Today marks Day 1 of the raw food diet my friend Caley and I have undertaken to do.
Basically we will only be eating raw food, seeds, nuts and beans for 5 days.
I have often heard of how great a raw food diet is but have never done much research into it up until now.
Why a raw food diet?
A raw food diet is not just good for you - it’s also good science! You don’t have to take our word for it, have ‘faith’ or trust the latest nutrition guru. Science now proves that cooking not only destroys nutrition and enzymes but chemically changes foods from the substances needed for health into acid-forming toxins, free-radicals and poisons that destroy our health!
Here are a few of the benefits I found:
1. Weight Loss
2. Mental Clarity – After removing pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, chemicals, dyes, and poisons from your body (basically processed food), you will have found that your brain works faster than ever.
3. Improved Skin
4. Improved Health – The health benefits of raw are one of the first things you feel, often within the first couple days of improving your diet.
5. Improved Spirituality
6. Better Sex
7. Enzymes- Cooking food destroys much of the natural enzymes (your body can also create enzymes, but can only do so much) in your food that are needed to break down nutrients. Eating raw eliminates this problem.
8. Insane energy. You won’t know this unless you try it for yourself, but eating raw gives you an amazing boost in energy.
9. Better sleep and less sleep needed
Here is a great recipe I found that I will definitely be trying!
Fattoush Recipe
Delicious, tangy, and refreshing Fattoush Salad features high-water-content veggies to cool you down, while mint and parsley brighten things up with breezy greenness. Top it all off with a magical sprinkling of za’atar and you got yourself one crazy-clean flavoured dish that puts your taste buds on the next train to fresh town.
Ingredients:
2 medium cucumbers, with skin
3 cups chopped tomatoes (I used a combination of cherry, plum, and grape tomatoes)
2 red bell peppers
1 large red onion
3 green onions
1 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
¾ cup chopped mint
raw flax crackers, flatbread, or toasted pita
Directions:
1. Wash, prepare, and chop all veggies into bite-sized pieces. Wash, spin-dry herbs and chop. Place in a large bowl.
2. Pour dressing over salad, stir, and let stand for at least 30 minutes at room temperature to allow the flavours to meld.
3. Right before serving, sprinkle generously with za’atar, crumble raw flax crackers and fold into salad. Enjoy.
Fattoush Salad Dressing
Ingredients:
¼ cup extra virgin cold-pressed olive oil
¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
zest of 1 lemon (organic, un-waxed if possible!)
1 tsp. raw liquid honey or maple syrup
2 – 4 cloves garlic, minced
a couple pinches of sea salt
a pinch of black pepper
Directions:
1. Put all ingredients in a jar with a light-fitting lid and shake.
I have a busy week with birthday drinks tomorrow and a girls dinner on Tuesday night so things could get interesting!
Wish us luck and hopefully with enough motivation we'll stick to it!
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