This is a post I wanted to make for a long time, but was a bit hesitant - it is a topic I am truly passionate about, since turning to a raw diet full of delicious fruits and veggies has enhanced my life on so many levels and I found it difficult to write a post that reflects this amazing new lifestyle in a way that it deserves. Although you might only think about all the stuff you have to cut out, a raw diet is actually much more about an abundance of juicy and flavorful foods which not only taste wonderful, but also let your body feel at its best.
Raw food is considered anything that is not heated above 45° Celsius or 112° Fahrenheit. Therefore some raw vegan dishes are made with the help of a dehydrator where the temperature remains below this sensitive limit. In a broader sense a raw food diet can also include raw eggs, milk, meat, fish or honey. But since a plant based diet is in my opinion the only reasonable and compassionate choice, I will only focus on a diet without any animal products.
Just lettuce and cucumbers now? - What to eat as raw vegan
Not at all, you actually get to dive into so many colorful, juicy fruits and veggies on this diet journey - I am surprised that I even seem to stumble across a new fruit almost every week while traveling, there are just so many different kinds. The raw vegan diet also includes nuts, seeds, sea vegetables like spirulina, chlorella, nori or wakame, fermented foods and sprouted beans. When you turn to more raw produce, you will naturally eat less processed foods and therefore cut out harmful food additives or industrial solvents that are mostly included in these.
Berry banana smoothie bowl with flaxseeds and kale - find the recipe here!
Colorful as a flower meadow - Types of raw diets
Following a raw vegan diet can still mean so many different things. The strongest distinction you could make when observing different styles of eating raw is the share of carbohydrates, proteins and fats in the diet. In this sense, the foods containing mostly carbohydrates are fruits and veggies, the ones with a higher fat content are nuts and seeds. Therefore some people are focusing on high-carb foods with a lower intake of fats in their diet, others are on the other side of this spectrum eating mostly high-fat foods with a lower proportion of carbohydrate-rich foods. But there are also raw vegans all in between these two positions.
The Raw Gourmet - Low-carb, high-fat diet
There are raw vegans that eat a much bigger proportion of fatty foods and less carbohydrate-rich fruits and veggies in their diet, which is often called raw gourmet cuisine similar to the widely-known keto diet. Such a way of eating might consist of dishes like raw lasagne, pizza, wraps, cakes, crackers or cheese plates. These meals most of the time include a lot of nuts and seeds that are blended and dehydrated to make for example a crunchy pizza base.
Although I love to dive into such delicious treats now and then (you would be surprised how similar it tastes to the traditional cooked recipes), I believe in the healthy benefits of a low-fat diet and therefore consume a diet based on carbohydrate-rich foods. The advantages for your health are so wast, that they deserve a whole post for themselves.
Raw pizza at "Seeds of Life" in Bali - check out my raw dining story!
The Fruitarian - High-carb, low-fat diet
Since fruits are more calorie-dense then veggies and easier to digest, the diet of strict fruitarians consists of just fruits, smoothies and colorful fruit bowls. And did you know that tomatoes, zucchinis, cucumbers and avocados are actually also fruits? Apart from that some people also expand the definition and include veggies of all kinds, in beautiful green salads, as sticks with a creamy dip, cauliflower rice, brokkoli sushi or in tasty recipes like zucchini noodles. And of course, a low-fat diet can still include fatty foods like nuts and seeds, just only in a much smaller proportion than the share of high-carb foods.
As always in life, you can not put anyone into a box and most people whose diet consists of raw, plant-based foods don't follow a strict regime nor a specific percentage of fats and carbs, so that these two extremes also make enough space for a middle way.
Papaya tastes amazing in combo with mango and mint - get the recipe here!
Don’t kill the good stuff - Cooking and its effects
Did you know that the custom of cooking our foods actually alters its nutritional value? Enzymes are destroyed beyond a temperature of about 45°C and since enzymes take part in any metabolic process, this can have a great impact on our overall health. Without a sufficient intake of enzymes the vitamins, minerals or hormones in our body can not do their job properly and several health conditions can be the result.
