What Is The Raw Food Diet?
What does it include?
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Fruits, vegetables and leaves… crunchy juicy apples, pears, thirst-quenching sweet melons, lemons and limes, strawberries, blackberries, goji berries, dates, avocados, cherry tomatoes, sweet peppers, cucumber, young spinach, rocket, lettuce, watercress and hundreds more. As they are, or in delicious juices and smoothies. Plus some that you might not have expected to eat raw. Did you know tender baby courgettes just picked from the garden are delicious raw? Have you ever tasted fresh corn-on-the-cob raw? An amazing experience awaits you! You’ll wonder who came up with the idea of boiling it to death, then replacing the lost flavour with butter and salt! |
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Nuts and seeds… many of the shelled nuts in supermarkets have been steam-treated so are not raw, but nuts that are often available raw are hazel-nuts, walnuts, almonds and pine-nuts (seeds). These are eaten on their own or mixed with other ingredients to make delicious ‘milks’, ‘butters’ and ‘cheeses’. Seeds such as sesame and flax can be made into breads and crackers. |
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Grains… such as wheat and barley have a place in the raw food diet. Grains are always soaked and sprouted, which not only gives them amazing health-giving properties, but also makes them more alkaline. ‘Essene bread’ is made with whole, raw, sprouted wheat. (Some people with wheat allergies find they can tolerate wheat when raw and sprouted). |
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Pulses… beautiful salads can be made with pulses, and, as with grains, these are always soaked and sprouted. Most pulses can be sprouted (with the exception of kidney beans, which should never be eaten raw). |
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Beans… one little bean is causing quite a stir. The raw cacao bean (the best source of magnesium) is the key ingredient in raw chocolate. Raw chocolate is the subject of some controversy in the raw food world, but it certainly tastes…good. |
Dehydrated food - some raw fooders eat a little dehydrated food. For example, bread and crackers can be made by soaking/sprouting grains and seeds, pressing into dough, then placing in a ‘dehydrator’. This is a machine that dries food, mimicking the effects of a hot sun (when not available!). As the research from Arthur Baker et al suggests that it is at 117 F that nutrients in our food start to become damaged or destroyed, the dehydrator dial should never be turned higher than 115 F. Many raw fooders, including myself, play safe by keeping the dial between 95 and 105 F, which means that the food is kept around body temperature.
What doesn’t it include?
The majority of raw fooders eat neither raw meat nor fish.
Many raw fooders are ‘raw vegan’, which means no meat, fish, dairy products or eggs (some take a B12 supplement). Some raw fooders allow a little dairy into their diet, e.g. in the form of raw (unpasteurised) milk, which can sometimes be obtained from farmers’ markets.
Some raw fooders drink wine (and champagne!), as these, although fermented, have not been altered by heat. Beer and spirits are not raw.
‘But isn’t it boring – just eating raw food?’
Our culture encourages us to demand a complex menu, full of variety, with meals made out of all sorts of ingredients.
At times, I am quite happy munching from a pile of spinach, and my digestion feels happiest, and energy at its highest, after simple salad meals. I believe the ultimate aim of the raw fooder should be to transition to a simpler way of eating and many long-term raw fooders are well-nourished on a simple diet of a surprisingly small number of foods (but then each food is whole, with everything in it intact).
However, the ‘ultimate’ raw diet is too much of a leap, at the beginning, for many people, and many of us like to prepare food for non-raw people, who may be less ‘receptive’ to raw food if handed a bag of spinach…The good news is that the raw food diet can include what are often called ‘transition foods’; these are dishes that remind us a little of cooked food, but nourish our bodies, and taste so much better!
Some meals I have enjoyed making (and eating!)
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Here are some examples of ‘transition food’ meals, each made from raw ingredients:
- Tomato bread (sprouted buckwheat, flax meal, sun-dried tomatoes, courgettes, apple, avocado and parsley)
- Flax crackers (flax seeds, garlic, lemon, ginger and sea salt)
- Kale and avocado salad (kale massaged with sea salt and olive oil, avocado, cherry tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, lemon, spinach, spring onion)
- Raw pizza (base made from sprouted wheat and tomato, cashew ‘cheese’, sauce made with tomato, pepper, ginger and basil, plus toppings!)
- Chocolate orange squares (made from walnuts, dates, apricots, cacao, orange)
- Walnut and blackberry ‘cream’ cake (made from nuts, lemon, dates and blackberries)
Raw pizzas and cakes can be a good ‘toe in the water’ for the fledgling raw fooder, and add interest and excitement to the raw food menu. Some raw fooders eat ‘transition foods’ happily for many years, but others find that their digestive systems call for simpler foods as they progress on their raw food journey.
At RawforLife, my policy is to show you how to make ‘transition foods’ as well as simpler meals with shorter ingredients lists.
Recipes!
Each month, the RawforLife e-zine features a recipe that needs no special equipment nor hard-to-obtain ingredients. To sign up to the RawforLife e-zine, enter your details into the sign-up box on the Home Page. Please note that subscription is a two-stage process. On signing up, you will receive an e-mail from RawforLife (if you can’t see it check your Spam box!). Click on the activation link in the e-mail and you will receive the RawforLife e-zine every month!
The RawforLife blog includes recipes occasionally, although some of these may need equipment (such as a dehydrator) or ingredients only available on-line (but if so I’ll tell you where to get them!).
But the best and most fun way of obtaining RawforLife recipes is to come to a RawforLife class!