The 4 Principles of a Healthy Raw Diet

The 4 Principles of a Healthy Raw Diet

How to End Your Confusion and Go Raw Today!

by Swayze Foster

www.fitonraw.com

http://www.fitonraw.com


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Published by:Fit On Raw

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About the AuthorSwayze Foster

Swayze’s interest in diet and fitness began early on in an attempt to release excess weight. After over 2 years of struggling with anemia, restless leg syndrome, and “those last 10 pounds,” she stumbled upon the raw food diet in late 2007. Swayze has been actively living and avidly promoting a low-fat, high-fruit raw vegan diet ever since.

In May 2007, Swayze’s love of animals convinced her to start her own successful pet sitting business. She currently has four beautiful raw-fed pets of her own, one 11-year-old Border collie and three adult domestic tabby cats.

Swayze’s formal studies include a philosophy degree from the University of Memphis.



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Table of Contents

FEELING CONFUSED? 5

WHY RAW? 5BENEFITS OF RAW 6

#1:EAT ENOUGH CALORIES 8

THE TRUTH ABOUT FRUIT 8BENEFITS OF FRUIT 9HOW MUCH FRUIT? 11

#2:LIMIT FAT CONSUMPTION 13

MACRONUTRIENTS DEMYSTIFIED 13THE PROBLEM WITH TOO MUCH FAT 14HOW MUCH FAT? 15

#3:DON’T NEGLECT YOUR GREENS 17

FRUIT FIRST, GREENS SECOND 17HOW MUCH GREENS? 18

#4:TAKE A WELL-ROUNDED APPROACH 19

DIET IS NOT THE END-ALL, BE-ALL 19

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER 20

7 DAY MEAL PLAN 20COUNTING CALORIES 23CONCLUSION 24



Feeling Confused?

If you are reading this special report, it probably means that you are brand new to the raw food diet. Perhaps you encountered it somewhere on the web or heard about it from a friend. Regardless, I’m sure you are very excited and can’t wait to get started!

With that said, you might be a little confused about exactly how to get started. Okay maybe really confused! That’s completely understandable.

I remember when I first heard about a raw food diet. Not only did I have no clue as to what exactly to eat, it seemed that no one else in the raw food movement did either! There are so many raw philosophies and “gurus” out there that it can be overwhelming for any beginner.

Luckily, I found myself on the right raw path fairly quickly and I have been following it ever since. After reading The 4 Principles of a Healthy Raw Diet, you will be armed with the tools you need for raw success!

But first, let’s look at the basics.

Why Raw?

Why go raw in the first place? Is there really a difference between foods that are cooked and foods that are raw? Aren’t raw foodists just a bunch of crazy tree-huggers?

No, we are not all tree-huggers…but we are a bit crazy! ;)

On a more serious note, there is a big difference between cooked and raw foods. Here are a few of the main ways in which raw foods excel:



Raw food is more nutritious –- Cooking food, whether you steam or fry it, removes much of the water from the food. Just look at the difference before and after a pound of spinach is cooked! This water is necessary for both hydration of the body and assimilation of many important nutrients by the body.

Raw food is less toxic — Fresh fruits and vegetables are not only the most nutritious foods, but they are the least toxic as well. They’re lower in anti-nutrients like phytic acid and lectins and devoid of carcinogens like advanced glycation end-products (AGEs), Heterocyclic amines (HCAs), and acrylamides.

Raw food contains fewer calories per bite — A pound of bananas contains only 400 calories with 3% fat. Compare that to the same amount of broiled steak and you get a whopping 1251 calories, 64% of which is fat! And that’s with the excess fat trimmed off.

Raw food is much more satisfying — Because raw foods retain their water and fiber, they are higher in volume. On a healthy raw vegan diet, you can eat a very large amount of food and you will still lose weight!

Okay, so raw foods are inarguably better for us. But what about the effects of eating this way? What benefits can you expect from a raw food diet?

Benefits of RawHere are just some of the awesome results you can experience on a healthy raw vegan diet:

Improved digestion

Permanent weight loss

Increased energy

Better sleep

Great hair



Smooth, soft skin

Healthy teeth and gums

Mental clarity

And so much more!

So what are you waiting for? Let’s get started! :)



#1:Eat Enough Calories

The calories we eat on a day-to-day basis provide the fuel our bodies need to function. Without sufficient calories, we will not receive adequate fuel or nutrition.