Great digestion, happy body - Support your digestive processes
Apart from that, raw foods move much faster through our digestive system. Cooked foods, especially fatty animal products sit in our body for quite some time since it is more complicated to digest them. This results in fermentation processes within our digestive tracts which cause gas, inflammation and an accumulation of toxic substances - not something that helps us to lead a long and healthy life.
This is also the reason why the stool of people with a diet rich in animal products and cooked foods usually has a pretty unpleasant odor. And did you know that 2-4 bowel movements daily are considered as healthy digestion? Try raw foods for a certain time and you will definitely notice the difference while visiting the restroom.
You don't need a dehydrator for a raw pizza - Try my recipe instead!
The sweet spot - The acid-base balance of foods
Our diet also influences the acid-base balance in our body. If our body’s pH value becomes more acidic, we are risking to develop diseases, since an acidic environment reduces the efficiency of our cells and inhibits the continuous removal of waste through our lymphatic system. Among air pollution, a stressful lifestyle, processed foods, a diet low in nutrients and minerals and insufficient water consumption - cooked foods also lead to more acidity in our body. Raw food on the other hand support the alkalization of the body and therefore counteract this degenerative process.
Trade your empty calories for richness of nutrients
Furthermore, raw foods like fruits and veggies are naturally lower in calories, that’s why we can eat larger quantities to satisfy our hunger. This means we not only consume foods with a high nutrient-density in itself, we are also eating a lot more of them compared to a diet consisting mostly of cooked foods. Well, of course it is much easier to loose some excess weight with this diet since the intake of sufficient nutrients, dietary fiber as well as the healthy fruit sugar help us to overcome unpleasant cravings. But if you would like to maintain your current weight or even get a little more body mass, there are also some methods you can follow to make sure this lifestyle supports your individual goals.
Watermelons are one of the best fruits for a detox - my 10 day challenge!
More than just food - The new clarity of mind
In addition to those health benefits, many raw foodies are amazed by the great mental clarity as well as an uplifted mood they reached after transitioning to this new style of eating. This also translates to an easier journey to overcome conditions like depression, addictions and anxiety. If you are into meditation, yoga or any other spiritual practices you can also benefit from more profound adventures into the depth of your inner self.
An enhanced taste experience is also a pretty exciting benefit.
Did you ever go through a juice cleanse or similar fasting protocol and felt that everything tasted much stronger in its flavors right afterwards? This is what a raw food diet can feel like all the time! Not only your tastebuds, but also all your other senses might become more sensitive. I myself can absolutely relate to that, since every color seemed to have gotten a little brighter, every smell reached me on a deeper level and common sounds became fascinating to me.
Your eyes will love the colors, your taste buds the flavors - rainbow salad!
A transition to a new diet or lifestyle can be quite a challenge and it is rarely done over night. But it can be a life-changing step, as long as you know your own motivation. So why are YOU interested to including more raw foods into your daily life? With a clear intention behind it, any shift towards more health and happiness becomes so much easier and definitely more rewarding.
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Have a wonderful day and a fruitful journey ahead!
Yours, Anais
Nomadic adventuress since 2018 | Raw foodie | Health enthusiast | Minimalist | Freedom seeker | Passionate believer in a life full of bliss.
🍓Hungry for some more healthy nuggets? Check out my raw vegan posts:
- Delicious BLISS BALLS with Coconut and Raisins
- Tackling the summer heat with WATERMELON GAZPACHO
- Tropical Fruit Salad for Minimalists
- Tamarind-Pear Smoothie with Cinnamon
🌟Explore your full potential, with my health and lifestyle posts:
- POWER OF NATURE - How I Healed my Tonsillitis Within 5 Days
- Why I got rid of my TV - How to make the most of your time!
