The Raw Food Diet

What is the raw food diet?

A raw diet consists of foods (typically produce, grains, seeds, nuts, and beans) that haven't been heated above a certain temperature, usually somewhere between 104 and 118 degrees. Cooking destroys enzymes that raw foodists believe are essential to human health; without those enzymes, the thinking goes, we're not getting the full, life-supporting benefits of our food.




10 health benefits 

1. Live foods. It’s common sense right? A cooked seed won’t grow, but a raw seed will. Heating food over 118 degrees Fahrenheit destroys much of the nutrients in your food. Cooking food also diminishes the natural life energy. I’d rather put living food in my body.
2. Enzymes. Cooking food destroys much of the natural enzymes (your body can also create enzymes, but can only do so much) in your food that are needed to break down nutrients. Eating raw eliminates this problem.
3. Insane energy. You won’t know this unless you try it for yourself, but eating raw gives you an amazing boost in energy. I used to get tired around 2 or 3pm during the day. Now I simply don’t have that problem. When I do get tired, it doesn’t last nearly as long and an orange or apple will recharge me within a few minutes.
4. Better sleep and less sleep needed. I’ve slept better than ever while eating raw. But most importantly, I don’t wake up feeling tired or groggy anymore. On most days, I wake up feeling full of energy.
5. Increased mental clarity. Eating raw has helped me focus on the things that are important and made me more emotionally in tune with others. I feel like a wall of fog has been removed in my mind. It’s easier to think clearly and focus for long periods of time.
6. Eat as much as you want. This isn’t really a health benefit, but it is pretty awesome. I never get that uncomfortable full feeling eating raw. You know where you have to unbutton the top button on your pants and take a nap? I don’t get that. I can eat as much as I want, and while I will feel full, I don’t feel weighed down or tired.
7. Less cleanup. Simply put, there aren’t many dishes to wash when you eat fruit and vegetables. Although if you do compost (like I do), you’ll probably have to do it more often.
8. No packaging. Eating raw means less packaging all around (well, I guess you could argue that banana and orange peels are “packaging”). This means less trash in a landfill and more room in your cupboards. Win/win for everyone.
9. More regularity. You should naturally have around two to three bowel movements a day. If you’re going less than that, it probably means your intestines are unhealthily clogged. A raw diet gives you more than enough fiber to keep you regular.
10. Connection with the earth. Eating food that’s been freshly picked just feels different. You feel more connected to the earth and more grounded. Eating lots of processed foods — frozen or from a box — makes creates more of a gap and leaves you feeling disconnected from the earth that sustains you.

Avocados: World's Healthiest Foods

Avocados are all the rage nowadays. Avocado this, and avocado that. But why? Why is this green, rough looking vegetable known as one of the world's healthiest foods?



Well first, let's start with some background:
The avocado, also known as the alligator pear in regards to its shape and leather-like appearance of skin, is derived from the Aztec word "ahuacatl." Avocados are the fruit of the Persea americana, a tall evergreen tree that can grow up to 65 feet in height. Depending upon the variety, avocados can weigh anything from 8 ounces to 3 pounds. The rich and creamy Hass variety is the most popular in the United States, and 95% of all avocados grown in the U.S. are from California. Avocados are available year-round, but are most abundant in the spring and summer months, August for California and October for Florida. Although avocados are technically fruits, we have categorized them as vegetables from a culinary perspective.

Health Benefits:

• Promotes heart health
• Wide ranging anti-inflammatory benefits
• Optimized absorption of carotenoids
• Supports cardiovascular health
• Promotes blood sugar regulation
• Anti-cancer benefits

How to select & store:
A ripe, ready-to-eat avocado is slightly soft, but should have no dark sunken spots or cracks. If the avocado has a slight neck, rather than being rounded on top, it was probably tree ripened and will have better flavor. A firmer, less mature fruit can be ripened at home and will be less likely to have bruises. The average California Hass avocado weighs between 165-170 grams (about 6 ounces) and has a pebbled dark green or black skin, while the Fuerte avocado has smoother, brighter green skin. Florida avocados, which can be as large as 3 pounds, have less fat and calories, but their taste is not as rich as California varieties.
A firm avocado will ripen in a paper bag or in a fruit basket at room temperature within a few days. As the fruit ripens, the skin will turn darker. Avocados should not be refrigerated until they are ripe. Once ripe, they can be kept refrigerated for up to a week. If you are refrigerating a whole avocado, it is best to keep it whole and not slice it in order to avoid browning that occurs when the flesh is exposed to air. 

