Raw Foods | The Vegan Consultant

How I Cured My Coffee Addiction

I have to admit something. I used to LOVE coffee. I had a cup every single morning after my exercise with a “splash” of half and half and a couple tablespoons of sugar. I could not even imagine starting my day without my little cup of energy.

That was about two years ago. Now, I can’t stand the stuff. The smell alone makes me want to hurl. The fragrance is so strong and bitter. Yuck. I’ll just stick to water, thank you.

So what changed? How was I able to kick my coffee habit over two years ago? Why is just the smell of coffee so aggravating to me now?

Coffee Addiction

When I was much younger, I hated everything about coffee. The aroma, the look of it, the few sips I had tasted. I felt the same way about coffee as a child that I do today.

As I got older, I started having a cup in the morning. I still hated it at first, but it just seemed like something people did. Every adult I knew got up in the morning and fixed themselves a cup of coffee. My Mom drank coffee all throughout the day!

Before I knew it, I was hooked on the stuff. And it only took a few weeks to go from something I despised to something I relied on everyday. If I did not have my coffee, it was very hard for me to stay awake during my first few classes at school. I would usually experience a slight twinge in my forehead as well.

At the time, I thought that this was a sign that coffee was necessary in my diet. When I drank coffee, I felt good. When I stopped drinking it, I felt bad.

The Effects of Coffee

You see, coffee has two effects: a short term effect and a long term effect. The caffeine in coffee is a stimulant and consuming it causes your body to work overtime trying to neutralize it. Your body’s sudden state of frenzy causes you to feel energized and awake for a short period of time. This is the short term effect.

Once these effects have worn off, the body returns (or “comes down”) to its original condition. You now feel sluggish and tired again. This is the long term effect of drinking coffee.

Many people only notice the short term effect. While virtually everyone experiences the “drop off” later in the day (I know I did), they do not associate this with the coffee. In fact, I’m sure many of you attempt to solve the problem by having more coffee!

How to Cure Your Coffee Addiction

The best way to stop drinking coffee is to STOP DRINKING COFFEE! If you continue to drink the stuff, you will continue to be dependent upon it.

Personally, I went completely cold turkey from my one cup a day. I had a couple of slight headaches for a few days, but that was the extent of my detox. After a couple of weeks, I felt much better and no longer longed for coffee. After two short months, I could not imagine drinking coffee at all.

If you drink numerous cups of coffee each day, it might be best to gradually reduce how much you drink. An easy way to do this is to replace each cup with caffeine-free tea. If you choose, you can keep going by replacing the tea with just warm or cold lemon water.

Either way you choose, your goal should be to completely eliminate coffee from your diet. It provides no nutritional value and has no place in a healthy lifestyle.

My hope is that one day coffee drinking will be a thing of the past and people will rely on good ole exercise and nutrition to energize themselves for the day.

A girl can dream, right?

For more information on the best raw vegan diet, be sure to visit Fit On Raw and subscribe to Swayze’s newsletter Peachy Keen Ezine. By subscribing, you will also receive the free report The 4 Principles of a Healthy Raw Diet as well as the 5-week mini-course The Fool Proof Transition to Raw.
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admin, December 3rd 2009 | Tags: Caffeine, Coffee, Coffee Addiction, Raw Food Diet, Raw Foods, raw vegan
Posted in healthy vegan diet

How to Finally Overcome Binge Eating

This Saturday was a holiday here in the US. It was the 4th of July, full of family, friends, fireworks and (of course) fattening foods.

If I had to guess, I’d say that the vast majority of you did not maintain your raw food diet.

Sorry if I seem too harsh. But let’s face it, making *any* dietary changes is tough work! This is especially true for those of us known to binge eat.

While I no longer struggle with binge eating or cravings, I know how physically *and* mentally draining it can be. I also know what it takes to defeat these cravings for good.

On that note, here are the 3 most important steps you can take to combat your cooked food cravings and finally overcome binge eating.

#1: Don’t Beat Yourself Up

You have to put this little side-step, or any dieting “faux-paus,” in perspective. Just because you ate some food you have placed on your naughty list does not mean it’s the end of the world. It’s just food!

Think about it this way. You maintain a healthy raw vegan diet for 2 weeks straight…tons of fruit, nutritious veggies, limited fats, etc. Then, you attend a cookout for Independence Day. You are determined *not* to eat anything cooked. But, oh man, that cornbread looks sooooo good. You decide just a little nibble won’t kill you. A nibble becomes a mouthful, a mouthful becomes 3 face-fulls, etc.

Before you know it, you feel uncomfortably stuffed, piss offed, and guilty.

And all of this in the span of just a few minutes. Compare those minutes to the entire 2 weeks you stayed raw and healthy. Not much of a comparison, huh?

Always put things into perspective. Recognize your decision (you choose to overeat, it does not happen to you) for what it was, learn from it, and move on.

