A raw food diet today is a fairly new style of food, it is at the height of fashion. What does it take to join the ranks of raw foodists? What should be the transition to a new way of life?
Instructions
Step 1
A raw food diet is not so much a diet as a mindset, a way of life. Skeptics, ignorant people see continuous restrictions, lack of choice in such a food system. In fact, preparing a raw food meal is a creative process, and the choice of products is very wide. Some people on the raw food diet eat not only plant foods, but also dairy products. The only condition is that food must not be thermally processed. Heating up to 40 degrees is allowed. For example, if a dehydrator is used to prepare a dish, in other words, a dryer for vegetables, fruits and herbs, or in winter the body wants warm food. Raw foodists drink and tea, but they prefer infusions of herbs, dried fruits and berries, which are filled not with the usual steep boiling water, but with warm water, the temperature of which is not higher than 40 degrees. The drink is infused in a thermos.
It may take a long time to switch to a raw food diet. It all depends on the specific organism, on the lifestyle that the person led earlier, on the person's nutritional system. That is, switching to a raw food diet from veganism is much easier than giving up immediately from eating meat and meat products, eggs and starting to eat raw plant foods. Such a transition can even be dangerous, since the body must be given time, the opportunity to adapt to new conditions, because it will have to work in a completely different mode.
Step 2
Having decided to change your lifestyle, you should, firstly, understand what it is for. If a person is driven by idle curiosity, this can hardly be called a goal, which means that one should not expect any achievements. So first you need to answer yourself the question: "Why am I doing this?"
Secondly, it should be understood that it is not just the food system that is changing, but the lifestyle as a whole is changing. If a person has the habit of drinking a bottle or two of beer with friends or at home on the couch at the end of the working day, or a glass of red wine at dinner, then one must be prepared for this habit to disappear by itself.
The fact is that at the very beginning of the path it will be necessary to collect as much information as possible. This need will be unobtrusively dictated by the body itself, because new and new questions that will inevitably appear at the beginning of the transition to a raw food diet will require answers. Consciousness will change and the habits of poisoning your body will become obsolete. The same goes for cigarettes, fast food, and so on.
You should also be prepared for the fact that from now on you will be the center of attention at any feast. You give up the delicious young lamb kebab and pour mineral water into your glass instead of alcohol - this is unusual. And people will ask questions. Some of these questions can be completely tactless. This is inevitable and you just need to be prepared for such a phenomenon. The simplest answer, after which people will leave you alone, is a link to a gastroenterologist.
Step 3
At first, when it is still unusual to eat raw foods, you will need to carefully think about the diet so that the diet is balanced. You will also need to pay special attention to the choice of products. Vegetable oil should be chosen cold-pressed, unrefined, non-deodorized. Cereals are peeled, but not crushed or in the form of flakes, since during production whole or crushed grain is rolled between hot rollers or treated with hot steam. Exfoliation involves threshing and screening grain, without heat treatment. Before eating, the grains are poured with cold water and left for several hours. The usual buckwheat is not suitable for a raw food eater, since the buckwheat is overcooked. You should choose green buckwheat, which is only peeled from floral scales. Legumes: mung bean, chickpeas, lentils, soybeans can be eaten raw after soaking in water for a while (from 12 to 24 hours). It is better to choose local vegetables and fruits according to the season. Dried fruits can be consumed at first, but they should be chosen especially carefully, since during the preparation process according to technical conditions, additional processing with sulfur dioxide is allowed, and fruits and berries are dried in ovens at high temperatures.
Desserts and sweets. Those with a sweet tooth will be happy to learn that when switching to a raw food diet, they do not need to give up sweets. It's just that the desserts will now be slightly different, but no less tasty. And, most importantly, useful. The composition of raw desserts, cakes, pastries, sweets includes dates, bananas and other fruits, nuts.
Milk, dairy products, cheeses, butter. All of these familiar foods can be completely plant-based. You can make them yourself from seeds and nuts, or purchase them from specialty health food stores.
Step 4
It is important to know and remember that an unbalanced diet and an acidic environment will primarily affect the condition of the teeth. You should be more demanding about oral hygiene and don't forget to include foods rich in calcium and phosphorus, such as sesame seeds and parsley, in your menu. In the first weeks of switching to raw food, chronic diseases can worsen, so you may need to visit a doctor who will monitor your health. There may be disruptions to the digestive system, which is manifested, as a rule, in loose stools and periodic pain in the stomach. All this will eventually return to normal, but you still need to monitor your condition so as not to harm.
Switching to raw food is best done smoothly. Some are phasing out cooked foods starting once a week, others are cutting back on cooked foods daily. If the food before switching to a raw food diet was not vegetarian, then you should first exclude meat and fish, seafood and eggs from the menu, and then, when the body gets used to it, remove flour products from the diet, and so on.
The transition to a raw food diet can take even a year, so there is no need to rush anywhere. Just listen to your body.
