health if used for short-term purposes. Since it has a tendency to lower the protein, mineral and fat levels in the body, this diet should never be continued for extended periods.

Raw Food Diet - Water and Diabetes - Nurse's Guide

2010-07-30T10:28:00.000-07:00

One of the amazing things that happened to me after I started to eat a raw food diet to cure my breast cancer, years ago, is that I found I didn't need to drink as much water. When you start eating foods that are raw you'll find you're just not as thirsty as before. You just don't need as much water as you used to. There are quite a few reasons for this. Overall, raw foods, such as raw fruits and vegetables, have a much higher volume of water in them, so your body doesn't need as much from beverages and other foods. Cooked foods don't contain much water as a rule.

And because of the large amount of living food that one eats on a raw food diet one easily gets plenty of water.

However this doesn't mean you should stop drinking water. I also drink a lot of carrot juice and green juice which hydrates my body even more. Your body will let you know if it's thirsty most of the time but if you are distracted or involved in activities you may not be paying attention. So first of all listen to your body. It'll tell you what it needs. If you need to lose weight, have health issues or ailments and diseases or lack energy your body might be telling you to change your diet or drink more water or both. And raw foods are the best way to get rid of many aches and pains, ailments, diseases and physical disorders that are caused by eating cooked, processed food.

But if you're overweight constantly, are thirsty and hungry and have other symptoms of Type II Diabetes, this overwhelming thirst and hunger are just two diabetes symptoms that plague many. When you start eating more raw foods, which are foods that have a high fiber and moisture content, you may start to lose weight fast and you will start to reverse the diabetes symptoms rapidly and help keep your blood sugar in the normal range.

Even if you're not overweight and don't have any health issues such as Type II diabetes, you still will find you no longer have the hunger and thirst problems you used to have. If you're eating a raw food diet, drinking water and juices it's not very likely you're drinking coffee or getting any caffeine from colas. Caffeine is a diuretic and depletes vital water from your body increasing thirst. And by eating less cooked foods or less processed foods, you'll be getting less sodium and you'll find you're just not as thirsty either.

By eating living food, drinking pure filtered water, green juice and carrot juice, you'll be providing you body with plenty of vital nutrients and water. And by keeping the sodium amounts to a minimum you'll start to feel less thirsty too.

Make sure to continue drinking water every day as you feel the need and then add more. Make sure to drink plenty during physical activities when your requirements are sure to go up. Eating a raw food diet completely changed my life. I got rid of breast cancer naturally, fibromyalgia, arthritis, acid reflux and many other ailments. You can do it too.

Raw Food Diet Recipes - Pistachio Honey Butter (No Butter) Spread - Free Raw Recipe

2010-07-30T10:22:00.000-07:00

This is one of my favorite raw food diet recipes. It's so easy and can be made in minutes. This free raw recipe for pistachio honey butter spread has the consistency of chunky honey butter. We used to spread honey butter on hamburger buns and eat them without the meat when I was in college. I use this spread all the time. It is versatile. Kids love it as well as adults.
I use this spread on many veggies including organic raw celery. Just cut off the ends of the celery and scoop the pistachio honey butter on. It's also great on mini sweet peppers. Try the miniatures that are red, orange and yellow. Cut off the end and cut in half and remove the seeds. Scoop in the honey butter spread. Or try the large red, orange and yellow sweet peppers and cut them in wide strips and scoop on. If you don't care for sweet peppers or celery this pistachio spread will change your mind. You can get bags of the miniatures sweet peppers at Costco but they're not organic.
Keep in mind that non-organic peppers can have a lot of pesticides on them. Many farmers' markets have peppers available and they're easy to grow in your home garden.
I always buy my raw honey at a farm where I know it's raw. The supermarket raw honeys are not raw, even though they claim to be. They are heated and therefore pasteurized losing precious nutrients.
Pistachios also go good with beets so if you're using raw beets in a beet salad recipe or spiralized in a spiral slicer. Try some pistachio honey butter with or on the beets.
Equipment needed: food processor
Ingredients needed: pistachios, organic raw honey, Celtic salt or sun-dried sea salt and lemon.
1 cup raw pistachios
1 tablespoon organic raw honey
Dash of Celtic salt or very tiny pinch of sun dried sea salt
Splash of fresh lemon juice
Put all the ingredients in a food processor and process until a little creamy. It's best with tiny chunks of pistachios so watch closely. If you prefer larger chunks it won't take long so keep checking. The spread will be thick and will be a little hard to get out of the processor bowl. Keep it in the refrigerator. It will get a little harder when it's cold so take it out a little early if you want to spread it easier. Keep in an airtight jar. Keeps a week or more.
Health benefits of pistachios. The green color in pistachios is actually chlorophyll which is very good for us. The greener the nut the more chlorophyll is contained in it. Pistachios are alkaline-forming, not acidic. They're good for constipation, help purify the blood and help tone the kidneys and liver. Always use raw pistachios not dry roasted. Roasting removes many of the good properties. Pistachios have protein, good fat, Calcium, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, sodium, zinc, copper, beta carotene, thiamine (B1), riboflavin (B2), niacin (B3), folic acid (B9), and tocopherol (vitamin E).
Try experimenting with other veggies and you're sure to find others that this pistachio honey butter is good on or with. This is just one of many easy raw food diet recipes that you can fix and eat and help you enjoy good health in the process.

Carol Alt - Raw Food Diet to Keep the Weight Off

2010-07-30T09:50:00.000-07:00

Carol Alt's raw food diet has helped her positively glow in radiant health. As a model, for years she has had to maintain an impossible 125lbs body weight on her 5ft 10in frame. Eating very little left her continually run down. Then at the age of 34, she realised she had to understand her body to keep her weight down and so learned the immense benefits of raw organic eating.

When Carol reached 34, she went on a photo shoot with a 19 year old who was full of zest and was taking over the star billing whilst Carol sat in the shadows. The flight had made her bloat, she was tired and on medicines for her sinuses and her acid stomach. Despite starving herself for 2 days, she was still unable to get her weight down from 135lbs to 125lbs.

Hitting the wall

Her metabolism was slowing and without a change in routine and a healthier diet to reduce weight, her career as a model was over. She was in a routine taking medicines to fall asleep and coffee to wake up. What kind of life was this? She was aging. She started to gain weight, got wrinkles and couldn't lose them. She had "hit the wall".

Coming back from the trip with the 19 year old made her realise she had to change. She didn't have the energy to work any more. She then heard about a doctor who recommended a diet to bring the zip back to her life.

He recommended that Carol went on a raw diet. He taught her about food, nutrition and pretty soon she began to feel a lot better. She regained her zest for life, lost the excess weight, came off all her medicines, cut out her habits and felt a whole lot better.

She is now a strong advocate of the raw food diet. But what does it involve?

A raw diet is where food is not cooked above 118 degrees. This ensures all the nutrients are retained in the food. Raw foodism is focused on improving the whole life and lifestyle whilst maintaining a balanced healthy diet.

The benefits every raw foodist experiences are much lower cholesterol, a better acid-alkaline balance and of course excess weight dropping off. As well as a lot more energy and radiance.

You can gain the same benefits as Carol Alt. Raw food diet planning is a lot easier with a guide or set of recipes books to ensure you maintain a balanced healthy diet.

The Raw Food Diet Saved My Life

2010-07-29T05:45:00.000-07:00

If someone would have told me about the raw food diet about a couple of years back, I admit I would have laughed the whole concept away. At that time, life was all about parties and food was all about gourmet, pizza and all kinds of processed foods. I used to love drinking; socializing and eating whatever suited my fancy. My wife and children tried to warn me about my lifestyle but I really was not in a mood to pay attention to any warnings or advice until the day I had a massive heart attack.

It was in the hospital that I started realizing what I was actually doing. The grease, oil and butter from all the processed foods I had eaten had clogged my arteries. I had to undergo angioplasty, and in a few days I was discharged from the hospital with a strict warning about reducing my weight.
I wondered what to do since I was not going to resort to any thing artificial including diet pills. I wanted something that was natural and had no side effects. One day, my best friend called me up and told me about the raw food diet. She had been following the diet and had lost more than 10 kilos in a few months. When I met her later, I was astonished at the change in her. She looked 10 years younger and had a glowing skin! She told me that it was all due to the raw food diet.
It was then I decided that I needed to switch as well. The raw food diet is all about eating fruits and vegetables and other plant based foods in the most natural way possible...raw! That means the food is free from all processing, derivatives and all kinds of chemicals found in the daily food. It meant I could eat all kinds of salads and unprocessed foods like raw fruits and vegetables. Moreover, unlike the other diets, I didn't have to do much to conjure up a meal for myself. For example, my breakfast consists of some green vegetables like lettuce, broccoli and spinach puréed in the blender with a dash of lemon. This smoothie gave me enough energy and vitamins till lunchtime.
Lunch has also become a simple affair these days. Some unsalted nuts with some carrot slices in lettuce wraps along with avocado and banana and some pure uncooked tomato juice. I have never felt so energetic before. All right, initially it takes time to get used to the idea but now I love the raw food diet. I have lost oodles of weight and feel light and happy. Truly, the raw food diet has given me a second lease of life after my heart attack!

