Why Eat Raw Foods?

Shop at your local farmer's market for raw food ingredients.

I am currently researching the benefits of eating a raw food diet and finding a lot of things that really make sense. First inspired by a book written by a family who started eating raw foods as a last resort to improve their health, see http://www.rawfamily.com/. The mother lost 100 pounds, the son reversed his childhood onset diabetes, the daughter improved her asthma and the father’s arthritis went into remission. I strongly recommend this book because it shows you how a family that was completely the opposite of healthy had amazing results from switching to raw. Okay, that sounded very book report-like, but seriously they are very inspiring.

So, after reading the book I went and got a few recipes for raw food dishes. Oh, first I should let you know the definition of a Raw Vegetarian diet… foods must be living (plants, vegetables, fruits, seeds, nuts, etc.), food must not be heated above 115 degrees and food should be unprocessed and organic. Raw foodists believe that the greater the percentage of raw food in the diet, the greater the benefits. Some common results are improved health (reversing diabetes, improved digestion, healthier skin), weight loss and detox. I like the way I feel when I eat more raw vegetarian dishes, plus it really cuts down on cooking time. Try these out and let me know what you think:

Raw Cesar Salad:

1 bunch Spinach

1/2 cup pumpkin seeks

1-2 garlic cloves

1/2 lemon juiced

1t dijon mustard

2 t olive oil

1/2 t salt

With spinach in a bowl, grind pumpkin seeds in a coffee grinder, then stir in with other ingredients and toss the spinach.

Basiled Tomato:

4-6 large tomatoes sliced

1 bunch of fresh basil cut

1/4 c olive oil

1/4 c lemon juice

1 small red onion diced

Mix all ingredient in a bowl and enjoy.