#2: Be Firm In Your Decisions

While it’s important to be easy on yourself when you stray from your diet, it’s also important to be firm in your decision to go raw to prevent further binges. You have to understand exactly why you are refraining from certain foods and be completely confident in your reasons.

Doing this from the get go will make it much more difficult to justify eating those forbidden foods.

An excellent way to facilitate this is to make a list of your raw reasons. Include only the reasons that are actually important to you, not ones that you think should be important.

If the *only* reason you want to go raw is to lose weight, that’s okay! That can be your one solid reason. Try to keep that reason in your mind at all times. Write it out on post it notes. Laminate it and paste it to your fridge.

Just make it real and unforgettable.

If someone asks you your reasons for going raw, you should practically scream at them, “I WANT TO LOSE WEIGHT!” without even thinking about it. It should be that solid in your mind.

#3: Analyze Your Cravings to Cooked Foods

It’s always important to understand why we long for “naughty” foods in the first place. To do this, you first must identify what type of craving you are experiencing:

*Physical Cravings*

Physical cravings are simply due to physical hunger. You are not getting enough calories from raw foods and so you are hungry. This puts you in a compromised position, especially when you are surrounded by all of your old cooked food favorites at family functions. Being hungry makes it very easy to justify eating these foods.

Luckily, erradicating physical cravings is very easy to do. Just eat more food! Simply add a couple more pieces of fruit to your fruit meals. You will know that you have eaten enough when you are satiated for 3-5 hours are eating and no longer crave other foods.

*Emotional Cravings*

Emotional cravings are a whole different monster because, well…they’re emotional! You binge because of your feelings, not because of any physical hunger.

I know this type of craving all too well. There were times in which I was absolutely *stuffed* on sweet raw fruit, and yet I found myself in the pantry claiming any foods that I could get my hands on.

For me, overeating was usually a result of boredom. Each time I found myself with nothing to do, I would immediately think of food.

When I *finally* figured this out, I was able to gain control of and even destroy my cravings. I knew what would happen if I let myself become bored and restless and so I was able to keep myself from reaching this state in the first place.

Not only did I eradicate my cravings, but I became much more productive as well!

It’s a Process

To get started, I recommend you write down your raw reasons. It only takes a few minutes. Go ahead, get started!

Don’t worry, I’ll wait.

From there, you can begin thinking about any emotional ties you may have to foods. Maybe you eat when you are sad, or angry, or just bored like me! Maybe you only eat when you are in the company of a certain person.

To help facilitate this analysis, I highly recommend you check out the Shrink Yourself Program by Dr. Roger Gould. The free session alone is enough to help you grasp your reasons for overeating.

Whatever you do, realize that overcoming binge eating is a progression. It will not happen overnight. If you find your current dietary guidelines too strict for you mentally, feel free to scale back a bit and work from there. The journey is just as important as the destination.

That’s why I offer The Fool Proof Transition to Raw when you sign up to my newsletter. If you have not subscribed, this is a free 5-week course that allows you to gradually make your way toward a 100% raw diet. I’ve found this to be much easier on the body, as well as the psyche, than going 100% raw right from the get-go.

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admin, November 26th 2009 | Tags: Binge Eating, Cravings, Emotional Eating, Raw Food Diet, Raw Foods, raw vegan
Posted in healthy vegan diet

#1 Rule For Healthy Raw Food Weight Loss

It’s no secret that many people, raw foodists or not, struggle with releasing unwanted weight. Often times this inability to lose weight stems from seemingly uncontrollable cravings for unhealthy cooked foods. These cravings often lead to binge eating, which (of course) leads to weight gain.

There is a good chance that you struggle with this problem as well. Sure, you might stick to a raw food diet for maybe a week or so, but those killer cravings always seem to rear their ugly heads again.

Once they’re back, it’s all you think about and before you know it, you’re parked at the nearest fast-food joint chowing down on the fattiest, most unhealthy food you can get your hands on. You spend the rest of the day feeling guilty and dreading your next visit with Mr. Scale. And the cycle continues…

What to do? Is there anyway to end this madness? Don’t you wish that there was one easy and effective way to finally lose weight? Well, to day is your lucky day! Here is the #1 rule for healthy raw food weight loss:

Eat More Food!

Sounds crazy, right? To tackle the weight loss issue, we have to get to the root of the problem: cravings. Many of these cravings can be avoided by simply eating more! We are so often told to eat less and less and less for weight loss. This is not the answer. Eating less food than your body needs means receiving less volume and fewer nutrients than you require.

If you allow yourself to eat as much food as you want, I promise you will see a significant reduction in cooked food cravings. Of course, you can’t just eat *any* foods. You want a raw diet comprised of mostly raw sweet fruits, 1-2 pounds of non-sweet fruits and tender greens, and limited amounts of fatty foods (i.e. half an avocado or 1-2 ounces of nuts per day).

You also want to be sure and eradicate (or at least limit) food such as salt, onion, garlic, and pepper from your diet. These foods are irritating to the body and they can and will lead to water retention.

