As more and more people are turning to more organic lifestyles and trying to improve their health through adopting better eating habits, there are also many people going one step further and enjoying the health benefits of a raw food diet. In this article I am going to firstly look at; why so many people are choosing raw foods over cooked, what the benefits are, and give you tips on how to start eating a mainly raw food diet.

In my experience people who are “raw foodists” mainly eat 75% raw foods and their reason for doing so are, when foods are raw they are in their most natural state and how nature designed them, thus meaning they are biocompatible with our bodies and are easier for us to digest. This is because when we cook food this creates new compounds in foods which our bodies can?t always process, therefore adding to our toxic load and making it harder for our immune system to work efficiently. Our immune systems are affected because when foods that are cooked enter our bodies it leads to our white blood cells becoming more active which means that the food is seen as an invader in the body.

Furthermore raw foods maintain their enzymes and because enzymes are our life force and our bodies need them in order to absorb vitamins and minerals. When food is heated over a certain temperature the enzymes die and it becomes harder for our bodies to assimilate the nutrition from foods.

A major benefit for many is the fact that raw foods replenish our enzymes store and help us to remain healthy and slow down the aging process whereas cooked foods speed up the aging process as they deplete our bodies of enzymes.

However many people are put off eating a raw food diet as they imagine they’ll just be eating salads all day long and what they do not realise is that in fact they can have a whole variety of grains, nuts, seeds, and a vast array of delicious products.

It is always wise to start with a few simple steps and slowly increase your raw food intake for example start by adding salads to all your meals, even if you are eating pizza having salad with it will help your digestion. Breakfast is a great place to start, by having a raw food smoothie, with fresh fruit, nut milk and adding in chia seeds and spirulina this gets your day off to an excellent start.

When swapping to a raw food diet it is a good idea to swap any sugar you have for raw agave or coconut sugar as they are less processed and have more nutrients than normal white sugar. Once you are starting to get into the swing of raw foods it is hugely beneficial to add in fresh raw vegetable juices as this helps to flood your body with nutrients. The classic super foods range is also an easy way to get tasty raw foods into your daily diet.

When following a raw food diet, you can add in many nuts, seeds, grains and legumes. In the case of legumes and grains they can be eaten raw after being sprouted, the process of sprouting makes them edible and easier for the body to digest.

Finally as I mentioned at the beginning most raw foodists eat 75% raw food so you can still enjoy some of your favourite cooked foods, adding raw food into your diet allows you to experience a huge increase in health and vitality and even having 50 % raw will vastly increase your level of health. People on raw food diets report many positive effects such as having;

*a stronger immune system, so less illnesses.
*increased energy levels (need less sleep at night).
* better clarity of mind and increased ability to focus.
*their complexion becomes clearer.
*they often are able to shed excess kilos
*they enjoy the real flavour of nature’s foods without any artificial flavourings and msg.

So whether or not you are ready to go fully raw or just add in more raw food diet to your diet remember the importance of using organic produce so you do not add in toxins to your body and you can experience a true sense of well-being.