Posts Tagged ‘enzymes’

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Is Sprouted Grain Bread Good?

June 28th, 2010

For many people, bread is simply bread. It is white and it comes from the grocery store. It is used for sandwiches and toast, and little else. It is brand name and cheaply prices, pre-sliced and the less time you take to actually read the ingredients, the better off you’ll be.

Of course, most people who eat a raw food diet, or even a somewhat healthy diet, would not touch that bleached white bread with a ten foot bread knife. It is full of chemicals and artificial everything, as is as close to a nutritional wasteland as you can find in the pastry section of a supermarket.

Some people will simply switch to a different kind of bread – be it rye, whole wheat, or some other variation. But instead of looking for something else in the grocery store to fill the place of that phony bread, why not go a completely different – and incredibly healthy – direction and try to make your own sprouted grain bread.

Of course, the first question people will ask, when told about sprouted grain bread, is not questions about the preparation, the cost or ever a description of what exactly such a bread would look like. No, the first question, inevitably, is the question of just how good would bread like this taste?

Is sprouted bread good? If you are talking taste, then the answer is yes. Instead of consuming a baked mass of processed and bleached wheat that offers very little in the way of flavor or texture, a slice of sprouted bread is like the difference between a light bulb and the sun. Sprouted breads can be made from a single source of sprouted grain if you want a particular flavor, or from a variety of germinated nuts and seeds if you want to experience a variety within every bite.

If you are asking if sprouted grain bread is good for you, the answer once again is yes. The average mass-produced loaf of bread offers little in the way of nutrients, unless the producer has added in a few vitamins after the fact to try to make their product “health conscious”. Raw sprouted breads, on the other hand, have all of the vitamins and nutrients found in the young plants used to produce the bread. None have been killed off in the cooking process, and nothing good has been bleached away. Sprouted breads contain living food enzymes to aide in digestion and absorption; fiber to keep the body regular; and for those who suffer from wheat or gluten allergies, there are many forms of sprouted breads that can be eaten without fear of causing a negative reaction.

And if you are asking if sprouted grain bread is good for everyday use, the answer is a very big yes. This sort of homemade bread can be used for anything you would normally use bread for. You can make your own sandwiches for lunches, serve it with pasta at dinner, or load it up with homemade nut butter for a tasty snack any time of the day.

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How Raw Food Diet Increases Your Energy

May 15th, 2010

Energy is one of those buzz words that can have everyone talking. It seems that no one ever has enough energy, and people are always looking for new and innovative ways to gain more energy. People do strange things to get more energy, things that they occasionally strongly dislike doing in order to get a few steps ahead of the competition. People eat foods that they do not like, drinks fluids that they can barely choke down, and pop pills like there is no tomorrow.

But if you are reading this blog post, of course you know that you can eat for energy, without all the mystery and the misery. Eating a raw food diet is an excellent way to increase your energy levels without having to suffer for the strength.

But you might wonder, how does a high energy diet give you the power that a diet of cooked foods simply cannot provide? There are a lot of important factors in raw foods that contribute to giving you more than simply a belly full of food.

For one thing, eating for energy with raw foods gives you a massive supply of natural vitamins and nutrients that are incredibly helpful for an active body. Certainly, you can get a decent amount of vitamins in a more traditional, cooked diet, but so many of the vitamins in fruits and vegetables are often leached out of them in the cooking process, lost to pots of boiling water and sizzling pans of fat.

So raw foods offer a higher level of vitamins – so what? Well, a massive amount of vitamins means that your body is fully stocked with the tools it needs in order to keep you in peak physical condition. A strong body needs to be a healthy body, so a good source of vitamins is one of the basic building blocks of being more active, and having more energy.

Raw foods also contain energy in the form of those much-talked about living food enzymes. These little wonders often get killed off in the cooking process, as a result of the high temperatures. Without them, your body has to rely on its own sources of enzymes for digestion, absorption and elimination. These might be incredibly normal processes that your body goes through every single day, but that is not to say that they are easy on your body. Precious energy can be wasted when your body has to work harder to grab those nutrients from your foods.

And of course, within the area of raw foods, there are a number of food items that contain huge amounts of energy giving ingredients. From the natural sugars in your favorite fruits to healthy fats, natural fibers and other wonderful additions, the raw foods that you eat can have a huge impact on your energy levels – and the best part is, they deliver that energy without resorting to terrible food choices, unnatural supplement pills and other unpleasant options. Energy is important, but you have to enjoy how you gather it.

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Difference Between Raw and Alkaline Diet

May 12th, 2010

One of the difficulties with something as positive and helpful as a raw food diet is that there is going to be a lot of information out there for you to digest, if you will pardon the pun. Starting a raw food diet is enough of a challenge without having to decipher all of the details, words and jargon that can be tied to something that can be as complex as raw foods.

One of the areas that tends to throw off new raw food enthusiasts is the apparent overlap between a raw food diet and an alkaline diet. These two areas share a lot of common points, but it is like comparing apples to oranges in some ways – they’re very different, but they are both still fruits.

If you want to learn how to eat a raw diet, you should have some understanding of the differences, first and foremost. By definition, a raw diet is simply that – eating nothing but foods that have not been cooked, heated or processed by raising their temperatures. Raw food diets are largely about the natural living enzymes that exist within the foods we eat, and trying to preserve those enzymes so that they can be consumed by our bodies, not by the cooking process. A raw diet may include a great number of foods that help to reduce the body’s pH levels, but that is not the focus.