Remember the comparison I made between a pound of bananas and a pound of steak? The steak contained over 3X the amount of calories contained in the same amount of bananas. This means good things for you. To meet your caloric needs, you get to eat substantially more calories on a raw diet than you do on a cooked diet.

I say that you get to eat more calories because I see this as a plus rather than a minus. I’m sure you do too! How many diet programs have you been on that have insisted on calorie restriction? Personally, I’ve been on far too many to count.

With that said, the average raw foodist has a problem with the calorie concept. Unlike most Americans, many raw foodists do not eat enough calories! This has all sorts of consequences, such as severe cravings, binges, unwelcome weight loss and overall fatigue.

Believe it or not, there is a simple explanation for why the average raw foodist does not eat enough.

The Truth about FruitThere are several myths circulating within the raw food movement regarding fruit. Some raw food leaders even advocate severely limiting or even eliminating nutritious sweet fruits such as bananas, peaches, mangoes, and oranges! As a result, many raw foodists do not eat enough fruit.

I find that for most people on cooked food diets, fruit is not an issue. We have all heard since childhood the importance of eating your fruits and veggies. While it might seem rather strange to eat a lot of fruit, most people are pretty open-minded. It is usually the



raw foodist that regularly shuns fruit.

To get to the bottom of this misguided fear, let’s take a look at the most common fruit myths.

Fruit causes diabetes and candida overgrowth — Many people, not just raw foodists, believe that disorders such as diabetes and candidiasis are directly related to fruit consumption. It is not fruit that causes these disorders, but an excess of fat. Too much fat in the bloodstream blocks insulin from the pancreas from reaching the sugar. The pancreas becomes fatigued from producing extra insulin and the blood-sugar level becomes elevated because the sugar cannot be transported out of the blood by the insulin.

Simple carbohydrates do not provide adequate nutrition — The fallacy here simply lies in equating sugar with refined sugar. There is no question that processed junk foods like sugary cereals, donuts, and candy offer no nutritional value whatsoever. In fact, these foods do a lot of harm to our bodies. However, raw fruit is not part of this category. The simple sugars glucose and fructose found in fruit provide easy-to-access fuel for our bodies and brains.

You simply can’t eat a meal of fruit — Oh, really? While it may be hard at first to eat an entire meal of fruit, it gets easier with time. In fact, eating a large fruit meal is extremely enjoyable…and completely guilt-free!

Benefits of Fruit

Now that we’ve discussed some of the “problems” with fruit, I want to talk a little bit about the benefits of fruit.

Fruit is easy to digest — Fruit is very easy to digest because the sugars in fruit are already in their simplest forms. The body does not have to do any extra work. It takes very little time or effort for the body to digest a simple meal of fruit or fruit and greens.



Fruit is water rich — Fruit is full of water. Even dense fruits like bananas contain much more water than any cooked food. This leads to easy digestion and satiation, not to mention comfortable elimination. :)

Fruit is packed with vitamins and nutrients — The various vitamins and nutrients in fruits are necessary for adequate nutrition. For example, fruits are high in vitamin C, an essential vitamin for human health. It seems everyday a new scientific study is produced linking the consumption of fruits to healthy living.

Fruit is full of fiber — Fruit in its whole state provides lots of fiber. Fiber is necessary for digestion, satiation, and elimination. Unlike the fiber in complex carbohydrates, the fiber in fruit is mostly water-soluble. This means that it is easy-to-digest and does not harm the soft walls of our digestive tracts.

Fruit is appealing to everyone — Everyone loves fruit! No one can resist the beautiful colors and aromas of fruit. I bet you have noticed that whenever a fresh fruit tray is offered at family or friendly gatherings, people flock to it.



What about complex carbs?

You might be wondering why I have not mentioned complex carbohydrates like potatoes and grains. “Complex carbohydrate” means that the starch in these foods must be converted into sugar before it can be properly absorbed and assimilated by the body. Fruit is already in this easy-to-digest form.

In addition, complex carbs like wheat and potatoes are generally not appealing on their own. They must be processed in some way—either via cooking or sprouting—to be edible.

Finally, starches are high in anti-nutrients and tough insoluble fiber, both of which can bind to important minerals like calcium in your body and inhibit their absorption.

That said, these foods are still low in fat and calories generally pretty nutrient-dense. If you can’t/don’t want to eat enough fruit to meet your caloric needs, complex carbs are the next best thing.

How Much Fruit?

