It would be unfair and unrealistic to recommend a healthy food diet to someone without warning them about some pitfalls. It is not unusual for anyone who is beginning to make changes to their diets to experience an adjustment period.
The Fallacy of Supplements
The reason that getting fiber from raw food is so much better than taking supplements has to do with how supplements are prepared. Processed food loses much of its health benefits to begin with, but sometimes the producers want to ascribe to the taste good principle, which can further degrade any good results. Loading supplements with sweeteners or artificial flavors to try to make them more appealing often takes away the very thing that you hope to gain.
Shock to the System
You should eat anywhere from 30-40 grams of fiber a day in order to help ward off such diseases as high cholesterol, obesity, high blood sugar, colon cancer (or any other type of cancer) and heart disease. Deciding on a high fiber diet is going to cause some changes simply because your body doesn't understand a sudden change. You could experience headaches, constipation, nausea, or diarrhea when first starting to eat healthy foods. If you get your fiber from raw foods, there is a much less chance of adverse effects, but no guarantees.
If you do have problems at first, simply work into the diet more slowly so the period of adjustment won't be as severe, but remember that any change in a diet that your body has grown accustomed to is going to require indoctrination into a new one. Eating less food prepared with high-glycemic sweets can be likened to withdrawal from a drug.
When you begin a diet that requires drinking more water than you've consumed in the past and you add fiber, raw fruits and vegetables in higher amounts you might have a "cleansing crisis." Rest assured if you stay the course, you will quickly move to a position where you not only lose the early discomforts, but you feel much better than you did on an unhealthy diet.
Anything Without a Bar Code
If you select fresh organic raw foods that you clean well, you get the most natural and healthy foods possible. You don't have to rely on information printed on the back of a package that can be questionable. If you aren't taking a supplement, you don't have to wonder if you are being loaded with other elements that hinder or counteract the beneficial effects you are striving to achieve.
You can train yourself to easily recognize the raw foods that are high in fiber and don't require additives to do their jobs. Think of dark green as the color of fiber because leafy green vegetables are a wonderful source along with almost any other vegetable. Add to that the fact that minerals, vitamins, and beta-carotene are abundant in these raw foods, and you will easily see why they should be a great addition to your diet. Foods with the highest amount of fiber are sprouted beans, dried fruits, fresh berries, nuts like almonds, brazil nuts, and walnuts. Pears, apples, and strawberries have one of the highest amounts of fiber contents of any of the fruits. There are so many choices when it comes to a fiber rich diet that there is no excuse to not eat your fiber!
Recipe - Hummus in the Raw
Ingredients:
* Fresh zucchini squash - 1 large
* 1 garlic clove
* 1/3 cup olive oil
* 2 teaspoons sea salt
* 2/3 cup tahini
* 1/2 cup sesame seeds
* Paprika to taste
* Cumin to taste
* 2/3 cup fresh lemon juice
Instructions:
1. Peel zucchini and place in blender with olive oil, garlic, sea salt, lemon juice, sesame seeds, tahini, paprika, and cumin.
2. Blend until smooth.
3. Taste and adjust seasonings as necessary.
4. Will keep in refrigerator up to four days.
5. Serve with carrots, celery, crackers, sliced avocados, or with fresh leafy greens.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Raw Food Diet Tools of the Trade - The Sprout Starter
In this article will cover a handy tool used in the raw food diet, the sprout starter.
Sprouting your own healthy seeds in a healthy raw food diet is not only convenient, but also saves money on your grocery bill. Seed sprouting is not difficult, even if you don't consider yourself to have a green thumb. Sprouting your own seeds is easy, healthy, and economical.
Here are a few points to ponder regarding a sprout starter for your kitchen:
* You can sprout many different varieties of seeds, so there's always variety in your raw food diet.
* You can choose a sprout starter that suits your specific needs. There are small single tier models, multi-tiered stackable sprouting systems, or you can use a glass Mason jar.
* You can choose totally organic seeds for your sprout starter.
* Sprouts are very healthy and loaded with beneficial nutrients, digestive enzymes, minerals, protein, amino acids, vitamins, and iron.
* It only takes a few days to have sprouts from your starter.
* The growing season for sprouts is year round, and you can grow them no matter what the climate is where you live.
* Just a few of the sprouts you can grow in a starter include mung beans, green peas, clover, lentils, alfalfa, almonds, sunflower, radish, buckwheat, wheat, cabbage, kale, quinoa, sesame, broccoli, snow peas, and garbanzo beans.
