Seven Common Mistakes that Occur on Raw Foods
- by Victoria Boutenko of www.RawFamily.com
- We're getting lots of email about the subject this article addresses. Originally published May 28th, 2005 in chiDiet.com/news/.
1. Many raw fooders do not eat enough greens. Solution: Regularly consume energy soup or green smoothies to guarantee the proper amount of greens.
2. Many raw fooders do not consume enough fiber, soluble and insoluble. Solution: Drink more smoothies or energy soups instead of juices.
3. People on a raw food diet often consume too many fats. When they try to imitate cooked dishes they substitute starches with nuts. Solution: Use nut pulp left over from making nut mylks, use more seeds and less nuts, and use more fruit and vegetable pulp from juices in your mixtures, to minimize the consumption of nuts.
4. Raw fooders commonly try to become too perfect too fast. They don't give their bodies a chance to adjust to such a radical dietary change. Solution: Gradually adjust and purify your own individual diet to help you ease into the healthiest diet for you.
5. When people change their diets they usually decide the other components that make up health are no longer important, such as sunbathing, exercising, proper rest, fresh air, etc. Solution: Practice a well-rounded, healthy lifestyle.
6. People on the raw living foods diet often over-indulge in some particular foods and neglect the variety of other fruits and vegetables. Solution: Eat foods in reasonable quantities.
7. The biggest mistake raw fooders make is that they listen to the raw food authorities and don't trust the invaluable messages their own bodies communicate. Solution: Keep a diary of your daily food consumption and how it affects your well-being. (See "Keeping a Food Diary" at chiDiet.com/news/01102005.htm.)
These notes are from Victoria's lecture at Creative Health Institute last spring. For videotape of the event visit chidiet.com/tapes.htm#v47.
[Editor's note: Item #6 is the most common problem I hear about. Most raw fooders, especially newbies, don't eat enough variety, and either get bored with the diet, or physically out of balance. Variety, variety, variety. There's not a leafy green in the produce department that I don't eat at least a bit of during the week. - Jim Carey.]
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