raw food diet meal plan
Are you looking into the raw food diet however fearing the price of the ingredients? Do not worry; there are tricks to finding the perfect healthy foods for less than half the price of what you pay on a traditional American diet.
So, if you are thinking about eating a raw food diet, you have made a wonderful choice that you will not turn away from if you do it in steps. At first, when my family started eating raw food, we were unsure if we could afford to purchase healthy fresh foods instead of the processed foods that we traditionally bought.
Introduction
Adopting a healthy lifestyle is a goal for many people. One way to achieve this goal is to follow a raw food diet meal plan. This type of diet consists of consuming uncooked fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds. While it may seem challenging to adopt this type of diet, it offers numerous health benefits, such as improved digestion and increased energy.
However, it is crucial to plan meals carefully to ensure that the body receives all the nutrients it needs, such as protein and vitamin B12. A raw food diet meal plan typically consists of uncooked fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds.
What is raw food?
These foods are consumed in their natural state, without being cooked or processed. The diet emphasizes the consumption of fresh, organic, and locally grown produce. Many people who follow this diet also consume sprouts, fermented foods, and fresh juices. The raw food diet is believed to provide numerous health benefits, including weight loss, improved digestion, and a lower risk of chronic diseases.
Since we were new to eating raw, the first week we tried out a few recipes and tested the waters. We were surprised that the grocery store had all the ingredients that were required. Although we have been eating healthy, due to our ignorance neither my husband nor I had heard of Almond Butter, Cashew Butter, Agave syrup, and so on.
It was a big surprise when we went down to the raw food section of our grocery store and found all these ingredients. To our surprise, we found the prices to be slightly higher for raw foods than processed foods. The longer we thought about it, the more it made sense though.
When purchasing processed foods, the food products that can practically live in your house for years and still be safely consumed are full of chemicals.
Therefore, processed foods are able to stay on the shelves for longer, since they are packed with long-living chemicals. For instance, a few months ago, I heard my neighbor talking about store-purchased bread that was bought over three months ago.
The neighbor stated that she had indeed used the bread and the taste was absolutely no different than the first time she purchased it. In my case, the homemade bread that I make in my house only lasts about one week, unlike three months.
It is shocking that people are still eating these chemical-filled foods to fuel their bodies. I can understand that grocery stores have less of an overall cost, since processed foods are not perishable and will not deem a loss; therefore they have increased the prices of raw foods.
Interested in trying the raw food diet however confused about what is raw and what is not?
There are many difficulties at first when trying out a new style of living.
Hence, many people have criticized the raw food diet, stating they have gained weight, however, it is not the diet concept however the food choices that were wrongly construed. Here is a guide that will assist anyone trying to figure out what is raw and what is not to optimize on this diet.
Please remember that all raw food diets are based upon eating fruits, vegetables, sprouts, nuts, seeds, grains, sea vegetables, and other organic/natural foods that have not been processed. It is essentially an uncooked, unheated, unprocessed, and organic plant-based diet. There are many products that I would consider raw but would not consider eating though, such as raw dairy and meat. So, here are some suggestions to answer those that are confused.
1. Young Coconuts: These are terrific for gaining calcium and fat. They are full of electrolytes and can be used as a freshwater source.
2. Dried Fruits: It still shocks me that many manufacturers actually cook dried fruits and add sugar to increase appeal on the market shelves. For example, most banana chips that are purchased in the grocery store actually contain just about the same amount of sugar and are baked well above 200 degrees Fahrenheit as popular cereal. Try to make your dried fruits through a food dehydrator, which is rather cheap in grocery stores today with the decrease in popularity.
In addition, there are some products that actually sun-dry fruits without adding sugar. Always look for the “sun-dry” marking on the package and double-check the ingredients for sugar or sucrose. If you have extra time, you can dry your own at home in the sun too!
3. Dates: This fruit is an excellent choice because most available products are sun-dried.
raw food diet meal plan for weight loss
There are many weight loss programs available today, but which one is going to work for you? Low-carb eating works well for someone that has problems with their sugar level. There are also food plans that are for people on the go. You can buy your meals precooked and just add water or pop them in the microwave. One food plan that is gaining popularity is the Raw Food Diet.
Have you heard about the raw food diet meal plan?
It is becoming more attractive, not just as a diet to lose weight, but as a diet for a long and healthy life. We eat so much in the way of processed food that we don’t even stop to think about what we’re putting into our bodies, and how far we’ve come nutritionally from our ancestral, agrarian roots.
A raw food diet means consuming food in its natural, unprocessed form. There are several common-sense rationales for why this is a good idea. Processing and cooking food can take so much of the basic nutritional value away.
Think of some of the conventional wisdom you’ve heard about for years, such as: If you cook pasta just to the al dente (or medium) stage, it will have more calories, yes, but it will have more of the nutritional value in it than if you cooked it to a well-done stage. Or you probably remember hearing not to peel carrots or potatoes too deeply, because most of the nutrients and values are just under the surface.
The raw food diet meal plan means eating unprocessed, uncooked, organic, whole foods, such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, legumes, dried fruits, seaweed, etc. It means a diet that is at least 75% uncooked! Cooking takes out flavor and nutrition from vegetables and fruits. A raw food diet means eating more the way our ancient ancestors did.
Our healthier, more fit ancestors. They cooked very little and certainly didn’t cook or process fruits and vegetables. They ate them raw. Their water wasn’t from a tap; it was natural, spring water. Maybe they drank some coconut milk on occasion.
Doesn’t it just make sense that this is how our bodies were meant to eat? It’s a way of eating that’s in harmony with the planet and in harmony with our own metabolisms. Our bodies were meant to work, and need to work to be efficient. That means exercise, certainly, but it also means eating natural, raw foods that require more energy to digest them.
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