- Bowel movement right after your morning coffee? Demasking a hidden constipation
- My 10 Days on Watermelons - How to Regenerate Your Body
🗺 Time for some more adventures - follow me around the world:
- Visiting a Malaysian Farm - How These Tropical Fruits Get so Delicious!
- Roadtrip Towards the Sun - Nyang Nyang Beach, Bali
- Hidden Treasure in the South of Bali - Melasti Beach
- Tropical Fruit Hunting in Kuala Lumpur - Chow Kit Market
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Disclaimer: I am not a registered dietitian, doctor or trained detox expert. My goal is to share my knowledge from conclusive research and personal experiences to inspire you on your own raw adventure. I do not give medical advice and am not liable for any negative consequences you might face by following any information from this post - even if it is too much energy from a newly gained vibrant health and no idea how to deal with it. Always do your individual research when it comes to your precious health, it is absolutely worth the extra effort!
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Thank you, Pennsif! Your weekly Digest is pretty inspiring - I am very grateful to be included ☺️
You are welcome.
What a post? Water coming colorful fruits photo, vote for you
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Thank you, I love the fact that nature made fruits and veggies so pleasantly colorful for our eyes ☺️
You are truly blessed that you can eat like this Sweetie. It will take me a long time if ever, before I get there, but I am going to try. So my first step is to get the dehydrator, because I have to do it gradually. Your article is very helpful and I enjoyed reading it very much 🍒 🍌🍑🌿🍍🍓🍇
Anais, I agree with Lena. You are blessed to eat this way. I loved how I felt (and thought) while I was still 100% raw. Of course having all the kitchen tools really makes a difference. Lena once you have the dehydrator the sky is really the limit. The ONLY draw back with eating this way is it limits your meals with others. It's fine that friends and family know you are vegan but when you start saying you don't eat cooked....weeeeeeell that is like telling them you are from the moon!
I am not concerned about friends and family too much, lol. I am only waiting to move to a bigger place with a bigger kitchen, where I can have all the equipment. Right now my space is too small for that. And I am not going to be jumping into raw completely at once. I have to take baby steps, lol.
One day I'll do a post of my raw restaurant. Then you can feel inspired with your limited space! I had a teeny kitchen. Everything was open plan and customers could watch the creating! Which I and they seemed to enjoy. But you have to keep things tidy! The dehydrator pretty much ran constantly. The smells were amazing. And we had a teeny garden outside which stocked a good deal of our meals. It was really special. I can see you doing something like that Lena. You have the passion for food and kindness to people. But for now....baby steps is good ;)
I would love to see your raw restaurant Sweetie I bet it was amazing.You should definitely write a post. However, my tiny kitchen is more of a kitchenette, lol. There is really no room for anything besides what I have there now. I don't even have a stove, just a hot plate and toaster oven, which is taking away my counter space with the dish rack and food processor. Now I am planning to buy also Vitamix beside the dehydrator and there is absolutely no room for that.
That is tiny! But you need a bigger kitchen for a Vitamix and dehydrator. They're essentials, even though I'm no longer strictly raw I use both regularly. My little boy loves the Vitamix. If I'm late making smoothies then he takes me to the Vitamix and makes very clear that I am slacking!
That would be so exciting, @buckaroo, to see and hear about your raw restaurant! And it is really impressive that you managed to run it out of such a tiny space - I bet your place had a lot of atmosphere and character ☺️
I do feel this way, too @buckaroo - so grateful to discovered this lifestyle for me and that I had the courage to step up my game without fearing the judgement of others. And in fact, I have very rarely received any negative reactions to my way of eating. Of course, going out with friends is much more difficult since salads are often not even raw when you visit ordinary restaurants.
Whenever I met my friends or family for brunch, cake or dinner I brought some colorful fruit salad, smoothies, nice cream, raw vegan cakes or big and beautiful salads - this way everybody can try raw food for themselves and they were mostly surprised by the great taste!
