What Can You Eat On a Raw Food Diet?
Raw foodism is a movement in which the raw foodists eat only raw, organic and unprocessed food. Thus the diet of raw foodists consists of uncooked, without any chemical preservatives food and which has not been frozen.
Some even believe that the using juicers and processors is harmful and fruits are meant to be eaten whole—the way they are found in nature.
Solids that form a part of the raw diet:
Diets of raw foodists will constitute of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds (whole grains), sprouts and even sea weed. While raw food diet has been criticized by many as lacking in essential nutrients, it is possible to get all the necessary amino acids and essential nutrients from such a diet.
What is required is a carefully balanced diet which will provide all the essential nutrients as well as the two thousand calories of energy on a daily basis. However, another way out is to take nutritional supplements to cover the deficiencies in the diet.
Drinks that can be considered raw:
Just like food, a raw foodist also consumes drinks that haven’t been processed and does not contain any chemical preservatives, colouring, etc. The drinks therefore will include purified water, fresh juices and coconut water or coconut milk. Coconut water can be obtained from the green, young coconuts which are available on certain seasons only.
The packaged juices available in stores are processed and hence are not ‘raw’. You can make your own juices using a blender or a juicer from a variety of vegetables and fruits such as pineapples, mangos, oranges, carrots, spinach, apples, lemons, etc.
The dried tea leaves that are available on the market have not been naturally dried in sunlight—they are dried artificially at high temperatures. Tea can be prepared at home by growing the shrub at home and drying the leaves over a period of time by exposing them to the sunlight.
Tea prepared thus is known as ‘sun tea’. Boiling tea is not considered ‘raw’ by the raw foodists. You can use warm water below one hundred degrees to soak them and prepare the drink. Honey can be used as a natural sweetener and lemon can be used for a fresh flavour. Mint can also be used to make tea in a similar process.
Food eaten by raw foodists is very diverse and may vary from one family to another like it varies in other diets or no dieting. Whatever you choose to eat, make sure that it is fresh and natural. Cooked or uncooked food products…that’s another story. Try at first to avoid food that is literally intoxicating your body making you gain weight and loose health.