How This Rule Helped Me

As wary as I am to admit it, I used to binge eat. Not only was this physically and mentally damaging, it prevented me from staying at my ideal weight for very long. Luckily, this never became a daily practice for me, but it was a nasty frequent habit nonetheless and one that became harder and harder to stop.

It was not until I learned the value of eating as much raw foods as I wanted and actually implemented this in my life that I no longer felt the urge to binge on unhealthy foods.

There were many days in which I actually ate 3000 calories worth of raw foods…well over my caloric needs for the day. And yet, I still lost weight! That’s the beauty of a low fat, high fruit raw food diet. You really can eat pounds of food a day and experience vibrant health.

What other diet can promise that?

Moral of the Story

Eat more raw foods! I don’t care if you just had a huge meal of 20 bananas! If you feel cravings coming on, go grab an apple or some grapes or pineapple, etc. And don’t cause yourself unnecessary stress by worrying over how much you are eating. Your appetite will gradually lessen as your taste buds and tummy become accustomed to simpler foods. You won’t have to eat quite as much to feel satisfied.

Today, I honestly can’t even imagine eating those unhealthy foods that I used to binge on. My belly is far too full on delicious sweet fruits!

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admin, November 25th 2009 | Tags: Cravings, Lose Weight, Raw Food Diet, raw foodists, Raw Foods, raw vegan, Weight Loss
Posted in healthy vegan diet

Is Your Kitchen Conducive to Healthy Eating?

If you were to walk into your kitchen right now, what would be the first thing that you saw? How about if you opened your fridge? And your pantry?

If your answer to these questions is not “raw fruits and veggies,” you might want to make a few changes.

Having your kitchen set up so that it is conducive to healthy eating can make all the difference in your raw success.

A kitchen that screams “HEALTHY LIVING WITH HEALTHY EATING, THIS WAY” is much more motivating and encouraging than one that says “COME ON DOWN FOR ALL THE JUNK FOOD YOU CAN EAT.”

Here are a few tips to help you easily and painlessly “fruit-ify” your kitchen.

#1: Make Beautiful Produce the Focal Point

Making your kitchen a haven for heavenly fruits and vegetables is a great way to help you stay raw.

One way to do this is to have a large fruit bowl (or 2) on your counter that is constantly stocked with fresh, inviting fruits and vegetables.

Another way is simply to clean and rearrange your fridge and pantry so that your raw food is bright and appealing.

*But the rest of my family eats cooked junk!*

Even if you live with others who eat cooked, you can still make positive changes.

For instance, my family does not eat a raw food diet. Instead of putting my food in the pantry, surrounded by lots of processed foods, I created my own little raw setup. I even had my Dad put up some shelves for me to put my fruit on!

You could also just make a designated part of your fridge and/or pantry “raw food only” areas.

#2: Have your favorite fruits of the season on hand at all time

This is a *must*, especially if you are new to a raw diet. Having fresh, delicious fruits in the house that you love to eat will make going raw *so* much easier for you.

You really will have no excuse to take “just one bite” of cake or “just one nibble” of pasta when you have so much beautiful fruit lying around.

#3: Post motivational material on your fridge

This is a super easy tip that can make a world of difference. All you have to do is go online, use your favorite search engine to find beautiful images of fruits and vegetables, and print them out to put up somewhere in your kitchen.

Encouraging quotes or phrases are excellent for this as well.

If you fancy yourself the artsy type, get creative! Create your own motivational poster and display it proudly. You can even go crazy and laminate it if you like!

So there you have it. Three easy tips you can use to make your kitchen conducive to healthy eating.

Got some tips of your own? Is your kitchen a fun, fruity paradise or a crusty, cooked food kingdom? Leave a comment below!

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admin, November 24th 2009 | Tags: Go Raw, Healthy Eating, Raw Food Diet, Raw Foods, raw vegan
Posted in healthy vegan diet

Beware the Dreaded Diet Detox!

Many people just learning about raw foods are completely turned off by one little word: detox.

They’ve read all the awesome testimonials from raw foodists, they’ve scoured for all the latest raw food research, and they know all about raw’s physical and mental benefits.

Then they also learn about this crazy detox process that lasts for years and makes your feet fall off and your eyeballs grow whiskers!

The decision to stay cooked and keep their feet and eyeballs whisker-free becomes a pretty easy one.

So what is this “dreaded diet detox” everyone is so consumed with?

What is Detox?

I like to think of detoxification in two different ways:

1. Traditional Detox 2. Withdrawal Detox

Traditional Detoxification, or “detox,” is simply the body’s method of neutralizing or removing toxic substances (those created naturally via our normal bodily functions or those consumed, inhaled, or absorbed by us on a constant basis).

This is done primarily by way of the liver, kidneys, and – if the first two organs are overloaded – the skin. You’ll know your body is working overtime when you achieve that “awe-inspiring” armpit aroma after a sweaty workout!

So in this sense, detox is an on-going process. Your body is constantly detoxifying every single moment of your life.

