Transitioning To a Raw Food Diet

If you have the desire to get healthier, lose weight and feel better you may be interesting in transitioning to a primarily raw food diet. Raw foods bring you the greatest energy and health benefits over time.

There is no one perfect way to transition to a raw food diet. I myself went 98% raw after a 10 day raw juice fast. I say 98% because I've had some natural salad dressings and Braggs Liquid Amino's that aren't considered raw. From day to day I eat 100% raw living foods consisting of fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds. But in transitioning I've experimented with a very small amount of cooked food.

Transition Slowly

In my research I have found it is recommended you transition slowly, especially if you have not been Vegan prior to the decision to change your lifestyle. Whatever process you may decide is right for you it is best to begin by increasing your intake of raw fruits and vegetables on a daily basis. Start by eating one or two raw meals a day and keep one cooked meal. I would recommend the morning and evening meals be raw and any snacks in between. If you are planning to go out for dinner, eat a raw lunch or better yet, don't eat lunch at all and eat a big dinner salad before your meal.

I have numbered area's of focus below and as you are ready you can tackle one area at a time. I have put them in the order of importance however if you wish to switch the meat, dairy or grains around you can follow your own guidance.

1) Breakfast

It is good to start your day out with fresh fruit or fresh squeezed fruit juice, preferrably diluted with pure water. Diluting the juice will help prevent problems with blood sugar. Fruits are cleansing and the a.m. your body is in a natural cleansing cycle. If you can stick to fruit only in the morning, eating only one type of fruit at a time, it would be best. If you feel you need protein in the morning have a few nuts or seeds in their raw form or eat an avocado.

2) Eliminate Processed Foods

As you transition out of cooked and processed foods begin by eliminated all processed foods from your diet including all refined salt and sugar, soda pops (including diet,) chips, cookies, candies, pies, cakes, packaged and canned foods.. Use honey, or maple syrup or better yet, raw dates in small quantities to replace sugar. Eating fruits will also satisfy sweet cravings once you break your addiction to processed sugars. Use celtic sea salt found in your natural food store to replace salt. A good rule of thumb is to keep to the outer ailes of you grocery store and avoid all the packaged non-foods in the center aisles. If you have a question about whether or not something is processed ask yourself, "did this product come from the earth, or from a factory?" If it is meat or dairy, we will address this next.

3) Eliminate meat and seafood

After processed foods the next thing you should focus on letting go of is the meat and seafood. If you are not ready to let these things go yet, then transition to buying only organic meat and eating it only a couple times a week. Commercial meats are horrible for your health due to the cruel treatment of the animals before slaughter. This includes feeding them loads of antibiotics, injecting with hormones, and depriving them of fresh air and exercise during their life of captivity. There are many other reasons to break the meat habit you can read about as you embark on your own study. If you feel you need concentrated proteins eat nuts and seeds in small quanitites.

4) Eliminate all dairy products

Dairy has gained it's popularity as being a powerful source of calcium; however, the calcium from your milk, cheese and yogurt are not readily available for the body to use. It is very difficult to get raw dairy products. What you buy in the store, even your natural foods store is processed or homogenized. This process once again destroys the valuable and necessary enzymes needed for digestion and assimilation. This is why the average person has difficulty digesting dairy. Even if you were able to get raw dairy products our bodies lose the ability to digest milk and milk products at a very young age. Dairy products are known to be very mucus forming and create allergies, intestinal and sinus problems. Superior sources of calcium can be found in nuts, seeds and leafy green vegetables.

Eggs

I'm not sure whether to list eggs with meat or with dairy. I will let you decide where in the process they need to go. It probably depends on how attached you are to them. I will suggest you categorize eggs with dairy for now and try to eliminate them with the dairy products.

Eliminate Grains

I always believed grains like rice and whole wheat were good for us but through my latest research I am discovering the body has difficulty digesting these as well. It is likely because all grains require processing in order to be edible, even if that processing is cooking. But for the die hard rice and beans Vegan, this should be the last to go. Some beans can be eaten sprouted rather than cooked and some raw foodists even sprout certain grains. I have sprouted beans and eat them on my salad but I'm not interested in sprouting grains. There is plenty to eat without doing this. Eliminating grains can be the hardest for many people. I certainly wanted my bread with my salad and at first I bought the sprouted bread at the natural foods store, but eventually I actually forgot to use it. I moved it to my freezer and haven't touched it since. Sprouted bread can be used as a transitional agent but don't over do it.

Cooked Foods

Steamed veggies, baked potatoes and squash, hot soups and other cooked vegetarian dishes are the final thing one will likely give up when converting to a 100% raw food diet. People who eat only 80% raw often will still eat steamed veggies several times a week. Although the enzymes have been cooked out and much of the nutrition lost, cooked veggies are probably the least damaging to the body of all cooked foods.

Drugs, Alcohol, Tabacco, Coffee, Tea?

I'm guilty of still having an occassional glass of wine, preferrably organic for social reasons, but I don't recommend it and will eventually let it go altogether. I have a friend who is 100% raw but still has a freshly rolled tabacco cigarette once or twice a day.

My suggestion on any of these things is work your way out of them, they are not beneficial for optimal health. Pharmaceutical drugs need to be eliminated as much as possible. Have a doctor help you get off them. My friend with Colitis took medication for internal bleeding but chose to wean himself off them while transitioning to 100% raw food. His symptoms disappeared within five days and he was able to let go of the medication altogther.

Alcohol doesn't need much of an explanation from me. We all know it isn't beneficial for our health. If you are a heavy drinker you should focus on getting off alcohol before anything else. Raw food can help detox the body but you will need to go really slow in your transition.

If you smoke herb or weed as many health conscious people do, I would suggest getting as far into the raw food program as possible and your desire to smoke will decrease as your body detoxes. Being close to the earth and eating a clean raw diet will give you a natural, healthy high. The energy you get from raw foods will also replace the need to have stimulants such as caffiene.

Transitioning to a raw food diet can take anywhere from a few months to a few years. Any amount of change is positive and shows you that change is possible for you. The prospect of being 100% raw may not appeal to you but even to increase your intake of raw foods to 50-75% of your diet would be greatly beneficial.

I recommend reading Fit For Life to learn more about food combining and increasing your raw food intake for those of you who don't wish to convert to a 100% raw food diet. Even if eventually you do convert to 100%, I still highly recommend this book. I've carried it around with me for years.

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To learn more about raw foods and the living food lifestyle, visit our raw food resource page.