Health And Hope

Raw foods are special!

Think raw! This will help you immediately in your food selections and meal preparation.  Foods that are raw are crispy fresh, and natural.  The minerals and vitamins and the trace elements are locked in the cells for us.  Cooking leaches them out and then we throw away the water! Raw foods are special.

• Much more satisfying to the appetite.  They need more chewing, so we eat more naturally.  Our systems have a mechanism for telling us when we have had enough food but, with processed foods that slip down easily, it is overruled and we do not realise we have overeaten until we are bloated. With raw foods this governor on our appetite works efficiently.
• Weight loss.  Because we feel satisfied earlier, and we are eating foods that are essentially lower in calories, excess weight will gradually begin to drop without having to go on slimming diets.
• Our system works best in an alkaline environment.  If we have too much acid residue left from our high-protein foods like meats and cheeses, pastries, and cakes, our whole body begins to suffer and we have the beginnings of disease. Fresh foods create the alkaline base which is restful and healthy for the body.
• Our bodies need a sodium/potassium balance too.  This keeps our cells healthy and alive, well oxygenated and allows them to feed and breathe and reproduce.  Raw foods, like fresh fruits and vegetables provide us with this balance very naturally.
• Increased fibre, and the high  potassium levels in raw foods often reduces blood pressure, in a way cooked foods do not.  A high-fibre diet helps us eliminate the wastes from our bodies much faster - often in about 24 hours - thus preventing bacteria that develop,and feed on these wastes. On an ordinary everyday diet, tests have shown that many of us have putrefying body wastes in our system for up to 80 hours, during which time some of the toxins are absorbed back into the body again.
• Raw foods put less stress on the body.  They are rich in enzymes to help digestion and the absorption of nutrients.  There are very few people who are allergic to any natural raw foods.  For this reason it is good to begin each meal with something raw, e.g. fruits, or salad, and then the stomach will accept the cooked foods more easily.  Initially, it often considers them to be foreign substance and fights against them.
• Raw foods have power to strengthen the immune system.  This can be seen from the increased resistance to coughs and colds and the way chronic diseases begin to ease.
• Cravings are damped down because the vitamins and minerals are provided in a natural accessible way, and the body is happy. Too often we try to fight cravings by will power only. This way is much more successful. Raw diet and will power together, to overcome the habit,  is a naturally much easier method for lasting success.