Withdrawal Detox, on the other hand, refers to the symptoms you experience when you reduce the level of toxins in the body. This could come from adopting a healthier diet, beginning an exercise routine, or removing a known air pollutant.

The reason you feel cruddy when you give up your favorite cooked eatables in favor of simpler, whole ingredients is because you have reduced the toxic level in your body.

Your organs have become used to a certain level of toxicity and once that level is reduced, they finally have a chance to do their job and release the waste that has built up in your fatty tissues as quickly as possible…which means temporary yucky, but necessary side effects for you.

And the more toxic substance you eliminate, the harsher the effects will be.

Oh, what fun!

This is actually no different than the uncomfortable – and often painful – symptoms a drug or alcohol abuser experiences when going “cold turkey.”

Fortunately for us, the length and symptoms of detox from cooked foods are typically much shorter and much less severe.

How Long Should Detox Last?

Well…until you’re dead!

Oh, you meant detox in the withdrawal sense…my bad.

Contrary to what many mainstream raw foodists will have you believe, withdrawal detox should not last years and years, months and months, or even weeks and weeks.

Withdrawal from cooked foods will typically only last a few weeks *at most*. The norm is closer to just a few days.

In fact, if you *do* experience negative symptoms for weeks and weeks without any improvement, it’s safe to say that either:

a) you are not doing it right (i.e. not enough calories, improperly ripened fruits, improper food combining) OR b) the diet is NOT working and you should try something new!

And remember, diet isn’t everything!

If you are following a healthy raw food diet absolutely perfectly and yet you are still experiencing negative health effects, your diet is probably not the issue and you should certainly look into other health issues (i.e. exercise, fresh, air, clean water, sunshine, etc.)

You are only as healthy as your weakest link.

What Should I Expect During Detox?

While there are cases of more severe symptoms – usually experienced by people with some form of chronic disease – detox is typically very mild.

Here are the usual suspects:

These will typically last for a few days to a week. The worse off your health is before making the transition, the more symptoms you will likely experience and the longer they will last.

For instance, if you regularly drink coffee or alcohol and decide to give them up, you can definitely expect some headaches and jitters for the first few days.

As I said, some people do experience more severe and long-lasting cases, such as hair loss, faintness, or acne, but this should not be expected in most cases.

Why All the Big Fuss About Detoxification?

My personal theory?

Raw foodists are big drama queens.

In all seriousness, going raw is not all lollipops and fairy floss. This is especially true in the beginning when you are doing your best to figure out how to maintain such a “kooky” diet in the modern world, while at the same time battling low energy and digestive troubles.

It’s no fun, but it could certainly be worse. Just look at drug addicts who go cold turkey.

We’re talkin’ days and days (sometimes weeks, depending upon the drug of choice) of seriously scary symptoms like tremors, sweats, chills, depression, paranoia, and even seizures…and that’s WITH medical care!

I don’t know about you, but I’ve never met anyone needing hospital attention from a few healthy raw, fruit-filled meals.

So stop being a drama queen, go raw, be fit and embrace your detox! That slight headache and minor mucus expulsion is just your body’s way of thanking you for finally allowing it to get rid of all the nasty gunk and be the best body it can be.

Plus, it has got to “repay” you for all the toxic overload somehow, right?

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admin, November 24th 2009 | Tags: Detox, detox diet, detox symptoms, Detoxification, raw food detox, Raw Food Diet, raw foodists, Raw Foods, raw vegan
Posted in healthy vegan diet

10 Benefits of a Raw Food Diet

Are you really eager to go raw, but just can’t seem to muster up the courage to get started?

These are some of the top 10 benefits of the raw food diet that most every raw foodist has experienced. If this doesn’t convince you to go raw, I just don’t know what will!

#1: Improved digestion

If I had to give you my top raw food benefit, improved digestion would be it. It is the one result that almost every single person who attempts a healthy raw diet experiences.

Not only that, but it usually occurs very quickly. Almost every digestive issue can be solved in just a few short days, if not less. Whether you suffer from irritable bowel syndrome or just the occasional upset tummy, you will see major improvements after going raw.

However, if you continue to abuse the #1 food combining rule, than your results will not be as great. No amount of raw food can undo the effects of the sugar-fat combo.

#2: Permanent Weight Loss

Hmmmm…maybe permanent weight loss should be the top benefit?

I don’t think it’s going too far to say that close to 99.9999999% of people struggle with their weight at some point in their lives. Many of us go on diet after diet after diet hoping that we will see *some* kind of change in our weight.

Unfortunately, the only change that most of us witness is a higher number on the scale. And if we do happen to lose weight, it’s usually at the expense of our health (i.e. calorie restriction, dangerous diet pills, frozen food programs, etc.) and typically comes back to haunt us sooner or later.

On the other hand, eating a healthy raw food diet allows you to lose weight *permanently* while improving your health substantially. Plus, you get to eat *pounds* of food on a daily basis, without any guilt!