Calorie Restriction and the Raw Food Diet

2010-07-29T05:39:00.001-07:00

Calorie Restriction Diet? OR, EAT To Be LEAN!
I have realized since starting to eat a raw food diet that there are two major camps in the raw food movement, the eat less camp and the eat enough camp.
The eat less camp believe that a calorie restriction diet will be better for your health in the long term, as the body does more cleansing and repair work when it is not busy with digestion, and they argue that the calorie model is highly inaccurate and not based on solid science.
The eat enough camp believe that you will struggle to be successful on a raw diet unless you ENSURE that you are eating enough calories, and say that even IF the calorie model is inaccurate, it is at least something to work with so that we can objectively measure our intake.
Dr Douglas Graham, author of The 80/10/10 Diet, does not recommend a calorie restriction diet. He recommends that you eat ENOUGH on a high carbohydrate low fat diet to fulfill your caloric needs and do vigorous exercise at the same time.
When you are new to raw, and making such a major life change, it is very difficult to be successful AND try to eat a calorie restriction diet at the same time.
The ones who try to do this are far more likely to eat cooked food, to binge on fatty food, to obsess about food, and to suffer through many cravings and become more and more disordered in their eating habits.
When I first started on this path I had come from the calorie restriction diet mindset (1200 calories per day) and so at first I did NOT eat enough in terms of calories.
I was trying to follow a raw version of a standard calorie restriction diet. When I just ate as much as I pleased I had the niggling feeling that I was overeating.
The result was that I did have several returns to cooked foods, sometimes even eating cooked foods that I had stopped eating and hadn't eaten for quite some time BEFORE I went raw, like highly processed vegan food! Did I lose weight? Heck no! I gained some!
A One-Way Street!
When you begin to eat a very clean diet your body becomes MORE sensitive, it becomes LESS forgiving. You suffer more when you go off your path than if you had never begun on your path in the first place. In that way it is a one way street. Sure you can turn around if you want but you're going to run into some serious oncoming traffic.
When you eat an overly restrictive calorie restriction diet you're far more likely to binge on fatty foods and/or unhealthy cooked foods and can then actually gain weight because of the excess of calories that any cooked food binge will result in.
Also, if your calories consumed are not enough to sustain your daily activity then you're also not going to be inspired to exercise, and exercise combined with a high nutrient diet is the best way to reduce your body fat percentage.
Many of the folks who believe they should practice a calorie restriction diet on an ongoing basis do not do much exercise, and it is no surprise: when you don't eat much, you don't have energy to move much.
Put binges and disordered eating behind you for good!
When you eat enough calories from fruits and vegetables you DON'T have crazy cravings and disordered eating.
Just EAT!
When you are eating enough calories from fruits and vegetables it is very easy to be successful.
Every cell in the human body runs on glucose, if you cut your carbs, you increase your cravings. When you're adequately carbed it is easy to forget about food, you're free to focus on everything else in your life. You feel great.
Concerned that eating too much fruit will cause weight gain?
Eating too much of anything will cause weight gain. You should never have 'too much' of anything. You should eat enough, enough that you are satisfied and free of cravings, but not so much that you can't move after your meal.
Of COURSE it's possible to gain weight on a raw food diet. If it wasn't, then all those folks who wanted to build up muscle would have to steer clear of the raw diet. And this is just not the case. You can easily gain muscle weight on a raw diet. All you have to do is strength train very hard, and your appetite will increase along with your growing muscles, which will naturally attract you to more food to fuel the bigger muscles.
If you consistently consume too many calories, you can also easily gain some fat. However, the good news is that there is no such thing as a long term 100% low fat raw vegan who is obese. There is just no such thing, no matter how much fruit they eat. This is because even if you had to overeat on fruit every single day of your life, you would NOT be able to get in enough calories to become obese. Fruits are extremely satiating, as well as not being calorie dense enough for this to happen.
It is certainly possible to carry a few extra pounds of fat, and not every raw foodist you meet is going to be in fitness model shape. It totally depends on your individual goals. If a super lean fitness model body is something that you want, and you have excess fat that is not budging, then counting calories is key so that you can get acquainted with what amounts you should be eating.
However, it is best to create the caloric deficit required to begin losing fat at a sensible rate, by vigorous daily exercise, rather than by restricting your intake to unhealthy levels.
Remember, it did not take a week to get your body into the shape it's in, it won't take a week to get out of it.
So whether it is succeeding on a raw food diet, or succeeding with weight loss, the advice is the same: eat enough food. Leave the fasting and the starving to the folks who like obsessing about food.

Raw Food Diet List

2010-07-29T05:37:00.001-07:00

A raw food diet list is helpful for a lot of people who don't really understand what raw foods are.

They find the idea of it confusing. They kind of think in terms of how they're currently eating and it just makes NO sense.

Raw meat? Potatoes? Squash? Rice? Why would anyone want to eat that?

While there are people who do eat animal products raw, this is in no way recommended.

Aside from the immense cruelty involved, the consumption of animal products is enormously damaging to our health, whether raw or cooked.

List of Alkaline Foods

Raw Vegan foods are alkaline in the body and disease cannot flourish in a body that is alkaline.

Animal products, cooked foods, alcohol, caffeine etc, all contribute to acidity in the body, and an acid environment is where sickness thrives.

Raw Vegan Is Where It's At!

When you change your diet to a raw vegan diet, there is a complete shift in your mental paradigm about what constitutes a meal.

There is far more abundant variety in the raw food diet than you can possibly imagine, until you've tried it.

A Raw Vegan Diet consists of uncooked fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and sprouted grains

If you think about what you eat currently, it probably isn't that varied. Most people's diets are not. You probably have a few favorites that you recycle on a weekly basis.

Once you go completely raw or high raw you discover an abundance of fruits and vegetables that you had no idea even existed.

Current Raw Food List

I am not going to try and list every raw food known to man, but have a look at a few of the raw foods that I am eating currently.

Grapes, Watermelon, Strawberries, Blueberries, Blackberries, Raspberries, Cherries, Figs, Dates, Oranges, Grapefruit, Mangoes, Papaya, Bananas, Pineapple, Jackfruit, Dragonfruit, Lychees, Melons, Apples, Clementines, Passion Fruit, Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Peppers, Carrots, Mushrooms, Olives, Avocados, Lettuce, Spinach, Corn, Nuts, Seeds, Sprouts, Seaweed, Coconut.

I could go on and on. But as you can see, there are quite a lot of different things here. There are plenty more to choose from.

Of course there are endless combination's and different ways to eat these foods and some fabulous creations you can make if you feel like something gourmet!

Dehydrated Foods

Dehydrated raw foods are foods that have been dehydrated at a low temperature for a number of hours.

As long as the temperature doesn't exceed 118 degrees, the nutrients in the food remain intact, and the food is still considered to be raw.

Most raw vegans do not dehydrate food above 105 degrees, and this perfectly mimics sun drying your food on a hot summers day.

It intensifies the flavors of certain foods (i.e. sundried tomatoes have such a strong delicious flavor), and also allows you to make certain foods that mimic cooked foods, like breads, crackers, pizza bases etc, made using a mixture of vegetables, nuts, seeds or sprouted grains.

Due to the reduced water content of dehydrated foods, these are far less healthful, and should be kept to a very small part of a healthy vegan raw food diet.

And, there is no need to get complicated with it if you don't want to!

The simplest and most effective way to make a raw food diet list is as follows:

Fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds!

There is immense beauty in simplicity!

2 Further Challenges of a Raw Food Diet

2010-07-29T05:34:00.001-07:00

This is an extension of my previous article on the challenges of raw foods Below is a quick summary of 2 further challenges.

1. Lower body temperature - Some people experience a drop in body temperature on the raw food diet. The main reason suggested for this is that the digestive system doesn't need to work nearly as hard to digest food and since digestion helps to create body heat you naturally see a drop in body temperature. I would question this theory as other organs and systems have a much greater impact on body temperature than the digestive system.

a. Whilst digestion can impact body temperature an area that has a far greater influence is the thyroid gland. This gland regulates the speed of the metabolism of every cell in the body (and thus the body as a whole). A drop in thyroid function is almost always accompanied by a drop in body temperature. For me the answer more than likely lies here. But why would this happen?

b. There are two possible reasons; firstly, many of those people that turn to raw food also turn vegetarian or vegan (or are already). One of the main foods many vegetarians eat for a protein source is soy. Soy is not the health food it is made out to be and one of its many harmful effects on the body is that the isoflavines found in soy inhibit thyroid function. This inhibited function can then lead to a lower body temperature.

c. The other possible explanation relates to the digestive system. Whereby a raw food diet can result in a significant reduction in the breakdown and absorption of nutrients in the digestive tract*. A possible effect of this reduced absorption could then be a reduction in the amount of calories absorbed from the diet. The lowered calorie intake that then results will lead to a decrease in thyroid function. This happens as a natural attempt by the body to slow down the metabolism in order to preserve calories. As far as your body is concerned a reduction in calorie intake below its minimal requirements is a signal to the body that food is scarce and it needs to reduce metabolic rate in order to ensure its survival. It is this same phenomena that is behind the inherent weight problems experienced by those that regularly restrict calories, known as yo-yo dieting. It dates back to our more primitive days when food would often be scarce and the body would attempt to protect its long term survival by preserving calories. It is essentially a survival response and over time will lead to a suppressed metabolism and ill health problems further down the line.

d. This ironically is one of the main reasons many raw foodists take up the diet, in the belief that it will improve their health and help prevent ill health complaints. Raw diets can and will achieve both of these objectives but only if they are introduced correctly and are appropriate to the individuals current state of health.

e. The only way of knowing if a thyroid problem is the cause of a drop in body temperature is to either:

· Seek the aid of your doctor. Although for many this may not reveal much as in many cases such problems are not picked up using the blood assessments used in mainstream medicine methods. The medical tests are designed to identify a "diseased" thyroid or thyroid that is either in a hypo or hyper state by medical definition. However many people have a thyroid that is under functioning at a subclinical level which will not be detected by such tests.

