Raw Food Diet

My very good friend Alicia had cervical cancer and was quite overweight. She managed to send her cancer into full remission and lose a ton of weight eating a 100% raw food diet.

I'm not quite to that stage, yet. I'd like to be, but I still love to eat cooked food. I'm trying very hard to add more and more raw foods to my diet, and Alicia is such an inspiration!

I encourage everyone to add more raw foods to their diet. Even if you don't ever go 100% raw, just adding more raw produce to your diet (especially organic) will help you look better and feel better!

UPDATE! Since I first published this hub almost a year ago, I've gone to over 90% raw food. I feel fantastic! I have a ton of energy, I only sleep about 6 hours per night now (I used to sleep 10) and I haven't had a problem with acne in over 6 months. (I used to have very bad breakouts during PMS every month.)

I do still eat cooked food occasionally. I don't know if I will ever go 100% raw. But I am thrilled with the results I've seen from going this far. I'd like to really thank Alicia for inspiring me to do this! (THANK YOU!)

Raw food diets are generally vegan diets. They consist of only uncooked fruits, vegetables, nuts, and sometimes things like raw grains that have been soaked.

Some raw foodists do eat raw meat. A few eat raw seafood (sashimi), and some even eat raw beef. But most raw vegans only eat raw plant foods.

If you're considering going on a raw food diet, you don't have to go cold turkey (pardon the pun!) You can start by adding more raw foods to your existing diet and gradually moving to a higher percentage of raw foods.

1. You can lose weight. Raw fruits and vegetables are almost all very low in fat and calories. Unless you eat nothing but avocados, bananas, coconuts, and raisins, it would be very difficult to gain a lot of weight on a raw food diet.

2. You save your critical enzymes. Some scientists theorize that the human body can only create a finite number of enzymes during its lifetime, and once those enzymes are used up, the body dies. Raw fruits and vegetables contain their own enzymes, so you can save your body's enzymes for other processes!

3. Your appearance will improve. Raw foodists report healthier skin, shinier hair, gray hair turning dark again, fewer wrinkles, and even the disappearance of some stretch marks!

4. You're protecting the environment. Since most raw foodists eat only organic produce, you'll be doing your part to show the food industry that more people want foods that aren't raised with chemicals than can harm us and our planet!

5. You'll feel great! Many raw foodists say they feel far more energy while consuming only raw foods. Additionally, most raw foodists say they need only 4-5 hours of sleep to feel great, where they needed 8-10 hours before!