10 Nutrition Tips if you WANT TO GO RAW DIET

When first starting out in eating raw foods, it might not only seem overwhelming, but you might also be confused about where to start and which information to follow.

After eating an almost 100% raw food diet for 12 months, and then a high raw diet for the past three years, I have learned a thing or two about how to eat mostly raw and still be healthy and sane. It all boils down to these ten really simple guidelines, which if you follow, will help you to stay on the right track.

1. Always choose the best quality food you can afford. This means organic and local as much as you can.

2. Only eat when you are hungry, and stop eating when you are full (a principle that should apply whenever you eat anything).

3. Eat your greens! Try to have vibrant greens 2-3 times per day in the form of a green juice, salad, a green smoothie or incorporated in another raw food dish.

4. Aim to fill your plate with 75% fresh, raw and organic fruits and vegetables with each meal.

5. Drink plenty of water. 6-8 glasses of water a day is important to stay hydrated and to support your body in releasing toxins (which is what starts to happen when you go raw)

6. Keep your meals simple yet nourishing, and try to eat only one cooked or one heavy raw meal per day, with lighter raw meals such as salads, juices and smoothies making up your other meals.

7. Eat from the rainbow! Try to have as many different colored foods in your diet as possible each day.

8. Experiment and diversify your diet. Try at least one new recipe a week and include a variety of raw food groups in your diet to keep it interesting (this will include fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, fermented foods, seaweeds and sprouted grains).

9. Find pleasure in your food. Enjoy the food you eat and savor all the tastes and textures you experience. By eating mindfully you savor the experience and are less likely to have cravings later.

10. Have fun and think of eating raw foods as an adventure. Don’t let following a raw food diet become like a regime. You don’t have to eat 100% raw and be completely rigid to experience many of the benefits of this way of eating. Look at raw foods as an experiment and your body is the lab- see what works for you and explore all the many raw food options that are out there.