· Seek the help of someone trained in functional medicine/nutrition (such as myself), who can pick up such issues by testing the function of organs/glands and systems rather than whether they are diseased.

2. Possible excessive weight loss - Whilst weight loss can be a positive thing, and a common reason some people start on a raw food diet, it can also be a negative thing. Particularly if it is excessive weight loss that leads to a very gaunt and unhealthy look. This can sometimes occur because of a reduction in digestive system and any subsequent reduction in nutrient and calorie uptake into the body and the impact of this on thyroid function. Read my article on "When And Why Raw Food Diets DO And DON'T Work" to understand this point better.

These are just some of the challenges, there are others. Check out my other articles for more challenges of raw food diets.

Does the Raw Food Diet Work For Losing Weight?

2010-07-29T05:32:00.000-07:00

It is commonly thought that eating fresh fruits and vegetables is healthy. There is also a dieting strategy, called the Raw Food Diet, that consists of eating fruits and vegetables, raw nuts, legumes, beans sprouts, and even unpasteurized diary products and other raw foods. This dieting strategy is becoming more popular and many are asking: Does the Raw Food Diet really work?
There are a couple of central ideas behind the effectiveness of a raw diet. One is that uncooked foods, mainly consisting of fresh, preferably organic fruits and vegetables, are not digested in the same way as cooked foods. Raw foods tend to be quickly converted to nutrients and energy. Cooked foods, on the other hand, take longer to digest, usually contain more fat and carbs, and more of cooked food is converted to fat. The other idea behind the effectiveness of raw food dieting is related to the first, and is connected to eating fruit. Fruit is one of the easiest foods to digest. The type of sugar in fruit is almost immediately available to the body after being eaten. This readily available energy tends to increase metabolism and thus promote weight loss.
While many people are primarily concerned about losing weight, a raw food diet can also be a healthy diet. A lot of folks fail at dieting because their diets do not provide adequate nutrition and tend to decrease metabolism rather than increase it. The portion size of raw food meals is not as much of an issue as it is with many diets. Dieters also do not have to completely give up cooked foods. It is only recommended that at least 75% of food intake is raw, and that raw and cooked foods not be eaten together at the same meal. That essentially means that one modest meal or snack per day could consist of cooked foods.
Raw foods can provide nearly all essential nutrients with the exception of vitamin B12, and a few minerals like zinc and copper, These nutrients can be provided by taking a few low-dosage supplements. It is a good idea to consult your physician before starting any diet. If you are pregnant, a diabetic or suffer from osteoporosis a raw food diet is not recommended.

A Raw Food Diet Review - Changing to a Raw Food Diet

2010-07-29T05:28:00.000-07:00

The Raw Food Diet is one of the most healthy dieting options as it consists primarily of fresh, preferably organic, fruits and vegetables. We have all heard the old adage: "An apple a day keeps the doctor away". Likewise, it appears that many people do quite well with 75 to 100% of food intake as raw fruits, nuts, vegetables, and other raw foods and food recipes. Such a diet does not have to be boring or bland either. An abundance of raw food recipes are available - from fruit smoothies and salads to raw pizza. Meat is not a common raw food ingredient, but Sushi recipes are an option for some. It's also true that some 'cheating', is allowed, but cooked and raw foods should not be eaten at the same meal. Vitamin B12, copper, zinc and a few other trace minerals can be difficult to get from eating mainly raw foods, so some dieters take low-dosage supplements for these nutrients.
Most people today eat a diet of mostly cooked food that is high in all kinds of food additives and fat. Cooked food in general takes a different digestive course through the body than raw food and is more likely to be stored as fat rather than be converted to energy. Fruits often take a central role in a raw food diet, as fruit is easy for the body to digest in raw form. The readily available energy from fruit tends to increase metabolism and therefore burn fat. Higher metabolism and increased energy levels is a main reason why raw dieting is effective. Portion size is also not as much of a worry as it is in other diets.
A raw food diet does often have some negative effects initially, Many dieters experience fluctuating energy levelsoxifying effects of eating raw foods and are usually replaced after a week or two with an increase in metabolism and energy. Many raw dieters experience better sleep, better looking skin, and better focus and concentration as rewards for sticking to a raw diet through the initial detoxification and adjustment phase.

"What can I eat on a raw food diet?" is a question I'm often asked. Being a long time nurse and raw fooder myself who has cured herself of numerous ailments, diseases and conditions, I can give you a good idea of the best foods to eat.

You may be interested in starting a raw food diet because you have health concerns. If so, know that I cured myself many years ago within one month of starting to eat raw foods of breast cancer, fibromyalgia, arthritis, acid reflux, GERD and digestive issues, recurrent heartburn, headaches, diarrhea, constipation, TMJ that goes along with fibromyalgia, sleeping problems - waking up for two hours in the middle of the night and many others.

Maybe you're already healthy and just want to make sure you stay that way. A raw food diet will be insurance for you as well.

Before I started on raw foods I had never heard the term "raw foods," so it was all new to me. I learned fast however and it was really quite simple. A raw food diet can be anything you want it to be if you stick with plant foods such as fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds. Of course you don't have to eat 100% raw foods to get the many health benefits of a vegan raw food diet.

If your focus is on an 80% raw food diet especially - to begin with that may be a good idea, unless you have some very serious health concerns. Then you may want to take a different approach - as many raw foods or living foods as they are also called, in your diet as you can handle. Of course you'll want to check with your doctor on any diet changes you make and especially if you have any serious illnesses, diabetes, heart problems or you're on any medications. Clear it with your doctor first.

My best suggestion is that you try to add a lot more fruit to your breakfast menu. You may know that the national Food Guide Pyramid recommends about nine fruits and vegetables a day. This means two to four servings of fruits and at least three to five servings of vegetables every day. I don't think that is enough. I eat a lot more than that in one day.

Raw foods have few calories and people lose weight fast when going on a raw food diet. It's not meant to be a temporary fix but a lifetime commitment to superior health. That's what I enjoy and have from the first month I made a change from the standard American diet, many years ago.

For lunch and dinner you can have fruits, veggies, huge salads and sunflower seed pates, roll-ups, raw vegan entrees and raw desserts such as live fudge, blueberry pie, lemon torte, live apple pie, raw fudge and hundreds of other choices. You can make crackers easily, smoothies, fresh green and carrot juices and lots of appetizers. There are many recipes you can make and easy raw recipe books that you can help you get a good start too. Raw food recipes are usually fast and simple.

The important thing is to do something. Get started on a raw food diet and see the pounds melt away, this without buying expensive diet programs or diet plans or investing in expensive supplements. I lost ten pounds fast and it shocked me. If you don't need to lose weight, that is only one of hundreds of benefits of eating a raw food diet. Raw foods are loaded with nutrients, phytonutrients, fiber, vitamins, minerals and trace minerals and all in their natural state. Get started on the road to superior health today! Now you may have a better idea of "What I can eat on a raw food diet!" Get started today and enjoy superior health like I do!

Raw Food Diet - What Can You Eat on a Raw Food Diet?

2010-07-29T05:24:00.000-07:00

I've been eating raw foods for many years, actually 100% raw foods to be exact, and I enjoy perfect health. I also have not had any weight problems since starting and maintain a fit body even today.
If you know about the value of a raw food diet you know that people who eat raw vegan foods are healthier than people who eat the standard American diet - the diet we've all been raised on. I'm one of those too who used to eat cooked, canned, packaged, refined, and processed foods until I was diagnosed with breast cancer and also had multiple ailments including fibromyalgia, arthritis, acid reflux, chronic sinus conditions, digestive problems and numerous other medical problems.
There really is no such thing as a set or standard raw diet. People who eat raw foods decide for themselves which raw foods they want to eat. Of course it's good to eat a wide variety of fruits and vegetables and nuts and seeds and you want to make sure to eat plenty of greens - kale, spinach, romaine, red and green lettuce and so on. Fruits are so delicious and you have a wide choice depending on the season. I love strawberries and fresh peaches!
You can eat a wide variety of nuts and seeds too. Sesame seeds in tahini for example and sunflower seed in recipe like sunflower seed pate. I love sunflower seed pate and eat it every day. Or make date-almond crusts for raw desserts or easy homemade almond milk. You can make lots of juices and fruit smoothies and almond milkshakes! A raw food diet is never boring, always filling.
If you wonder if you're going to get enough protein, of course you will. There is plenty of protein in every living thing. Every fruit and vegetable contains protein. I haven't eaten any grains, dairy or meat for many years and I have lots of muscles and I'm physically active. No deficiencies of any kind and in superior health. As a former nurse I know how to recognize deficiencies.
So if you're considering eating even a partially raw diet you'll surely benefit your body and may even find that you're getting rid of ailments and/or losing weight fast.
I lost ten pounds so fast when I started I was pleasantly surprised. But a vegan raw food diet is full of life energy, nutrients, vitamins, minerals, trace minerals, enzymes antioxidants and phytonutrients. Whereas a cooked food diet doesn't have much in the way of nutrients left - so much is cooked out of it. When foods are cooked at temperatures over 108 degrees the good nutrients are damaged or dead. That's why we call cooked food dead food.
So there are lots of things you can eat on a raw food die whether you eat the standard American diet, are a vegetarian or vegan. There is a wide variety to choose from and many recipes you can make including lots of raw desserts, raw pies, living "fudge," living "brownies," raw crackers and raw entrees of all kinds plus lots more. And you can quickly make lots of raw food recipes that kids love too. You'll be helping your body in many ways and in many ways that may surprise you if you give it a try. A natural weight loss and detox diet too without irritating cleanses. Why not enjoy superior health like I do.