The amount of fruit actually required in the diet will vary from person to person. You should eat as much as you care for until you are full and this fullness should last until your next meal time (typically 3-5 hours).

If you find yourself hungry an hour after a meal, you did not eat enough fruit.

This means you will get to eat a substantial amount of fruit to meet your caloric needs. Let’s return to the banana. One medium banana has about 100 calories. To eat 2000 calories, you would get to eat 20 bananas.

Again, I say get to eat because it really is a pleasure to be able to eat as much as you want. By eating a diet that’s full of fruit, you will be getting the best nutrition and fueling



your body right.

Take a lesson from your primate cousins

I find it interesting that many people like to pick and choose what they want to take from nature. For instance, people eat raw because it’s “natural,” but then they create complicated “mock” pizzas and “raw” burgers. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think nature provided us with a pizza tree or a burger bush!

If you want nature to be your guide, look to your closely related primate friend the bonobo. These intriguing creatures are frugivorous, eating a diet of primarily fruit with smaller amounts of vegetable matter, nuts and seeds. While they do partake in animal consumption, this makes up a very small percentage of their diet.

Most of the other great apes eat a high-fruit diet as well. Mountainous gorrillas eat mostly leaves (folivorous), but prefer sugary fruits as well.



#2:Limit Fat Consumption

I’m sure many of you know the importance of limiting how much fat you eat. That’s the one thing that almost every diet program has in common! A new study is produced almost everyday pointing to the consequences of too much fat. The results cannot be ignored.

However, there is one group of eaters who like to scoff at these facts about fat. You guessed it, the raw foodists. Do you know how easy it is to consume 60% OR MORE of your calories from fat on a raw food diet? Your average unhealthy American eats between 30-40%!

This actually makes perfect sense. Let me explain.

Macronutrients Demystified

There are three macronutrients that provide our bodies with the calories we need: carbohydrates, protein, and fat. While it is thought that protein provides a lot of calories, this is unfounded. Many supposedly high-protein foods are actually high-fat foods. For instance, one ounce of pecans is only 5% protein, but 87% fat!

Did you know that the average American consumes only 16% of his or her calories from protein? On a diet of 2000 calories, that means only 320 calories come from protein.

We already established that the average raw foodist does not eat enough simple carbohydrates. That only leaves us with fat in the form of nuts, seeds, oils, and avocados. These are the foods that provide the calories in most raw diets.



How much protein do we actually need?

People are really confused when it comes to the amount of protein the human body actually needs. This is perfectly understandable. There is so much misinformation out there, even within the raw movement itself. It can be hard to sift through it all and uncover the truth.

Actually, all foods contain protein. Fruit on its own will provide you with 3-6% of your calories from protein. Add in a heaping helping of greens and you’re looking at 7-10%, which is perfectly adequate for the average moderately active adult.

Still not convinced? What about a human child? One would think that growing children need the most protein of all, right? However, human milk is only about 5% protein.

The Problem With Too Much FatMany raw foodists will argue that raw fats are much healthier than cooked fats and do not result in such problems as heart disease and atherosclerosis. In essence, you can eat as much avocado, nuts, and seeds as you want as long as they are raw.

Yes, it’s true that raw fats are much better than cooked fats. Once fats are cooked, they quickly go rancid and produce harmful carcinogens.

However, too much fat in any form produces a host of problems for the consumer.

Excess fat interferes with sugar metabolism — As discussed in Principle #1, fat takes a much longer time to digest than fruit. This excess fat keeps insulin from reaching the sugar, resulting in sugar metabolic disorders like hyperglycemia and candidiasis.



Excess fat interferes with transportation of oxygen — Too much fat in the bloodstream also interferes with the red blood cells’ ability to transport oxygen. A low oxygenated body is a perfect environment for cancer cells to thrive.

Excess fat is linked to various conditions — These include heart disease, atherosclerosis, breast cancer, prostate cancer, arthritis, and even depression.

How Much Fat?

Unlike sweet fruit, it is very easy to quantify how much fat we should eat: about 10% of total calories from fat. A little more or a little less than this is fine.

In practice, this means about 1 ounce of nuts/seeds or half of a Hass avocado. This amount may seem rather paltry, but remember that you will also be eating a great deal of delicious sweet fruit. You will hardly have room for anything else!

And if you feel the need to include more fatty raw food in your diet, it’s probably because you aren’t meeting your caloric needs. Simply increase your consumption of sweet fruit at meal times.



