Follow the delicious and hunger-satisfying raw-food diets offered in this book and you will lose weight, gain energy and feel vibrantly healthy while clearing your body of toxins. Raw Food Cleanse offers four customized plans that provide you with everything needed for an easy and powerful detox, including:
•3-Day Energy Boost Cleanse
Give your body an all-natural weekend to start your Monday feeling great. •7-Day Rejuvenation Cleanse
Enjoy a week of delicious raw foods to thoroughly refresh your system. •14-Day Deep Detox Cleanse
Go longer to experience better skin and hair, a clearer mind and a slimmer body. •28-Day Total Reset Cleanse
Give the body a full recharge with an intense, nutrient-packed month of raw foods.Penni Shelton has created this wonderful book, in part, through the experience of real people in real life following her program. And I have to say, I think that alone makes it an excellent resource for raw food info ... because we're all looking for real results. Penni's writing style is also warm and encouraging ... she's just a delightful and inspiring writer. This book is organized around 3, 7, 14 and 28 day cleanses. But in this case, a "cleanse" is neither harsh nor strict with so many raw food recipes. The recipes are easy to follow and the dishes are visually stunning and delicious. I really enjoyed the real life stories of people who've already done this program. They're genuine and open in telling about the changes that have happened in their health and their lives after following this way of eating and living. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in a genuine and uncomplicated introduction to the amazing health benefits a raw food lifestyle can help create.
It seems like a pretty natural assumption to make, doesn’t it?
If you eat healthier, you will lose weight. After all, if you cut the fat in your diet, would it not stand to reason that you will cut the fat in your body? But there is a lot more to it than that. Bodies need a lot of different nutrients to stay healthy and fit. And while it is certainly possible to eat poorly and survive, it is easier to prosper if you keep your diet clean. Eating raw foods certainly fits the bill of healthier eating.
So, what exactly is so healthy about raw foods? Besides being in the natural state that food it meant to be in, of course? Well, raw foods are filled with vitamins, minerals and enzymes. Wait, you might say – what’s so bad about cooking? I mean, a cooked carrot is still a carrot, right? Cooking it doesn’t turn it into a chocolate cake.
No, but a lot of the great benefits of that carrot are lost when you cook it. They leach out into the water when you boil it, or die off from the heat in other methods. In the end, you are left with food that essentially has already been eaten for you. The cooking process devours a lot of the benefits, leaving you with a mushy lump of whatever is left ñ still better than nothing, but not as good as the original, whole food item.
Many of the food items that you eat are also very low in calories and fats. While you need calories and fats in order to operate, you probably don’t need as many as you intake on a daily basis - thus, the extra fat that ends up on your person. But if you eat more low calorie or even negative calorie foods like broccoli and strawberries - that being foods that use up more calories than they bring to the party ñ and you will teach your body to use what calories it consumes, instead of cramming with junk and storing for lean times. You will teach your body that a regular flow of great calories is always coming, so burn what you have, and make room for the new ones.
Many of these raw-edible foods are also fairly high in natural fibre, which means all sorts of benefits for your body. For one, wastes will move more quickly through your body, and more of what you eat will be absorbed, meaning less to eliminate. What you do eat will also fill you better, meaning fewer spikes of hunger, and more periods of fullness and contentedness. That means less unhealthy snacking to cover a meal that has fallen short of providing what your body needs between your regular feeding times.
Now, that alone won't magically melt away the pounds. Raw foods are a great starting point that will make it easier for you to lose weight, but they won’t do it all. But combined with a bit of exercise, you will find it a lot easier to shed pounds and inches if you include more raw food items in your regular diet.
If you're reading this article, you may be wondering about the benefits of a raw food diet, right? Well, the benefits of eating more raw foods are numerous and once you understand them you'll probably wonder why you haven't eaten more raw in the past. You'll also think twice about eating dead cooked foods ever again.
Raw Foods Give You More Energy
I don't think I know of a single person who eats at least 80% raw foods who doesn't enjoy far more energy than the average person. I know that when I transitioned away from eating a diet made up of breads, dairy, and cooked foods, and adopted more of a raw foods diet, my energy went through the roof. And I'm not talking about the quick surge you would get from an espresso but rather long-lasting energy that enables you to do more with less.
For instance, eating raw will allow you to sleep less and have far more energy than you ever thought possible. When I'm eating at least 80% raw, I can easily function on just 4-5 hours of sleep. I literally bounce out of bed and don't require any naps throughout the day. Oh yeah, did I mention that I workout every single day as well? Sometimes, even twice!
Energizing Enzymes
There are several reasons why a raw food diet will give you more energy. First, raw foods are rich in food enzymes. Enzymes are required for every single reaction in the body. Unfortunately, our bodies only have a finite number of these enzymes, so when we run out, we run out of life! To add to this, when you heat foods above 118 degrees fahrenheit, you destroy the food enzymes that are naturally present in all raw foods. Therefore, if you eat a predominantly cooked foods diet, you're not getting enough food enzymes, which means that your body will have to produce and use more of its own to digest and metabolize your foods.
The more energy your body needs to divert towards digestion, the less energy you will have for other activities. You will feel more lethargic and tired as your body is trying to breakdown "dead" foods and figure out what to do with them.
So, the food enzymes inherent in raw foods are a big reason for boosting your body's energy. They are the spark plugs and are intricately related to the next property that make raw foods so energy-boosting.
Life Force
When raw foods are left intact, they are also known as living foods. They are called "living" because they carry an incredible amount of life force.
Now, since every living being has an aura or energy field illuminating from their body, which foods do you think would enhance yours? High energy raw foods or cooked foods that dead? I think we both know the answer.
As I like to say, "eat alive and you will thrive".
Weight Loss and Beautiful Skin
The other highly sought-after quality of a raw foods diet is its ability to help you lose weight and beautify your skin. Almost all raw foodists have reported losing weight they could never lose. At the same time, they notice an instant improvement in their skin. They look younger and have a natural glow that comes about because of the "living" nature of raw foods, their abundance of enzymes, and of course the plethora of nutrients that are ingested when eating more fruits and vegetables.
You will find it easier to lose weight on a raw food diet because your getting more nutrients and, therefore, your body won't crave "dead" foods. Second, the enzymes help to breakdown the foods you are eating and excess energy and fat stores in your body. Third, raw foods are water-rich, which helps you feel more satiated, as well as hydrated.
Many of these reasons also help us explain why living foods make you look younger and beautify your skin. Enzymes, life force, water, and high quality nutrients all play a role in natural skin care.
We could talk about the benefits of a raw food diet for hours but the only to truly understand them is to experience them for yourself. So why not take action today and enjoy the health, the body, and the vitality that you deserve!
About the Author
Yuri Elkaim is one of the world’s leading holistic nutrition and health experts. If you want to lose weight and live your healthiest and most energetic life ever, then you can learn more about his raw food diet book, Eating for Energy and get started with a FREE 6-part Energy Secrets e-course by visiting EatingforEnergy.ca today.
A Good Why and How on Nutrition, March 13, 2009
By Kelly Klepfer (Iowa) posted on Amazon.com
"If you are serious about making nutritional changes and curious about why that's a good idea, you should consider looking into Eating for Energy. With loads of information on the benefits of eating raw plant foods, Yuri Elkaim, presents very compelling reasons to make the suggested changes in your lifestyle.He provides several recipes and details on specific products and supplements. If you are coming from a fast food lifestyle and are casually considering making some changes for the better this information could overwhelm you as it is a step up from simply eating healthier and/or organic. However, it is a valuable tool if you really want to change your future health and your life. I read it and found the it easy to read."
