Benefits of Eating Raw

    
      Raw foods come to us with the living enzymes necessary to facilitate the digestion and assimilation of the nutrients in foods. Cooking kills all enzymes, as well as most vitamins, and alters the minerals and proteins in such a way that they are less usable to the body. Because the cooked food is not accompanied by the enzymes necessary for digestion, it places more of a strain on our digestive system and many of the nutrients that are left after cooking are lost in this process (besides those lost through any refining or processing).

       Raw foods are also the most nutritionally dense, because all of the original vitamins, minerals, proteins, fats and fiber are in their unaltered forms and completely available to our bodies. A raw food offers up to three times the nutrition of the same cooked. Since true nutrition is concerned with feeding our cells, it is important to provide them with the living nutrients of raw foods. Life can be sustained on cooked foods, but cells are not replenished and replaced in an optimal way. On raw foods you will find that you eat less, yet your body will operate more efficiently with what you provide.

       Also because raw foods are easily digested, less energy will be expended on the process of digestion and be available to you. Most people who add more raw foods to their diet are surprised by the increase in energy they experience.  (The above article is from Simplynaturalhealth.com)

A couple ways to add raw foods to your diet:

Smoothies-  Green smoothies are best.  Start small by adding just a handful of spinach to your favorite fruit smoothie.  It won't change the color or taste if you use just a handful.

Try putting baby carrots or some other sliced vegetable on the table while the rest of the meal is still cooking.  I've noticed that we will eat more vegetables if there isn't anything else available right then.

Salads or coleslaw are always easy.  I always have the ingredients on hand for a fruit or green salad so I can have a salad for lunch or with dinner most days.

Anyone else out there trying to get more raw foods in?  How do you do it?

Eating Fruits and Vegetables Doesn't Satisfy Me

Eat For Health Food Pyramid

       

       Have you noticed that if you eat a meal of only fruits and vegetables (and even if you eat a ton of them) you don’t feel satisfied? 

         I learned why this week.  It's because you are used to eating large quantities of high-calorie foods that cause a dopamine rush, a rush that low-calorie foods don’t deliver.  The good news is that your body adjusts and becomes less dependent on the dopamine surge to the brain.  Over time your body will become more satisfied with fewer calories.

      That said, be careful you don’t starve yourself!  Are you eating enough?  You can eat A LOT of vegetables for the same number of calories in a Big Mac.  At first, I found it helpful to track my calories because I was worried that I might not be eating enough with this change in my diet.  I didn’t want my body to go into starvation mode and start hanging onto the fat!  I used the tracker on Prevention.com which not only tracked my calories, but also told me which vitamins and nutrients I was lacking.  This helped a ton.

       Dr. Joel Fuhrman says the trick to get you to desiring fewer calories faster is to eat lots of high volume, high nutrient foods.  These include:

RAW VEGETABLES:  green lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, carrots, beets, cukes, and spinach.  (Dr. Fuhrman recommends that half your vegetables be eaten raw.)

MOST FRESH FRUITS: oranges, grapefruits, apples, kiwis, berries and melons.

COOKED GREEN VEGETABLES: Brussels sprouts, artichokes, asparagus, broccoli, string beans and bok choy.

OTHER NON-GREEN VEGETABLES: mushrooms, cauliflower and spaghetti squash.

       My focus this week is going to be on raw vegetables.  Half of my veggies will be raw.  (See Dr. Fuhrman's Pyramid above.) It should be easy because I love salads and green smoothies in the summer.  I’ve been adding a carrot to my usual Green Smoothie, which doesn’t change the taste at all.  What do you put in yours? Send me your smoothie recipes.  I’m feeling brave.

What Percentage of Your Diet is Fruits and Vegetables?

     

  The Standard American Diet consists of:

* 42% Dairy and Animal Products

* 51% Refined and Processed Foods and only

* 7%  Fruits and Vegetables!

       No wonder so many people are dying of heart disease, cancer, immune diseases and diabetes!  It makes me crazy to see people eating themselves to death!  If you’re serious about being healthy you need to do more than just add more fruits and vegetables to your diet.  These foods must be the main focus of the diet itself!

        At least half your plate should be phyto-chemical rich fruits and vegetables.  Make sure to add some beans and healthy grains.  And only then is it ok to add in animal products or an occasional sugary treat.

