Eating raw vegan foods is believed to be incredibly healthy. Since the food remains uncooked, you don’t lose the nutrients and enzymes in the food. I see it as the antithesis of “empty calories.” Supposedly you can cook food up to 106 degrees F. But after that, the food will start to break down and lose nutrients. Cooked food also contains toxins. Today is day 1 of me going purely raw. I will be eating only raw food for the next 9 days. A fun, educating challenge. I am unable to fly home to visit my family for Thanksgiving, and my boyfriend will be away seeing his family and friends. So, sadly, I will not be partaking in the usual Thanksgiving festivities (though I plan on making those amazing recipes once I’m done with this all-raw challenge). Thanksgiving temptation averted. So last night I went to Wild Oats and stocked up on raw nuts, veggies, fruits, sprouts and seeds.

For the most part I’d say I’m a healthy eater. Being vegan, I eat mostly vegetables. I have my shot of wheatgrass every morning. I take my Alive! Whole Food Multi. But there are still areas I could be healthier. For one, I have a sweet tooth. I’m a sucker for soy and rice ice creams, vegan cookies and chocolate. The only sugar I’ll be getting for the next 9 days is via fruit. I also love coffee. I drink it almost every day. I will be banning coffee during this raw mission. And alcohol. I am also ridding myself of soymilk because I’m trying to lessen my soy intake. If I want milk I’ll drink almond milk, oat milk, or some other alternative. I found some easy recipes for almond milk, like this one here.

There’s still a lot I don’t know about going raw. This will be quite a learning experience. I just discovered that not all dried fruit is raw. Some fruits are cooked before they are dried. Same with frozen veggies. Though frozen fruits are generally considered acceptable. So if you plan on taking on the raw food venture, it’s a good idea to do some reading on the subject.

Here’s a link to the Vegan Society’s discussion and advice for the raw vegan diet.

And here are some links for raw vegan recipes, etc:
http://www.thegardendiet.com/
http://rawveganrecipes.com/
http://www.living-foods.com/recipes/
http://rawveg.info/
http://www.raw.veganbodybuilding.org/recipes.htm
Interested in listening to Raw Vegan Radio? Go here. Very interesting and informative.