If you've given any thought to eating a healthy diet or losing weight fast in a healthy, natural way, then you may have given some thought to going on a raw food diet. A raw food diet is a raw vegan diet you can eat and be satisfied for a lifetime. It's a natural raw food detox diet too.
I've been eating raw foods for many years, actually 100% raw foods to be exact, and I enjoy perfect health. I also have not had any weight problems since starting and maintain a fit body even today.
If you know about the value of a raw food diet you know that people who eat raw vegan foods are healthier than people who eat the standard American diet - the diet we've all been raised on. I'm one of those too who used to eat cooked, canned, packaged, refined, and processed foods until I was diagnosed with breast cancer and also had multiple ailments including fibromyalgia, arthritis, acid reflux, chronic sinus conditions, digestive problems and numerous other medical problems.
There really is no such thing as a set or standard raw diet. People who eat raw foods decide for themselves which raw foods they want to eat. Of course it's good to eat a wide variety of fruits and vegetables and nuts and seeds and you want to make sure to eat plenty of greens - kale, spinach, romaine, red and green lettuce and so on. Fruits are so delicious and you have a wide choice depending on the season. I love strawberries and fresh peaches!
You can eat a wide variety of nuts and seeds too. Sesame seeds in tahini for example and sunflower seed in recipe like sunflower seed pate. I love sunflower seed pate and eat it every day. Or make date-almond crusts for raw desserts or easy homemade almond milk. You can make lots of juices and fruit smoothies and almond milkshakes! A raw food diet is never boring, always filling.
If you wonder if you're going to get enough protein, of course you will. There is plenty of protein in every living thing. Every fruit and vegetable contains protein. I haven't eaten any grains, dairy or meat for many years and I have lots of muscles and I'm physically active. No deficiencies of any kind and in superior health. As a former nurse I know how to recognize deficiencies.
So if you're considering eating even a partially raw diet you'll surely benefit your body and may even find that you're getting rid of ailments and/or losing weight fast.
I lost ten pounds so fast when I started I was pleasantly surprised. But a vegan raw food diet is full of life energy, nutrients, vitamins, minerals, trace minerals, enzymes antioxidants and phytonutrients. Whereas a cooked food diet doesn't have much in the way of nutrients left - so much is cooked out of it. When foods are cooked at temperatures over 108 degrees the good nutrients are damaged or dead. That's why we call cooked food dead food.
So there are lots of things you can eat on a raw food die whether you eat the standard American diet, are a vegetarian or vegan. There is a wide variety to choose from and many recipes you can make including lots of raw desserts, raw pies, living "fudge," living "brownies," raw crackers and raw entrees of all kinds plus lots more. And you can quickly make lots of raw food recipes that kids love too. You'll be helping your body in many ways and in many ways that may surprise you if you give it a try. A natural weight loss and detox diet too without irritating cleanses. Why not enjoy superior health like I do.

RRaw Food Diet Recipes - Easy Healthy Raw Apple Carrot Salad - Free Raw Recipeaw Food Diet Plan

2010-07-29T05:18:00.000-07:00

This is one of my favorite raw food recipes. I've served this at many family functions, holidays and special occasions and taken it to potlucks and it's always a big hit. Similar to our mom's old apple, carrot salad recipe but this is one of the raw food diet recipes that uses no mayonnaise, fillers, sugar, salt, cooked, canned, processed or non-living food. All ingredients are alive, living, raw, vegan, gluten-free and healthy. Kids love this salad and it's so good for them. This is a good healthy salad to send to school in their lunch box or bag or for you to take to work or school.
All the old fillers and binders for this raw salad have been replaced with healthy sweet orange juice. It's easy to increase the ingredients for this salad by doubling if you want to take a larger amount to a potluck or have a lot of company coming. And it's relatively cheap to fix as the ingredients aren't expensive. Use organic if possible, especially the apples.
Healthy Raw Apple Carrot Salad
Ingredients: apples, carrots, raisins or currants, orange(s), lemons, frozen or fresh ginger root and optional walnuts and shredded coconut.
For a small salad:
2 apples, organic, cored and grated with peel on - using sweet apples like Jonagolds, or Galas are best
4 carrots, organic, scrubbed, not peeled and grated
1 cup organic raisins or currants
1 cup orange juice, freshly squeezed
4 T lemon juice, freshly squeezed
2 T lemon zest
3 tsp ginger root grated, fresh or frozen
1/2 cup walnuts soaked overnight or at least 6 hours, then chopped, optional
2 T dried shredded coconut, optional
Grate the apples, carrots and ginger root and place in large bowl. Add the raisins or currants, orange juice, lemon juice and lemon zest. Add the optimal walnuts and shredded coconut just before serving or sprinkle on after dishing up. Or serve both on the side and let guests help themselves. Some people don't like shredded coconut and some don't like walnuts or have allergies to walnuts or tree nuts.
In any case I'm sure you'll find as I do that this is a good salad to make in a hurry or to have handy for lunches, snacks and family meals. Healthy raw food diet recipes are always good to have on hand and besides providing a nourishing meal you know you're contributing to everyone's good health. This is a good diet salad also for those who need a good healthy raw food snack when their dieting to lose weight.

A raw food diet plan should be adopted in a healthy lifestyle that promotes natural weight loss, reduced toxins and increased energy. This diet is a simple, healthy and effective way to eliminate the carcinogens that abound in cooked foods and over-processed meals.

Do's and Don'ts of Raw Foodism
Our bodies evolved over thousands of years on a diet rich in raw fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds. Though you hear stories of some people that embark on this diet developing vitamin B-12 or calcium deficiencies, it is largely based on a lack of knowledge and planning. If you understand the basics of how this diet plan works, you will be on a path towards a healthy and energetic lifestyle.
The definition of a raw food is any food that has not been subjected to temperatures over 118 degrees Fahrenheit. At temperatures over 118 degrees, enzymes begin to break down, thus draining food of its full nutritional potential. By consuming unheated, raw products that are bursting with natural enzymes and antioxidants, your body will receive the best possible diet and without any of the toxins found in cooked foods.
A diet plan that typically encourages an 80-10-10 rule with at least 80% of the diet coming from fruits and no more than 10% from protein, no more than 10% fats (seeds and nuts). Choosing the right kinds of seeds and nuts is essential. For example, flax seeds are an excellent source of Omega-3's and Red Star Nutritional Yeast with vitamin B-12 is a fantastic addition when it is sprinkled over sliced fruit or a salad.
Vegan or Not?
Though the majority of raw food dieters are entirely vegan, some people choose to include raw, nonpasteurized milk, raw meats and raw fish or raw egg. There can be significant health hazards in consuming certain animal products in their raw, uncooked form. As it is, our society tends to consume too much protein. The most healthy and supported form of this diet is entirely vegan.
Another popular method for encouraging the maximum nutritional benefit in raw grains and legumes is sprouting. Using a combination of moisture and warmth, sprouting leads to increased metabolic energy. Numerous resources are available on the benefits of sprouting if you are interested in learning more. It can be a fantastic method to add to your raw food arsenal.
Raw Food Diet Plan Meal Suggestions
There are numerous recipe books available for these diets that are full of creative and fun methods that make a raw food diet plan interesting and fun. Though you do not need any fancy kitchen gadgets, it can make your meal planning much easier if your kitchen includes a blender, a high quality juicer and a dehydrator.
Breakfast for raw food eaters typically consists of a few pieces of fresh fruit, a fruit-seed-nut smoothie or even muesli (raw rolled oats, dehydrated fruit and nuts).
There are a number of raw food products available in health food stores if you like to snack or if you travel frequently and need on-the-go items. The next time you visit your grocery store, ask your grocer if they carry any pre-packaged raw food items. If they do not, encourage them to consider stocking a few that you would like to try.
A Great Raw Deal!
Main meals for this diet plan usually include hearty salads, cold soups, sprouted-legume loaves and creative versions of cooked favorites like raw chili or raw tomato sauce over vegetable curls. It is important to remember to diversify your fruits to ensure a wide variety of vitamins, minerals and nutrients in your daily diet.
If you are not a fan of dark leafy greens, consider juicing them along with a few pieces of fruit to mask their flavor. If you are looking to save money, make your own snack bars out of chopped dates, fruit, seeds, raw grains and a touch of fruit juice instead of purchasing premade raw food bars.
This diet is healthy, smart and easy to implement if you use a little creativity in your meal planning. By cutting out the fat, toxins, preservatives and needless sugars, your body will become lean, efficient and more energetic than it has ever been.

