Dear Friend,
Like most American families, some of the young adult members of my family eat
primarily processed “quick” foods at home with soda, and fast foods out with
soda. This is not a healthy way to eat! My wife and I try to eat a wide variety
of healthy foods.
A while back, my wife and I decided to get a juicer in order
to juice a variety of fruits and vegetables. Dietitians advise you to eat plenty
of fruits and vegetables. Juicing them is an excellent way to accomplish that.
After we bought a juicer, I looked for books with fresh juice recipes and
discovered the Raw Food movement. The Raw Food diet consists primarily of fresh
fruits and vegetables. Nuts, seeds, and certain water plants are also part of
this diet. Foods produced from animal by-products and grains are to be avoided.
Because cooking fruits and vegetables causes a loss of valuable vitamins and
minerals, cooked foods are also avoided. The Raw Food diet is a highly
nutritious diet with many healthful benefits, but in today’s busy environment,
it can be difficult to make a transition. If you can’t do the transition for any
reason, using as much of the Raw Food diet as possible is a very healthy thing
to do!
The Raw Food diet is not usually covered in nutrition classes,
although the importance of eating plenty fruits and vegetables are stressed.
Some dietitians do not seem to be aware of this version of vegetarism. I
recently read an article on the internet which discussed vegetarians, but
omitted raw foodists. Health professionals usually encourage eating meat as part
of the diet “to ensure getting enough protein”. The fact of the matter is there
are no established requirements on the amount of protein that you should eat on
a daily basis. Generally, as long as you eat enough calories with your meals,
you should have enough protein. However, if your diet is primarily fruits and
vegetables, a supplement of vitamin B12 would be advisable.
I have found the following book, “Sunfood Cuisine” by Frederic Patenaude, to be an excellent Raw Food Diet reference. It has a complete reference to common and some uncommon foods and their nutrient value, some excellent recipes, menu plans, and other reference material.
Sincerely,
Phillip Work
Frederic Patenaude is the president and founder of
Smiling Mango Publications Inc. He has been working in the natural health
movement for over 8 years, and has over 10 years of experience in the field of
nutrition, health and personal development. He is the author of several books
and his articles are read by tens of thousands of people every week, in various
online newsletters. Frederic has traveled extensively, and has taught himself
over 6 languages.
Frederic also wrote and published the book The Raw Secrets:
the Raw Food Diet in the Real World, which is widely recognized as one of the
best and most practical, down-to-earth books on the subject.
He also created several recipe books, over a dozen courses and
information products, and hundreds of articles that have been published online
and offline.
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