Eating raw fruit and vegetables provides you with healthy weight management and also protects you with heart health. Fruit and veggies are packed with vitamins, minerals and fiber. Eating them raw leaves these nutrients intact. Cooking may lose some of the nutrients. A raw fruit and veg diet works as a short-term way for healthy weight loss or as a routine diet for long-term health. You can include other natural additions, such as nuts, seeds and whole grains for a healthy eating plan.
Heart Protection
Getting between five to 13 servings a day of fruits and vegetables helps maintain weight and combat heart disease, according to the Harvard School of Public Health. Your intake of fruits and veggies depends on your own particular caloric needs. A person who needs 2,000 calories a day, for example, benefits from nine servings of fruits and vegetables a day. The Nurses’ Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-up Study followed nearly 110,000 subjects for 14 years. Those who consumed eight or more servings a day of fruits and vegetables had a 30 percent less likely chance of having a heart attack or stroke.
Cleanse Your Body
Some people pile on the fruits and vegetables in a raw food diet, which may also include nuts, seeds, beans, grains, legumes, unprocessed organic or natural foods, freshly juiced fruit and vegetables and purified water. Others may use raw fruit and vegetables in a detox diet to cleanse the body of toxins and impurities. A detox diet may include a 24-hour fast followed by a week of eating raw fruit and veggies easily digested for maximum nutrition, enhancement of metabolism and strengthening the immune system. The high fiber content in fruits and vegetables helps flush toxins out of the body, Healthadel points out.
Choosing Produce
Selecting a variety of fruits and vegetables keeps your diet fresh and unique everyday. Pick different colors of fruits and vegetables, which help provide you with different combinations of nutrients, according to Better Health Channel. Many fruits and vegetables are easy to keep on hand. Chop up celery or carrot sticks and leave them in the refrigerator for quick snacks. Keep fresh fruit in a bowl on the counter or dining room table. Garnish your salads with raw fruits and vegetables or add them as side dishes for meals.
Sample Menu
A sample raw fruit and vegetable breakfast may include ½ orange or an 8 ounce glass of fresh orange or apple juice; ½ whole-wheat bagel with 1 teaspoon low-fat cream cheese or peanut butter, 2 slices of tomatoes, 1 boiled or scrambled egg. For lunch, try a mixed salad with fresh lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, green peppers and onions with low-fat salad dressing; 5 whole wheat crackers; 4 ounces lean, skinless chicken or fish; water, fruit juice or unsweetened tea. Dinner includes 4 to 6 ounces lean meat and steamed broccoli, carrot and cauliflower. Steaming vegetables allows the veggies to absorb nutrients from their own juices instead of cooking out the nutrients. Enjoy water or freshly squeezed fruit juice. You can leave out the meat if you prefer and replace with fresh veggie sandwiches or dried beans.
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