Review of a Raw Food Diet

2010-07-29T05:15:00.000-07:00

With obesity, diabetes and heart disease rising in the United States, let us consider a raw food diet review. It is important for each of us to evaluate the role that food plays in our daily lives. What kind of toxins are we consuming? Are we getting enough nutrients? Does our body have enough energy to get us through the day? Eating raw can help answer these questions and more.
How Raw Foods Heal Our Body
Food is nothing more than fuel for our bodies. Many of us elevate food to a place of emotional significance. Though sharing a meal can certainly provide a stimulating social experience, ultimately food is nothing more than how we keep our bodies running smoothly and effectively. So, what does it mean if we fill our bodies with the wrong kind of fuel? What if the fuel we put in our bodies is actually harmful or toxic? Then, the system begins to breakdown and our bodies begin to show signs of disease.
This diet review will show us that by going back to basics, by filling our bodies with the kinds of food it has relied on for thousands of years, we can reduce disease, lose weight, increase energy and overcome a reliance on toxic foods that only serve to make our bodies sick.
Specific Nutritional Requirements
From a biological standpoint, our body is made up of billions of cells. Each cell has a unique function and relies on specific nutritional elements for maximum efficiency. These foods, especially organic fruits, are full of beneficial enzymes, proteins, amino acids, vitamins and minerals; precisely the nutrients that our cells need for healthy function.
When food is cooked, the nutrients are broken down at an alarming rate. The use of high-heat cooking methods not only destroys enzymes, vitamins and minerals, but it can also lead to increased carcinogens and toxins in an otherwise healthy food.
You will find that almost any popular health journal has conducted a raw food diet review in response to the growing epidemic of poor health and increased disease in our society. Research consistently shows that consuming large amounts of these fruits can reduce your risk for cancer, heart disease, obesity and reduce the severity of symptoms for diseases such as arthritis and fibromyalgia.
The best rule of thumb for a raw diet is the 80-10-10 rule: at least 80% of the diet is fruit with no more than 10% being protein or 10% fat.
Eating a diet rich in natural, raw foods, along with a modest amount of raw seeds and nuts, is like giving our body exactly what it needs for optimal function and efficiency. If the cells in our body are happy, we feel good, our mood improves and our energy increases.
How to Adopt a Raw Food Diet
If your health is important to you and you have done a raw food diet review and researched the benefits of eating raw, then incorporating raw eating habits into your lifestyle is the next step towards optimum well being.
But how do you get started? First, start by incorporating more organic fruit into your daily routine. Go out on a limb and try a few new varieties you have never had before. The more varied your diet, the more creative you can be with your meal planning down the road.
A healthy raw food diet should make you feel stronger and more energetic within a few weeks. Many people start their raw food journey with a detoxification period in order to purge all of the toxins from their body for a fresh start. If you still have questions or if you would like to continue to learn more about the raw food lifestyle as your move forward, consider purchasing a few raw food diet books and find online resources and support forums that allow you to connect with other raw food lovers.
Once you have an understanding of the basics of a raw food diet, you can move to eating one raw meal each day. As raw fruits and vegetables become a larger part of your daily routine, you will find it easy to expand your recipes and techniques to include countless alternatives for some of your favorite dishes.
Health For Life
With a little additional planning and know-how, anyone can adopt a healthy raw food diet. Though adopting the diet is simple enough, it is important to pay close attention to your calcium, iron and vitamin B-12 intake to avoid deficiencies. Variety is the key to a nutritious and healthy diet, so diversify your fruits and learn how to sprout grains and legumes for additional nutritional supplements.
Even if you do not adopt entirely this diet, simply replacing a meal or two per day with these foods can have tremendous health benefits and reduce toxins in your body. It is important to stay on top of the latest news and research, so you should consider subscribing to health journals or medical blogs that will provide regular raw food diet review details and studies.
Your body is a fragile and precious thing. Nothing is more important to it than healthy and nutrient-rich fuel. If you reduce or remove food toxins, avoid processed foods and eat raw, your body, health and life will be healthier and happier than ever before.

You've heard the buzz. The raw food diet is gaining momentum! The audience for the raw food books is expanding at a very fast pace. This is because the Baby Boomer generation, many of whom refuse to grow old, is looking for answers. Another reason is that the rising cost of health care (as well as the disappointing side effects of drugs and surgery) is creating a consciousness in people that they need to take responsibility for their health and not hire someone else to be in charge of their body's fate.
The word is getting out---the raw diet is not just another weight loss fad. This is the natural diet and people on this diet have reversed cancer, heart disease, hepatitis, and other major diseases-as well as minor nuisances such as herpes, athlete's foot, dandruff, and even sleepwalking.
The younger generation has also caught on to this diet. Most of them have come from the vegan population. These are ardently opposed to the eating of any animal products. Many feel the next step for them is to "go raw." Many of them view this diet as a spiritual practice, since the energy normally used to digest cooked food is freed up to go to the higher centers.
Then there are the women who also get hooked into this diet for beauty. Model Carol Alt is the ultimate example, and she showed the power of a raw diet to create a beautiful body and maintain youth by posing nude in December 2008's Playboy magazine. Women love this diet for weight loss and maintenance, soft and radiant skin, loss of cellulite, full hair (sometimes even reversing the gray!), and more.
The word is also getting out that the raw diet helps with athletic performance, getting the competitive edge at work, mental health (being freed from depression, schizophrenia, and more), and creativity.
But what does this strange diet consist of? Are all these raw fooders eating salads and munching on carrots and bananas all day? How could that possibly provide enough calories and variety to sustain people for the long run?
A typical raw food vegan diet consists of unheated (not above 118 F) fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and sprouted grains and lentils. From this seemingly limited fare, however, one can create a wide variety of dishes, ranging from the "fast food" smoothies and salads to the gourmet imitations of cooked food dishes. Most raw fooders eat this way. They expand the variety of plant food they consume, eating a wide variety of olives, or exotic fruit, for example.
A raw vegetarian might also include raw egg yolks (providing they are from an organic, preferably flax
seed-fed, free range chicken) as well as some raw dairy such as kiefer (available in raw dairy states like California; otherwise you have to buy from the Amish or own part of a cow or goat).
There are also those who eat raw meat, such as steak tartar, ceviche, and sashimi. Marinating it overnight in lemon juice it is supposed to kill the parasites.
Omitting cooked food might seem like a huge sacrifice, but raw fooders don't feel deprived once they have weaned themselves from addictive processed food, filled with sugar, wheat, dairy, monosodium glutamate, table salt, aspartame and intense spices, all of which serve to hook the consumer into food addiction. Raw food actually tastes better than cooked food, because the flavor isn't cooked out into the air. You just don't need to add all those spices and toxic ingredients.
It is easy to make a raw, whole food recipe which most of us are very familiar with: guacamole is an example---just make it from whole foods instead of a mix! Or make trail mix from raw shredded coconut, nuts, seeds, and sundried raisons and apricots.
Many people who go raw use raw gourmet recipes that mimic their favorite cooked dishes until they are used to eating raw, after which they boast spending no more than 10 minutes a day in the kitchen. The raw gourmet dishes often require expensive machines, such as a Vitamix and a temperature-controlled dehydrator, but you can do a lot with just a blender and a food processor.
Here are a few gourmet raw recipes from The Live Food Factor, A Comprehensive Guide to the Ultimate Diet for Body, Mind, Spirit & Planet:
Sunflower Seed Pâté
1 cup sunflower seeds, soaked overnight, rinsed
1 cup pumpkin seeds, soaked overnight, rinsed
½ cup pitted olives
2 red bell peppers
½ bunch cilantro or favorite fresh herb
1 t Celtic or Himalayan salt
½-1 cup sun-dried tomatoes, soaked for 30 minutes and cut into small pieces with scissors
Put the seeds through a blank screen of a juicer. If you don't have a juicer with a blank screen, you can use a food processor with the "S" blade to blend them, but it won't be as creamy. Then, mix all other ingredients in the food processor with the "S" blade.
Raw Candy
Nuts, soaked 6-12 hours, rinsed and drained
Dates
Raw carob powder, to taste (optional)
Raw shredded coconut or unhulled sesame seeds
Mix nuts, dates and carob in food processor. Mix in a food processor with the "S" blade until the mixture forms a ball that bounces around inside that machine. Remove and form little balls. Roll the balls in sesame seeds and/or raw shredded coconut. These keep a long time in the freezer. Experiment with ingredient proportions and quantities to suit your own taste.
Deluxe Macadamia Nut Cheese
12 oz (3 cups) macadamia nuts, soaked 6-12 hours, rinsed and drained
1 t Celtic sea salt
2 cloves garlic
1 T fresh cilantro
¼ cup lemon juice
3/8-½ cup unpasteurized olive oil
Blend in food processor with the "S" blade, adding the nuts a little at a time. Mix until creamy, the texture of cream cheese.
Note: For a creamier mixture, you could put the nuts through a juicer with the blank screen before putting them into the food processor. In that case, you will need about half the olive oil! You might have to add one or two tablespoons more of oil.
Blend until it has the creamy texture of cream cheese. Serve on flax crackers, or use as a vegetable dip with zucchini, baby carrots, sliced bell peppers, fresh broccoli and so on.
Tahini Sauce
1 cup raw tahini
¾ cup unpasteurized olive oil
2/3 cup orange juice (about 2 medium-sized oranges)
3 cloves garlic
1½ inches fresh ginger
1 T nama shoyu (optional)
1-2 t Celtic sea salt
¼ cup fresh cilantro (optional)
Mix in food processor with the "S" blade, adding ingredients a little at a time. Mix until creamy. This is great on raw Oriental vegetables for a stir-fry or on Nori Rolls.
Chinese Stir "Fry"
1 foot long daikon radish
4 carrots
1 bunch green onions
5-6 stalks celery
½ head small cabbage
2 zucchinis
1 red bell pepper
1 cup mung bean sprouts
¾ cup watercress
3 stalks broccoli
1½ cups snow peas
Slivered raw almonds or raw cashews
Sesame seeds
Tahini sauce (see "Sauces, Salad Dressings, Condiments")
Tempeh (optional)
With the food processor, grate the daikon radish, and slice the carrots, celery, green onions, cabbage, zucchinis and bell pepper. (This is one time you will be especially thankful for your food processor: A job that could otherwise take an hour will be finished in minutes!) Put into a large bowl. Cut off florets from broccoli and toss into the mixture. Chop off tips of watercress and toss in, along with mung bean sprouts. Cut off stringy ends of snow peas and toss in. Fold in about a cup of tahini sauce. Top off with almond slivers (or truly raw cashews, sliced) and sesame seeds. Chop up tempeh and fold into mixture.
Serves 8-10.
Raw Hummus
2 zucchinis
¾ cup unhulled sesame seeds, soaked 6-12 hours, rinsed, drained
¾ cup raw tahini
¼-½ t cayenne
½ t celery salt
3-4 garlic cloves
1 t Celtic sea salt
¼ cup lemon juice
Blend in a food processor with the "S" blade, adding ingredients a little at a time until creamy. Serve on flax crackers or use as a vegetable dip with sliced zucchini, baby carrots, sliced bell peppers and fresh broccoli.
With a bit of effort, it is easy to transition to a mainly raw diet. After a year or so, most are satisfied with eating simply. Nothing could be tastier than Nature's fast food, after all!

