The Raw Food Groups - What To Eat?

One of the challenges of starting something new and different to the majority of people is breaking the news to those around you. Often you need to be armed with knowledge for support of what you are doing and why you choose to do it, otherwise the majority can backlash at you and try to convince you what you are doing is crazy. Others can be very supportive and interested and keen to know more themselves! But when it comes to the former groups of people we need to be armed with knowledge to show them we mean business.

The Raw food groups

One of the main questions I have starting a Raw food diet is what foods does this involve? The basic ingredients in a Raw food diet come under 12 different groups…

Leafy greens – green and red lettuce, kale, spinach, swiss chard, romaine, bok choy, watercress, arugula, dandelion and lambsquarters. Green leaves are ESSENTIAL to a raw food diet because they are a great source of  protein and contain essential minerals such as calcium, iron and magnesium.

Fruits – apples, oranges, strawberries, pineapples, papaya, bananas, apricots, plums, dates and the list goes on. Fruits are loaded with vitamins and carbohydrates to fuel your cells.

Vegetables – cucumbers, celery, bell peppers, tomatoes, beets, zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower, peas, corn… vegetables are low in calories and full of fiber so you can eat as much as you like! Potatoes can be difficult to eat raw unless you find them tasty.

Seeds – pumpkin, sunflower, hemp, flax, chia and sesame are great sources of protein and essential minerals.

Nuts – almonds, cashews, brazil nuts, walnuts, pecans, pine nuts, hazelnuts, pistachios, raw wild jungle peanuts and macadamia nuts.

Grains – oats, kamut, spelt, buckwheat and hand-parched wild rice

Sprouts – alfalfa, sunflower, broccoli, clover, mung beans, chick peas, lentils and quinoa are just a few which you can grow at home.

Fermenting foods – sauerkraut, coconut kefir, coconut yoghurt, rejuvelac and miso paste. Fermented foods contain high amounts of beneficial bacteria that help improve our digestion and strengthen our immune system.

Fats – avocados, coconuts and sun-dried olives as well as coconut, flaxseed, hemp seed and olive (cold pressed and extra virgin). Avoid peanut oil which may cause allergic reactions in some people. Avoid canola, soybean and corn oil as they are usually very processed and may come from chemically modified crops. Remember, although ‘fats’ have a negative stigma about them created by society the good fats are in fact essential to the structure and functioning of our bodies, we need good fats to survive!

Sea vegetables – there are at least 20 edible seaweeds including dulse, kelp, nori, wakame and arame which are a great salt substitute and full of essential trace minerals.

Superfoods – these have exceptionally high concentrations of nutrients and unique properties and include goji berries, maca powder, bee pollen, blue-green algae, marine phytoplankton and my personal favourite… cacao J

Sweeteners – especially if you have had a sweet tooth and find it hard to adapt to less added sugars in your food. I personally recommend the ‘I quit Sugar’ program before or while going on the Raw food diet to reduce your cravings and make the switch more likely to be a success! Sweeteners include clear agave nectar, palm sugar, raw honey, dried stevia leaf, yacon syrup, mesquite powder, maple syrup and dehydrated can juice (rapadura). Except for raw honey, stevia leaf and mesquite most sugars are processed to some extent and are not considered truly raw even if label raw! Avoid all white processed sugar, sugar in the raw and turbinado sugar which are all stripped of their minerals. Also steer clear of all artificial sweeteners such as aspartame, sucralose and saccharin.

What about tea? I love a nice cup of tea but may have an advantage in that i am not a coffee drinker although i am addicted to the smell of coffee! Unfortunately most tea leaves are dried at high temperatures and steeped in hot water so do not fall into the raw category, BUT many raw foodists still drink herbal teas for their anti-oxidants and medicinal properties. Some teas such as horsetail and nettles contain great bone-building minerals. Spices and roots are considered powerful immune boosters and as important along with raw foods.

Caffeine is usually avoided and can be found in black, green and white tea as well as the well known coffee. Caffeine disrupts sleep patterns, makes the body acidic, can exhaust the adrenal system, has to be detoxified through the liver and is a false source of energy as well as being dehydrating and causes mineral losses. It is not new knowledge that those who drink many a cup of coffee a day should try to wean themselves off coffee dependence for many reasons as mentioned above but to also allow raw foods to give you the energy you need. 

Alcohol is also very acidic and toxic to the liver. Many people may reward themselves with a glass of wine or can of beer but when you spend months or years working on optimum health there are better things to treat yourself with than exposing your body to chemicals such as ethanol. This does not mean you should quit your enjoyed drink altogether but to know of its toxicity especially to the liver and only drink on occasion in moderation. Since red wine and and sake are fermented they're technically considered raw, try to look for organic wines with no sulfates added. 

Many people including myself question whether athletes and those with active lifestyles should make the change to a raw food plant-based diet. However, more and more athletes are turning to plant-based whole foods to fuel their activity in the past few years and it works! Plant-based protein sources are more alkaline-forming than their animal counterparts. Increased alkalinity directly translates to greater muscle functionality and therefore improved efficacy of movement as well as a quicker recovery after exercise which can enable schedules to be closer together directly translating to a greater performance. 

I have to admit there are a few ingredients which I have not heard of before and I hope to investigate and learn more about to then try them in recipes. I hope to learn more about additive to our foods and their effect on our body too. Oh food there is so much to you why do we abuse you so much??

Let food be thy medicine and thy medicine be food