The raw food diet promises to detoxify your body from environmental chemicals and pesticides. Many followers view the raw food diet as a healthy lifestyle change, not a "lose weight quickly" diet. These "raw foodists" eat a diet of uncooked fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, sprouts, seaweed and sprouted grains. Those wanting to become a raw foodist should begin by cutting back on processed foods and animal products, gradually adding more raw fruits and vegetables and healthy transition foods.
Smoothies
Smoothies are a great transition to a raw foods diet. Start by blending frozen fruit together with water or fruit juice. If you do not juice the fruit yourself, it is not raw, but that is OK for a transition food. As you progress, experiment with green smoothies. Green smoothies contain green vegetables such as spinach or kale, usually blended with frozen fruit and water. Green smoothies are a highly nutritious health food.
Lightly Steamed Vegetables
Lightly steaming vegetables allows vegetables to cook without added fat or losing most of the food's nutrients or flavors. To steam vegetables, bring a pot of water to a boil on a stove. Place a steaming rack on the pot and add fresh-cut vegetables. Cover the pot and allow the steam from the water to steam cook the vegetables for a few minutes. Remove and eat the vegetables without butter or oil.
Herbal Teas
Raw food diet advocate Frederic Patenaude recommends coffee as one of the first products to eliminate from your diet. To transition off the caffeine and habit of having a daily cup, switch to green tea. Green tea contains smaller amounts of caffeine so you may avoid having strong caffeine withdrawal symptoms. Raw food advocates prefer caffeine-free herbal teas over green tea, if you choose not to completely eliminate tea.
Meat and Dairy Alternatives
Find alternatives to meat and dairy products and incorporate them into your diet. While not raw, switching to vegan versions of animal products is an effective way to transition into the raw diet.
References
- Alissa Cohen Raw Food
- The Everything Raw Food Recipe Book By Mike Snyder; 2010
- Frederic Patenaude: Blog
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