* Fresh organic sprouts go straight from sprouter to table, so you enjoy nutritious sprouts that have not been sitting for an unknown length of time on a grocery shelf. Your sprouts are always fresh, coming straight out of your starter to be rinsed and instantly enjoyed.
Different Types of Sprout Starters
There are commercial sprout starters available or you can simply create your own. Commonly used methods for sprouting include:
* Glass Mason Jars
* Cloth
* Plastic Tubes
* Plastic Mesh
* Clay Saucers
* Plastic Trays
* Hemp Bags
Fresh sprouts are one of the healthiest and most nutritious foods you can include in your organic raw food diet. By growing your own sprouts, you are assured of having fresh organic sprouts handy whenever you want them. You can omit chemicals, pesticides, and synthetic fertilizers so the sprouts you grow are 100% organic.
Sprout Salad Extravaganza
Ingredients:
* Fresh spinach leaves
* Diced cucumbers
* Halved cherry tomatoes
* Sunflower greens
* Buckwheat lettuce
* Sprouts grown from a bean blend such as San Francisco or Madison Market mix
* Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper
* Oil and vinegar
Directions:
1. Clean and prepare greens, vegetables, and sprout ingredients.
2. Toss together with salt, pepper, and oil and vinegar dressing.
3. Enjoy!
Sprouting your own healthy seeds in a healthy raw food diet is not only convenient, but also saves money on your grocery bill. Seed sprouting is not difficult, even if you don't consider yourself to have a green thumb. Sprouting your own seeds is easy, healthy, and economical.
Here are a few points to ponder regarding a sprout starter for your kitchen:
* You can sprout many different varieties of seeds, so there's always variety in your raw food diet.
* You can choose a sprout starter that suits your specific needs. There are small single tier models, multi-tiered stackable sprouting systems, or you can use a glass Mason jar.
* You can choose totally organic seeds for your sprout starter.
* Sprouts are very healthy and loaded with beneficial nutrients, digestive enzymes, minerals, protein, amino acids, vitamins, and iron.
* It only takes a few days to have sprouts from your starter.
* The growing season for sprouts is year round, and you can grow them no matter what the climate is where you live.
* Just a few of the sprouts you can grow in a starter include mung beans, green peas, clover, lentils, alfalfa, almonds, sunflower, radish, buckwheat, wheat, cabbage, kale, quinoa, sesame, broccoli, snow peas, and garbanzo beans.
* Fresh organic sprouts go straight from sprouter to table, so you enjoy nutritious sprouts that have not been sitting for an unknown length of time on a grocery shelf. Your sprouts are always fresh, coming straight out of your starter to be rinsed and instantly enjoyed.
Different Types of Sprout Starters
There are commercial sprout starters available or you can simply create your own. Commonly used methods for sprouting include:
* Glass Mason Jars
* Cloth
* Plastic Tubes
* Plastic Mesh
* Clay Saucers
* Plastic Trays
* Hemp Bags
Fresh sprouts are one of the healthiest and most nutritious foods you can include in your organic raw food diet. By growing your own sprouts, you are assured of having fresh organic sprouts handy whenever you want them. You can omit chemicals, pesticides, and synthetic fertilizers so the sprouts you grow are 100% organic.
Sprout Salad Extravaganza
Ingredients:
* Fresh spinach leaves
* Diced cucumbers
* Halved cherry tomatoes
* Sunflower greens
* Buckwheat lettuce
* Sprouts grown from a bean blend such as San Francisco or Madison Market mix
* Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper
* Oil and vinegar
Directions:
1. Clean and prepare greens, vegetables, and sprout ingredients.
2. Toss together with salt, pepper, and oil and vinegar dressing.
3. Enjoy!
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Choices, Choices, What Type of Juicer to Use on a Raw Food Diet
These days there is a kitchen appliance to do just about everything. There are choppers, slicers, dicers, juicers, blenders, and much more. With the availability of all these gadgets and gizmos, raw food preparation can be a breeze, not to mention a lot of fun. Let's explore one of these handy tools of the trade:
The Raw Food Juice Extractor
A juice extractor provides an excellent way to extract the beneficial nutrients from raw fruits and vegetables. A juicer separates the juice from the pulp of the fruit. Anyone on a raw food diet needs to have a juicer as part of their array of equipment.