#3: More Energy

Unlike what you read/hear from many well-known raw foodists, raw foods do *not* give you energy. Nothing you eat does, whether it’s a burger or a banana. Eating food of any kind *requires* energy, just as everything else that you do during the day requires energy.

What makes following a healthy raw vegan diet truly special is that it requires less energy to process inside your body. 2 pounds of grapes literally takes *minutes* to be fully digested by the body. This is opposed to cooked foods, or even a complicated fatty raw dish, which take hours to be digested.

The one *true* energy provider is sleep, which brings me to benefit #4…

#4: Better Sleep

Since I’ve been raw, I rarely ever feel tired when I get into bed. Even after being raw for so long, I still get ready for bed sometimes and think, “Gee, I’m not going to be able to fall asleep right now. Maybe I should just stay up for a little longer.”

However, I convince myself to get into bed and the moment my head hits the pillow, I feel so relaxed. Within minutes, I’m out.

The best part? When I wake up, I feel completely awake and ready to begin my day. No more groggy mornings for me!

This is a far cry from my bedtime routine from two years ago. My routine was this: feel absolutely exhausted by 4pm. Try not to fall asleep at the wheel on the way to a client’s house. Feel a little better after a 30-minute nap. Feel exhausted again by 7pm. Get into bed still exhausted by 10pm. Remain awake for an hour. Wake up at 7am groggy and grouchy. Repeat.

Yikes, that makes me tired just writing it!

#5: Mental Clarity

I’m sure that many non-raw foodists will disagree with this one. Raw foodists are supposed to be tree-hugging, hippie nut jobs, right?

On a raw food diet, because you are no longer weighing your body down with hard-to-digest cooked foods, you have more energy to use your brain!

Of course, this has a lot to do with sleep as discussed previously. Because we spend less energy digesting our foods, we sleep more soundly. This means that we have more energy during the day, meaning our thoughts are generally much clearer and our focus greatly improved. We are more mentally, and even emotionally stable.

It’s really a cycle, isn’t it? The more raw foods you eat, the better you sleep. The better you sleep, the more energy you have. The more energy you have, the more mentally stable you are. The more mentally stable, the easier it is to stay raw. The longer you stay raw…

#6: Soft, Smooth, & Clear Skin

To be honest, I’ve always had pretty good skin. I’ve had maybe three blemishes in my entire life. In fact, the worst my skin has ever been was for the first few months *after* I gave up salt! But that’s for another article…

I’m not trying to brag. I just want to be honest. I’m not here to make up crazy transition stories about how going raw made me grow 5 inches taller and gave me the power of flight. Although I have gone down almost 2 full shoes…

Anyway, I’m sure that many of you struggle with skin problems, whether it’s a blotchy skin tone, dry skin, oily skin, visible pores, blemishes, etc.

You *do not* need an expensive, chemical-laden skin treatment routine that only serves to further irritate your already abused skin. All you need is a good heapin’ helping of water-rich raw fruits and veggies.

And some sunshine couldn’t hurt either.

#7: Thick, Healthy, & Shiny Hair

I’ve always had really thick hair, but it was very dry and hard to manage before I went raw. The worst part was that I would shed like crazy! My Mom was always pulling handfuls of my long locks out of the rollers of the vacuum. Yuck!

Now that I eat plenty of nourishing, water-rich foods, my hair is silky and soft. And I’m no longer a shedding machine!

#8: Healthy Teeth & Gums

But aren’t your teeth supposed to rot out of your head when you go raw?

NO! The fact that so many long-term raw foodists have suffered tooth decay is simply a testament to the fact that the mainstream raw food diet *does not work*.

On a healthy raw food diet full of sweet fruit, moderate vegetables and little fat, you will not experience teeth problems. In fact, the condition of your teeth and gums is likely to improve!

The real key is to have a solid dental care system in place and not to make dehydrated foods the base of your diet.

#9: No More Aches, Pains, or Minor Illnesses

How many of you have struggled with “everyday” illnesses and pains such as headaches, migraines, colds, flus, tummy aches, joint pains, muscle cramps, allergies, etc.? We all have at some point!

I used to struggle with

And of course there were the seemingly random and unexplained aches and pains that would crop up every once in a while.

Every one of these has been *completely eradicated* since I went raw. No more headaches. No more colds. Perhaps best of all, no more heavy periods and gut-wrenching cramps! Sorry, guys, but that really is a big one for us ladies.

#10: Save Some Green

When you decide to take your health into your own hands and go raw, you can expect to save *heaps* of money in the process.

No more money wasted on unnecessary drugs, supplements or “superfoods.” No more expensive doctor’s fees. No more high insurance rates.

You can finally focus on *you* and spend that extra time and money on the things that actually make you more…well, you!

Still Waiting to Go Raw?

What are you waiting for? Each day that you remain a slave to your aching back, your extra fat, or even your trip to the local pharmacy, is a day that you could be living raw and loving it!

