Many people who follow a raw food diet are also vegetarians.  Do you need to be a vegetarian to eat raw food?  Absolutely not!! 

Does going raw mean you have to eat 100% raw?  Again, absolutely not!  There are very few people who eat a 100% raw diet.  Many "raw foodists" eat a diet consisting of anywhere from 50% to 99%.  (See Myth #1 below.)

What about protein?

First of all, let's be clear that we are not eating protein per se, but amino acids which combine together to create protein. So as long as we are eating a good quantity and quality of food (ideally organic as standard) and eat a wide variety of foods in the necessary amounts, then our protein needs should be more than adequately met.

There are 22 amino acids that our body needs to thrive - or at least that is what science has identified to date (we must always remember that nutrition is not yet a complete science and may well never be). Eight of these are termed "essential amino acids" because the body cannot manufacture them itself and therefore needs to obtain them from food. In a raw vegan diet, the best and most concentrated sources of amino acids come from those food groups listed below, although protein is present in every living thing, so not getting enough, while not impossible, is generally difficult!

Green Leafy Vegetables ~ Nuts ~ Seeds ~ Sprouted Grains ~ Sprouted Beans

And some good examples of foods from each of these food groups are: Spinach, kale, broccoli, sprouted wild rice, carob, cacao, oats, raisins, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, flax seeds (linseed), sprouted wheat, sprouted buckwheat, sprouted soya beans, almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, peanuts, hemp seeds, hemp protein powder (excellent), sprouted quinoa, mung beans, lentils, aduki, chickpeas etc, bee pollen, spirulina, E3 Live, Pure Synergy, maca, avocado, and many more - so plenty of choice!

Our bodies recycle approximately 80% of our protein; cooked protein is denatured and largely unusable, thus our protein need may very well be far lower than what is taught by conventional dietetics.

Source: www.therawfoodcoach.com 



                                               
                                                                     

Myths about the Raw Food Diet

Myth #1: You need to eat 100% raw foods and nothing else to experience the benefits of a raw food diet.

False!  While many people adhere to this myth the reality is that for most of us who are eating the Standard Amercian Diet, which is high in processed and fast foods, any increase at all in fresh, raw, living foods is beneficial!  Simple changes such as eating fresh fruit or drinking fresh fruit juice smoothies for breakfast rather than a meal laden with pancakes and bacon or sausage will serve to improve your health.  Eating a salad for lunch, rather than a hamburger or tacos, fries and a soda, will give you tons more energy and prevent that mid day slump.  Any increase in living foods to your diet will go a long way to improve upon your health as it is now.

Myth #2: Everything you eat will be cold.

False!  Anything you eat can be warmed up, so long as it does not get heated above 112 degrees.  Dehydrators are the perfect way to heat your food and the #1 choice.  However, food can be warmed simply in the warming plate of your coffee maker, in a glass bowl set in a sink or pan of hot (not boiling water, or in an oven preheated to warm with the door open.

Myth #3: The raw food diet consists only of "rabbit food".

False!  Just like the myth that a vegetarian diet consists of nothing but tofu and sprouts, this one is not true.  A raw food diet consists of much more than just boring green salads and carrot sticks.  In addition to creative salads I enjoy delicious entrees, yummy snacks and smoothies, decadent chocolate desserts, and even ice cream!  Are all made with living foods, all are completely healthy, and best of all I do not feel deprived one bit! 

Does this sound like I am being deprived?  For Thanksgiving this year I dined on the following: a big green salad, turkey loaf with cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes and gravy, waldorf salad, and pecan pie.  Yum!!

For Christmas this year I enjoyed the followed: a big green salad, mock crab cakes with fresh dill sauce, coucous (pilaf), chocolate covered cheesecake with vanilla ice cream.  Double yum!!

All raw, all healthy and no weight gain!  So what did you have?

Mashed "Potatoes"
From "RawVolution" by Matt Amsden

Ingredients:

2 1/2 C cauliflower, ground in a food processor
1/4 C raw macadamia nuts, ground in a food processor
1/4 C olive oil
1 tsp sea salt
1 very small clove garlic, peeled
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

IN a food processor, combine all ingredients except the pepper and process until mixture looks fluffy, like conventional mashed potatoes.  Top with freshly ground pepper.

Pecan Gravy