Have you joined the Provo Raw Food Meetup Group yet? It’s free and an easy way to stay up-to-date on all the raw food events going on in Utah County. Click here
Also, if you haven’t checked it out yet, go to SummerBear and see what other events are going on.
Here are a few wonderful videos to start with...
Victoria Boutenko 3 Day Seminar
Love Life-Live Raw with Darryl Hannah
Raw for 30 Days with Woody Harrelson
Raw for Life with Dr. Gabriel Cousens, Michael Beckwith and David Wolfe
Got Raw - No Need for Supplements
TEN ADVANTAGES OF EATING RAW
The human race learned long ago that cooking meat before eating it would protect them from certain diseases. Since then this practice of cooking has grown to include all types of foods and is now considered an art. Very few meals are eaten which include raw elements, except for the leafy green salad.
One advantage of eating raw is that it brings Nature’s intentions into focus. When I speak of eating raw I am referring to fruit, nuts, and vegetables, which taste good to the majority of humankind in their basic simplicity direct from tree, bush or vine.
I realize it isn’t easy to simply abandon thousands of years of tradition and revert back to 100% raw food. Margaret Mead once said, “It is easier to change a man’s religion than to change his diet.” So to the point, there are 10 advantages to a diet of fresh, whole raw fruits, vegetables, and nuts, which may lead you to find a greater place for them in your diet.
1. Raw foods are better quality, therefore you eat less to satisfy your nutritional needs. The heat of cooking depletes vitamins, damages proteins and fats, and destroys enzymes which benefit digestion. As your percentage of raw foods increases you feel satisfied and have more energy on smaller meals because raw food has the best balance of water, nutrients, and fiber to meet your body’s needs.
2. Raw foods have more flavor than cooked foods so there is no need to add salt, sugar, spices, or other condiments that can irritate your digestion system or over stimulate other organs.
3. Raw foods take very little preparation so you spend less time in the kitchen. Even a child of 5 or 6 can prepare most items for breakfast, lunch or dinner. This gives children a sense of self-esteem and independence, not to mention the break it gives Mom or Dad.
4. When you are eating raw there’s little chance of burns, unless you’re in the middle of a forest fire or out in the sun too long. Just think! No burns to tongues, the roof of your mouth, or fingers, and many fewer house fires.
5. Cleaning up after a raw meal is a snap. No baked-on oils or crusty messes. And any inedible parts go directly to the compost pile.
6. Eating a diet of raw foods can reverse or stop the advance of many chronic diseases, including heart disease and cancer. Remember, cooking creates free radicals, which are the major cause of cancer. When you lower the number of free radicals your cells are bombarded with, you lower your risk of cancer.
7. A raw food diet can protect you from acute diseases such as colds, flu, measles, etc. Raw foods maintain a healthy body and a healthy body will not become diseased.
8. As long as you combine raw food properly according to the rules of Natural Hygiene, you will soon reach a level where you no longer suffer from heartburn, gas, indigestion or constipation.
9. It is environmentally sound. With humanity on a diet of raw foods, the food industry would close up shop and take up organic gardening. This would save us enormous amounts of natural resources used to produce power for these industries. Nuclear power would be clearly unnecessary. And think of how many trees and oil reserves could be saved without the need for the paper and plastics used in packaging our processed foods. There would also be less carbon dioxide released in to the atmosphere when all the cooking stopped and more oxygen produced from all the new orchards and gardens, thus helping to reverse the Greenhouse Effect.
10. Eating raw saves you money on food, vitamins, pots and pans, appliances, doctor bills, drugs, and health insurance.
So don’t waste your food, yourself, and our planet by cooking what you eat. Fruits, nuts, and vegetables which are whole, fresh and raw are brimming with life and have the ability to transmit their life force directly to you.
Susan Jorg, Estacada, OR
TRANSITIONING FROM COOKED TO RAW
Depending on your personality type, you may want to jump right in and go 100% raw for a month and see how it goes. Maybe you'd like to choose a day a week as a "raw day" or you may like the idea of switching one meal a day to a raw meal. Any way you like, make sure you are prepared.
Learn new ways of un-cooking your favorite foods. Experiment with new recipes. Talk to others and swap recipes. Check with your local health food store for upcoming classes. You may even find a potluck group to meet and taste test with. Check my home page, as I will host classes and potlucks from time to time. Plus, I love teaching classes just give me a jingle.
Believe me when I say this, you will not enjoy some of the raw recipes out there. And, don't beat yourself up like I did in the begining. I remember very early on, I was all gung-ho (I'm a jump right in type), I spent hours in the kitchen, preparing things even the night before to soak. I presented my family with a full 3 course dinner and it was horrible. It's a transition for most of us. A new way of living. It will take time but it is so worth the wait and effort.
After my ordeal, I tried again. Triumph then failure. Good recipes and bad. I found my jump right in approach was not working as my family was squauking at the limited menu to choose from. It seemed I could not learn fast enough to keep up with demand. I brought back a balance of raw and cooked food and with the added time, the scales are tipping in the raw direction.
Be kind and laugh at yourself during this transition. It is a time of awakening that road to vibrant health that we innately know. Enjoy the journey.
The Green Smoothie - The Easiest Way to Enjoy a Raw Meal
I have a few recipes for smoothies in my recipe tab.
Here's a great video on making your very own smoothie.
Your normal blender will do an ok job with smoothies but a high powered blender like the ones at the juice bars will not leave you with chunks of unblended food. Not sure which one to buy?
I own the BlendTec blender you will learn about in the video above. It is one of the best blenders for this and many other raw dishes you will learn about. The VitaMix is also another great blender. Each can be found at my Veggie-Amazon Store.
Here is a video that compares both blenders so you can make the right choice for you. BlendTec or VitaMix?