4 Reasons Why You Should Eat More Raw Meals

This post contains affiliate links – as well as a vegan raw food recipe, so read all the way to the end!

I do not limit my diet to a particular lifestyle, may it be raw vegan, or otherwise, but rather optimize my food that fits my life, and health the best, as long as I eat 95 % clean. I do however add quite a few vegan raw food recipes into my diet, and that of my family with very diverse eating habits (my daughter is vegan, my son vegetarian, and my husband is on a diet to prevent blood pressure issues, while being neither). The raw food diet though, is a concept I have been familiar with since childhood, growing up in Germany. Rohkost or raw food meals were used to treat certain ailments, or just simply made as  a part of our meals. At least, is was in our family.

The cool thing is, that you do not need anything fancy to start incorporating raw meals into your diet, even though many recipes can call for spiralizers and special high-speed blenders. While these are all good to have, for those who want to start out, they are not something you need. Your normal everyday tools  appliances can get you started just as well.

So why should you try to get more raw food recipes and meals into your diet?

1. The nutrients and vitamins stay intact.The main benefit of eating raw is that the nutritional integrity of the food you are preparing stays intact. Cooking foods can  ( and usually does) destroy some of those vitamins, minerals and all of the good stuff you are trying to bring into your diet, by eating more veggies in the first place. None of that occurs when preparing your meals raw.

2. There is no long meal prep.  Most raw meals are rather quick and easy to prepare. So it is easily possible to prepare an entire meal for your family within ten minutes. How cool is that!

3. It is very portable. A bento box full of veggies, and prepared sauces or dressings is a very portable meal, that does not require a microwave or a stove to be enjoyed. Raw meals are perfect for the office, and can be just as balanced as a cooked meal if planned correctly.

4. Increased focus. Many people I have talked to, who added more raw meals to their diet have spoken about their increased ability to stay focused for a longer period of time. I agree with that experience, because when I make a point of incorporating more raw meals throughout the week into my life, my ability to stay longer on task increases noticeably. While I am not aware of a specific study validating that claim, it is my personal experience, and understandably so, considering that my nutrient intake has increased, which also affects brain function positively.

Wondering how to actually turn this into a practice, now that you know why you should?

You can start simple, by a large bowl of fruit for breakfast, or a variety of cut up veggies with your favorite homemade salsa
or hummus as a dip. But you can also make yourself a soup, if you have a blender, like this creamy tomato soup

Creamy Raw Tomato Soup Recipe (Vegan) 

You will need
4 tomatoes
2 medium carrots – peeled
1 to 2 celery
1 tablespoon of your favorite almond butter
1 tablespoon coconut oil
2 -3 dried tomatoes (not in olive oil)
2 teaspoons of dried oregano
1 teaspoon of dried  basil
1 teaspoon of dried thyme
salt and pepper to taste
some water

Place all of the ingredients into a blender, adding water to it, while you blend it all up, until it reaches the desired consitency.
Place into your favorite bowl and granish with arucola, or parsely – whatever you have on hand.

 

 

If you are feeling more adventurous, check out this book by a wonderful Youtuber named Kristina Carrillo-Bucaram, also known as Raw Food Kristina. I absolutely adore her tips on raw foods, meal prep, her raw vegan recipes and now her book, which is a Bestseller on Amazon – for good reason. A great book to start your journey on eating more raw – get it today! Ranging from savory to sweet, there is something for everyone in her book!

The Fully Raw Diet available on Amazon now! 

 

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Healing With Raw Foods – A Book Review

Title: Healing with Raw Foods
Author: Jenny Ross
Publisher: Hay House
Release Date: Jan. 6th 2015
Rating: 5/5 Stars
I am going to begin this review by stating that I am not living on an exclusively vegan raw food diet. I am interested in the recipes and concept, because I am always looking for innovative ways to add healthy food ideas to my diet, and raw food “cookbooks” have brought some of that inspiration with them. That was the intent, and it is what I received.
The recipes and images were wonderful, not too complicated, well thought through and mouth-watering. I have never been a fan of cold soups, but there were some real winners in this book, for example, the Sweet Almond Soup, which was a completely different experience, or the Earth Soup, which included Butternut Squash, my favorite type of winter squash.
What I also enjoyed was the fact that this book is filled with information on top of the recipes, that encourages a healthy, informed lifestyle. While again, I am not promoting 100 % raw eating as a personal choice, this book covers many aspects of how healthy such a choice can be, if done right, and armed with the correct information.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in learning about eating healthier and incorporating raw foods into their lives. Well done!

(Disclaimer: I was given a free copy by the publisher via NetGalley, in return for an honest review)