Deciding To Go Raw

So, now that you know what a raw food diet is all about, you need to decide, is it right for you? One thing to keep in mind is that you do not need to incorporate raw food 100% of the time. You can just eat more fruits and vegetables and no processed foods, and still reap many health benefits.

Orange, pear, apple (Photo credit: Joe Lencioni)

Try drinking fruit juices until lunch time and then eating a healthy veggie sandwich. For dinner, eat some blanched vegetables with a cooked meal with no meats - or a small amount of meat but no dairy or processed grains. 

When you gradually detoxify your body, you will see dramatic results. First, you will go through the initial detoxification process, where you may feel tired, have headaches, skin eruptions, etc. But once you are over this tough time, you will feel light, energetic, full of vitality, and very conscious and aware, among other things. You will have more mental clarity and therefore be more productive. Your body will feel cleansed, you will be less likely to get sick, and quicker to heal if you do. 

You may also see dramatic weight loss, for instance five pounds a week. You will also notice that you do not seem weighed down with colds or sicknesses because your immune system is much stronger. 

You will also save time and money because you will not be in the kitchen cooking all the time. You will not be eating animals, because conventionally farmed animals have been pumped full of hormones which only add to your toxic load. This in turn, puts an end to the torture in conventional animal farming. You will find you're not as likely to be plagued with depression, PMS, or acne. In fact, your skin may be glowing, and you will feel rejuvenated. 

Community supported agriculture (Photo credit: yksin)

AND you will be saving money because you can either grow your own vegetables or buy them at a local CSA or farmers market. Buying organic food is good for the earth and provides agricultural support to small farmers, which is much needed. 

This type of eating also slows the aging process. Your senses will be enhanced; you may be more flexible and fertile. You may find you're more creative, motivated, and also relaxed. You will focus more on relationships and be more environmentally attuned and inwardly attuned, and you may feel more spiritually connected to the world.

Of course, you may not experience all of these benefits, but these are just some reasons why some people choose to embrace a raw-food lifestyle. But remember, you don't have to go cold-turkey, and you may never choose to eliminate all cooked foods, but even just increasing the percentage of raw foods that you eat, and cutting out processed foods and excess meat and dairy will make a huge difference in your health and well-being.

How Eating Raw Triggers Detoxification

Cleaning is an every-day part of our lives. If we’re not cleaning the house, we’re doing laundry, cleaning the car, cleaning out the garage or attic, or clearing our desk of the never-ending piles of bills, junk mail, and coupons we accumulate. For the computer-savvy, cleaning is even an every day process in order to maintain an optimally-running, reliable and safe system. We even clean the outside of our bodies in some form or fashion on a daily basis, from showering to teeth brushing.

So, if cleaning is such a healthy part of our every day lives, logic would dictate we should do the same for the inside of our body as well, right??

Anterior view of the abdominal region. Skin is translucent in order to see the lymphatic system (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Detoxification and tissue cleansing is the process of purging environmental and chemical toxins from your body. Such toxins can disrupt every system in your body. If our body is polluted with such toxins, its own detoxification system – namely the liver, lungs, skin, kidneys and lymphatic system – cannot work properly, and these unruly poisons set up shop in every cell of our body, and soon begin to wreak havoc with our physical, mental and emotional well-being. (For more on toxic load and and how to minimize its impact on your health, visit http://www.newholisticliving.com/toxicload.html.)

These contaminants can create such problems as lethargy, foggy thinking, unhealthy skin, decreased vision, mood swings, and digestive disorders. However, by adopting a healthier and cleaner lifestyle, including eating healthy raw foods, our body can conduct its own ‘spring cleaning.’ And contrary to what most might think, raw foods are actually more easily digestible than cooked foods are.

Eating raw foods also enables the digestive system to ‘clean house’ and begin the process of purging the dangerous environmental and chemical toxins from the cells of the body, thereby restoring the systems to their optimal states. In addition, since raw foods are so nutrient-dense, they also simultaneously provide the body with much-needed and missed nutrients, vitamins, and minerals it needs in order to continually perform optimally on an ongoing basis.

Whether you choose to continue on a raw food diet long-term is up to you, but it's great for cleansing and purging toxins from your body on a short term basis as well.