Tips for preparing:
Use a stainless steel knife to cut the avocado in half lengthwise. Gently twist the two halves in opposite direction if you find the flesh clinging to the pit. Remove the pit, either with a spoon or by spearing with the tip of a knife. Next, take each of the avocado halves and slice lengthwise to produce four avocado quarters. The use the California Avocado Commission's "nick and peel" method to peel the avocado. Just take your thumb and index finger to grip an edge of the avocado skin and peel it away from the flesh, in exactly the same way that you would peel a banana. The final result will be a peeled avocado that contains most of that dark green outermost flesh that is richest in carotenoid antioxidants.
You can prevent the natural darkening of the avocado flesh that occurs with exposure to air by sprinkling with a little lemon juice or vinegar.

The healthiest way to cook:
Many avocado recipes that you'll find in cookbooks and on the Internet include avocado as an ingredient in its raw, unheated form. In the World's Healthiest Foods recipes, we also favor this approach. We simply cannot think of a better way to preserve the health benefits made possible by avocado's unique and delicate fats. If you do plan to use avocado in a recipe that calls for heat, we recommend that you use the lowest possible temperature and least amount of cooking time that will still work with your particular recipe. Our purpose in making this recommendation is to help you minimize damage to avocado's unique fats. We've seen one research study showing that approximately 40 seconds of microwave heating on medium heat is a heating method that doesn't significantly change the fatty acid profile of avocados. Sometimes we like to add avocado to a dish that has been cooked. This is a similar approach to some traditional Mexican recipes. For example, in Mexico they add sliced avocado to chicken soup after it is cooked. The avocado warms and mingles well with the soup but retains its nutritional concentration since it is not cooked. 

So, folks, load up on these deliciously smooth green fruits! Your body will thank you.

Farmacy vs. Pharmacy

Headache? Take some of this. Common cold? Try these pills. Stomach ache? Take this syrup. High cholesterol? Take this everyday. Arthritis? Take two of these daily. Heart disease? Inject yourself with this 3x daily. That should take care of it. For now.

Our country has spiraled into a medical crisis, relying on artificial, chemically derived substances to maintain our everyday lives. Americans have mindlessly short-changed themselves by falling dependent on these modern day conveniences and not taking matters into their own hands.

As technology has advanced and made our lives more convenient, we have become sedentary as a people, only doing and consuming what is easiest. Because of this, we are now experiencing illnesses that did not even exist 50 or 100 years ago. Think there may be some type of possible correlation? Bingo. No fear though. As the the medical industry is a business run by supply and demand, they have met this need with new drugs for these conditions, allowing the public to believe that any of these ‘sicknesses’ they fall victim to are cured with some type of medication. This pattern that will only continue and worsen with time.

We have lost touch with the most crucial element to our well-being—nutrition.

The American people have been trained to have a reactive perspective and approach to health and medicine. The idea that nothing should be done unless there is something wrong (don’t fix it unless it’s broken) is exactly what has led us to the obesity, cancer, diabetes and heart disease epidemic we have reached today.

Our bodies are self-healing. All our bodies’ need is the right fuel to allow the internal workings to take place. It is our job as ‘managers’ of our bodies to allow this to happen. Your fate is in YOUR hands. If we come to believe that we are victims of circumstance, we are doing ourselves a grave disfavor.

The idea of a Farmacy vs. Pharmacy is to realize the benefits of proactive care and self-healing through wholesome and nutritious food consumption instead of being dependent on artificial substances that create misery and medical bills out the wazoo. It is the realization that what you eat affects a whole lot more than people realize.

Next time there is a diagnosis of some sort, check out what the person is consuming first and foremost—most likely the root of the problem. The research is there.

Health reform starts in YOUR kitchen, not in Washington.