         I watched a show on DFH last week called Half Ton Dad. Holy Cow! I couldn't look away. That guy was eating 30,000 calories a day.  You watch those shows and you walk away either feeling inspired to be healthy or pretty good about your lazy self, because hey, at least I'm not that guy. 

How much should a salad weigh?

      My salad weighed a pound today.  In Phase 2 of Eat For Health, Dr. Fuhrman recommends eating a pound of fruit and a pound of vegetables daily.

       Today's salad was a spinach and lettuce salad with strawberries, mandarin oranges, feta and walnuts.  I was full after I ate it, so I waited to make the rest of my lunch, which was a 2 egg veggie omelet with 2 cups of broccoli, cauliflower, chopped tomato & a tiny bit of grated cheese.  I forgot to weigh it because the missionaries came to the door right then.  But if I add in the apple and blueberries I had with breakfast, & the half banana snack, I know I've had at least 2 lbs of fruits and vegetables today.  And I'll have more with dinner. 

       As always, dinner is my challenge.  I have 6 other people to please. Nearly impossible! But I keep trying and every once in a while I get lucky.  Tonight will be spaghetti, french bread, steamed vegetables, carrot sticks and salad.  I'm thinking ice cream with strawberries on top for dessert.  (I'll probably pass on the ice-cream and do a green smoothie.)

       In some future post I think I'll take the time to weigh all my fruits and veggies in a day.  It could be over 3 pounds. That sounds like a lot of produce!

       Does anyone else eat this much produce or am I a freak of nature?  Don't answer that.  OK, do, but be kind.

Do You Have to Eat More to Get Full on Good Real Food?

A question from GRF reader Michelle:

Do you find that you have to eat more to get full when you're eating 'good real' food?  

Sometimes I find myself making a relatively healthy meal and then adding stuff like Stove Top as a filler. Maybe I just need to add another vegetable instead.

Answer: No and Yes

No, I do not find myself eating more calories.  But Yes, definitely I am eating a lot more vegetables than what I used to think was a normal serving. 

For example, a salad to me was a small bowl with some iceberg lettuce and a few tomato wedges and shredded carrots.  Who would want to eat that with all that other stuff on my plate to choose from?  When I say salad now, I mean a LARGE salad.  I’m talking, get out the Tupperware and fill it up with spinach, lettuce, berries, nuts, and cheese or meat or beans for protein.

Brett, my husband, said to me last week. “You know, that used to be a salad for the whole family.” Now I make two big salads- one is for the rest of the family to share and one is all mine. (I promise I'm not being selfish, I'd make theirs bigger if they'd actually eat it.)  If my meal is going to be just a salad, I make sure it has some protein in it to keep me full (chicken, beans, cheese, nuts) or I'll eat it with a large slice of whole wheat bread or Cowboy Caviar.  I look forward to my salad.  Getting hungry just typing this!

While planning and preparing dinner I have to chop a lot more vegetables than I used to.  I make enough to fill half our plates with vegetables, so we can easily eat an entire head of cauliflower at dinner.  I have found though, that my family will eat more vegetables if there is a variety instead of just one type.  You know, because they’ll serve themselves some of each.  So that’s a good strategy for getting more veggies in.

Instead of Stove Top, you could try some wild rice pilaf (Winco has some in bulk that you make with a can of broth), a baked sweet potato, whole wheat rolls, something with beans like Cowboy Caviar, or just add another vegetable like you said, or a fruit. It’s a good idea to have both raw and steamed veggies on the menu, even if you just add carrot sticks or cut up some apples.  Keep it simple!

Other posts you might find helpful: Which Lettuce is Healthiest?

What Made the Difference? Nutrition.

photo courtesy: vitalityskills.com

Here is my food journal from a random Sunday in December 2008.  It may not look like it, but I was trying desperately to lose weight!

Not looking forward to the Monday Weigh In. I'm afraid it will be over 150 lbs.

Food Journal:
2 shredded wheat biscuits w/skim milk
1 whole wheat toast w/butter
1 small hot chocolate (skim)

1 small baked potato w/butter, low-fat sour cream
a 2-3 oz piece turkey breast (made it in the crockpot)
1/3 cup broccoli and cauliflower
1/3 cup spinach w/ tiny bit dressing to dip it in
1 cup skim milk

1 bowl Honey Bunches of Oats w/skim
1 1/2 clementine oranges
microwaved 1/3 cup plain popcorn, w/butter buds and a little parmesan. I was tempted to have coke with this, but then I remembered the weigh in coming up!
1/2 cup cran raspberry juice

It wasn’t working for me. Why not?  I should have been losing weight.  I was eating fewer calories then than I am now.

