59 Days at 100% Raw

After almost 60 days of being 100% raw vegan, I have realized that I was making a choice, and a commitment to myself to become more healthy and thus improve the quality of my life.

Of course, when I didn’t care about my health and ate whatever I wanted to without any thought to the consequences, I was making a choice too.

In the end we do what we have to do in order to survive. But it’s also a survival trait to seek out the knowledge you need in order to survive and have the quality of life one deserves.

But many times, though our intentions are sincere, we might not be doing the best things for ourselves, nor eating the best food. And many of us struggle through life trying to improve ourselves. Trying to lose weight and boost our energy levels, yet not really knowing how to go about it. Or we are trying too hard at one thing and not enough at another.

A raw food lifestyle is about getting healthy, boosting our energy, and feeling extremely great. It’s about getting back to a more natural way of life that’s closer to nature. Having said that, I’ve listed below 7 very good reasons for going raw. I hope you find them useful, just as I did.

7 Powerful Reasons To Eat Raw

• 1. Lose Weight Easily While Eating More Healthy
  It’s a fact that going raw will give you a better chance at losing weight than any other diet, because you’re getting more nutrition minus the excess, empty calories! Natural, raw, organic fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and sprouts pack plenty of nutritients while being lower in calories than non-raw vegan foods.
• 2. Look and Feel Younger Than Your Age
  People who adopt a raw food diet begin to feel more youthful and their complexion clears up. Many have gotten “the glow” and look more radiant. In fact, a raw food diet has the ability to rejuvenate and heal the body.
• 3. Improve Your Health and Help Eliminate Chronic Ailments
  Many people afflicted with chronic ailments and diseases tend to move naturally toward a more raw diet in order to help their bodies rejuvenate and heal. Our bodies become inefficient as we age and have a harder time utilizing important enzymes that restore bodily functions and help to digest foods. Raw plant foods have an abundance of enzymes in its natural state, so eating more enzyme rich plant foods will help the body to heal and rejuvenate when sick. It has been proven that raw foods aid in proper digestion because of its high fiber and water content!

Enzymes

“Enzymes are substances that make life possible. They are needed for every chemical reaction that takes place in the human body. No mineral, vitamin, or hormone can do any work without enzymes. Our bodies, all our organs, tissues, and cells are run by metabolic enzymes.” —Dr. Edward Howell, Enzyme Nutrition

• 4. Gain More Energy, Clarity and Focus
  Many people adopting a raw food diet experience increased amounts of energy. Some seem to gain seemingly unlimited amounts of energy and at the same time don’t require as much sleep. But not only will the body experience more energy, the mind will become more alert and focused, with improved clarity.
• 5. Help The Environment and The Planet
  A concern for the planet and its resources is another big factor why people choose to become a raw vegan. With meat alone, more square mileage of land is wasted to feed cattle so that we can have beef and hamburgers! The land would be of more use if it were used to grow crops for us humans instead.
• 6. Clean and Detoxify The Body Naturally
  Eating lots of raw fruits and vegetables will help your body naturally detoxify itself. Our bodies are in a constant mode of healing and rejuvenating itself. Of all the foods on the planet, only raw organic wholesome foods will do the best job.
• 7. Beautify Yourself From The Inside Out
  Many people put cucumber slices on their eyes, or avocado on their face to improve their complexion. But eating cucumbers and avocados will also help improve and beautify your appearance. Seek out the many raw foodies who are eating a healthy raw vegan diet and they will have a radiance about them. Their “auras” shine and they’ve got that “glow” people associate with the raw food diet, and going raw can truly make you beautiful from the inside out.

Further Reading

Exilir of Life

After going to Whole Foods Market to buy some raw foods, I had gone home to make my first batch of raw almond milk. I had some almonds soaked in water since last night, and I placed them in a blender with 3 cups of water and, presto… fresh almond milk! I squeezed the stuff through cheese cloth to capture the pulp, and the liquid looks just like fresh milk with some foam on top. Awesome!

I’ll keep the pulp to make some almond cheese later.

Anyway, the end result… I was able to make a very delicious cacao smoothie by blending the following raw, organic ingredients in my blender:

Raw Cacao-Banana Smoothie

• 1 – cup freshly made almond milk
• 1 – large banana
• 1 – tablespoon agave nectar
• 1 – tablespoon cacao powder
• 1 – sprinkle of cacao nibs
• 15 – ice cubes

Be sure to check out my basic recipe for making almond milk.

Note: This is similar to a Cacao Banana Smoothie recipe I posted sometime last year, but the big difference is the raw, freshly made almond milk. Soy milk (from the other recipe) of course, is not raw. But, the almond milk tastes so much better freshly made, and allows me to be 100% Raw!

Buy The Products Used In The Above Recipe

Cacao Powder

Agave Nectar

Cacao Nibs