Raw Food Diets - Why Go Raw?

2010-07-29T05:05:00.000-07:00

By now, just about everyone has heard about the raw food diet. It's become so popular these days, it seems everyone from Hollywood stars to the guy in accounting has made the switch. And of course, by the name, it should be fairly obvious what the diet consists of - most of the food that you eat should be raw, or in as close to it's natural state as possible.
Now of course, this doesn't mean that we're talking about eating raw meat! The diet is a mostly vegetarian eating plan, consisting of many raw fruits and vegetables. And of course, not all the food that you eat must be raw - it's recommended that your meal plans consist of at least 75% raw foods in their most natural state. But the question is - Why? Why are so many people deciding to change their eating habits and take up a raw food diet?
The first thing you should know is this - while you can - and most likely will - lose weight by eating raw foods, it isn't primarily a diet for weight loss. The biggest reason for switching is that people are recognizing that foods in their natural state contain an optimized balance of the nutrients that our bodies need - vitamins, minerals and enzymes. It is suggested that when food is cooked at high heat, it removes or breaks down these nutrients. This is especially true of the enzymes that are contained in raw food - these enzymes help your body to digest food. Without them, your body has to produce it's own digestive enzymes, meaning your body has to work harder to get the nutrition it needs - and you have to eat more.
Supporters of raw foods also claim that since the cooked food takes longer to digest, it hangs around longer in the digestive tract while the body works at digesting it. The food product which doesn't get fully digested becomes waste, and slows down the food traveling through your intestines. This can cause bloating, gas, constipation -and can possibly lead to some kinds of cancer. When we eat more raw fruits and vegetables, we naturally take in more fiber and more water. This helps to push the food through your intestines more quickly, and leaves less waste product to hang around causing problems. In general, this type of healthier eating makes the process of digestion more efficient and easier on your body. On top of that, your body receives more of the essential nutrients it needs, and ends up with less harmful waste products.
But the health benefits don't stop there! You'll also find you have more energy, as your body maximizes the nutrients it gets from your food, all the while working less hard to process the food. You'll most likely find your hair and skin look healthier, and you'll should also find that your skin will have few breakouts as your food contains less toxins.
As mentioned before, you will quite likely lose weight, and will find it much easier to manage your weight, as this healthier way of eating is naturally lower in fat and calories than most people's regular diet. Most of the fats that you will eat are healthy, from nuts and other plant sources. Because of this, there's less fat in your body to clog up arteries or to hang around on your hips - that means you'll be at less risk of developing deadly heart disease.

Raw FooWeight Loss and Beauty Through a Raw Food Dietd Diet - Can it Be Another Unexplained Cause of Infertility?

2010-07-29T04:54:00.000-07:00

I. What is

Raw diet promotes beauty. To begin with, one reaches his or her ideal weight more readily and maintains it with much less effort than on a cooked diet. Many people lose 15 pounds in a month or two with no feeling of deprivation whatsoever. Obese people lose much more than that while eating raw fats all they want, including raw "ice cream," avocados, nuts and olives. Raw fats (from avocados, olives, nuts, seeds, coconut butter et al.) are actually needed by the body to maintain youthful skin, hair and glands. They are rich in the essential fatty acids linolenic acid and linoleic acid that are denatured by heat.
Raw food pioneer Dr. Ann Wigmore wrote, "The effectiveness of live foods and fresh juices, especially wheatgrass juice, has bankrupted many complex theories about why we become fat and how to reduce quickly ... Among our guests at the [Hippocrates Health] Institute, the average weight loss per week is between four and fifteen pounds" (The Wheatgrass Book, p. 59).
Studies have shown that raw food is less fattening than the same food cooked. According to Dr. Edward Howell, raw fats are not fattening and seem to belong in "a special pigeonhole in nutritional speculations" (Enzyme Nutrition, p.109). While cooked fats accumulate in the body and become very detrimental to our health, raw fats contain lipase (deficient in many obese people), the enzyme involved in metabolizing fat properly.
The word "Eskimo" means "raw eater," as the Eskimos traditionally ate nothing cooked but subsisted chiefly on raw meat and blubber. Dr. V. E. Levine examined 3,000 primitive Eskimos during three trips to the Arctic and found only one person who was overweight.
Cooked starches are also very fattening. Farmers have even learned that it is necessary to feed their animals cooked food to fatten them up for maximal profit. Hogs do not get fat on raw potatoes, but cooking the potatoes makes them gain weight.
In addition to reaching your body's ideal weight, many other beauty factors blossom on a raw diet. Cellulite, which is thought to result from eating heated fats, gradually disappears with the consumption of freshly squeezed grapefruit juice. On a raw diet, elimination of cellular waste and increased lymphatic drainage helps remove cellulite.
As the body's old cells are replaced with new, healthy cells through proper nutrition that only a raw diet provides, your hair grows in thicker and at times wilder. It may even regain color after having been gray, as did Ann Wigmore's. Your skin may become as soft and smooth as it was in your youth. Your nails will be strong, clear and shiny. Facial lines may fade or disappear; the face's pasty, white complexion becomes ruddy or rosy. People may remark on how much younger you look. Your eyes will sparkle.
The Hippocrates Health Institute, one of the places where people have gone to learn about the raw food diet, was once described by Cosmopolitan magazine as the "well-kept secret" of beauty and rejuvenation of various famous Hollywood movie stars and celebrities. Now the news media are letting the secret out.
When Demi Moore appeared in a bikini in the Charlie's Angels movie Full Throttle and looked every bit as great as the women younger than her, the word went out that the secret was her raw food diet. Other celebrities who have caught the wave include Alicia Silverstone and Woody Harrelson.
Model Carol Alt wrote in her book Eating in the Raw that the raw diet helps her stay beautiful, slim and young-looking. She attributes her current youthfulness and stamina to having eaten primarily raw food for eight years. She explains that in her thirties she had to starve herself and exercise a lot to stay trim. But as a raw fooder she is able to eat anything she wants, as long as it's raw, and she maintains her weight effortlessly, without ever feeling excess hunger. In addition, she claims she has better abdominal definition without exercising than she did as a cooked fooder who exercised regularly. She also has fewer wrinkles.
Health and beauty are intertwined. Dr. Herbert Shelton wrote, "The woman who maintains her health and youthfulness will retain her attractiveness. If she permits her health to slip away from her, if she values indulgences and frivolities more than she does health and impairs her health in the pursuit of false pleasure, she will lose her BEAUTY; and no art of the cosmetician and dressmaker will be able to preserve it for her."
Researcher Arnold De Vries writes, "In the final analysis, we must regard beauty, health and youth as intimately related. To the extent that you preserve one in your physical being, you also preserve the others. The uncooked fruit and vegetable diet, pure water, sleep and rest, sunshine, strong relationships, exercise, fresh air, fasting if necessary, and abstinence from drugs, vaccines, serums and other toxins are the prime requirements in your attempt to preserve your youth, health and beauty as long as you can" (The Fountain of Youth).
The face becomes more beautiful with a raw diet. "Skin loses its slackness and puffiness and clings to the bones better," write Susannah and Leslie Kenton (Raw Energy, p. 90). "The true shape of the face emerges where once it was obscured by excess water retention and poor circulation. Lines become softer. Eyes take on the clarity and brightness one usually associates with children or with super-fit athletes."
Nutritionist Natalia Rose, author of The Raw Food Detox Diet, profoundly praises the raw food diet as being the key to permanent weight loss. It's a lifestyle in which a woman can even attain her perfect shape without formal exercise or counting calories or grams of fat or carbohydrates and regardless of having had several children. The skin tone improves as cells become healthier and tighter. One dares to go out without make-up.
Tonya Zavasta describes her lifelong obsession with attaining beauty, which she finally discovered in her 40s through a 100% raw food diet. In her book Your Right to Be Beautiful, she explains how each of us can fulfill our full beauty potential, which is robbed by the toxic accumulation of cooked foods, dairy, wheat, salt and drugs. "Beauty lies latent under cushions of retained fluids, deposits of fat and sick tissues. Your beauty is buried alive" (p. 134).
She goes on to explain that on a diet of uncooked foods, "The landscape of the body will change. Fat that has accumulated in pockets under the eyes and at the jaw will melt away. The lumpy potato look of one's face will give way to sleek and smooth contours. The surface of the skin will become soft and smooth but still firm and supple. Visible pores will diminish. A sallow skin with a yellow pallor will turn into a porcelain-like complexion" (p. 137).
She furthermore describes the radiance and glow produced internally when there is "an abundance of clear, pink, almost transparent cells that light up the face," which is produced by superior blood circulation. Even the most beautiful supermodel would be enhanced by a raw food diet. She notes that the modern-day version of beauty is more in harmony with health than perhaps ever before, hence "the quest for beauty, instead of a narcissistic preoccupation, becomes a noble pursuit."
Tonya came across many women who would not eat a raw diet for their health, preferring just to take medications. However, they would go raw for beauty, as there is no pill for beauty. In her book Beautiful on Raw, ten women contributed their own experiences of how raw diets added to their beauty.
Various observations were that hair grew out with color instead of gray, sometimes with natural waves or curls, and fingernails grew strong, long and shapely. Cellulite vanished effortlessly. Puffiness in the body and face disappeared, and the skin cleared up. These women often get complimented on the "glow" of their faces. They feel confident without make-up. Their inner beauty and confidence also radiate. They look younger than ever and have no fear whatsoever of getting old. One of the women is 64 and still gets checked out by "the young whippersnappers" when she is at the gym!
Interestingly, many of them, before eating raw, had never been called "beautiful" by anyone, even when they were much younger. One of the women wrote about suddenly becoming aware of the benefits of being attractive, benefits which one who had always been beautiful would take for granted. People were nicer to her, cops didn't give her tickets, and salespeople waited on her first.
The authors of Raw Food/Real World explain, "People who eat only raw, plant-based foods have an unmistakable shine, like a pregnant woman in her second trimester or someone newly in love. They have a radiant positive energy."
You haven't reached your beauty potential until you've tried a raw food diet.

