Raw Foods & Juicing

Raw Diet and Juicing

About a year ago I had a huge interest in juicing, and learned a lot about it, but I never did get into it.  Recently I’ve had an interest in doing a 30 day Raw diet challenge for myself, to sort of kick off healthy living.   It’s a wonderful way to detox your body.   I would love to do it some time soon.  The past 4 days I've actually had 2 fully raw days, and 2 days where I only have one food cooked...one day being the Protabella mushroom, and the other sweet potatoes.  Before that, for about half a month I would say, 75% of my daily diet had been raw, some days much more than that.  My breakfast and lunch were usually always raw foods…smoothie and salads, but I did cook my mushrooms and shrimp/fish and had a cooked dinner sometimes (however sometimes had a salad or smoothie for dinner too...always salads when going out to eat).I'm taking it one day at a time, and eventually I will have the 30 days of raw eating in a row.  I'm very careful to get all my nutrients though, so my diet isn't lacking in any vitamins, minerals, fiber or protein.

Here is a lecture by Paul Nison- Great info on raw food diets (9 parts)

Paul Nison is very entertaining in his lectures and he gives such great information from personal experience with a lot of humor. Well worth a listen, especially if you are looking to try and go on a raw food diet either short or long term, or if you are suffering from any illnesses. He’s not a medical doctor but shares some wonderful advice on healing your body through food.  

Please click on the links below for the remaining 8 parts

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukS4DkCf0Y0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xLHIvdR23g

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJ5KKc2fouE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsU_owGaV9I

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fERSCjGjcR8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q46n_01evfA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbWwDGp7txQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcFptUF6VYY

Another great thing about eating raw foods is that these foods contain 50% of the enzymes needed to digest your food.  You get the other 50% from your body. But when you cook your food you destroy all enzymes, so your body needs to work twice as hard to digest your cooked food than is does to digest natural live raw foods.  This is a reason why there are enzyme supplements to aid in digestion, taken right before you eat. There are plant and animal enzymes...but you can get all the enzymes you need from plans so I personally wouldn't use from animals. There are digestive enzymes (aid in digesting foods you eat) and systemic enzymes (that help breakdown matter that need to be removed from your body...more like an anti-aging enzyme). This is the reason people get tummy aches after a big meal, because their body is working extra hard to try digest their cooked foods, while it's much more easier on the stomach to eat healthy raw foods that already contain the needed enzymes.

The Best Diet, Using Enzyme Supplements, Nutrients and Herbs for Anxiety

Below is a wonderful interview Dr. Mercola had with Cherie Calborn (who is an expert in juicing) about juicing.

Internationally renowned natural health physician and Mercola.com founder Dr. Joseph Mercola talks with Cherie Calbom, author of "The Juice Lady's Turbo Diet" about what types of juicers to use and why.

Cherie also goes over the different kinds of juicers out there and recommended, which is very helpful in selecting a good one.   She goes over benefits, and several questions people have about juicing in general.  She also shares great info on making and storing juice as well for optimal health.  

More info on Raw diets can be found on my Raw Living page