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admin, November 20th 2009 | Tags: Go Raw, raw foodists, Raw Foods, Raw Vegan Diet, The Raw Food Diet
Posted in healthy vegan diet

Eating Raw Foods to Avoid Health Problems

Eating raw foods is becoming more and more acceptable means to a healthy lifestyle. By eating raw foods you can avoid almost every common health problem that exists today ranging from constipation and gastritis to heartburn and asthma. Raw foods are also by far the best and most affective anti-carcinogens there are. With so much to gain it will be very unwise to ignore them.

Most people take in some quantity of raw vegan foods generally in the form of salads along with their regular cooked food diet; however most people also do not realize that should they increase their intake of raw foods they will benefit a great deal more. Raw foods are also the best source of dietary fiber which is simply too important to maintain a healthy digestive system. This can also explain why people who live entirely on cooked foods have so many stomach related problems.

Many people are given to the mistaken conception that raw vegan foods are expensive, time and effort intensive preparations. Nothing can be farther from the truth. When eating raw vegetarian foods, first of all you are not even cooking, so there is no way it can be so much effort. Secondly although most ingredients are easily available it is wise to go in for the “organic” foods or foods which are grown without the use of pesticides and insecticides. These can be a little pricier than the regularly available foods at your local super markets but eating them can save you on a lot in medical bills later.

Eating raw vegan foods can be a life changing decision that once implemented will affect you for the better. You can try out raw recipes and experience these wonderful delicacies yourself.

Raw food has remained way too underrated however eating raw vegan food is becoming more and more popular these days as it is the most healthiest choice of foods available. try some recipes and see the difference it makes!

Read more on Eating raw food here.
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admin, November 17th 2009 | Tags: avoid health problems, common health problem, eating raw foods, Raw Food Diet, Raw Foods
Posted in Raw Food Recipes

Does Eating Raw Foods Make Sense In The North?

Have you bought the idea that a completely raw food diet is the ultimate, most logical, best diet for all humankind, no matter where they live in the world? (Like eskimos eating watermelon…)
It seems to me that it’s the implied idea transmitted by many raw-foodists, raw food website, books and seminars.
The idea is:
Raw Food is Good, Cooked Food is Evil, and the World Would Be a Better Place If Everyone Ate Only Raw Foods
OK, I may be exaggerating, but often that’s the general tone of many of the raw food gurus’ message.
Is it actually true?
Would it be possible that the resources required to transport those foods would actually make the raw food diet fairly unecological, considering the fact that eating a diet of bananas and mangoes in Northern Canada isn’t the most natural choice?
How much food do you need as a 100% raw food eater?
It’s fairly well-known that anyone deciding to eat only raw foods in a sustainable way (for health) needs to eat a tremendous quantity of fresh fruits and vegetables.
In order to get enough calories from fruits and vegetables, without using too much raw fat (which would be detrimental for health), here’s the average amount of food that’s necessary:
For a 2000 calorie diet: 10 pounds a day (with peels and all)
For a 3000 calorie diet: 15 pounds a day (with peels and all)
I based those numbers on average consumption most 100% raw foodists go through in a typical day (those who are not on a detox program!).
So basically, 70 to over 100 pounds of food per week!
That’s a lot.
Where does your food come from?
If we would want to get a more accurate picture on the ecological impact that eating a large quantity of imported fruits would have versus a smaller quantity of local cooked, animal or grain foods, we would need to analyze a lot of variables. I haven’t been able to get an accurate estimate from the data that’s available.
But just knowing that most imported fruits come from fairly far away, and that large quantities are necessary on a completely raw food diet, I can draw the obvious conclusion that eating this way is not necessarily the most logical, natural and ecological choice.
Consider that:
- Grapes from Chile travel a minimum of 4000 miles to get to you
- Bananas from Costa Rica travel about 2000 miles or more to get to you
- Mangoes from Mexico at least 1000 miles to get to you
- And so on…
All of the fossil fuels used to transport all of these foods leave an impact, which may offset or even counter-balance the possible environmental benefits of choosing a raw vegan diet (which requires less resources when produced locally), versus a local diet that would contain both raw, cooked, plant and possibly even animal foods.
It’s always been obvious to me that a diet of all raw foods in Canada makes less sense on many levels that one that includes some cooked foods, more local foods and fewer imported fruits.
There’s also the fact that these fruits are picked unripe in many cases, the acidity level is too high and the nutrient level too low.
So is the solution for all raw-food enthusiasts to move to the tropics? Certainly not!
My point is:
- There’s no need to demonize cooked food – A diet that includes both raw and cooked food makes a lot of sense on many levels. You don’t have to eat 100% raw. This is really an individual choice based on your health, your location, and your preference.
- A raw food diet can be unnatural – Eating 100% raw foods in the north can be unnatural and unsustainable. And for many more reasons that I can expand on in future articles, it’s certainly not a solution that can be proposed to the entire world!
- If you live in the north, follow the seasons – Many people, as summer approaches, have the desire to include more raw food in their diet. But in the winter, instead of freezing to death, they choose to incorporate more raw, cooked foods. That is perfectly fine, natural and even desirable for most people.
Here’s a list of some additional tips to enable you to eat more ecologically and sustainably, while incorporating more raw fruits and vegetables in your diet, no matter where you live:
1- Freeze Berries and other Fruits in Season – Berries are some of the most nutritious and antioxidant-packed foods you can eat. To avoid the consumption of too much imported foods in the winter, I encourage you to freeze a huge quantity of ripe, local, organically grown (or wild) fresh berries when they are in season. I personally freeze a lot of wild blueberries, which are local. Then, use them throughout the winter in your recipes. You can thaw them in advance to avoid the negative effect of consuming cold foods.
2- Grow Sprouts – Grow some fresh, toxin-free sprouts such as clover and sunflower greens, to get a supply of cheap, fresh, local vegetables in the winter!
3- Avoid out of Season Fruits – Some fruits may be available in your store, but may actually be out of season in your hemisphere of the world. If you live in North America, the season for grapes usually ends in September or October. Grapes during the winter are imported from countries situated in the opposite hemisphere, such as Chile, where the seasons are reversed. Avoid that! Learn the seasons of different fruits and vegetables and choose to avoid foods imported from such far-away places.
4- Make Different Salads and Vegetable Dishes in the Winter – In one of my recipe books, I give different kinds of salads and dressings depending on the season. In the winter, I recommend salads made with cabbage, carrots and other root vegetables. In the summer, I incorporate more lettuce, tomatoes and fresh vegetables. You should do the same.
5- Shun Exotic Fruits – Exotic fruits such as durian, Thai coconuts and litchis can be great to try, but they inevitably come from faraway countries such as Thailand. In addition to leaving a huge ecological impact for being imported from so far, they are also heavily sprayed with toxic chemicals. Durians are particularly notorious for that. Try them for fun, but stick to fruits and vegetables as local as possible – at least from somewhere you could drive to.
Finally, I would like to encourage you to continue making the best choices for your health. Sometimes, that may sometimes mean:
- Eating fresher, locally grown commercial foods instead of less fresh, imported organic foods
- Eating ripe, local commercial food instead of unripe, imported organic foods
- And eating some cooked, warm “local” food instead of just cold imported fruits
Lookt at true consequences of your own choices, and realize that there’s not one size that fits all.