When to consume fatty foods

Because fat digests so slowly compared to fruit, I suggest eating fatty foods during your dinner meal. If you eat fat before a fruit meal, you will likely experience complications in your digestion.

The best way to do this is to begin dinner with a fruit meal and then continue with a vegetable salad, soup, etc. in which you can add some avocado, nuts or seeds. Just make sure to wait at least 30 minutes between your fruit and vegetable meal so that the fruit is fully digested before you consume any fat.

You also do not have to eat fatty foods every single day, although you can if you like. On just fruit alone, 3-5% of your calories will still come from fat.



#3:Don’t Neglect Your Greens

Vegetables, particularly green vegetables, are an important addition in a healthy raw vegan diet. Vegetables like spinach and romaine contain more minerals and high-quality protein than sweet fruits do. Did you know that romaine lettuce contains almost 25% protein and is a great source of iron, calcium, and sodium?

Adding vegetables into your diet also adds great variety. There are so many different types of greens, non-sweet fruits, and other tasty veggies available all year round.

All vegetables are not created equal

The best vegetables raw are tender leafy greens such as romaine and iceberg lettuce. These foods are easily digested by the body and, therefore, provide for great nutrient absorption and assimilation. A good variety can be found in most supermarkets, often organically grown as well. Or you can always grow your own!

Other vegetables such as broccoli and cauliflower are great as well, but are not quite as easy to digest raw. Blending, running through a food processor, and grating are some tasty ways to break up the cellulose in these foods.

Non-sweet fruits, what I like to call vegetable fruits, are also excellent. Botanically, these foods are fruits. Culinarily, they lack a lot of sweetness and have a higher mineral content similar to vegetables, though aren’t quite as mineral-rich.

Fruit First, Greens Second

While greens and vegetable fruits are very important in a healthy raw vegan diet, they do not provide much in the way of calories. One pound of romaine lettuce only provides 77 calories! And that’s quite a lot of lettuce.



This is one of the main reasons why sweet fruits will be your staple. They provide the nutrition and calories to meet your needs.

While it may seem a bit difficult to eat a meal of fruit, it will not stay this way forever. If you give it your all and really make the effort, you will find yourself eating pounds of fruit and enjoying it!

How Much Greens?I recommend about 1-2 pounds of greens per day. You can eat them in the form of a salad, on their own, in a green smoothie, or any way you like. Non-sweet fruits are great too, they just aren’t quite as high in minerals as spinach, red leaf, and other leafy greens.

Many people find it hard to eat this much vegetable matter in one sitting. An easy way to increase your vegetable consumption is to blend your greens into a smoothie with fruit.

Called “green smoothies,” these are very popular within the raw movement. And with good reason! Blending your greens does the chewing for you, making it much easier to increase your consumption. Not to mention the great combination of sweet fruit and refreshing greens!

See my 7-day menu plan for examples of some awesome green smoothies. :)



#4:Take a Well-Rounded Approach

Now that you have come to understand the basics of a healthy raw food diet, I want to throw in a very important concept that most people miss. It is this lack of understanding that can lead to fanaticism within many diet programs, especially the raw food movement.

Diet is Not the End-All, Be-AllWhile there’s no question that what you eat on a regular basis is extremely important to your overall health, food is not the only factor.

Here are a few of the lifestyle factors that have a direct influence on your well-being.

Adequate exercise

Adequate rest and sleep

Fresh air

Sunshine

Mental stimulation

Healthy relationships

There are many more, but these are the factors that people tend to miss. If I had to pick, I would say many people disregard sleep all together. This is a shame because even the best efforts put towards diet and exercise can be affected for the worse without enough sleep.

Never forget the power of a good night’s sleep!



Putting it All Together

Now that we’ve gone through the 4 principles of a healthy raw diet, let’s tie it all together into a simple diet plan.

Eat Enough Calories — Make sure to consume enough nutrient rich sweet fruit to meet your caloric needs so that you are completely satisfied between meal times.

Limit Fat Consumption — Limit fat consumption to around 1 ounce of nuts/seeds or half of a Hass avocado per day (based on a 2000-calorie diet).

Don’t Neglect Your Greens — Eat 1-2 pounds of mineral rich greens a day, along with non-sweet fruits like tomatoes, cucumber, and bell pepper and other raw veggies.

Take a Well-Rounded Approach — Being healthy is more than just diet. Clean air, exercise, sunshine and sleep are all necessary to experience optimal health.

