Thinking About Going Raw?
Discover the micronutrients your body needs to thrive, Tips for going raw, + My favorite raw vegan snacks
Disclaimer: I am not a 100% raw vegan. Instead, the majority of my diet comes from raw foods (around 80%), & the other 20% of my diet comes from cooked plant-based foods. With that being said, I strongly believe that we can ALL benefit from consuming a more raw + less processed diet, while also still incorporating our favorite cooked plant-based foods. You don’t have to go 100% fully raw in order to reap the benefits of a raw vegan diet, rather, just by incorporating more fresh + wholesome plant-based foods into your diet you are already increasing the amount of micronutrients & enzymes your body needs to thrive & survive.
Borough Market
Southwark, London, England.
WHAT IS A RAW VEGAN DIET & WHAT DOES IT CONSIST OF?
A raw food vegan diet consists of: Raw Vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, sprouts (grains and legumes), root vegetables + squashes, fresh herbs & spices, plenty of fermented foods, and seaweeds (such as spirulina). When following a raw diet/for any food to be considered raw, foods can never be heated beyond 115 degrees fahrenheit.
WHAT MAKES A RAW FOODS DIET SO NUTRITIOUS?
The lack of heat plays a huge roll in the nutrients from the foods in which your body is able to absorb. Once any food is heated above 115 degrees, its nutrient density decreases. Why is that? Well…..first we need to get a bit more scientific. Most all vitamins are water soluble (meaning they dissolve in water), and a large amount of these precious vitamins found in nutrient dense plant-foods, are lost in the high heat during cooking. The opposite is also true, when temps are kept low, all the vitamins & minerals are preserved. When you cook fresh vegetables at high heats, such as roasting sweet potatoes, you’re killing off all the living plant enzymes on that sweet potato. Your body needs those enzymes to support proper digestion and repopulate your good gut bacteria & promote a healthy microbiome. So when you eat or drink a raw food such as a green juice, your body will absorb all the living enzymes and nutrients very quickly, and your cells will gain a great energy kick for optimal health + functioning!
WHAT ARE ENZYMES & HOW DO THEY AFFECT DIGESTION?
Enzymes are protein molecules made by plant & animal cells, including three different categories; digestive, metabolic, and food-based. Enzymes are essentially what makes it possible for all the chemical reactions in your body to take place. Your digestion enzymes help your body break down the food you eat in your stomach + small intestine & quickly send it off to your bloodstream + cells as pure nourishment.
Food-based enzymes come from the food you eat and should be consumed everyday! If you’re eating processed foods, especially the ones loaded with sugar, then your body won’t be getting any enzymes. This will then cause your body to overcompensate to fully metabolize the processed foods/sugar, and will further restrict your body from making its OWN enzymes.
WHY GO RAW + THE BENEFITS OF AN 80/20 RAW VEGAN DIET
Are you looking for ways to improve your digestion? Consume more nutrients? Have more energy throughout the day? Or simply have a clearer + more glowy complexion? I’m sure almost anyone would say yes to all these questions, but not everyone knows that by eating a diet rich in raw plant-based foods will help you achieve all this!
NAKED espresso
Amsterdam
What a raw vegan diet could do for you:
Provide you with more absorbable enzymes + nutrients & alkaline-rich foods
Promotes proper & efficient digestion + increases energy levels
Increases energy levels (less digestion time=more energy)
Your digestion will improve by consuming more enzyme-rich foods, which will in turn help to feed your microbial friends (the good gut bacteria that help breakdown/digest food with less stress). When your body is using less stress and energy to digest food, you’ll have more energy to do all the things you love to do! When your digestion becomes smooth + efficient, your body will be able to absorb every last nutrient possible to fuel you through your day!
If you’re eating a diet consisting of processed, highly-cooked + non-nutritious fatty junk foods, loaded with sugar and preservatives, then your digestive system will go into overdrive and spend far more time metabolizing and digesting your food than it needs to. This will takeaway your needed energy throughout the day, leaving you feeling tired, cranky, a lack of motivation, brain fog, low energy, and will ultimately set you up for a less focused + productive day.
