People who had never tried a raw vegan diet have a hard time understanding the limits it entails. Does this mean that practitioners of this dietary strategy consume only raw fruits and vegetables? Not necessarily, the entire point is to avoid cooking or frying highly nutritious foods on the temperature that exceeds 46°C (or 114.8°F), so the ingredients would retain all of their nourishing value and enzymes which are invaluable for your health and immune integrity. If this sounds like a highly restrictive way of eating and you are afraid that it would cause more stress than good, you need to learn about the upsides of such lifestyle and what exactly surviving a raw vegan diet involves.
Is it that time of the year?
Spring is usually the time when most people adopt new or different dietary habits, usually in order to lose some weight before the summer seasons rolls in. The reasoning for this might be something that you approve or disapprove, but the fact still stands that a lot of individuals will rely on a raw vegan diet with the primary motivation of becoming lighter on the scales. Raw food is, by the very definition, a low-calorie food, so if you are an avid snacker and a muncher, you can actually eat more and still get lighter.
However, many people who adopt such a diet for these purposes do it rapidly and without strategizing. In fact, one of the dangerous pitfalls of adopting raw vegan diet for wrong purposes is to restrict your diet even further in order to lose weight. Remember – a smart eater will alter their diet but make sure that all necessary vitamins and minerals are absorbed by the blood on daily basis. If you are trying to shave off a few inches off your waist, you can introduce premium homeopathic weight loss drops into your dietary mix, but never-ever deprive yourself of necessary nutrients!
Looking into raw vegan diet for quick weight loss solutions completely misses the point, which is actually to increase the absorption of important enzymes. Now, you may be asking yourself a fair question if you haven’t practiced this diet before: If raw vegan diet is so restrictive, how come it is all about getting more enzymes? Something doesn’t seem to fit, but if you take a closer look, you will see that it all makes sense.
The retention of minerals, vitamins and enzymes
And therein lies the crux of what makes raw vegan diet so enticing – a naturally balanced arrangement of nutrients in a particular food which is not cooked to the point of uselessness. Indeed, cooking and frying food with strong spices added into the mix can improve its taste, but it actually changes the contents, which is not a particularly novel scientific discovery.
We have known for quite some time, for example, that vitamin C is thermo-sensitive and the groceries that naturally contain it lose this essential chemical if they are heated beyond 190 °C (374 °F). IN this case, you should probably drink the water vegetable was boiled in should you plan to reclaim some of the leeched vitamin C.
Also, keep in mind that the food which is unprocessed holds more enzymes that are essential for the regeneration of our RNA and DNA strands. These enzymes are an important fuel for maintaining our vigor and youthfulness, with that coveted golden glow waiting just around the corner should you decide to go all-in with the raw vegan diet.
A matter of options
The dynamic of acquiring taste for raw goods is that you restrict your options on the one hand while a whole new world of possibilities opens for you on the other. Once your vegan diet kicks into gear, you will be forced to find new and inventive ways to keep matters tasty and create new combinations.
The best part of it is the lack of unhealthy options and the multitude of the healthy ones. Once you discover that cooking is not necessary to keep your diet diversified, you will purchase a new set of tools, such as the blender, juicer, dehydrator and start using them instead of an oven. The added bonus is that you will save a lot of time in the long run.
Drawbacks to consider
Now, in spite of all the upsides of the raw vegan diet, there are several caveats you need to take into your calculations. It has already been mentioned that restricting yourself to this sort of eating regime gives you a freedom to eat whenever you want without paying too much attention to quantity. The fact of the matter is – you might feel the urge to constantly eat because of the complex protein will be lacking in the makeup of your diet. If you are not careful, you may end up relapsing into your old eating habits and double down on them, causing the notorious yo-yo effect.
Also Read: Vegan Lifestyle and Education: Holistic Wellbeing Beyond Common Perceptions
If you were a devoted carnivore, you may want to look into the good sources of plant protein and enrich your raw vegan diet with the produce such as organic leafy greens, avocado, nuts, flax seeds and a whole variety of edible fungi. It can appear that this sort of diet lacks in proteins, but as long as you keep to the protein-rich fruits, veggies and nuts, you should keep your stocks loaded. When it comes to protein, it is all about quality, not quantity!
Before you draw any definitive conclusions about a raw vegan diet or people that practice it, you need to know as many facts about the benefits and caveats as possible. Essentially, not even the most hard-boiled vegans (pun intended) do not eat 100% raw food all the time, and if they decide to try it actually misses the point. The ultimate goal of such diet is to promote health based on the latest set of scientifically proven facts and to ensure the intake of as many strong vitamins and minerals as possible.
The key is to avoid supplementation as much as possible, but also accept it where it is necessary. In this regard, the most important supplements that all vegans should take are B12, the Iron, Vitamin D, Omega fatty acids, and K2. Also, since cooking with the exotic spices is hard to achieve the raw way, and many of those are known to regulate gut flora (like tumeric), adding a trusted curcumin supplement or some other spicy tablets can help your digestion adapt to the new regime. With this roster of supplements in your cabinet, combined with regular, well-timed and diverse diet based on fruits and vegetables should lead to the strongest possible immunity and youthful appearance.
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