Well Prepared Dinner

I have been busy with uni presentations lately but using time management I have been able to take time off for meditation, relaxation and also getting proper healthy nutrition for my body.

This is a big combination salad I made tonight which will probably be able to give me 3-4 satisfying meals, keeping in mind that we only need to eat until half full but more regularly. I managed to get loads of organic fruits, vegetables and other products yesterday and am feeling very motivated to embark on this beautiful nutritious journey.

My salad consists of carrots, alfalfa sprouts(so easy to sprout by yourself!), salad leaves, spinach, apple, broccoli(steamed slightly), tomato, ginkgo leaves(from my garden), fresh lemon juice and shallots. I have also found this amazing cea spray which replaces salt but contains 84 different elements from the ocean. It is basically ocean water and has a p.H of 7.5 and is very concentrated in magnesium bicarbonate. I add the the lemon juice, cea spray and also a teaspoon of flaxseed oil into each meal freshly instead of into the big pot all at a time.

Intro - A little about da roar

 

I am going to embark on a Raw Food Diet, I have finally decided to try this healthy alternative of eating out after denying and putting it down many times when it called out to me- I used to be a very experimental person, though not in the most healthy way [drugs and alcohol to be precise] and now that I am nearly in my mid 20's I think it is time for me to start paying attention to my health

I have now been clean from drugs and alcohol for 2 years, and smoking for 6 monthsAlthough I have not been on the raw food diet formally, I have been replacing meat with healthier alternatives and occasionally incorporating raw food recipes into my daily meals
I also drink a lot of tea- mostly herbs that I have cultivated myself and I really do feel a great difference from 3 years back when I wasn't taking care of myself at all

So what is a better way to start this diet than to record and share it on a blog! Firstly I will be more motivated to be creative with my recipes and I can take glamorous pictures of it and post it up online, secondly I feel that I will be less inclined to desert this intelligent plan as it has more structure than being just a 'idea' [if that makes sense, so basically because it now takes on a physical form as a blog, I cannot just wipe it out of my mind]

There are many people out there, even my best friend as a pharmacist, who still insists that not eating meat causes us to miss a lot of nutrients we need in order to function properly- however there are many alternatives that are chemically proven to contain the same types, if not more, nutrients we require compared to meat, and especially the meat that we are being fed now as they are full of harmful substances

Here are some further scientific facts about eating raw that can motivate and prove that this is indeed a healthy way of living, whether you want to pursue it or not, I think it is worth a try- perhaps even a week of it and see if there's a difference- because I know I will stop if I end up feeling worse

Basically, raw food (sometimes called live or living food) is food that has not been cooked or exposed to temperatures over 118°F. At that temperature, the natural enzymes in food are completely destroyed. Enzymes are essential for all the chemical processes in your body, especially digestion. In addition, nutrients are chemicals, and when these chemicals are heated it causes chemical reactions – just like in your high school chemistry class - the higher the heat, the more volatile, or destructive, the chemical reactions.

Scores of unnatural chemical by-products with damaging effects on health are produced by cooking. For example, cooked carbohydrates can do much more than create weight problems. They can turn into a carcinogen called acrylamide, a chemical used to make plastics and dyes that has caused cancer in animals - the higher the cooking temperature, the greater the levels of acrylamide. Frying, one of the worst kinds of cooking, makes oils oxidize creating harmful ‘free radicals’ and increasing the risk of cancer, heart disease and premature aging. Ironically, frying also destroys the Vitamins A and E which we need to protect us from free radicals.

It wasn’t always like this. Fire was only discovered a relatively short time ago in archeological terms. Before that, there was no intentional cooking at all. Even today, of the millions of species of animals and insects on the Earth, only people intentionally eat cooked food. In fact, we’ve become dependent on cooked food – addicted to it! So much so that the very idea of living on a diet of raw, uncooked, live food may even seem preposterous! “What do you eat, rabbit food?” We’ve forgotten what real food tastes like, and not so coincidently, we’ve forgotten what it feels like to be completely alive and healthy. Today, we want food to be convenient, fast and taste good….even if the taste is artificially induced. This has become a lifestyle – and doing anything else requires a change in lifestyle. That means more than just more trips to the juice bar. It is a process that requires change at every level - mental, physical and emotional. Most of all, it is an educational process, one that requires commitment, compassion and patience -- for yourself.