What are Living and Raw Foods?

Living foods are a bit different than raw foods. A raw food can be any fruit, vegetable, grain, nut and seed in its raw, unprocessed state. Living foods are foods that are ALIVE! The enzymatic factors are at their peak. This means the grains, nuts and seeds have been soaked and sprouted to guarantee life within it. The fruits and vegetables are at their peak of ripeness and fresh and LIVING!! At the beginning of moving to an all raw diet, the majority are educating themselves and trying to work through cravings. Just staying on a raw food diet can seem EXTREMELY overwhelming as the body processes both physically and emotional. As time passes and cravings subside and it gets easier and easier, raw foodist end up eating mostly living foods, for this is where they feel their best and can achieve their highest potential, in all aspects of life.

What are Enzymes?

Enzymes are like a lock and key to opening the cell structure to assimilating nutrients. Grains, nuts and seeds have "enzyme inhibitors" that enable them to store for longer periods of time than a fruit or vegetable. By soaking and sprouting them, the inhibitors are broken and they are much more easily digestible. When we eat food that has not been heated and the enzymes are still intact, the whole process of digestion is immensely eased. When we eat a mostly cooked food diet, up to 75% of the energy stores within the body, can be used merely in digestion and absorption. Enzymes are then taken from within the pancreas, liver, bone and tissue and all of the body becomes overworked and eventual internal breakdown can takes place. When we eat foods with the enzymes intact, it can take as little as 25% of the bodies energy stores to digest it. This eases the body’s energy to aid in healing and create ideal health. When we choose to eat raw foods, overall assimilation and absorption of the nutrients from our foods, I believe, are much, much greater. This aids in achieving the full bodied health that is desired.

Why are Enzymes Important?

As mentioned above, enzymes are of vital importance in regards to the foods we choose to put into our bodies. They are a WONDERFUL tool to help the body heal. I believe that God created our bodies to heal themselves. Just as a lizard can grow back a tail or when a child scrapes his knee it soon disappears, when we give our bodies the BEAUTIFUL God given tools needed for self healing, MIRACLES take place.

Will rinsing wash off the pesticide from industrially grown produce?

No! There are some commercial products that will aid in removing a partial amount of the exterior pesticides. The biggest issue with pesticides now is that commercial growers are using seeds with the chemicals inside of it. This means the actual pesticide then encompasses the whole fruit or vegetable and that cannot be washed off. Buying organic food is the BEST BET to prevent the consumption of pesticides.

For an interesting article on pesticides click here.

Is this a "new" fad diet or something?

This is the diet of Adam and Eve. There are several books that discuss ideas about how long this diet has actually been around. For this day and age, you could call this "something new". We have taken into our hands such degradation, that this diet looks foreign and strange to us. I think, this diet will grow more and more in interest, as people see what takes place within themselves as they incorporate it into their daily lives. As this grows and more science is utilized to show it’s benefits, we will see this is NOT a fad diet.

What is a Living Foodist or Raw Foodist?

A living or raw foodist is one whose diet consists of foods in their raw or highest enzymatic state.

Is a 100% living and raw food diet best?

A 100% raw food diet is the best as long as daily meditation and education is taking place and the body is freely and simply moving into this space. I have seen people who, as time passes, have a harder time staying a 100% because they are lacking in those 2 desperately needed things. By educating and meditating, we are able to understand our bodies better and utilize our inner spiritual power to bring about success in the changes we feel we need to achieve. Understanding the way the body works and striving to listen to ourselves and inner knowing, we will then feel successful as a 100% raw or living foodist. In order to reach these goals, we must first understand that reaching this place goes much further than just food. Emotional and spiritual changes must also take place to stay on this path. Raising the vibration of one aspect of the body creates vibrational change within all aspects of the body. When the body takes on the healing process as a WHOLE, becoming a 100% raw foodist is then the most natural and smooth transition possible. Learning to take the needed time and by being gentle with ourselves, these changes will seem easy and fulfilling. We will then feel at peace with all our choices regarding our inner health.

Why would someone want to eat a raw and living foods diet?

Starting a raw foods diet is different for everyone. Some people start eating it because they have already reached a crisis state. This is a wonderful amazing tool to help bring the body to homeostasis so healing can take place. Some people take on this diet just because they feel the truth in it and want to feel and look better. It really is different and unique for each person. I think that's what makes this diet so much FUN!!

What do raw/living foodists eat?

The raw food diet tends to be unique to each individual. The main ingredients for a raw foodist are fruit, vegetables, nuts, seeds and grains. Some raw foodists eat raw/fresh dairy products. There are even some that intake raw meat. This is something that I would NEVER recommend or ever do.

Are certain raw foods better than others?

The most important raw food to ingest on a daily basis would be fruits and shoots. Understanding the alkaline/acidic balance within the body, helps you to see why eating to keep the body alkaline is the ultimate tool to physical health. My favorite way to incorporate these is in GREEN SMOOTHIES.

Where do raw and living foodists get their protein?

If you search the internet, you will find many websites that will tell you the nutritional contents of your food. You will see that a lot of protein comes from nuts, seeds, grains, and greens. Greens being the ideal form of protein consumption. One of the purposes of this diet is to help the body become clean from life long impurities. When this takes place, we see that we can assimilate much more nutrients from our foods. As you educate yourselves on the raw diet, you will find that as a society, we consume WAY too much protein and it is the main cause of the breakdown of the human physical body. Through experiement and education, most raw foodist find they feel better and their bodies function much more efficently when they are consuming less protein. Again, as we believe in the bodies ability to heal itself, we find we no longer break our food down into each individual nutrient but we recognize that when we eat foods as a whole, we will be receiving all the needed nutrients for the body, in exactly the right proportions.

Click here for a great resource on protein ideas: Top Ten Raw Protein Foods

What about calcium?

Same as above. Seeds and greens. By educating ourselves on the subject we would understand this issue.