All About the Raw Food Lifestyle for Health & Wellness

Gourmet Raw Burger

I was at a recent expo, Ital Livity Expo to be exact, when I told a friend that I sometimes detox my system by eating 100% raw foods for a few days. "Raw food?!" She thought I was crazy. Hahaha. Well, this blog post is for her and everyone else who wants to know more about the raw food movement that has been sweeping the world clean of it's many food-based diseases.

Most raw food staples include fruits and vegetables such as:

• seaweed
• sprouted seads
• lettuce and other greens
• whole grains
• beans
• fresh and dried fruits 
• nuts

Need more of a visual? The following raw food pyramid was created by vegan-raw-diet.com

TASTE RAW FOOD 

Want to know what raw food tastes like? There are several raw food restaurants in Jamaica but Fire Lite Restaurant (Raw/Live) Cuisine will be "blazing" the natural live cuisine at the REVE Wellness Festival 2013. For more details on the festival, CLICK HERE. 

RAW FOODISM or RAWISM

This describes a food lifestyle based on eating a diet of uncook, unprocessed and (usually) preferably organic foods. Some raw foodists will also heat their food at no more than 104ºF.  Some raw foodists are vegans and do not eat animal based products such as milk or eggs. 

Many/most raw foodists believe that valuable enzymes are destroyed during the cooking process and so raw foods have a much higher nutrient value, that animal meat is hazardous to your health. They also believe that eating raw foods can improve the quality of the human's life while reducing the chances of developing certain diseases.

BENEFITS OF THE RAW FOOD DIET

Raw food diet eaters and supporters (raw foodists) have used research to claim that eating only raw food with the right combination of foods can:

• Reverse diabetes
• Increased energy
• No limits to serving sizes
• More regularity
• Weight loss or weight stabilization
• Reduce the risk of heart disease
• Reduce the risk of cancer
• Slow the growth of cancer
• Eradicate diet-impacted stomach problems like Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Ulcers

Gourmet Raw Vegan Roll

GOURMET RAW FOOD

Gourmet raw food refers to dishes that involve multiple steps for preparation such as the dish pictured above. So, raw food isn't all about eating raw carrots straight from the farm, though for some, that is fine too. 

Gourmet Raw food

RAW FOOD IN JAMAICA

The raw food movement is not extremely popular in Jamaica but it awareness is growing. This is why I encourage you to come to the Rêve Wellness Festival to learn more about this lifestyle.  You may also learn more about places that are available to you for dining out. Come to the Festival to learn more about wellness and enjoy a day out with friends or family.

DOCUMENTARY RECOMMENDATIONS
Want to Learn more about the benefits of eating raw foods or a plant-based diet? Try the following documentaries:

• Forks Over Knives
• Simply Raw: Reversin Diabetes in 30 Days
• Food Matters
• Breakthrough
• Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead
• Food Inc.