What is better; a raw food diet or being vegetarian? Will either make me lose weight? A raw food diet or raw foodism is the practice of eating raw uncooked food (absolutely nothing refined and processed.) I believe eating vegetarian is the preferred way to lose weight and get healthier. I do eat limited raw foods, but these are only fruits and vegetables.
I do cook some things I eat. For example, I steam broccoli and bake my potatoes. I don’t think many people can adopt a completely raw food diet. There are though probably a handful of people who will do it and might stick with it. I don’t believe the vast majority will.
Most vegetarians eat a mixture of cooked and uncooked fruits and vegetables. But, the mistake is when they don’t quit eating junk foods, snacks and refined or processed foods like chips, bread and pasta, etc.
The raw food diet may also include fermented foods like yogurt, raw seeds and nuts, dairy, meat, fish, and eggs. Personally, I don’t advise eating animal products of any kind because it has been proven it harms our health. If you just have to have the taste, limit it as you would ketchup or mustard on your hamburger. Use meat or animal products sparingly to flavor things up.
Raw or cooked food?
Some authorities say cooking food devitalizes it. I think this is true to a degree. So, when you steam something like broccoli, steam it for as little time as is necessary to make it eatable.
Try to limit cooking your food as much as you can. Favor large green salads. You need calories, but not in a lot of high fat food like nuts, seeds, and avocados. Limit all these, because they are not heart healthy and will add inches to your waistline if you eat handfuls everyday.
Vegetables have a higher mineral content than fruits, but get your calories from fruits or you will crave the bad carbs in snack foods, soft drinks, fatty food and candy. Fruit has simple carbohydrates, easily assimilated and slow to release sugar into your bloodstream because of the fiber content. Vegetables like Broccoli also have carbs. Complex carbs are resistant digesting in the large intestine over a longer time than simple carbohydrates in the smaller intestine.
Feeling full or satiated
Therefore, while a low or preferably no fat raw vegan diet may be healthy in some respects, not many people will adopt it. I eat a combination of raw and cooked foods. Obviously, you have to cook brown rice, potatoes, and beans, otherwise, they wouldn’t be palatable. I add some spice and salt and pepper.
I feel unsatisfied just eating fruit and vegetables. I need the resistant starch in potatoes, brown rice and beans to feel satiated and full. If you have cravings for sweets and the wrong carbohydrate foods like potato chips and bread, you are not eating enough fruits for calories.
Remember, that although fruits possess nutrients and calories, you eat vegetables for the mineral content. You can eat as many fruits and vegetables as you want and not gain a pound.
I lost over 40 pounds in a year eating fruits and vegetables adding beans, brown rice, and potatoes. If you are having trouble losing weight, you could be eating too much fatty foods like avocados, seeds, nuts, bread and/or refined (processed) grain products like tortillas and pasta, etc.
