Raw Foods
Diet
Raw Foods diet sounds like a
throwback to the early days of our society when everyone had a
garden. The plan is similar to vegetarian diet plans in that
most of the foods come from plant sources. Raw foods are
thought to contain nutrients that are good for the body but
tend to be lost in the canning and preserving
process.
The Raw Foods diet
emphasizes eating foods in their purest form. Fruits, most
vegetables, nuts, and other grains can be eaten without any
cooking done to them. Most meals in this diet consist of
salads - even at breakfast. Salad dressing can be simple like
oil and vinegar or lemon juice.
The carbohydrate count on
this diet is low. Any processed food like breads, pastas, and
rice are eliminated. Vegetables provide carbohydrates but in
low quantities. Large quantities of vegetables have to be
eaten to get a high level of carbohydrates.
Dairy products are not on
the list unless you make your own cheese. Raw food dieters can
drink coconut milk if they want to have milk. It doesn't have
the consistency of dairy, but many claim it tastes just as
good.
Drinks consist of only a few
options. Water of course is a main part of the diet. You won't
have to worry about getting eight glasses a day since most
vegetables have a major water component to them. Fruit juices
that are 100% juice can be consumed along with smoothies and
the coconut milk.
It's no wonder people lose
weight on the Raw Foods diet. No matter how many vegetables
you eat, you won't eat enough to keep from dropping the
pounds. This diet can be rather bland even with spices on the
vegetables since there is little or no cooking involved.
Variations do exist on the
plan. Some people add processed grains and cooked vegetables
in moderation. Others add fish and possibly chicken to their
diet plan. Fish can be cooked in acid like lemon juice if
dieters don't want to keep close to the "raw" idea.
Participants of the Raw
Foods diet receive the needed protein through nuts and
legumes. For people that exercise or want some sort of variety
in their eating plan, this diet can be difficult especially
coming from a Western society where foods use fat to enhance
the taste. Meat and potatoes are the staples of our society
and changing that is no easy task.
Like other diet plans that
eliminate specific types of food, the Raw Food diet can be
hard to maintain. All food has some value. Even the early
settlers ate meat along with their
vegetables
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Weight loss diets :
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more
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