But you are so right, it takes some courage to make this step and you quickly learn how to deal with the fact that you seem like a different species to many people. 🙃
Thank you, Lena! A slow transition is for most people the best choice anyway, in my experience this is a much more sustainable change and it also goes gentle on your body 😉
But just to give you an idea how easy it can be - I don't have a dehydrator and only sometimes do I manage to carry a little travel blender in my backpack. Apart from that I survive very happily as a raw vegan with just a fork, spoon and a kitchen knife. Unfortunately no dehydrator fits in my home - a 7kg carry-on backpack 😁
Nevertheless, I am already excited what beautiful recipes you will create once you've moved up to the dehydrator - the possibilities are just endless. ✨
Always a pleasure Sweetie and as I said, you are blessed and admire you. Nevertheless, I have big plans with a raw cuisine; it is just a matter of time. Few things have to come together before I can move, but next year for sure 🍒 🍌🍑🌿🍍🍓🍇
Well, as long as you want to make it happen, you will definitely succeed 😉 Looking forward to all those new recipes you will share with us 💚
wow what a great blog
Thank you so much! ☺️
I love that you wrote this post, it's true that many people, even vegans, have the misconception that eating raw means eating solely plain fruits and veggies. It's really important to kill the prejudices, you're doing a great job with it! However, one question popped into my mind while reading your post, have you noticed any dental problems after adopting a raw vegan diet? You could think that especially fruitarians may experience some problems, since eating a plethora of fruits can be hard for the teeth.
By the way, I did know that avocado is a fruit, but I didn't know that cucumber, tomato and zucchini are too, I've learned something new today! One more thing, I would love to taste that raw pizza you had in Bali, it looks so appetizing! Great post Anais! :)
Thank you for your kind comment, Jasmin! ☺️
A diet consisting of foods which are alkaline, like most fruits and veggies, actually improves your dental health and can therefore prevent any periodontitis. My teeth are only sensitive to dried fruits, so that I try to stay away from them most of the time. But apart from that the raw vegan diet hasn't had any negative effect on my teeth. What did affect my dental health so far was a pretty stressful phase in my life with work and personal stuff, which led to some uncomfortable visits at the dentist. Fortunately that is long gone and I haven't had any issues since then. This shows again how our emotions can in fact impact our physical health to a huge degree.
To make sure that my teeth stay as healthy and happy, I always rinse my mouth with water after my meals and use floss especially after eating fruits like mango. I also tend to eat a few big meals a day instead of snacking all the time. But these are some habits that in my opinion everyone's dental health can benefit from, so not just a raw vegan thing. 😉
The raw pizza is amazing, but not something I could dive into every day. 😄
Thank you for such a thorough answer Anais! I didn't know that raw food diet actually prevents periodontitis, it's a really nasty and challenging disease to treat, so we all definitely should eat more alkaline foods!
Rinsing your mouth, flossing, and not snacking all the time truly are good tips to keep the teeth healthy, no matter what diet we're following! You're answer almost sounded like you could be a dentist, have you ever thought about that career path? 😄
My pleasure! I am learning a lot about these kind of things right now since I am training to become a holistic health and nutrition coach and teeth health was just recently the topic of my module. 😉 I am super happy that I don't have to and never will spend my days starring in people's mouth for a living - so no dentist career for me, please 😄
Something that just popped into my mind - Isn't it interesting, that we often question many aspects of an uncommon diet, but most people on a standard diet probably never thought about if they get the full spectrum of nutrients or how if their diet affects their dental health negatively? And yet they might fighting with several health issues, which are often seen as normal especially once you've reached a certain age.
Don't get me wrong, I myself had the same questions at the beginning and it is super important to not follow any regime blindly. I am super grateful for so much interest in the raw vegan diet and all those lovely comments from the Steemit community. 💚
So my question came just in time for you, haha! That's so true what you said about questioning the things we find different, for example an uncommon diet. If we compare the standard Western diet and a raw vegan diet, it's obvious that the raw one has much more health benefits, also for the dental health. But we tend to question the raw diet more, since it's not something everyone is following.
