There are many theories and studies showing that eating raw and unprocessed foods can really help you reach big health goals and keep a healthy weight if you eat the right amounts for you. It also helps prevent lots of common chronic diseases worldwide. Fans of this idea say cooking breaks down many enzymes in food that are good for our bodies.
So you'll learn about this diet, its benefits, risks, and how to eat on it. And if you find it useful and it gives you the nutrients you need,you can message us on our Facebook page and share your experience.
This diet goes back to a Swiss doctor who treated some patients by having them eat raw foods like apples. Some vegans might try this since it’s kinda close to veganism. The diet is about 70% veggies, fruits, nuts, seeds, grains, and legumes.
What should I eat?
Vegetables and fruits are easy to get fresh, but foods like nut butter, almond milk, olive oil, cocoa, and soy sauce and others are hard to get fresh without stuff like sugar or hydrogenated oils. You can use veggies to make salads, juices, soups, and some veggies you can turn into noodles like zucchini.
You can eat fruits fresh to get their water to hydrate your body or eat them dried or in juices. You can also add raw cacao nibs to your diet or carob powder or unroasted coffee beans. Also, nuts are foods that help give your body many essential nutrients.
Nuts and seeds help you make sauces like pesto. You can use plant-based milks like almond milk to make desserts like ice cream with fruits. You can dry some crunchy snacks like flax seeds and chia seeds.
There are some products you’ll have to read labels on and make sure they have no additives and fit your diet too, Foods that are roasted, dry roasted, cooked, or baked are not raw. Canned and preserved foods are not suitable for this diet.
What you should know about the raw food diet
There are no specific meal timing rules in this diet, It also helps with weight loss because most foods you eat are low in calories, like vegetables. Also, it keeps you full for a long time because it's high in fiber. This diet is very close to gluten-free and plant-based diets.
Soaking foods
Some foods contain enzymes that cooking destroys, So you can soak them to make them easier to eat, And this is done by soaking them in water for a set time. For example, cashews need two hours to be ready for some dishes. Below, we'll look at the methods and times needed for some foods like legumes and nuts, which are:
- Rinse the beans, nuts, legumes, and seeds, then put them in a glass container.
- Then add some clean room temperature water until they are covered.
- Leave them soaking for a whole day.
- Rinse them twice before use.
Drying
There are some food drying devices that help dry food easily, this mimics sun drying, and you can also use sun drying but it takes a long time and high temperatures. Drying helps get toasted bread and dried tomatoes, and kale chips, making raisins, and dried fruit like apricots.
Blending or Juicing
You can mix and chop foods using a food processor or blender, to make soup, juice, or pesto sauce, and you can also juice some vegetables and fruits.
Allowed Foods
There are some allowed foods:
- Legumes: Some legumes are allowed like buckwheat, quinoa, oats, and wheat germ but you need to know the right way to prepare them.
- Beans and legumes: Some legumes can be eaten raw, like chickpeas, lentils, fava beans, and soybeans. These foods are safe when raw.
- Fats: Main fat sources include avocado, cold-pressed coconut oil, chia oil, and raw flaxseed oil.
- Drinks: Water is definitely the most important drink to rely on. Some experts recommend raw barley water and fresh fruit juice, plus coconut water. Drinks to avoid in this plan are caffeinated ones like coffee and green or black tea, also herbal teas since they use boiled water.
- Herbs and spices: Some spices and seasonings allowed are: Himalayan salt, apple cider vinegar, basil, garlic, cinnamon, ground cumin or seeds, raw chocolate, curry, dill, ginger, soy sauce, parsley, raw vanilla beans, vinegar.
- Sweeteners: Most sweeteners are processed but some allowed ones are: coconut nectar, date sugar, raw agave syrup, raw honey, stevia sugar.
Drawbacks and benefits
We'll split the pros and cons so you can see if it suits you or not:
Benefits
- It encourages avoiding processed foods.
- It contains low amounts of saturated fat and sodium.
- It affects weight and helps you get a healthy weight.
Drawbacks
- Restrictive and has specific foods.
- Raises the risk of many nutrient deficiencies.
- Not practical for many people.
Health benefits
This diet has many health benefits because of its low calories, avoiding sugar and processed foods, and eating lots of vegetables which have potassium, magnesium, folic acid, fiber, antioxidants, vitamin A, and it helps prevent constipation.