Find information on Gewgley.com

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admin, November 10th 2009 | Tags: raw food, Raw Food Diet, Raw Foodist, Raw Foods
Posted in Raw Food Recipes

Go Green, The Raw Food Way!

I’ve received a handful of emails lately concerned with the amount of sweetness on a low fat, high fruit raw vegan diet. As expected, several of you aren’t quite used to the sweetness of so much fruit

To solve the problem, many beginner raw foodists substitute savory greens and/or nuts, seeds and avocado for sweet fruit.

Big Mistake

There are 2 problems with this approach:

1. Greens and vegetables have few calories2. Nuts, seeds, and avocado are high-fat foods

In terms of greens, these foods are simply too low in calories. Even a large salad of 8 ounces of romaine, one large cucumber, a whole bell pepper, and two medium tomatoes is under 200 calories! The only way to increase the calories in this meal would be to add in fruit or fat.

Which brings me to the second problem: fatty nuts, seeds, and avocado. Contrary to what people (raw and cooked foodists alike) like to believe, nuts are NOT a high protein food. Take an ounce of walnuts (14 halves), for instance. With only 9% of calories from protein and whopping 83% from fat, it becomes clear that nuts and seeds are really a high FAT food.

Avocados are in the same boat, with 4% protein and 77% fat.

SIDE NOTE: I’m referring to the Hass avocado here. There are avocados with lower percentages of fat, such as some Florida varieties, but these are not as readily available.

While there’s nothing inherently wrong with this fact, it becomes a problem when these foods are substituted for fruit and eaten in mass quantities. While it is perfectibly acceptable to eat a pound (or two) of fruit in one sitting, this is a recipe for disaster in terms of fat.

Too much fat has been linked to obesity, heart disease, atherosclerosis, and even depression.

To learn more about the problems associated with eating a high fat raw food diet, check out this article.

This is why I side with the numerous doctors and health institutes – including Dr. Joel Fuhrman, Dr. Douglas Graham, Dr. Dean Ornish, and The Pritikin Longevity Center – in recommending a low fat diet for optimal health. This works out to about 1-2 ounces of nuts or ½ – 1/3 of an avocado per day (depending upon your caloric needs).

This means that if you decide to substitute sweet fruit for fat you will need to keep the quantities low. Say you add 1 tbsp of nuts to the salad example above. This still only gives you about 350 calories!

And that’s assuming that you can actually consume such a mountainous salad in one sitting. I’m pretty proud of my eating prowess when it comes to fruit. But 8 ounces of lettuce and a slew of veggies?

No way, Jose!

With the low amount of calories in this dish, you’ll be back in the kitchen looking for more fuel (probably in the form of simple carbohydrates) within the hour.