a raw food diet?
The raw food diet is defined as a type of diet of which at least 75% of the daily diet must be unprocessed and uncooked foods or foods can not be heating above 115 degree of Fahrenheit or 40 °C , including fresh fruit and vegetables and raw meats. It believes that the more raw food in your diet, the more healthy you are. While there are many benefits for people eating raw, such as increasing energy for our daily activity, improving skin appearance, assisting digestive process, stability weight loss with no risk of weight re-gaining, reducing the risk of heart and chronic diseases, because the diet contains high in trace minerals, essential vitamins, fiber and phytochemicals and less harmful substances, such as trans fat, saturated fat and salt, but it interferes with the natural process of human being over thousand years of eating cooked foods, such as smaller jaws and teeth , shrinking stomachs have shrunk, and longer small intestines and lengthening the digestive surface area.
Some alternative medicine, such as Ayurveda, and traditional Chinese medicine suggested that a raw-only diet may not be appropriate for people living in colder climates, because in order to fight off the constant cold or Prolong periods of eating raw foods deplete the yang qi in the body. Since most raw foods eaten in typical American raw food diet are cold, they will decrease the yang qi even further, leading to colding affects in our body, resulting in certain kinds of diseases, including blood stagnation and kidney yang deficiency, causing infertility in some severe cases.
II. What is Fertility and Infertility and the explained causes of infertility
A. Fertility
Fertility is a natural process to insure the survival of human species. Through natural selection, we produce many offspring when the reproductive system works at it's peak in a suitable environment with plenty foods around. On the other hand, the reductive system may completely shut down or work at its minimum state and we produce less offspring, when the environment is hostile including less foods around, war, epidemic, etc. but regardless any situation. most women are capable to conceive sometimes before menopause.
B. Infertility
Infertility is defined as the inability of a couple to conceive after 12 months of unprotected sexual intercourse. It affects over 5 million couples alone in the U. S. and many times more in the world. Because of an unawareness of treatments, only 10% seek help from professional specialists. In fact, about 35% of infertility is caused by the male's inability to fertilize. 35% is caused by the female's inability to conceive, 10% attributes to both, and 10 % is considered a failure with an unknown cause.
C. The unexplained causes of infertility
The Unexplained cause of infertility is defined as a condition of a healthy couple who have found no reproductive structure or medical problems, but for whatever reason, the female partner is unable to get pregnant, and modern technologies and doctors in conventional medicine fail to find the causes of infertility.
According to conventional medicine, a couple are diagnosed with explained causes of infertility can have children by going through the process of artificial insemination or other options such as adoption, or subrogation. Some women may seek help from traditional medicine, because of cost effectiveness or believing that traditional medicine can offer a more natural birth.
III. Before proceeding further, let us take a look of:
What is a menstrual cycle?
The menstrual cycle begins when the level of estrogen starts to rise. At certain point, the brain stimulates hypothalamus to produce Gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (FSH) which in turn stimulates the pituitary gland to produce the Follicle stimulating hormone, leading to initiating the growth and recruitment of immature Ovarian follicles in the ovary. At its peak, the pituitary gland switch to produce luteinizing hormone (LH), the FSH starts to decline which stimulates the mature of follicle and the production of estradiol and thicken of the uterus lining as well as promoting friendly cervical mucus, triggering ovulation, resulting in extruding egg from the ovary into the Fallopian tube and initiating the conversion of the residual follicle into a corpus luteum. The corpus luteum in turn produces progesterone in preparing the uterus lining for a possible egg implantation. If pregnancy does not occur, hormone levels plumped, and the thickened uterus limning is shed through the vaginal canal.
There are many thing involved to make the cycle regularly, but unfortunately any disruption may cause irregular menstruation and sometimes interferes the natural process of fertility.
IV. How raw food diet affects fertility in TCM perspective
While conventional medicine have never viewed irregular menstruation seriously, traditional Chinese medicine view irregular menstrual period as a tiny micro change in the female ecosystem. If not treat, it will interfere with the normal process of fertility and other women health's diseases such as nervous tension menstrual pain and cramps etc. Especially if you are diagnosed with the unexplained causes of infertility with irregular period, then your menstrual cycle may be the causes.
V. How to treat raw food diet causes of infertility in traditional Chinese perspective
A. Understand the food classification in TCM perspective
By diagnosis the underlying causes and treating each woman as an unique entity and the body as a whole. Depending in what have been diagnosed, you may be given advice not to eat some kinds of food which may interfere the normal menstrual cycle and dampen your chance of fertility.
1. Cold
Cold foods in traditional Chinese medicine are considered as a type of food which may stimulate the colding effects in your body and deplete the yang qi as resulting of our body needs to counter the cold with yang qi in the body. Prolong period of taking these kinds of food without balancing them with other warm, cooked or hot foods may cause yang qi and kidney yang deficiency, resulting in interfering with normal function of the reproductive organ and leading to irregular period. For women who try to conceive should avoid to eat these types of raw foods or counter them with at least same amount of hot foods.
a) Bamboo
b) Banana
c) Grape fruit
d) Clams
e) Seaweed
f) Watermelon
g) Bitter melon
h) Etc.
2. Cool
Same as cold food, but they are not as strong. It also depletes the yang qi but moderately, therefore eating these types of foods should counter with some warm food to avoid yang qi and kidney yang deficiency. Women who have irregular period and try to get pregnancy are advised to eat only moderate amounts and for nutrients only. Otherwise, they may dampen the chance of fertility.
a) Apple
b) Lecture
c) Cucumber
d) Pear
e) Spinach
f) Strawberry
g) Tomato
h) Etc.
3. Neutral
Although neutral foods are types of food which have no effects in ying and yang qi in the body, but it may have other side effect such as rice, gain and potato which may interfere with insulin production of the spleen as well as liver function in carbohydrate metabolism.
a) Apricot
b) Beet
c) All kinds of red meat
d) Celery
e) Honey
f) Rice
g) Bread
h) Etc.
4. Warm
Warm foods are considered as food with warming effects in the body. It is most important foods which are used most often for pregnant women as they can help to warm the uterus and maintain the healthy pregnancy and protect against miscarriage. Warm foods increase your body temperature and yang qi slightly.
a) Black tea
b) Cherry
c) Chive
d) Leek
e) Peach
f) Raspberry
g Chicken
h.) Etc.
5. Hot
Foods with hot nature are normally good for improving immune system in fighting against forming of free radicals, bacteria and virus and increasing blood flow to the body, including the reproductive organs, but over eating these types of food may cause yin qi and kidney yin deficiency leading to hormone imbalance and interfering with natural process of normal menstrual cycle.
a) Garlic
b) Ginger
c) Pepper
d) Onion
e) Green onion
f) Cinnamon powder
g) Etc.
Finally, we would like you to know that most foods with bitter, sour and salty are classified as yin and hot and sweet are classified as yang.
B. How raw food diet causes infertility
Most raw foods can be either yang or yin pathogens. A typical American raw food diet is most yin and dampness pathogens.
1. Colding and cooling effects
Spleen is important to break down the food and transform them to energy for our body's daily activity. Too much raw foods weaken and slow the digestive system, leading to nutrients deficiency, including the following:
a) Fatigue, tiredness and sluggishness
b) Nervous tension
c) Bloating and gas
d) Unclear thinking
e) Cloudy urine
f) Etc.
Typical raw foods diet puts more strain on the digestion. If spleen is damaged caused by prolong intake of raw food, it may weaken the digestive system in absorbing of nutrients, leading to less efficient assimilation of nutrients. In fact, traditional Chinese medicine view the process of transformation of foods and transportation of nutrients are a warm process in nature, and raw foods are more cold in nature, After entering the stomach, our body need to raise temperature before the food can be digested and absorbed.
2. Dampness affects
Raw foods interfere with the spleen in controlling the internal dampness caused by impairment of water metabolism within the body or spleen damage due to prolong in take of raw dampness hot foods, leading to impairing the spleen yang and the development of interior damp-cold, resulting in qi and blood stagnation, leading to delay menstruation and menstrual pain and cramps. Raw foods cause dampen effect including the following:
a) Milk products
b) Celery,
c) Lettuce, alfalfa,
d) Raw honey
e) Corn.
f) Sage,
g) Parsley
h) Onion
i) Etc.
And the symptoms include
a) Fatigue,
b) Reduced appetite
c) Abdominal bloating and discomfort
d) Other related spleen deficiency symptoms
3. Kidney yin deficiency
Kidney yin also known primordial yin or true yin , is defined as the foundation of the yin fluid of the body, therefore it helps to moisten, nourish the organs and tissues and maintain the body fluid balance with fire of kidney yang. Raw foods are yin in nature, prolong intake of may decrease the yang qi in the kidney, leading to fluid imbalance, resulting in irregular menstruation and in serve case, causing infertility.
a) Lack of energy
Deficiency of kidney yin causes inability of kidney in stabilization of energy, leading to abnormal flow of energy, disrupting the blood flow to the body organs including ovaries in egg production resulting in distorting the normal menstrual cycle in women, leading to irregular period.
b) Blood Flow
