If you’ve been on the fence wondering whether eating more raw foods is a good thing or not, then let me help you over – to the good side. Obviously I have a very biased opinion about eating raw foods, after all I’ve written a book on the subject (ie. Eating for Energy).
But you just can’t refute the numerous benefits of eating raw. One of the reasons I started eating more raw foods several years ago was that I wanted more energy. I was sick and tired of needing lots of sleep (ie. 8-10 hours) to feel rested and somewhat energetic.
After all, most sleep experts have told us that our bodies need a “specific” amount of sleep for our body to regenerate and feel rested. I used to believe that…now I’m not so sure. What I’ve found is that when most of my food intake comes from raw foods, I don’t need as much sleep. In fact, when I’m about 80% raw, I can thrive on just 5-6 hours of sleep.
Part of the reason this happens is the body is getting “life energy” from the foods you’re feeding it. When we eat dead, cooked foods, there is little to no energy (other than calories) that we are providing our body.
Think of eating raw foods like recharging a battery. The more raw foods you eat, the more you are recharging your battery – which, in this case, is your body. Conversely, when the majority of your diet is comprised of dead foods, you inherently drain more of your battery’s energy.
This occurs because dead foods require more energy to be digested and metabolized. For instance, eating meat (that is cooked) draws more water from your body to be digested since most, if not all, the water in the meat has been evaporated by the cooking process.
Not only does eating cooked meat help to dehydrate your body but it also taxes your body’s digestive enzymes. Because the food is dead it no longer contains it’s natural food enzymes. As a result, your body must now spend more of its own energy to produce and secrete more of its limited digestive enzymes.
These are just a few reasons why cooked foods drain your energy but there are many more. Now, I’m not saying that you have to totally forego cooked foods from here on out (I certainly haven’t) but it’s important to understand that you should offset some of the “stress” imposed by cooked foods with an abundance of raw foods.
And it doesn’t have to be complicated. Simply eating more fruits and vegetables, in their raw state, is really all you need to do. When people ask me how to start eating raw, I usually just tell them that the easiest way to do so is by adding a few more fruits and vegetables into their daily diet.
Once you experience the benefits of doing so, you’ll find it easier to transition away from those foods that have held you hostage for so many years.
Go for it – you can do it!
I have to confess that over the last year or so I’ve fallen in love with a good latte or cappuccino. I don’t if it’s the smooth creamy taste or slight caffeine buzz that I get, but something keeps me coming back for more.
