Raw foods 101

People ask me about my raw journey and how can I eat everything raw? It’s an easy answer, I don’t. Raw includes many fruits, veggies, nuts and seeds of which I eat everyday in some form or another. In the summer, I eat most everything raw (cold) but in the winter I eat some of my foods warmed but I try not to kill the live nutrients and enzymes. So what are we talking about? When I heat up my food I try to keep it under 105 degrees, some people go as high as 110-118 degrees but that is too hot for me. If the food is hot on my skin, it’s over cooked. I choose to eat this way because it makes sense that if the food is alive and I consume it, the live enzymes will be beneficial to my body and immunity. I’ll avoiding processed foods and foods that have been cooked so much the nutrients are dead and therefore, the benefit of eating is no longer.

I blend foods, juice daily and toss many foods together for a salad or a mixture. For example, last night’s supper; I had soup warmed to about 100 degrees, I heated asparagus, spinach, mushrooms and red pepper together and then placed them on the plate with a pile of freshly grown sprouts from my indoor sprouting garden. The meal was fantastic and I was full! If you could have joined me you would have been satisfied and understood how I eat this way. Foods taste better in their natural state which is good for you, good for the planet and overall creates a well-being.

I dehydrate foods as well and they are not as active with the enzymes but still very good for you. I want living food instead of food which no longer has anything to offer me or my immunity. Take an apple, it contains water, has enzymes and will continue to ripen until it decomposes back to the earth, this is the food God intended us to eat. Foods with water are excellent because we all know water is the basis of our living bodies. I soak nuts before eating or using in a recipe because they are easier to digest and nothing is lost in the taste.  I sprouting seeds all the time, in fact when I go today, I will harvest enough sprouts for the rest of this week and into next week. Sprouting is a great way to add young nutrients into your system. I love the taste of them and I sprout all kinds. I get my seeds online and they are fresh and ready to go. If you are interested, let me know and I’ll give you the URL to help get you started. Sprouting takes up very little space, but produces a great crop every few days. Today for lunch I had veggie wrap loaded with fresh sprouts. Excellent meal! I love radish sprouts because they are hot like radishes and I enjoy the added burst of favor. I drink wheat grass juice to and that has anything and everything a person would want and the taste is not that bad for you prudes. My wife, who has a selective tongue, enjoys wheatgrass so there you go, give it a try sometime. These foods are a great way to transition from breads, sugars and processed foods. I encourage you to eat food that will nourish your body and build your immunity. From my last two articles (Super Immunity equals Super Health) you now know that a healthy immune system will keep you from getting sick or worst, ending up with a disease or cancer.

What we eat also has a large impact on the planet, meats are hard to produce and take more acreage to produce than plant based foods. There’s whole article in just the damage done to our planet producing animal foods. So we look better and feel a lot better on the inside. You will ingest fewer toxins, chemicals which places less stress on your immune system. Eating meat causes stress on most every organ in your body, which in turns breaks down the immunity and allows free radicals to grow. This doesn’t make sense to me so I eat a fairly raw diet.

What does raw mean exactly?  I wondered that too in the beginning, high raw is about 70-100% raw each day, raw is eating 50% or more. When you think about it, you eat raw food (fruits and nuts); it’s a matter of choosing to ingest rawer foods into your system. I encourage you to find what works for you. Don’t rush into this and don’t feel pressured either. The choice of the way I eat took me about 6 months of exploring and playing around with my food choices. I wasn’t planning on going raw, it just happened over time. How much raw you eat probably changes with the seasons and what’s going on in your life.  Most of us eat rawer in the summer because cold food tastes good going down. If you do nothing more than to avoid processed foods with no or little nutrients, you are headed in the right direction.

Something I found helpful when shopping for foods and maybe you too, are the PLU codes on food labels.

·        A 4 digits number means it is conventionally grown usually with pesticides.

·        A 5 digit number starting with 9 is organically grown. (Plants that are sprayed need to be purchased organic. A good rule of thumb, if you don’t peel it or cut the outer layer off, it probably should be organic, like strawberries or blueberries, bananas are ok to buy non-organic because you peel the skin off))

·        A 5 digit number starting an 8 means it has been genetically modified.

You may not know that raw foodists have a glow about their skin and in their eyes. Our skin is our largest organ, right, so it’s the healthiest or weakness sign of purity on us. If you want nice clear skin, shiny hair, strong nails and bright eyes; give raw a try for a few days and see the different. My finger nails grow faster and strong with whiter white tips. People have actually noticed my finger nails—seems creepy that someone noticed but it has happened. You can get a glow on and an overall vitality in no time. My wife comments on my high energy levels, even at night and the about work I accomplish each day. I feel great and if I feel sluggish I know I haven’t eaten right. It makes a huge difference in my overall system. My arthritis has faded away and I don’t have any pains, so I’m free to exercise and enjoy life to the fullest. One last benefit, you can eat more and not gain weight or actually lose weight. It’s crazy but so true!

To your health,

Bill