Raw food diet is considered healthier the consumer can get more nutrients and other food substances, such as enzymes, that become lost or degraded when cooking. Thus, many people are now switching to a raw food diet. However, starting a raw food diet is not easy as it seems. Just like any restricted diet, raw food diet needs to be carefully planned so that you can get all the nutrients essential to your body. This is what most people forget. In addition, preparing raw food is more tedious than cooking, since peeling and processing fruits and vegetables take more time. Thus, here are some tips you can follow in starting your raw food diet.
One thing to note is that a lot of people get a lot of gas, bloating, cramps when they start a raw food diet. If you are experiencing that, or are worried, please consider probacto probiotics and digestive enzymes.
First of all, you must be knowledgeable about the raw food diet. You must understand what the raw food diet is for, and what health benefits you can get from it. You need to know what food you can eat and what food you need to avoid. You must also learn how to prepare the food you will eat.
Next, you need to equip your kitchen. Basic equipment includes blender, juicer, and food processor. A thermometer is also essential, because you can still cook food, but you need to monitor that the temperature does not exceed 118° F.
Of course, you need to regularly include raw food in your grocery. Raw food staples include whole grains, beans, nuts, dried fruits, seaweeds and sprouted seeds.
When trying the raw food diet, you need to start gradually. Begin by adding raw food to snacks or dinner. Just start with one meal at a time. Since you are still eating a combination of raw and cooked food, eat the raw food first, then the cooked food last. Then gradually add more and more amounts of raw food while eliminating cooked food one at a time. When you get used to it, add raw food to breakfast, to lunch, until you reach around 75-80% raw food in your meals, which is ideal for most people. Remember, you don’t need to rush it.
Since there is no animal meat in raw food diet, you must make sure that you still get the nutrients that are usually found in animal meat. These nutrients include iron, calcium, vitamin D, vitamin B12 and omega-3 fatty acid. Iron can be commonly found in tofu, nuts and legumes. Calcium, on the other hand, can be found in soybeans and cabbage. You can get vitamin D and B12 from food products fortified with such vitamins, such as cereals and soy milk. It is also recommended that you take additional vitamin D and vitamin B12 supplements. For omega-3, you can add walnuts, soybean oil and flaxseed to your diet.
Lastly, learn through your doctor, nutritionist or even through the internet. There are many tips that you can get from websites, and you can learn new recipes. You can also interact with other people having the same diet through forums. There are no boundaries to learning, so try to explore! One last tip, please do it properly. It can make you super healthy or even super sick.
Photo Credit – Olearys @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/97513256@N06/ @ Creative Commons