What to Do?

The easy way out is just to eat more sweet fruit. But you’re sick of sweet!

It seems we’re back at square one, right?

Not quite.

There is a tasty solution.

Go Green!

Green smoothies, that is!

A green smoothie – renowned amongst gourmet and low fat raw foodists alike – is a fruit smoothie with greens added to it. Sure, you’ve probably heard of them. But have you actually tried one?

Here’s a tasty raw recipe:

Blend everything together. Add water to achieve the texture you desire. I like my smoothies thin so I tend to add a few cups to the mix.

Why It Works

The green smoothie concept works for (you guessed it) 2 reasons:

1. It’s still fruit-based, providing quality fuel and satiation to your body.2. The greens help to cut the sweetness.

Even though green (and contrary to the lovely picture in this post, often times pretty gross looking), green smoothies are very much a fruity meal.

As you can see from the recipe above, the smoothie is still mostly fruit. The green comes from only a handful or two of romaine.

It is this small amount of “green-ness” that really adds a nice crisp, clean taste to the meal. The drink will still be sweet, but not sickly so.

And you can easily add more fruit or make more than one smoothie to meet your caloric needs.

For instance, whenever I make smoothies (green or not), I have to make two separate batches because I like them so thin.

*sigh* If only they made 64 ounce blenders…

Long-Term Sweet Sickness?

Almost every beginner raw foodist has a problem eating so much sweet fruit at first.

Even I, the Fruit Queen Goddess that I am, had some troubles. Bananas were especially sickening to me. They were just so thick and sweet. Yuck!

And to think, now I eat multiple bananas EVERYDAY!

If you stick with a high fruit, low fat diet, you will not experience this aversion to sweetness forever. And the transformation generally does not take that long. We’re talkin’ just a few weeks or so, on average.

And eventually, you’ll stop thinking of fruit as sweet altogether. At some point, it just becomes delicious, mouth-watering, satiating food.

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admin, November 8th 2009 | Tags: green smoothies, Greens, high fruit raw, low fat raw, Raw Food Diet, Raw Foods, raw vegan, sweet fruit
Posted in Raw Food Recipes

Raw Food: A Diet for the Lazy Man

Here is a comment that was recently left on a former post about mono-fruit meals.

I am lazy and started doing fruit meals from the beginning! I have never been into cooking recipes. So I got into raw foods and eating mostly fruit instinctively. ~ Annalise

I can certainly relate to this. When I ate a cooked vegan diet, I always HATED spending hours in the kitchen preparing meals. Or making a second trip to the supermarket because I forgot some essential ingredient for a dish the first time around. Or having to plan my “healthy” meals days in advance. Or…the list goes on and on.

That’s why I was so excited about the raw food diet. “Eating foods in their raw states,” I thought. “What could be more simple than that?”

Little did I know that the world of “gourmet raw” wasn’t any better than cooked vegan! I still spent hours in the kitchen, only now I was just chopping vegetables. I still had to make numerous trips to various health food stores in the hopes of finding “necessary” special ingredients. And I still had to plan everything well in advance, so as not to waste anything or end up without enough food.

And at least my cooked meals actually tasted good! Raw meatloaf and “sun” burgers…no thanks.

A Diet for the Lazy Man

Luckily, I quickly came across a raw food diet that truly satisfies the couch potato inside of me. And as crazy as it sounds, this is the absolute *healthiest* and most *nutritious* diet you can find!

And which diet is this? Why, the low fat raw vegan diet, of course! That means all the sweet fruit you can eat, moderate greens and non-sweet fruits, and limited fats. That’s it!

When I found out that I could literally grab a bunch of bananas and chow down, I couldn’t believe it. And what if I wanted something a little more fancy? No problem! A simple yet satisfying fruit salad, green smoothie, savory salsa or raw pasta could be prepared in just minutes!

This meant no more extra time in the kitchen and no more desperate searches at the supermarket! While I still plan my meals, and recommend that you do the same, it’s extremely simple. Since I know how much food I need in a given day and the ripening times of the various foods that I eat, all that is required is to make sure that I buy enough when I go shopping. That’s all there is to it!

And best of all? I have more energy on this super simple lazy man’s raw diet than on any other program I’ve ever tried! And because I’m not slaving away in front of a hot stove (or tepid dehydrator, for that matter), I can use that new-found energy for things that I truly enjoy.

What’s That, You Say?

A raw diet of mostly fruit is just *too* simple, right? There is just *no way* a person can survive long term on such a diet, huh?

WRONG! Not only are people surviving on a high fruit, low fat raw vegan diet, they are thriving (myself included)! If you don’t believe me, take a gander at 30 Bananas a Day. It’s a forum specifically for low fat raw vegans and boasts over 1000 members!

If you are *still* skeptical, try it out for yourself! You have nothing to lose from giving a healthy raw vegan diet a go. Cooked foods will still be there if you wish to return to them.

So what’s stopping you? Grab some bananas and give the low fat fruity raw way a try!