Consuming a high-raw/mostly raw vegan diet can also help increase your bodies alkalinity levels. A diet high in acidic foods (ex. coffee, processed food, refined sugar, gluten, conventional dairy products, & processed meat products, just to name a few), will inevitably decrease your body’s ability to absorb important minerals and other nutrients. These highly acidic foods will also decrease your energy levels & your bodies ability to repair damaged cells/tissue. If your body is too acidic, it will also be much harder for your body to take in oxygen to stay healthy + energized. However, if you’re consuming more alkaline-rich foods in your diet (ex. Loads of greens, raw vegetables & fruits, nuts & seeds, and spirulina, just to name a few), then your body will be able to properly deliver oxygen to its cells as needed.
Love taking Ginger shots to boost immunity while traveling
MY FAVORITE ALKALINE-RICH RAW FOODS:
Fruit: Avocados, blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, nectarines, papaya, watermelon, pineapple, and coconut water
Veg: Kale + spinach (and basically all other leafy greens), wheatgrass, broccoli, asparagus, garlic, & sweet potato
Nuts, seeds & spices: Ginger root, pumpkin seeds, parsley, sea salt
Seaweeds: Spirulina powder
Juice: Turmeric + Ginger shots
TOP MICRONUTRIENT SOURCES FOR RAW + non-raw VEGANS
Vitamin A- Bok Choy, broccoli, kale, pecans, pistachios, spinach, yellow + orange fruits & vegetables (such as apricots and squash)
Vitamin B- Avocados, bananas, leafy green vegetables, zucchini, pomegranate, seeds, sprouted whole grains
Vitamin C- Chard, broccoli, citrus fruits, edamame, kale, peppers, strawberries, cranberries
Vitamin D- The sun! Or take a vitamin D supplement from fall-spring
Vitamin E- Almonds, avocados, olives + olive oil, spirulina, black berries, pumpkin, nectarines, peaches, pine nuts, sprouted whole-grains, sunflower seeds, swiss chard
Iron- Beets, leafy green vegetables, quinoa, soybeans, spinach, swiss chard
Calcium- Almonds, bok choy, broccoli, kale, tahini
Magnesium- Legumes, leafy green vegetables, nuts, seeds, sprouted whole grains
Zinc- Pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds
Selenium- Brazil nuts, oats, sunflower seeds
Biotin- Almonds, cabbage, carrots, leafy green vegetables, onions, tomatoes
All the yummy raw foods
MY FAVORITE RAW FOOD SNACKS:
Weekly raw vegan meal-prep essentials (following the 80/20 raw ratio)
Smoothies
Raw flax-seed crackers with guac
Dried fruit + nut mix
Raw chocolate
Coconut water
Coconut yogurt + fruit
Fermented foods: Sauerkraut, pickled beets, tempeh, and kimchi with raw flax-seed crackers and raw hummus
Fresh fruit + veg
Raw sprouted nuts
Raw fruit + nut bars
Dried seaweed
Tea
MY FAVORITE RAW SUPERFOODS + POWDERS
Goji berries
Acai powder
Raw Cacao
Maca
Bee pollen (not vegan, but I have it occasionally on my smoothie bowls)
Spirulina
WHAT TO BUY ORGANICALLY Vs. What’s “clean:”
(according to the Environmental Working Group)
Dirty:
Apples, celery, sweet bell peppers, peaches, strawberries, nectarines, grapes, spinach, lettuce, cucumbers, blueberries, & potatoes. (Kale + green beans should also be bought organically).*
Clean:
Onions, sweet corn, pineapples, avocado, cabbage, sweet peas, asparagus, mangoes, eggplant, kiwi, cantaloupe, sweet potatoes, grapefruit, watermelon, & mushrooms.
EXPERIENCE THE RAW VEGAN DIET FOR YOURSELF
I challenge you to try going raw one-two times per week (just for fun), & see how it makes you feel! Start off slow and work your way up to an entire day of fully raw eating, it may even be easier than you expected!
I don’t advise going 100% raw all the time (without your doctor/naturopath or dietician’s permission), since there’s still loads of nutrients to gain from cooked foods. If however, you happen to find that your body feels really well nourished while consuming a raw diet, then let your doctor, naturopath or a dietician know, and they can further help you decide how many days a week (if all or any) you’re able to go fully raw. Best of luck on your raw vegan journey!
Xoxo Hanna
Sources:
“How Not To Die,” by Dr. Michael Greger
Environmental Working Group: www.ewg.org