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Many people are curious about the raw food diet, but they quickly become discouraged because they feel that it is an “all or nothing” proposition. Some of the “gurus” in the raw food movement do a disservice to potential converts by making it sound like you must abandon your customary diet cold turkey (no pun intended).

If you are interested in the benefits of a raw food diet, may I suggest that you disregard the fanatics and food Nazis, and simply test the raw food waters at whatever pace you are comfortable. Perhaps for you it would be instituting a “raw food day” once a week, or even once a month, just to see if you notice any changes in how your feel.

Gradually, if you feel the raw food approach has potential for you, increase the amount of raw food that you consume. If you eat french fries (not recommended) or steak, don’t beat yourself up and give up.

Try to get each day right, whatever “right” means to you at your present level. If you miss your mark today, start again tomorrow, without reproach or disparaging yourself.

Approach the conversion to a raw food diet with the Japanese concept of kaizen, which loosely translates as continuous improvement or gradual improvement. That is all that is required for your success. Just try to improve a little each day, or week, or month.

Success breads success, so establish goals that you can achieve easily at first. Then, build on those successes. As you begin to notice your weight dropping and your energy increasing, you will be inspired to do even more for your own good health.

Take a look at the teeth of a natural carnivore, like a cat or a wolf. You will notice that those teeth are long and sharp and that they interlock for ripping and tearing the food consumed. By contrast, look and your own teeth. They are neither long nor sharp and are obviously more suited to grinding than to ripping and tearing.

Not so obvious is the stomach acid of a carnivore versus that of a human. The stomach acid of a carnivore is strong, and powerful enough to digest bones. By contrast, your stomach acid is much weaker. If you swallow a whole almond without chewing, the result is predictable. The nut will be expelled undigested.

The foregoing analysis will not end the debate about whether we humans should be eating meat or not, but it is “food for thought.”

When you are on the raw food diet you may find that you become bored really quite quickly and you feel as though your choice is limited. There really is a myriad of things that can be eaten on the raw food diet and you can make these all up into a tasty meal or recipe. If you are stuck for ideas, this article can help get you started in the right direction.

A good way to get new recipes and meal ideas is to experiment yourself with foods that you have already in the kitchen. Fruit smoothies are always going to be a winner. Try using the classic combinations for a smoothie that is definitely going to be tasty. Try a smoothie like strawberry and banana, raspberry and cherry, peach and apricot and more. If fresh fruit isn’t convenient for you, you could always try frozen fruit. It lasts longer, makes really tasty smoothies and is often cheaper than the fresh variety. Its almost as good as the fresh fruits.

You could make a healthy and sugar free cereal or muesli by mixing chopped fresh fruits and nuts and seeds together. This can be served with milk or even fruit juice. There are plenty of milk alternatives available in good supermarkets.

Try using shredded cabbage as a raw alternative to pasta. Add pesto sauce or home made tomato sauce on the top as you would with regular cooked pasta. You can also use pulsed cauliflower as an alternative to rice. Make sure that you to not pulse it too much though, just enough to get it into a coarse texture.

Once you have tried these recipes, you will find that you can create your own versions and additions of them. The internet is full of tasty recipes that are made from entirely raw food. There are also plenty of books out there that offer these recipes too.

When you are about to embark on the raw food diet it can feel exiting at first, until you come to your first meal time. Then you may start to wonder what on earth are you going to eat? What else can I eat as well as vegetables? The truth is there are plenty of things that can be included in your daily diet. It is popular belief that all raw foods are just vegetables and fruits, but there are plenty of others too. Find out more about what you can eat on a raw food diet.

Many people are under the impression that there are only a limited amount of fruits and vegetables. If you ask a group of people to name some fruits they might only come up with the most basic ones such as bananas, apples, pears and maybe a few others. But the truth is that there are so many more to choose from. Once you have been on the diet for a while you will find yourself looking for other more exotic fruits and tastes from all around the world. The basic fruits will probably provide the basis of your diet, but you can try lots of different fruits too. The same is true for vegetables.

