Welcome to my class students, you are currently enrolled in Raw Food 101-yes there will be a quiz so pay attention. This is one of several explanations on raw food and why it rocks. There will be more goodies to come in the next few posts………I know your super excited!

Raw food is live food, living foods consists of fruits, vegetables, nuts, sprouted seeds, beans and grains that aren’t cooked. Raw food is not heated above 118ºƒ, by not heating food, all the naturally occurring vitamins, phytonutrients, water and enzymes are left intact and alive. Food heated over 118ºƒ looses approximately 50% of its protein. On average 50-80% of the vitamins, minerals, water and enzymes naturally occurring in food are destroyed when cooked.

Enzymes are the catalyst for every chemical function in your body. Vitamins, proteins and hormones can’t do their job without enzymes. Every living food naturally contains the exact amount of enzymes needed to be properly broken down and utilized. When eating cooked foods you must produce extra enzymes putting an unnecessary burden on your entire body. Eating living foods helps to reverses the aging process by providing the body with all the enzymes required to repair cellular damage and create millions of new healthy cells every day.

Raw foodists report significant improvements in their overall health, increased energy, significant weight loss, improved mental state and stronger immune system. In the book “In Defense of Food” Michael Pollan points out that “Four out of the top ten causes of death today are chronic diseases with well-established links to diet: coronary heart disease, diabetes, stroke and cancer.” Many people who enjoy a raw food lifestyle have been able to heal themselves of these diseases.

Eating living foods also slows down digestion so your food is properly absorbed. Proper digestion keeps blood glucose levels steady and will efficiently cut down on food cravings. Therefore, people who eat raw foods also loose weight. Here are a few before and after links of people who went raw.

http://www.welikeitraw.com/rawfood/raw-food-before-and-after-photos.html

www.paulnison.com/beforeandafterpictures.htm

http://www.rawreform.com/content/view/265/136/

One of my favorite things to do is Google “raw food before and after pictures” I know it’s dorky but it’s really inspiring. Till next time have fun with your food and eat your veggies.

This is my first blog post ever and I admit I’m little nervous, but nervous in a good way. I have never ever wanted to have a blog before, in fact I’ll tell you a little secret, I don’t really like to write! So you may be thinking, what is this crazy girl doing writing a blog if she doesn’t really like to write? Well, here it is; raw food has been so exciting for me that that I overcame my fear of punctuation and spelling to share my info and adventures with friends, family and anyone else who dares to read these posts.

My dad pointed out this comic in the paper and we had a good laugh because once I tried to make a raw carrot cake so similar to this one it’s scary. The people I tried feeding it to had about the same reaction and looking back I don’t blame them! Here’s how it all went down.

When I was a teenager I asked for “Juliano’s Raw UNcook Book” for Christmas and the first raw recipe I made was carrot cake. I knew I didn’t have a lot of the ingredients but I did have carrots and decided to make it anyway, not one of my better ideas. The recipe was a pretty intense for a beginner, I got tired of making it halfway through and didn’t bother with the whipped cream because I knew it couldn’t be saved. It looked terrible and tasted like carrot pulp on top of chopped nuts and thats exactly what it was. To top it off I tried to pass this disaster off to my family as carrot cake! Hahahahaa, I laugh now but it was gross.

I am sure we’ve all had a few raw food mishaps . With that said, I welcome you to my blog by laughing at the fun and funny world that is the life of a raw foodie. I hope you get a good laugh at my expense;)

XOXO,

Lesley Anne

P.S. After writing this post and looking up that recipe for Juliano’s raw carrot cake I have decided to take another crack at it. I will keep you all posted with the recipe and pictures good or bad!