I consider myself as a really curious person, I always like to learn new things and open my eyes to new ways of thinking, and you made me think in a different way again, thank you for that! :)
Thank you, Jasmin - your comments definitely reflect your curiosity and also your kindness, I love that! ☺️
So true, we tend to follow the masses and question the uncommon and that might be the right move in some instances. But unfortunately it is also often a choice out of convenience rather than a process of conscious decision-making. I started to question the common way a few years back and I can definitely say that it has transformed my life tremendously - in a good way 💚
I love to see the same thing happen to so many people out there, this is how a bigger shift in our society starts. ✨
What a fantastic explanation of a truly incredible way of eating! I couldn't agree more. Raw is a feast for the eyes as well as the palate. Although I have to say I found that raw actually tastes far more intense and vivid than cooked food. Well done @rawadventuress
Thank you ☺️ I actually had to chew my way through some salads before I felt the more intense tastes. I was quite addicted to cooked foods so that the first two weeks with my raw dinner (raw breakfast and lunch were a pretty easy step for me since I already loved fruits) were a bit challenging. But after that my tastebuds adapted really quickly and all those veggies became so flavorful and delicious 💚
The food looks great. I'm going to check out the watermelon gazpacho now :)
Thank you and great choice - watermelon gazpacho is super tasty! ☺️
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STOPAwesome! I’ve been trying to eat foods that will heal my body… the whole ‘let food be thy medicine’ and all. Do you find it difficult to stick to a raw vegan diet while traveling in some areas? I probably think too much about what kind of obstacles my husband and I will find on our travels regarding our diet. Thanks for sharing @rawadventuress and thanks for adding hyperlinks to previous posts. I’m going to check out your watermelon fast now :)
Thank you so much! I am happy to share some inspiration regarding this lifestyle. Until now I didn't have any serious difficulties with my eating habits and traveling. Of course, whenever I am in a new environment (we tend to travel slow and stay longer in each place) I have to look for the best fruit stalls first and do some research regarding organic veggies in the area since I am quite picky when it comes to the quality. This might be easier if you are eating everything that is presented to you. ☺️
Apart from that I love warm weather and so we are traveling in warm countries only, which means tropical fruits grow in abundance! When taking a plane to our next destination, we often take some bananas and nuts with us, which are the easiest foods for snacking without making a mess.
And yes, when I am super hungry, didn't prepare any snacks and no fruits to be found, I also might get some cravings for cooked foods which are available everywhere. But whenever I think back to the moments that I did eat some cooked stuff, I know how bad they made me feel afterwards and this always makes me wait for the next raw meal.
The only thing I'd love to do that might be problematic as a raw vegan is exploring Nepal or doing a long-distance hike like the Appalachia trail. But I will also find a solution for those dreams in time. 😉
Thank you for such a detailed reply @rawadventuress! My husband and I are about to embark on some serious travels ourselves and I try and think of the eating challenges so I can solve any anticipated problems before we even get there (I’m a little neurotic maybe hah).
Nuts and bananas have been my go to because they just work. I will keep my eyes on you for inspiration and I do appreciate all of the information you share with us.
That sounds very exciting! Where are you heading? Oftentimes you can prepare as much as you want but you will discover most of the challenges along the way and. 😁 But in my experience, there is a solution for every difficulty you might encounter, we just have to find the easiest and most efficient one. ☺️
And that’s why I research first, if I can. We are heading to Indonesia, Thailand, and from there wherever we want to go next… :)
Awesome, I am in Bali right now. Let me know when you are starting and maybe we will meet along the way! I will probably be in SEA for some more time. 😉
That’s awesome! Are you just traveling about and discovering or what…?! We think we’ll be headed out in a month or two… Bali is in fact our first destination :)
Very insighful post - good to see more people spreading the awarness about this topic!
Thank you, this diet definitely deserves some more light of attention, it truly changed my life for the better! 😊