There are many different fruits and vegetables which are most likely commonly eaten in other countries all the time. Take a trip down the other world food isles of the supermarket, you might be surprised at what you find there. You might also want to go to the more ethnic stores and see what they have on offer there.

Make sure that you take in enough protein on the diet also. This is a thing that a lot of people find difficult. You can have nuts and seeds for protein. You can also buy protein powders made from natural plants online or in good health food stores. Protein is an important element to have in your diet and should not be skipped.

The raw food diet is really great. It is so healthy and contrary to popular belief there is a lot of choice and tasty recipes available to choose from. However, as with all diets there are certain foods that must be avoided for health and also safety reasons. Some foods are just not suitable for eating raw and may contain certain elements that are harmful to your health. This article provides a guide to which foods those are and how to avoid them.

This is not a full list of all harmful raw foods, but just a general overview, from this you will be given an idea of which foods should not be eaten and why.

Potatoes

These are a root vegetable that are the basis for a lot of popular cooked foods like fries, potato chips and much more. Many people love them cooked, but raw they should be avoided. The reason for this is that they contain a certain element that does not agree with the human body. This element is destroyed when the potato is cooked making it safe to eat.

Parsnips

These are another member of the root vegetables that must not be eaten raw. This contains an element that can interfere with drugs as well as causing unwanted skin reactions.

Kidney beans

These are another food that can be eaten only when cooked. These are a little more dangerous though. They contain a chemical that is toxic when eaten raw. Again, once they have been cooked, they are rendered safe to eat because the chemical is destroyed.

Meat

Most raw foodists avoid this altogether, but many suggest that raw meat is safe to eat is some situations. This is not strictly true as meat can be infected with all kinds of diseases and bacteria to name a few. The safest option is to eliminate it altogether from the diet as most raw foodists do.

So you have probably heard of the raw food diet and are wondering what the catch is right? There are literally so many advantages of the raw food diet you are wondering if there are any disadvantages also. This is a big change to have in your life, you will be up hauling almost everything in your diet, especially if you eat a lot of junk and processed foods a lot in your daily lifestyle. The advantages are great however, and they for many people outweigh the disadvantages.

Many people have found a new lease of life when they start the raw food diet. Once they have been on it, even for as little as a few days, they find that they want to continue to eat it and don’t ever look back on eating low nutrient processed and cooked foods.

Here is a list of the advantages:

> More energy. You will feel revitalised and refreshed and often better than you have been in years. Your energy levels will increase and you will feel much better.

> You will have a detox. Eating unprocessed, healthy and living foods is a good way to cleanse your body and get rid of all the toxins that may build up.

> You will look and feel much better than you have in years or maybe even ever. If you have always had a bad diet, you will be amazed by how good you feel after eating healthy and alive foods.

However there may be some disadvantages for some people who are thinking of switching to this diet. There are only a few, but some people may find these a problem.

> You won’t be eating meat. Meat typically needs to be cooked before it is eaten. This is why you will generally be avoiding it on this diet. This could actually be classed as an advantage because you will be avoiding all of the chemicals, hormones and also won’t be promoting the cruelty the animals suffer when they are being farmed. For some people, meat is a big part of their life that they do not want to give up, albeit an unhealthy one.

> Some people find it difficult to make the transition from cooked to raw foods. This is because they have lived for so long on hot, cooked food that they believe this is how it should be. This is actually very unnatural to eat hot food and a raw diet is actually the most natural form of food you can get.

One of the biggest changes a person may face when converting to a raw food diet is the lack of meat. The raw food diet is typically a vegetarian one since most, if not all meat products must be, or are already cooked. This may be a challenge for some people who have meat as part of their daily diet and lifestyle, especially when meat is eaten as part of every meal as it often as.

