Raw Food Diet and Weight Loss
Can a raw food diet help you with weight loss? Definitely! Raw food diets do cause weight loss and people who are on them can eat a vast amount of food. While you might be depriving your body of cooked food, you are not going to be depriving your body of food volume.
There are some great benefits of a raw food diet. Weight loss is just one of them. Other benefits could include elimination of many health issues, reduction in chronic pain, an increase in memory, clarity, and feeling of overall well being, improved sleep, healthier complexion, reduction in bad breath, improved digestive function, reduction in recurring yeast infections, getting your body to a healthier and more alkaline (instead of acidic) state, and the list goes on. Without fighting toxins on a constant basis, this could have great results for your body’s organs.
As you shed weight and increase the feelings of wellness, you’ll be doing great things from a digestive and a detoxification standpoint. A great side effect of detoxification, after you’ve gotten over the hump of withdrawals of junk food, is the fact that you’ll stop craving that junk. Junk food cravings and ingestion accounts for a vast amount of weight gain. Eating the wrong foods leads to craving the wrong foods. Detoxification through a raw food diet could break that vicious cycle.
Raw food diets can help you break the cycle of emotional eating and feed your body instead of feelings and find other ways to satiate stress (such as with exercise, which will also contribute to your achieving your goals for weight, wellness, and fitness).
Caution – Get Enough Calories on a Raw Food Weight Loss Diet
When using a raw food diet for weight loss, it’s important that you get enough calories for your body to survive. A good way to do this is to track those calories. Once you start to get an idea of the caloric value of various foods, it will be easier to do. A good combination of fruits, vegetables, nuts, and legumes is important.
Here are some other things you’ll want to eat on a raw food diet weight loss regimen:
- Green drinks and / or smoothies. These can be chock full of nutrients. Many are designed to supplement a raw food diet.
- Nuts, avocados, and other raw MUFA (mono unsaturated fats) foods. These are especially helpful in targeting abdominal fat.
- Greens. Man cannot live on iceberg lettuce alone. Experiment with green combinations
- Fruit. Fruit will satisfy cravings and help you get full. Experiment with new fruits and exotic ones, too.
- Veggies and other plant based foods like edible flowers and edible mushrooms.
- In most diets you’ll be reminded to drink water. But the great thing about raw foods is that many have a high water content than cooked foods. Drink to quench your thirst but don’t stress, because if you’re eating a lot of fruits and vegetables and you’re eliminating well (with plenty of clear urine), you’re getting hydration.
- Fish. Sushi enthusiasts often don’t mind the transition to raw food. You do need to be careful about mercury levels and safe food handling, though.
If trying a raw food diet for weight loss, do a lot of reading and researching so that you can get the best results possible. If you’re looking for some raw food recipes, check out our article: Raw Food Diet Recipes!
Trail mix can be a high satiety snack and is one of the popular healthy snack ideas. Be careful as it can be high calorie, too, if you’re not careful. Making homemade trail mix can help you choose the right combination and in the right quantities while giving you control over sugar content.
