Why is my nickname “Raw Girl”?
Those of you who have followed me since my blogger days know that I was a raw foodist for 2-3 years. I came up with the name of my blog Raw Girl in a Toxic World because it captured my feeling of being overwhelmed as I started to pay closer attention to what I was eating and the food industry as a whole.
I now eat mostly raw when is best for my body type—which is in the warmer seasons, and incorporate cooked food as I like. In an ideal world I’d move to a tropical climate to live my best raw life all year round.
So what the heck is a raw diet?
The raw vegan diet is a lifestyle that consists of only eating fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds that are not cooked above 118 degrees. Preparation of raw food includes blending, soaking, fermenting, marinating, sprouting, mixing, dicing, and juicing.
When foods are blended it makes them easier for the body to digest. There is a wide range of blended meals that you can incorporate in a raw diet including soups, smoothies, sauces, dips, dressings, and puddings. If you are on-the-go, blended foods are essential because they take little to no time to prepare.
Because raw greens and vegetables often have coarse leaves and can be difficult for the body to break down, marinating is key to making them more digestible. Often this is simply achieved using oil, unrefined salt like Himalayan sea salt, and some form of citrus or acidic medium like lemon, lime, or even apple cider vinegar. Using the hands to apply heat, the vegetables are broken down and all ingredients are massaged into the greens making them flavorful and easy to consume.
Dehydration is the raw food substitution for baking. It allows us to experience some of the same textures we may miss from cooked meals but with all of the enzymes and nutrition intact. Crackers, cookies, loafs, burgers, breads, spices, dried fruits, and more can be made with a dehydrator.
Go back to season 1, episode 7 of the Staying Ageless podcast to hear how Dr. Baxter Montgomery of @montgomerywellness has demonstrated through his clinical work and research that eating raw for 30 days can reduce inflammation in your body by 30% and help to reverse disease. -XO