Raw Food Diet Benefits

“Different foods fuel different destinies or destinations in life.
What you are eating now is leading you to a certain destination.
Where are you headed with your current diet?”
~ David Wolfe

Do you ever wish for a healthier, more youthful body? How about an increase in energy? How would your life change if you were blessed with an abundance of creative ideas, a more vibrant mind or an exceptional memory?

Combine your desire for any of the above attributes with a touch of self-discipline, and you may be a good candidate for the raw food diet.

My personal adventure with raw food began in mid-2008, after reading the book “The Thrive Diet” by fellow Canadian and triathlete, Brendan Brazier. I’ve been a vegetarian since 1991 and cut out almost all dairy in 2006, so making the transition to a raw food diet seemed like the next logical step.

Although I was amazed at some of the wonderful benefits of the raw food diet, when the cold weather returned later that year, so did my cravings for oatmeal and vegan chili. For most of the winter I toggled back and forth between a cooked vegan and a raw food diet.

When warmer weather arrived and spring began to unfold, I felt my intuition pull me toward giving the raw food diet another try. For most of March I ate completely raw, then toggled back and forth between raw vegan and cooked vegan again for the next few weeks.

Although at times I felt discouraged for falling off the raw food wagon, I no longer regret my toggling because it gave me the opportunity to witness the vast differences in my thought patterns and behavior while eating raw food versus eating cooked food. For example, the week after I went raw last February, I started this blog. I don’t think I would have summoned the courage and self discipline this new creative outlet required, without the benefits of a raw food diet.

Mental Clarity

By far the most astounding raw food diet benefit I have received so far has been an increase in my mental clarity. David Wolfe declares that “different foods fuel different types of thoughts”, and I’ve certainly found that to be true. I tend to come up with so many great ideas while on the raw food diet, that I often keep a pen and paper by my side so I can write them all down. Your mind is your greatest asset, but remember that your mind is fueled by the foods you eat. Take that into consideration next time you’re working with the Law of Attraction. 🙂

Increased Energy

For most of last winter (while eating cooked foods) I experienced a dramatic loss of energy around 3 – 4 pm, each day. I dealt with this issue by having an extra large coffee or lying down for a nap. While I loved napping, what I didn’t love was the 1 – 2 hour loss of productivity in the middle of the afternoon, especially taking into account that I am a small business owner.

When I stick to a raw food diet, I have so much energy I feel like I could explode. I no longer become tired in the afternoon, and I often feel too energetic to fall asleep at night. I sometimes have to do a little yoga to calm down before my head hits the pillow.

Eating raw food supplies your body with excess energy because it is quick and easy to digest. Digesting food drains a lot of energy from your system, especially if your body is struggling to cope with dairy products or heavy, processed, cooked ingredients. These types of low vibratory foods also lack the life force and enzymes present in the raw food diet.

Inner Peace

Thoughts of anxiety tend to run in my family, and for quite some time I experienced high and low grade levels of fear, doubt, and worry.

A sincere focus on personal growth over the last few years has greatly helped me overcome most of my anxiety, but I have discovered a new shortcut to dissolving fear; by eating raw food. Abiding by a raw food diet has an effortless way of calming my mind and comforting my soul. My connection with Source Energy is much stronger when I eat raw food, and I can only speculate that the pure life force in raw food grounds me and helps me connect more strongly with the Earth herself.

Eternal Youth

Looking youthful is not one of my main priorities in life, but it is one of the more pleasant side effects of the raw food diet. Since I first stepped onto the path of raw food, the ladies at my local drug store have ID’d me three times while I attempted to buy lottery tickets.

The compliment in this scenario is that these lovely ladies think it’s possible that I am 14 years younger than I actually am. That’s debatable, but I would agree that a raw food diet keeps you feeling vibrant on the inside and looking youthful on the outside. This could be attributed to scientific studies that suggest low calorie diets may slow aging processes and maintain the body’s vitality.

Effortless Weight Loss / Maintenance

When I was a teenager, my definition of “heaven” was an imaginary place that one could go to and eat as much as they wanted to, without ever gaining weight.

I have finally reached that heaven with the raw food diet. It is almost impossible to gain weight while eating 100% raw food. I eat as much as I want, when I want, and I actually still have a tendency to lose weight on this diet, so I eat a lot.

No More Cravings

Like many women, there was a time when I dealt with regular cravings of carbs, sugar, and salt. Like a typical North American, I often received a high number of calories coupled with a low level of nutrition. Unfortunately when our bodies aren’t satisfied nutritionally, they compensate by asking us for more food.

On the raw food diet, I very rarely experience cravings for processed or unhealthy food. I have found that when my body is receiving an influx of high quality, wholesome food, it ceases to ask for anything “more”. The foods I used to crave, I now find unpalatable.

Since I am also much more emotionally stable on the raw food diet, I find emotional eating to be a thing of the past.

Resources

In the past 6 months I’ve read almost every book on Amazon on the raw food diet. In future posts I hope to share some raw food diet basics, raw food diet recipes, and “what I ate today” blogs to assist you in your dietary transformation. In the meantime, please check out some of my favorite books and movies for inspiration:

“Eating For Beauty” – This is my very favorite book by raw food guru, David Wolfe. This book contains kirlian photos that suggest the vast difference in life force between cooked and raw food.
“Ani’s Raw Food Kitchen” – This raw food book quickly became one of my favorites, simply because author Ani Phyo includes a recipe for raw vegan dog food at the end of her book. 🙂
“Simply Raw” DVD – A documentary that follows participants who reverse their diabetes in 30 days by eating a raw food diet; featuring Woody Harrelson.
Raw Food Life Force Energy – What impressed me about this book is the chart containing the vibratory scale of food. Fantastic raw food inspiration.