Incorporating Raw Foods Into Your Daily Diet

There’s certainly a lot of buzz on the benefits of a raw food diet.

The problem is, most people think that a raw food diet means that ALL of your food has to be raw ALL of the time.

That can turn a lot of people off – us included.

Actually, the general recommendation, from the research that we’ve done, is that 50% of your food should be raw in order to reap the benefits of adding raw foods to your diet.

You see, when you keep nutritious, whole foods intact and don’t diminish their vitamins and nutrients with heat, you get a lot more out of them.

Organic Produce

It’s best to choose organic produce, if you can, that has been recently picked.

A lot of produce in the average supermarket has taken up to a week or more to get there.

With that kind of time lag, the fruits and vegetables have already lost a lot of their vitamins and nutrients.

Grow Your Own!

The best place to get organic, fresh picked produce is, of course, from your own garden.

Even if you don’t have a lot of space, you can grow an amazing variety of vegetables, herbs and even some fruit, in containers.

That’s the best way to know exactly where your food is coming from and how it’s been grown.

Adding Raw Foods to Your Diet

So, how difficult is it to have 50% of your daily intake consist of raw foods?

You might be surprised to learn that it’s not that tough and you’re probably already doing a lot of it now.

• We all like carrot and celery sticks, right? – That’s raw food.
• We all enjoy a piece of fruit, right? – That’s raw food.
• Who doesn’t like a nice big salad from time to time? – That’s also raw food.

Smoothies, Juices and Nut Milks

Fruit smoothies are very popular and also incorporate raw food.

Yes, even the frozen berries they use are still raw. Just be sure to stay away for sweeteners – particularly the artificial ones, and any dairy, too.

If you use a plant-based milk instead, such as almond milk, rice milk or coconut milk, often that’s raw, too, if it hasn’t been overly processed.

Juicing is also a great way to incorporate raw foods into your diet.

We like to use a Vitamix to make our juices because we still get the fiber along with the benefits of raw food.

It’s Easy!

It’s easy to see that incorporating raw foods into your diet needn’t be difficult.

You just need to be a little more mindful of what you’re eating and how you can pick a raw option.

Your body will thank you for it.