7 Day Meal Plan

Here is a simple 7-day meal plan that will allow you to get started today. It is based on a 2000-calorie diet. As you will see, it is very easy to modify.

Day 1

Breakfast --- 12 large peaches (730 calories)

Lunch --- 7 medium bananas (730 calories)



Dinner --- Salad of 2 large heads of red leaf lettuce, 1 medium cucumber, and 5 medium oranges (480 calories)

Day 2

Breakfast --- Smoothie of 5 bananas, 1 pint of strawberries, and 1-2 cups of water (670 calories)

Lunch --- 7 medium bananas and 5 stalks of celery (760 calories)

Dinner --- Course 1) large cantaloupe, Course 2) Half a pound of tomatoes, half an avocado, squeeze of lime over a huge bed of greens (560 calories)

Day 3

Breakfast --- 5 mangoes (670 calories)

Lunch --- 2 pounds of grapes (630 calories)

Dinner --- Salad of 2 large heads of butter lettuce, 1 medium red bell pepper, and 8 medium grapefruits (700)

Day 4

Breakfast --- Fruit salad of 3 medium papaya, 3 medium oranges, and 3 medium kiwi (700 calories)



Lunch --- Smoothie of 5 mangoes, 4 oranges, 1-2 cups of water and 2 heads of romaine (960)

Dinner --- Course 1) 1 medium pineapple, Course 2) Soup of 4 medium tomatoes and a handful of basil (330 calories)

Day 5

Breakfast --- Half of one large watermelon (680 calories)

Lunch --- 2 pints of strawberries and 2 pounds of grapes (850 calories)

Dinner --- Salad of 4 medium kiwi, one fennel bulb, and 1 ounce of raw pistachio nuts (416 calories)

Day 6

Breakfast --- 12 deglect noor dates and 6 apples (700 calories)

Lunch --- 3 pints of wild blueberries (690 calories)

Dinner --- 2 medium zucchini sliced into “pasta” with sauce of 3 mangoes, 1 pint of cherry tomatoes and basil to taste (560 calories)

Day 7

Breakfast --- 1 pound of persimmons (580 calories)



Lunch --- Smoothie of 5 bananas, 1 pint of blueberries, and 1 bunch of spinach (790 calories)

Dinner --- Course 1) 2 pints of raspberries, Course 2) 12 medium stalks of celery with 2 tbsp of raw sesame tahini (567 calories)

This menu contains much more variety than what most people eat in a day, or even a week. I just wanted to show you what is possible. You will likely only use a few of these fruits during the week, depending upon what is in season and available in your area.

For instance, if it is autumn, you will probably be eating lots of grapes and persimmons. During the summer, melons, stone fruit, and berries are in season.

Of course, some fruits like bananas and papaya are available all year round. Bananas are known to be a staple in a high-fruit diet because they are calorically dense, easy to eat, and cheap.

I also tried to use fruit that is available in most grocery stores. Feel free to include more exotic fruits like cherimoya, rambutan, durian, and jackfruit. They are regarded as extremely delicious and add great variety throughout the year.

Counting CaloriesAt first, I recommend to keep track of your calories on a daily basis. This will ensure that you are eating enough sweet fruit and not overdoing it on fat.

The source I recommend for this is www.cronometer.com. It’s free and easy to get started.

Once you are more comfortable with this way of eating, you will no longer need to track what or how much you eat.



http://www.cronometer.com

http://www.cronometer.com

How many calories should I eat?

Typically, an active woman needs around 2000 calories while an active man needs around 2500 calories per day.

If you sign up with cronometer.com and fill out the personal data (height, weight, activity level, etc.), the site will generate a rough estimate of how many calories you need each day.

Remember, this figure is merely an estimate. You may find that you need more or less food to achieve and maintain a healthy weight.

Conclusion

I hope The 4 Principles of a Healthy Raw Diet has shown you how simple it really is to go raw. You can literally get started today by simply starting your next meal with as much fruit as you care to eat.

Now go eat some fruit! :DSwayze

Would you like to learn more about the whys and hows of eating a raw food diet, including how to meet your nutritional needs for nutrients like calcium, iron, and vitamin B12? Then be sure to check out my book The Science of Eating Raw at the link below:

www.scienceofraw.com



http://www.scienceofraw.com

http://www.scienceofraw.com

The 4 Principles of a Healthy Raw Diet

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