An alkaline diet focuses on the pH levels of foods, and how those foods affect your overall health and their impact on your body’s acidity or alkalinity. An alkaline diet tries to get you to consume foods that will reduce acidity in the body, bringing you closer to a more natural and health-preserving base or alkaline pH level. Many of the foods that help you to keep an alkaline body pH are raw fruits and vegetables that are staples of the raw food diet – but keeping raw is not the main focus of the alkaline diet.

People tend to seek out raw food help for a number of reasons, including finding an increase in energy and helping to strengthen their immune systems. But one of the key points of interest for many raw food practitioners is those living food enzymes. Consuming these enzymes aids the body in the healthy absorption and digestion of food, and the elimination of waste products.

The alkaline diet has a different goal, that of reducing the acidity of the body as a whole. Many people seek out the alkaline diet because of problems such as acid reflux, which causes them a great deal of discomfort. Creating a more alkaline system can help to eliminate acidic problems like gas and heart burn.

Both ways have their benefits, and can incorporate aspects of the other plan in order to create a full and functional eating program that will give you the benefits that you desire. Lowering your acidity and increasing your intake of living food enzymes can aid you in becoming a stronger, healthier person.

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Cancer and the Raw Food Diet

May 10th, 2010

The very mention of cancer in an article about a high energy diet can be somewhat controversial. There are those within the raw foods community who would be so bold as to make somewhat overzealous claims about the cancer-fighting properties of an all raw diet, to the point of unsubstantiated exaggeration. While there is nothing wrong with believing that your chosen way of eating might help you to stay healthy, the last thing we want to do is go so far as to make promises that could never be kept.

Unfortunately, we do not know everything we need to know about cancers, how they start or how to fight back against them. What we do know is that eating for energy with a raw diet has the potential to help our bodies in these battles. There are no magic cure-alls in the raw foods on your plate, but there is a way to find a healthier life through healthier eating.

Those who eat for energy with a raw diet are consuming far fewer known carcinogens that those who consume cooked foods, particularly when it comes to foods that are prepared over any variety of direct flame. The charring process that many meats and vegetables are subjected to, be it on a barbecue or over another heat source, can leave behind deposits that, according to some studies, can contain carcinogenic properties. That is not to say that cooked meat causes cancer, or that raw meats like cold smoked salmon will keep you safe. But consuming fewer charred items might make a difference in the long run.

Of course, a raw diet is filled with wonderful raw produce, and many of the food items found here have been shown to have some positive effects when it comes to combating cancer in some form or another. Carrots in particular have been shown to have a great impact on the body in recent cancer research studies. The antioxidants contained in carrots, like beta carotene, help to produce and process vitamin A within the body, which keeps your cells at optimal health and allows them to strongly resist the invasions of cancer cells.

Another big plus for raw foods are the living enzymes that you are able to consume when you skip the cooking process. These living enzymes help to break down, digest and dispose of the food you eat, allowing your body to not have to call upon its own stores of enzymes to do the dirty work for the cooked, dead food enzymes. Using the life force of your food in this way means that your body is able to use its internal energies for other purposes besides digestion and absorption – like fighting to keep you healthier in general.

These are just some of the benefits of a raw food diet, but that is not evidence that a raw foods diet can beat cancer. But when it comes to maintaining your good health, every little advantage you can give your body will help if you should ever have to face this terrible affliction.

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Top 5 Reasons to Follow a Raw Foods Diet

April 26th, 2010

Near more reasons to follow a raw foods diet? Well, here we go…

There are lots of reasons to change the way you eat, and consume less dead and cooked food items. It sounds wonderful, but sometimes, it can be difficult to put into words why exactly you would want to change your diet and eat more raw foods – particularly when speaking with someone who does not agree with your new-found ideas.

While a diet change is not about converting those around you to a system that works for you, here are a few points you can present when asked “why on earth would you want to limit yourself only to raw foods?”

1. Raw foods can help you to lose weight.

When you start to eat for energy with a raw food diet, you are going to notice that the volume of food that you eat is not going to differ drastically. You won’t be asked to skimp and starve yourself; but while you will be eating plenty, you will likely see a loss in overall body weight. Because raw foods tend to have a high concentration of fibre, you will feel more full, and because they contain no artificial sugars, you will be consuming fewer calories, on average.

2. Eating raw foods will give you more energy.

Hey, that’s why they call it eating for energy. Raw foods contain living enzymes. These enzymes are fairly delicate, and when cooked, tend to be destroyed. When you ingest raw, living enzymes, you provide your body with help. Extra calories that, in the past, would go towards digestion can now be harnessed by your muscles, giving you a boost in energy.

3. Eating raw will also reduce your energy consumption in your home.

Many of us have very high energy bills every month, and a large contributor to that are our appliances. Microwave ovens, stoves and conventional ovens take a huge amount of energy to run in order to provide us with cooked foods. When you switch to a raw food diet, you won’t need your oven or microwave any more – the biggest appliances in your kitchen will be your fridge and a food dehydrator. Those savings on your monthly energy bill will really add up.

4. With a raw food diet, you get more vitamins.

Sure, many of us get all the vitamins we need, because we take daily supplements and pills to ensure that we are meeting the minimum requirements. But if you up your intake of fruits and vegetables, you are going to get more than the minimum daily requirements – without having to choke down a fistful of pills every morning.

5. With a raw food diet, you will likely find that you are going to get sick less often.

This high energy diet helps to keep your body in great shape, inside and out, and a healthy body helps foster a healthy immune system. Your body will be able to fight back more effectively against the average flu bug or seasonal cold, and you will be able to bounce back quicker when you do get the sniffles.

=> Got any other reasons to eat more raw foods? Please share.

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