Is Your Diet as Healthy as it Could Be? The Raw Food Diet and Cleanse.
Healthy food is good for you, cooked or raw, right? Well yes and no. While it’s important to always choose the healthiest foods, free of synthetic chemicals, locally grown and organic, low in saturated fats and refined sugars, the way you prepare it can also make a big difference.
It’s important not to stress ourselves out trying to live up to rigorous standards (because after all stress is as toxic as the most toxic food) but when we can choose, the best and most efficient way to consume the most nutrients, is in their raw state. The good news is, Raw can be delicious and doesn’t have to feel like a sacrifice.
Why is Raw so good for you? First of all, when you cook food, you lose at least 30% of the nutrients and 100% of the enzymes in that food. Nutrients are the building blocks of cells in our body and enzymes aid digestion and other bodily functions.
Next, cooking food chemically changes the molecular structure of raw plants which may convert to toxins, carcinogens, mutagens and free- radicals associated with diseases like diabetes, arthritis, heart disease and cancer.
Having a good balance of raw foods in your diet helps reduce these toxic risks by flooding your body with the most nutritious food possible, giving your body the ability to heal and rejuvenate at a deep cellular level.
Retaining enzymes is so important because enzymes are the building blocks of life! Your body’s enzymes are responsible for every single action in your body: from chewing and digesting our food, to waking up in the morning and brushing your teeth. Your body produces some of its own enzymes, but you also need help from your food. If you don’t have enough enzymes, your body won’t have the energy to develop new cells, fight off infections, or digest your food. By feeding your body raw foods, your body is literally being fed energy! When your body has help from foods’ enzymes, you’ll have more
energy than ever imagined! This extra energy can be used to heal your body. Yay for enzymes!
Raw foods also help your body reach an alkalized state—where healing, weight loss, and detoxification occur.
There are two types of foods: acidic and alkaline. Acidity encourages decomposition, decay, disease and energy loss. Alkaline foods support detoxification and balance in the body. Our natural body creates both acidity and alkalinity, but the typical packaged and fast food diet overloads our system with too much acidity. Foods like sugar, meat, alcohol, cheese, and chocolate are very acidic and damaging all the time, and that’s why we avoid them during the cleansing and healing process. Green leafy vegetables, growing sprouts, and fresh fruits are all alkalizing and cleansing.
In summary, Raw food allows for all of the following physical health benefits:
Increased energy Better digestion Weight loss Reduced risk of heart disease Reduced risk of diabetes and cancer A great sense of wellbeing Improved skin appearance Connection to your food and surroundings A highly ethical and sustainable diet
A Raw diet is a high vibration diet, meaning that the energy consumed in the food is transformed into energy in the body, which is how we receive all the physical benefits listed above. But beyond the physical benefits, we can also celebrate the spiritual and ethical benefits. Those are the ones I’m personally most excited about. I’ll talk about those in a future blog, and we’ll spend lots of time enjoying all the benefits, physical, spiritual and ethical when you come on retreat with me.
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