100% Raw-Food should be our ultimate goal, achieving a 80/20 rule would improve your health beyond your wildest dreams. Yes - that's right - 80% RAW and only 20% cooked. It is not easy to simply abandon thousands of years of tradition and revert back to eating raw veggies and fruit. Margaret Mead once said, "It is often easier to change a man's religion than to change his diet." Cooked food is DEAD food. Cooking veggies and fruit produces chemical changes, and also kills the digestive enzymes within the food that would normally help your body digest that food. The 20% cooked is not to include processed or refined foods high in carbohydrates.

Raw foods are better, providing the nutrition your body needs and is craving, therefore you eat less to satisfy your nutritional needs. As your percentage of raw foods increases you feel satisfied and have more energy on smaller meals because raw food has the best balance of water, nutrients, and fibre to meet your body's needs. They also have more flavour than cooked foods, so there is no need to add sugar, spices, salt, or condiments that can irritate your digestion system or over-stimulate other organs. Eating 80% raw can help reverse or stop the advance of many chronic diseases and helps protect you from acute diseases such as colds, flu, measles, etc. Actually eating raw veggies, fruit, nuts and seeds saves you money on food, vitamins, pots & pans, appliances, and even drugs. Clean-up after a raw meal is a snap!!

We are conditioned to do the most popular thing, not necessarily the most sensible thing, and often lose the difference between a desire and a need. We don't need cooked food. Canned food does well at 'lasting' because it is cooked to death. Scientists have proven that when you subject any living thing to heat greater than 115 degrees (including microwaving, pasteurization, and canning), its nourishing enzymes die-which means the majority of its essential nutrients are dead, or greatly diminished, when you eat them. Microwaving dramatically alters the molecular structure and thus the nutritional value of the food, besides destroying enzymes (also can transform nutrients into toxic substances, and causes leakage of toxic chemicals from packaging).

Enzymes are needed to initiate metabolism throughout the body, they are the 'workers' that build your body. If you have all the nutrients, but aren't able to break them down for assimilation, the food doesn't work for you. Enzymes are the key in exposing Amino acids to the Peptide-Polypeptide conversion, leading to proper digestion.

Eating under this living-food guideline of 80% raw works towards achieving optimal health, with a renewed sense of energy, vitality, and healing from disease-and it has the lowest ecological footprint of any dietary lifestyle. Healing happens faster for a person Anti Aging Medical Clinic, CA) No two people are in the same place at the same time, so what might work for one person might not work for another "at this time". As long as we keep cleaning our body/mind/soul we are working towards health and happiness.

Fresh and raw fruit and vegetables are brimming with life-force for their seed to give birth to new trees, plants, and have the ability to transmit this life directly to you. Everyone knows that fresh fruits and veggies are nutritious. Additionally, they allow the body to release toxins, improve skin, energy, and give the feeling of satiety without tiredness. Add herbs, spices, nuts, seeds, sprouted foods, and there is a lot of variety to work with. Cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower and brussel sprouts may be slightly steamed to inactivate thyroid inhibitors. (The EC) We will include the suggested new food pyramid and a recipe at the end of this article.

Plant enzymes are not 'true' catalysts' as, although they are the initiator of your systems' processes, they are used up and destroyed in the process of doing their jobs, lasting from 20 minutes to a few weeks and doing the same work many times before wearing out. Let's use the example of a construction site. The contractor on that site ensures all sub-trades are each doing the job they are supposed to be doing. Likewise the enzymes, as the contractor, ensure that the nutrients, vitamins, minerals, amino acids, the sub-trades, are doing their jobs.

Raw food has ultimate pure flavour, millions of textures, and beautiful effects on us and on our environment-Avena are not 'into' wilted lettuce and bland carrots either; instead the vibrant flavours and miraculous nutrition of raw plant life. Human beings have always eaten what is easiest to obtain, and eating what nature has provided should not be intimidating. Preparing raw meals is remarkably simple and takes less time than cooking! Food safety? Always wash your hands and equipment before food preparation and rinse fruits and vegetables in Celtic Sea Salt water. Accumulation is a basic principle of life (illustrated by the accumulating effect of smoking). When eating raw you do not have to be concerned about food preservatives, colourings, preservatives, dryers, extenders, and artificial flavourings. The more knowledge you gather as to what foods are best for the body, the less fear you'll suffer in the face of commonly held false pronouncements about diet and health.

One of the primary signals of enzyme deficiency due to cooking food is a condition called digestive leukocytosis. Leukocytosis simply means that there is an increase in the number of white blood cells circulating in the blood (enzymes are carried on white blood cells), a sign that the immune system is mobilizing-which accompanies many adverse conditions, including infections and food poisoning. Continuous mobilization of your immune system will eventually weaken it. Digestive leukocytosis occurs about 30 minutes after eating cooked or processed foods, whereas raw organic foods produce no increase in white blood cell count.

Chocolate Halvah
by Yemiah

Serves: 2 - 4

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups walnuts or almonds or mixture of both (soaked and dehydrated)
1/2 cup raw tahini
3 Tbsp. raw honey
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 Tbsp. raw carob powder
1 cup raw chocolate-cacao nibs (nibs soaked overnight, water drained)
1 tsp. Himalayan salt

Place all ingredients into a food processor except for Chocolate Nibs. Process until creamy smooth. Transfer mixture from food processor to bowl. Fold in Chocolate Nibs by hand. Place mixture onto large plate and form into a cake shape. Enjoy! (Store covered in refrigerator.)

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