Raw Foods

"Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare. Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live" (Isaiah 55:2-3)

I cannot say enough good things about raw foods. They saved my life, amongst proper supplementation. I'm still a work in progress with finding out what effects me and what not, but I can 100% say that when my diet is a high percentage of raw foods that I do so much better. Summer is the time to start as well. Visit your local farmers market!

Eating raw foods, in the state that God gave them to us, is a huge benefit to your body. Not altering them by heat allows their nutritional value to stay in tact. My digestion is always better with raw vegetables and raw milk. I will not get on the raw milk bandwagon now, I gave that rant in another post a while back...I'm sure I will another day, but not today.

There are most definitely some foods that you want to eat cooked, like healthy grains such as quinoa, brown rice, steel cut oats, and amaranth. There are also some root vegetables like sweet potatoes, red potatoes, winter squash, and pumpkin that easier to consume cooked. I do know of some raw food recipes with sweet potatoes and pumpkins, though I haven't attempted them yet...but will.

When we eat a diet composed of many raw foods we encourage healthy digestion, cleanse our blood, and take in the most vitamins and minerals. as stated earlier summer time is an excellent opportunity to try out a raw food diet. Now you don't have to go 100% raw, and I don't recommend that for most people. It's a stricter format, and takes discipline to make sure that you do it right. If you are ill, especially with a serious malady like cancer, then I highly recommend it until recovery.

Most veggies and fruits grow in the warmer months, which is why I state summer is a great time to try, or at least implement more raw foods into your diet, and be daring, experiment. You might just find a new love on your dinner plate. I know that I did, kale. Earlier this week I posted a kale salad recipe, check it out.

Smoothies and salads are awesome ways to get those raw foods into your system. Kids, except for my CRAZY children, love smoothies. Maybe I'm just not giving them the right combos, I don't know. I absolutely love green smoothies! Yes, I said green smoothies. They are rather popular now. Baby spinach is at the top of my list for green smoothies. Dark leafy greens have 60-70% more calcium than milk by the way. I'll also use kale, or swiss chard. I think I used mustard greens once. That is better for strictly vegetable smoothies...more V8 tasting. I recommend spinach because the flavor is so mild, and once you stick some fruit in there you can't tell.

Here is my typical smoothie recipe for my breakfast,I've shared this before:

3-4 handfuls of raw baby spinach
1 banana
1/4 cup of fresh, raw almond milk (you have to make this, ask me how if you don't know)
Cup of ice
3 tbsp of hemp seed

I threw in some coconut oil, frozen strawberries, and blueberries the other day...wow, it was yum!