Raw Food Diet Foods

Many grocery stores now feature sprouts, organic produce and other raw food diet foods foods in the produce aisle. Of course, if they don't, there's nothing easier to grow for yourself than sprouts!

There are also tons of sites on the Web where you can order raw and living foods. Just do a search on raw foods and you'll come up with a lot of different places to order the foods you'd like to buy. Many of these sites, like Sunfood Nutrition, are also full of useful information, to help you learn about eating raw foods, and help educate you on the specific food values.

What else? Experiment with what you like. Take the time to learn a little about what the different nutrients in foods do for you. A few examples:

Cabbage - High in Vitamin C; important for healthy cell function
Shitake mushrooms - contain essential fatty acids and antioxidants to support a healthy immune system
Kale - Rich in fiber and helps reduce calorie intake with less hunger. We like that!
Barley - Loaded with niacin, fiber and iron and is important for healthy blood sugar.
Pumpkin - So rich in fiber and vitamins; helps reduce appetite by filling the stomach with indigestible fibers

Remember that raw food diet foods aren't just raw - they're organic and as close to their natural state as possible. So it's important that you eliminate as many processed foods as possible. Some examples:

Sugar - eliminate as much processed, white sugar as possible. In its place, try raw honey or stevia. Avoid artificial sweeteners like aspartame and saccharine. .

White Flour/breads - If you're like me, you love sandwiches. Avoid supermarket breads and white flour. Instead, invest in a bread maker and bake your own bread using organic flours such as quinoa, brown rice or almond flour. Try sprouted grain breads, too. (For more on wheat flour substitutes, see the lens Recipes for Gluten Free Bread.)

Pasta - in place of wheat flour pasta, use pasta made from organic grains. Better yet, use spaghetti squash or julienned zucchini.

Fats - cut out butter, margarine, shortening and any other processed fats - replace them with cold pressed coconut oil, olive oil, hemp seed oil or flax seed oil. Also, add fat to your diet through olives, nuts and seeds, fresh coconut and avocados.

Meats - while it should be a goal to eliminate meat from your diet, if you do eat some meat make sure that it is organic, and try to buy local product. Same with eggs.

Dairy products - in place of pasteurized cow's milk, try organic goat's milk, coconut milk, soy milk, almond milk, or rice milk.

Drinks - Avoid caffeinated and sweetened drinks. Try 100% fruit juices, herbal teas - and don't forget to drink plenty of water!