There are many different juicers on the market in different price ranges. An electric juicer is much simpler and faster to use than a manual one. There are two main types of juicers:
* Centrifugal (least expensive and the oldest design type) - this type of juicer works using a spinning motion at high speeds. The food is inserted into a chute, and the centrifugal motion spins the juice away from the food fiber. The juice is then dispensed into a separate container or leaving the pulp fiber behind in a basket. With this type of juicer you can only produce 1-2 quarts before you have to take it apart to clean out the pulp. They also don’t juice leafy greens very well, but I have added parsley and cilantro to many of my morning green juices!
* Masticating (more expensive but they extract more of the nutrients from the produce) - this juicer works similar to your teeth by grinding and chewing the food fiber while squeezing the juice from the food pulp. This juicer operates at a low speed and has no centrifugal action, and many think it does a more efficient juicing job. You may also use a masticating juicer with a blank plate insert for raw nut butters or raw tomato sauces. You can also grate your vegetables and fruits by not putting a screen or blank in at all.
There are also manual juicers that are used for citrus fruits and leafy greens, such as orange juice or wheat grass.
Centrifugal juice extractors tend to be a lot noisier than masticating juicers. A masticating extractor also tends to make more juice out of less raw food than the spinning type of extractor.
Consider the health benefits of using a juice extractor:
* It's a healthy way to obtain a boost of energy
* Fresh juice is easily absorbed by your body's digestive system
* Fiber is essential for proper nutrition, and raw food juice is an excellent source of it
* Fresh juice without additives or preservatives provides your body with essential minerals, vitamins, and nutrients
* Extracting your own juice is much more economical than purchasing at a juice bar
Gazpacho Juice Drink Recipe
Ingredients:
* 2-3 cups of diced ripe tomatoes
* 1 peeled cucumber
* 1 celery stalk, washed and trimmed
* 1-2 green onions, washed and trimmed
* black pepper, fine grain sea salt, cayenne pepper to taste
* Tabasco sauce (optional)
Directions:
1. Wash and prepare raw food for extraction.
2. Juice the tomatoes, cucumber, celery, green onions, and seasonings.
3. Pour into glass and season with Tabasco if desired.
4. Enjoy!
The Raw Food Juice Extractor
A juice extractor provides an excellent way to extract the beneficial nutrients from raw fruits and vegetables. A juicer separates the juice from the pulp of the fruit. Anyone on a raw food diet needs to have a juicer as part of their array of equipment.
There are many different juicers on the market in different price ranges. An electric juicer is much simpler and faster to use than a manual one. There are two main types of juicers:
* Centrifugal (least expensive and the oldest design type) - this type of juicer works using a spinning motion at high speeds. The food is inserted into a chute, and the centrifugal motion spins the juice away from the food fiber. The juice is then dispensed into a separate container or leaving the pulp fiber behind in a basket. With this type of juicer you can only produce 1-2 quarts before you have to take it apart to clean out the pulp. They also don’t juice leafy greens very well, but I have added parsley and cilantro to many of my morning green juices!
* Masticating (more expensive but they extract more of the nutrients from the produce) - this juicer works similar to your teeth by grinding and chewing the food fiber while squeezing the juice from the food pulp. This juicer operates at a low speed and has no centrifugal action, and many think it does a more efficient juicing job. You may also use a masticating juicer with a blank plate insert for raw nut butters or raw tomato sauces. You can also grate your vegetables and fruits by not putting a screen or blank in at all.
There are also manual juicers that are used for citrus fruits and leafy greens, such as orange juice or wheat grass.
Centrifugal juice extractors tend to be a lot noisier than masticating juicers. A masticating extractor also tends to make more juice out of less raw food than the spinning type of extractor.
Consider the health benefits of using a juice extractor:
* It's a healthy way to obtain a boost of energy
* Fresh juice is easily absorbed by your body's digestive system
* Fiber is essential for proper nutrition, and raw food juice is an excellent source of it
* Fresh juice without additives or preservatives provides your body with essential minerals, vitamins, and nutrients
* Extracting your own juice is much more economical than purchasing at a juice bar
Gazpacho Juice Drink Recipe
Ingredients:
* 2-3 cups of diced ripe tomatoes
* 1 peeled cucumber
* 1 celery stalk, washed and trimmed
* 1-2 green onions, washed and trimmed
* black pepper, fine grain sea salt, cayenne pepper to taste
* Tabasco sauce (optional)
Directions:
1. Wash and prepare raw food for extraction.
2. Juice the tomatoes, cucumber, celery, green onions, and seasonings.
3. Pour into glass and season with Tabasco if desired.
4. Enjoy!
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