For those of us who have dieted without a great deal of success, consider winning this challenge with a raw food weight loss diet. A raw food diet, is as it implies a diet of raw, unprocessed foods. It is a diet of eating fruit and vegetables that are mostly uncooked.
These fruit and vegetables should ideally be organic or home grown so that there are no pesticide and fertilizer residuals in them. As well as fruit and vegetables you can also eat nuts, seed, beans, seaweeds, milk from young coconuts, purified water (distilled water) and any other organic or natural food which has not been processed.
It is believed that raw food and living food (sprouting beans, seeds and grains) contain essential food enzymes and it is thought that cooking food, that is heating food above 116C destroys the food enzymes.
If you decide to follow a raw food diet you will find that you will have to learn a completely new way of preparing food. You will have to learn how to sprout seeds, grains and beans, soak nuts and dried fruit and juice vegetables and fruits. If any cooking is required you will have to use a dehydrator which just blows hot air through the food and the temperature stays below 116C so that the food enzymes are not destroyed.
It is believed that the enzymes in raw and living foods are a life force and that every food has its own perfect mix of enzymes. That these mixes of enzymes help us digest the food completely without your body having to manufacture its own concoction of enzymes. With cooked foods, the cooking process is thought to destroy vitamins and minerals and that it takes longer to digest. As cooked food takes longer to digest, it allows for partially digested fats, proteins and carbohydrates to clog up your digestive system and arteries.
A raw food diet can aid weight loss, provide you with more energy plus other health benefits. The raw food weight loss diet works because you consume a lot less fats. You will also find that you will not eat as many calories because fruit and vegetables have a lot less calories per bite than other foods. Fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds etc are more fibrous and so you will find that feel fuller quicker. As they help to raise your blood sugars, it will keep your appetite in check and stop you yearning for bad foods.
Raw food weight loss diet drawbacks
The side effects to eating a raw food diet are that you could experience some detoxification, where the body is getting rid of unwanted toxins. This can show as headaches, feeling nauseous, having diarrhoea and mild depression. These symptoms are usually short-lived though.
The drawback to eating a raw food diet is that you are limiting the variety of foods that you eat which could lead to nutritional deficits, for example a lack of iron and calcium over a long time. There are cases where cooking food is actually beneficial, so that phytochemicals can be absorbed into the body easier, such as the lycopene in tomatoes and cartenoids in carrots.
To try and avoid too much stress on the body, with a drastic change in diet, you should build up gradually to eating a totally raw diet. You could start with just eating a few fruits in the morning, before eating your normal diet for the rest of the day. Then start adding salads to your diet until eventually you are eating a completely raw food diet. Pepper, garlic, onion and salt should be avoided as they are irritating to the body and can cause your body to retain water.
So to recap, a raw food weight loss diet can help you lose weight because fruit and vegetables are low in fats but high in nutrients. They also help to make you feel full and so reduce all cravings for foods which is the main reason for weight gain.
If you are looking to start eating a raw food diet, then the following books will help you on your journey.