So can you eat meat on a raw food diet?

The answer is technically no, since all meat must be cooked. There is of course the subject of sushi. Many people argue that sushi can be eaten on the diet,as it is a raw food. This often consists of raw fish and seaweed. Many raw foodists enjoy this as part of their regular diet whilst the true die hard raw foodists do not think this should be considered as part of the diet.

There is not anything technically wrong with eating raw fish as part of the diet as long as it is prepared correctly and is definitely fresh. There are of course, the risk associated with eating raw fish and certain groups of people should avoid doing this, such as pregnant women. Animal products are generally avoided on the raw food diet and you may experience extra benefits of sticking to this tradition.

These days, in the modern times that we live in, animal products such as meat, fish and eggs are farmed and not organic. This means that they are full of pollutants and chemicals such as antibiotics and growth hormones which really do not do any good at all. If you can find organic versions of the raw foods that you eat then this will be to your advantage. You will be getting a better, healthier version and also promoting better living conditions for the animals themselves.

If you have decided to make the change to the raw food diet, then congratulations.  You are now well on your way to feeling healthier, looking healthier and younger and being in the best health of your life. It may be such a drastic change however, that you do not know where to start. Thinking of meal plans and things to eat on the raw food diet can be difficult for newcomers and it may seem very restricted at first compared to what you are used to eating.

Many people fall into the trap of thinking that it is difficult and time consuming to prepare healthy raw food. These people are usually the people who have relied on fast foods and junk ready meals from the supermarket for so long they haven’t prepared food for themselves for years and don’t realize just how easy it is to prepare healthy, real food.

Breakfast is probably the quickest and easiest meal of the day and requires little or no chopping of fruits or vegetables at all. Breakfast can be really as simple as a fruit smoothie. Simply blend some fruit together with some fruit juice, milk or even water. There are plenty of dairy free alternatives to milk if you are going vegan too. Have some nuts on the side for some protein and that is breakfast. This is great if you are in a hurry in the mornings and don’t have time for preparing foods.

For lunch and dinner the possibilities are endless. Why not try a nut salad? Simply add some nuts or seeds to the fresh green salad as the protein. Use green vegetables for the salad such as lettuce, cucumber and spinach or watercress. Add some tomatoes in too for some color and extra flavor.

Other ideas for lunch and dinner include a vegetable pasta with tomato sauce. Shred cabbage or spring greens finely to make a pasta alternative. Mash some tomatoes with garlic, olive oil and fresh herbs for your own pasta sauce and serve on top of the shredded cabbage.

One of the main things that people wonder when they first hear about the raw food diet is why is it healthy? This is a good question. Many people do not understand just how and why it works and is so effective at bringing about a sense and look of well being. So why is a raw food diet healthy?

The raw food diet manages to preserve as many of the nutrients and enzymes that are contained within the foods that we eat naturally. These natural elements were designed to be there when food is eaten and are essential for the correct digestion and absorption of the nutrients so that we get the full benefit of them. When these elements are taken away, food becomes difficult to digest causing a sluggish and often bloated digestive system that doesn’t work effectively. Since food is supposed to be fuel for our bodies, this is not a good thing.

This has a knock on effect through the body and can cause many other problems such as lack of concentration, lack of energy, tiredness and general lacklustre feeling and appearance. This unwanted physical and mental condition can be turned around when you eat the all natural, raw food diet. Anything artificial is eliminated. So you can forget about eating junk and processed foods and just about anything that has its natural nutrients stripped from it and had chemicals added in its place.

Junk and processed foods are well known to be bad for us, but many people don’t understand just how unhealthy they are. These foods generally have the same bad elements in each one. They will typically; contain sugar, contain chemicals, contain high levels of bad fats and have no nutritional value at all. So “foods” such as; sweets and candy, fizzy drinks, pizza, doughnuts, pastries and any other baked, processed goods are completely off the menu.