I was exercising:  I walked 3 miles six days a week (at 4 mph).  I was burning calories.  But I was not losing weight!

It wasn’t until I started nourishing my body that I saw results.  This was not a healthy way of eating! A small potato and less than a cup of green vegetables for the whole day? 1 ½ Clementine oranges for my fruit?  I was only looking at fat grams and calories in vs. calories out.  Until I understood what good real food is, I didn’t change.

As soon as I started eating a lot more fresh vegetables, especially green ones, more fruit, more water and less processed food I started to feel so much better.  If you’re struggling I know you don’t want to hear how easy it was, but at times I wondered if it was too good to be true: How could the weight be coming off so easily?  I’m feeling so good about my efforts but what if I’m actually wasting away from some deadly disease.  I really did think that a couple times. But it turns out I'm healthy.  I just had a hard time believing after all these years of trying to lose weight, I had finally figured out what worked for me!  When I started giving it what it needed, my body was more than happy to just let go of those extra pounds.

I still had my days or weeks where the scale didn’t budge, or it actually went up a couple pounds even though I was doing everything right. But this wasn’t a big deal because I wasn’t focused on the scale.  Instead I was trying to see how healthily I could eat each day.  That’s what made the difference.

Eat The Rainbow

Do you want to do the 5 A Day Challenge with me?  You've heard that you should eat 5-9 servings of fruits and vegetables daily, right?  Well this challenge is even better for you- to eat one fruit or veggie of each color daily.  The National Cancer Institute and the Utah Department of Health have this handy flier.  They've divided the fruits and veggies  into 5 color groups.  Each group contains different phytonutrients which of course have different health benefits.
For example:
The Red Group (think tomatoes and strawberries) contains phytonutrients like lycopene and anthocyanins.  Lycopene reduces breast and skin cancer risks, while anthocyanins reduce your risk of heart attack and Alzheimer's Disease.
The Green Group (broccoli, kiwi & spinach) supplies you with lutein for good vision and cancer fighting indoles.  Carrots and oranges contain beta-carotene and bioflavenoids, both powerful anti-oxidants.  Then there's the Blue/Purple group that can slow the effects of aging and reduce memory loss.  The White Group will boost your immunity and help lower cholesterol and blood pressure because Onions and Garlic contain Allicin. You can click here to download your own nifty copy.  I have one hanging inside my pantry door.  My kids are learning this all with me.
Click here for a pdf of the Colorful Choices Log to help you (or your kids) keep track of your food color choices each day. 

Green Smoothie

Green Smoothie #1
serving size: 16 oz

1 cup packed baby spinach
1 cup frozen peaches
1/6 cup almond milk or skim milk (1/6 is half of one third cup)
1/3 cup orange juice OR 1 medium orange, peeled of course
1/3 cup Dannon All Natural Vanilla Yogurt
1 small carrot peeled & chopped.  Optional. You might as well add it. It doesn't change the flavor.

Put everything in the blender, frozen peaches on top. Blend & Enjoy.

Green Smoothie #2 (My healthier version!)
serving size: 18 oz

1 cup packed baby spinach
1 kale leaf
1 small carrot peeled and chopped into a few pieces
1 small apple cored and cut into a few pieces
1 cup Mixed Frozen Fruit or Berries *(Sam's club has a mix of peaches, mangoes, pineapples & strawberries)
1/6 cup almond milk
1/3 cup OJ or a small orange


Put everything in the blender, frozen fruit on top.  Blend and enjoy. If you don't have a BlendTec or a Vitamix, you'll want to use more liquid and chop the carrot and apple before blending.
It also blends better if you blend everything but the frozen stuff first and then add the frozen.

 Don't let the color of this smoothie scare you.  It turns out brownish purple because of the berries, but it's good.   I drink one of these smoothies every day. Sometime I'll do a kiwi instead of an apple.
If you're feeling brave:  I've also added 1/4 avocado or 1/4 small beet to this smoothie.