Deficiency of kidney yin also increases the risk of irregular blood flow as the heart must work harder to provide more energy to our body, leading to abnormal function of capillaries and interrupting the normal function of small veins in the nervous system, causing dizziness, hearing problems and ringing in the ear. It also causes abnormal blood flow to the reproductive organs, distorting the menstrual cycle.
c) Digestive system
It also causes abnormal digestive system due to spleen function in absorbing vital vitamins and mineral as a result of lack of fluid which is necessary for digestive system in stomach acid secretion, leading to constipation and abnormal pain.
d) Burning sensation
People with kidney yin deficiency feel burning sensation not only in the body including the chest, but also see bright yellow color in their urine, leading to oxidative and kidney damage. If the problem is not treated, it may disrupt natural process of normal menstrual cycle.
e) High temperature
It also increases the body temperature that interferes with egg, cervical mucus production.
4. Blood deficiency
Blood deficiency is defined as not enough blood to distribute to our body organs needs. Tradition Chinese medicine view blood deficiency is caused by weakened liver organ as resulting of a weaken spleen due to prolong period intake of raw foods, thereby reducing the liver function in blood formation, causing not enough blood to distribute to the body such as absence of (no blood for) menstruation or scanty menstruation.. It also leads to abnormal function of reproductive system in regulating menstrual cycle, that disrupts the production of egg or produces poor quality egg and makes uterine mucus hostile to sperm.
There are many symptoms of blood deficiency including:
a) Palpitations caused by your heart have to work harder, because of not enough blood in the body.
b) Forgetfulness and poor memory caused by not enough oxygen delivering to the nervous cells need
c) Insomnia: because of brain cells can not transmit information between themselves, leading to over production of certain hormones.
d) Shortness of breath: you lung has to harder to provide oxygen to your body needs.
e) Dizziness and fatigue is due to oxygen and energy shortage.
f) Constipation due to lack of fluid in the body
g) Pale complexion: lack of blood
5. Blood stagnation
Blood stagnation is defined as qi stagnation or qi deficiency in the liver. In traditional Chinese medicine, raw foods cause freeze and constrict circulation, leading to blood stagnation resulting in menstrual irregularities and sometimes infertility, because of blocking of the blood flow or blood become static to the reproductive organs..
a) Blood stagnation is caused by liver qi imbalance, it reduces the liver function in regulating the secretion of certain hormone in the prostaglandins family thereby, increasing the risk of abdominal cramps, thus causing blood stagnation in the abdominal region.
b) Liver also helps to regulate the secretion of insulin from the spleen, abnormal function of spleen increases the risk of diabetes, leading to blood stagnation in the reproductive organs.
c) Imbalance of liver qi also causes inability of liver in fat and protein metabolism, leading to nervous tension and increasing the risk of hormonal imbalance causing irregular menstrual cycle.
C. How raw food diet causes infertility by looking back to conventional medicine menstrual cycle in TCM Perspective
1. Estrogen
Estrogen which is yin pathogen in TCM, is required to stimulate the brain action in production of Gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (FSH) by the hypothalamus. Raw food diet increases the kidney yang function, causing hormone imbalance with low estrogen and high progesterone and testosterone. Deficiency of yang ( or high level of estrogen) obstructs each step of in the estrogen phrase of the menstrual cycle, causing irregular production of hormones from pituitary gland in secreting FSH and LH and ovaries function in production of follicles such as poor egg quality, thinner the uterine lining which can support an egg implantation and early ovulation.
In some women, it causes menstrual irregularity, but in severe case, it increases the risk of infertility. The symptoms of kidney yang deficiency include:
a) White coat on tongue
b) Pale, frigid appearance
c) Achy pain in joints or muscles
d) Cold extremities
e) Poor digestion
f) Tendencies toward stagnation
g) Depression
h) Emaciation
i) Obesity
j) Etc.
2. Progesterone
Progesterone is considered as yang pathogen. Raw food diet is considered cool or cold in TCM perspective, it reduces the the yang qi to certain degree, depending on types of raw foods consuming daily by each individual. Since the second phrase of the menstrual cycle is the increased production of progesterone ( yang in TCM ), it affects the ability of egg extruding and deter the normal process of supporting the uterus lining in egg implantation as well as increasing the risk of producing cervical mucus which is hostile to sperm invasion. In severe case, it makes conception difficult for some women and infertility to others. As the level of progesterone rise, blood is required to support the uterus and the uterus lining in egg implantation and embryo nourishment. Raw foods cause freeze and constrict circulation, leading to blood stagnation and deficiency, resulting in lessening the chance for the normal process of making a baby.
3. Testosterone
Testosterone ( yang in TCM) is produced in small quality during the progesterone phase. Deficiency of yang qi reduces the production of testosterone, leading to low sexual desire, poor muscle tone and fatigue.
4. Menstruation
In traditional Chinese medicine, raw foods cause freeze and constrict circulation thereby reducing the spleen function in food transportation and weaken the liver function in blood formation, leading to blood stagnation in the productive organs including the uterus, causing not enough blood to support the process and for menstruation if pregnancy does not occur.
D. How raw food diet causes irregular period by looking back to 5 phrases menstrual cycle in TCM Perspective
The traditional Chinese medicine divide the women menstrual cycle into 5 phrases
1. The yin phrase according TCM) lasting about 3-4 days
In this phrase The yang ( progesterone) decreases rapidly and the yin (estrogen) starts to rise, leading to the growth of body fluids, supporting the production of blood and producing sperm friendly mucus as well as making the uterus lining thicken for egg implantation. The deficiency of yin or abundance of yang distorts the production of fluids which are necessary for moister and nourish the blood, causing shortening of yin phrase, leading to not enough time for egg to mature and uterine lining to grow thick enough for egg implantation, resulting in lessening the chance of fertility and increasing the risk of irregular period.
2. The Ovulation phase, lasting about 3 days
At the estrogen (yin) at its peak, liver triggers the starts the ovulation phrase, as resulting of stimulating of the brain action in production of gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (FSH) by the hypothalamus of which in turn stimulates the pituitary gland to produce the follicle stimulating hormone, leading to initiating the growth and recruitment of immature ovarian follicles in the ovary. In this phrase, qi and blood moves downward to promote the implantation of the egg and nourish the uterus to support the growth of embryos. Deficiency of yin and blood stagnation caused by raw food diet shorten the ovulation phrase, leading to not enough time for egg implantation and uterus lining to support the growth of the embryo, causing infertility or miscarriage as well as irregular menstruation.
3. The Yang phrase, lasting about 5 days
During the fourth phase, yin decreases to allow growth of yang (mutual consumption of Yin and Yang). Growth of yang helps to warm the Uterus. Raw food diet causes yang deficiency, thus colding the Uterus that distorts the normal process of egg implantation.
4. The luteal phrase, lasting about 12 days
The luteal phase also is referred to day after ovulation to the day before period. In this phrase, a mature egg was released at ovulation as resulting of the production of progesterone from corpus luteum in preparing the body for pregnancy. Raw food diet causes yin deficiency and liver qi stagnation, leading to rising temperature and distorting the luteal phrase process, resulting in increasing the risk of infertility or irregular menstruation.
5. Menstruation phrase, lasting about 5 days
According the to traditional Chinese medicine, this phrase is dominated by the movement of blood and qi moving downward as resulting of dropping of the level estrogen and progesterone( yin and yang), since raw foods cause freeze and constrict circulation, it causes blood and qi stagnation, leading to delay menstruation, delay period and scanty period.
E. How traditional Chinese medicine helps to treat yang deficiency caused by raw food diet with diet in general approach
a) Appropriate diet
If you are raw food diet follower, make sure you increase the percentage of cooked food in your diet.
b) Moderate exercise
While raw foods interfere with the spleen function in digesting and absorbing nutrients, moderate exercise increases the digestive system in production of stomach acid and enhance blood circulation thus promoting a healthy spleen.
c) Relax and rest
Stress and rest are always a problem for people living in this fast pace society, we face stress constantly everyday, such as sickness of your child, workplace pressure, etc. You make sure that you take a lot of relaxation and rest to avoid the abnormal production of certain hormone.
III. The summary
The raw food diet has written an important page in the America (world) health history as its contribution to make us healthier and reduce the death rate of heart diseases and stroke will never be denied. Since traditional Chinese medicine have been round over 4000 years and proven to be one most effective traditional medicine in treating the unexplained causes of infertility, its idea toward raw food diet must be right in some extent. The aim of this article is to provide reader the other point of view, with no intention to offend anyone, including the raw food advocators. If you are offended by this article, I say sorry. If you are raw food diet supporter and diagnosed with the unexplained causes of infertility, I urge you to give it a try. Although, I don't consider myself as a raw food supporter, but 50% of my daily food intake are considered raw.

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2010-07-01T09:58:00.000-07:00

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