There is an abundance of cooked foods nowadays, like sausages, and processed foods. They have lost most of their nutrients and, when ingested, they generate certain toxins in our bodies.

Fortunately, we can choose living nutrition. A living diet is low in calories and has a good source of protein, enzymes, essential oils, vitamins, and a wide variety of minerals required to live. Raw vegan nutrition is an example of a living diet. There are reports of numerous health benefits to those who join this unstoppable vegetable revolution.

What Is a Raw Vegan Diet?

If you’ve heard the term “raw food” or “raw vegan diet,” it’s a vegetarian diet based on eating fresh food, as nature provided it. These have all the nutritional vitality that man needs to develop his life.

A raw vegan diet includes foods of vegetable origin, such as vegetables, fruits, and seeds that germinate. The food must be organic, free of pesticides and chemicals. More than just a diet, it is a different way of looking at life.

Living nutrition takes place in the context of an ecological lifestyle, where the human being is considered as an integrated individual, capable of seeing life as a whole. In this way, we take food as nature offers it to us, without the need for any cooking methods.

What Are The Benefits of The Raw Vegan Diet?

• It’s more natural for the body.
• It’s detoxifying since living foods have high depurative power.
• It helps promote a healthy immune system, raising our defenses.
• Regulates our body weight, especially if accompanied by physical activity.
• Useful against aging. It provides the body with enzymes and antioxidants capable of preventing cellular wear and tear and regenerating the body.
• Avoids constipation, since it’s a diet rich in fiber and water. It promotes the digestive process and stimulates the production of beneficial bacterial flora.
• All the nutrients offered by the food in its natural state are used. Cooking often triggers the nutritional properties of the food.
• Promotes the functioning of the brain and the mind.
• It improves fertility, vision, hearing, as well as kidney, digestive, and respiratory functions of the body.
• Gives sleep enhancement.
• Encourages positive thinking and attitude, as well as creativity.
• It helps regulate blood cholesterol levels.

Why Choose A Raw Vegan Diet?

Enzymes are the life force of a food, helping us to digest the food and absorb the nutrients. If we consume overcooked food, our bodies are forced to work harder to produce more enzymes.

Over time, a lack of food enzymes is believed to lead to digestive problems, nutrient deficiencies, accelerated aging, and weight gain. Also, the raw food diet contains less trans fat and saturated fat than the typical Western diet. It is low in sodium and sugar and high in potassium, magnesium, folic acid, fiber, vitamin A, antioxidants, and a large number of micronutrients that promote overall health.

When food is cooked, roasted, fried in oil, baked, charbroiled, or toasted, it is considered “dead.”  When it’s cooked, food loses the vitamins, enzymes, amino acids, antioxidants, and all the essential minerals that feed all human body systems and defend it against a lot of diseases.

Making The Transition from Cooked to Raw

If the time has come for change, then the first thing to consider is the transition time.

For some people, it is easier to go 100% raw immediately, and they can do it. But most people who come from a standard American diet, or even a standard vegetarian “cheese and eggs” diet, need long transition time.

The reason why yoga is so important a part of this transition and lifestyle is that it assures the most efficient elimination of the poisons releasing into your bloodstream. No matter what kind of diet you have now, you can start to do yoga 3 times a week.

Therefore, the first month of a transition time may not have any dietary implications at all and merely involves the physical practice of yoga.  This will build initial strength and energy reserves, as you begin to sleep better, for example.

In the next month, eliminate flesh foods and rejoice in that decision. It is not a deprivation but a gift to ourselves and the planet. Start to eat as much fruit as you can, and try to eat fruits when you’re hungry instead of other snacks.

Next month, it is time to eliminate dairy foods, and so on. Always take it slow. It could be a year instead of a month, or it could be a week instead of a month. It’s up to you and where you are and therefore, what are your needs.

Now begin to do some yoga 4-5 times a week and see if you can do it every day!!!

Please, if you have any questions and/or inquiries send me an e-mail fredbusch@miamiyoga.com