It's been said that stars and celebrities are flocking to the raw food diet in the same way as they once shifted to Kabala. Well, they're not the only ones. More and more, people are seeing the value of a diet rich in good, wholesome foods, low in meat, and one that avoids processed foods. Some people claim it's a curative for almost everything that ails you, it improves your appearance, and it extends your life expectancy. Now, some people hear: raw diet, and they immediately think rabbit food.



They think they're going to be eating sprouts and carrots, peas and rice, and broccoli and nothing more. Or they expect to have to squeeze mango juice or kiwi pulp, or some other exotic fruits and vegetables; all of which may be quite expensive. True, a raw food diet is essentially a vegetarian or vegan diet, but that doesn't mean it can't be tasty and it doesn't have to be made of up foods you don't know and love. Advocates of the raw food diet sat it will prolong you life expectancy, clear and improve your skin, decrease the risk of you getting strokes, heart disease or diabetes; give you more energy and allow you to control your weight in a natural manner so that you don't have to count calories and monitor the grams of fat in your daily diet.

You might think this is all too good to be true, but it's been shown that many of the chemicals and preservative in processed foods cause a host of problems for people. Food allergies can lead to rashes, stomach and gastrointestinal troubles, even anaphylactic shock! Many people are lactose intolerant or have a gluten allergy. Eliminating these from your diet is far better than spending your life taking medications. For some people, the idea of a raw food diet summons up images of eating like some sort of prehistoric being. Yes, as stated above, a raw food diet is vegetarian. So, that means eating a variety of fruit and vegetables, nuts and seeds, whole grains, unpasteurized dairy products and freshly squeezed fruit and vegetable juices.

Now, if you have a gluten allergy, you can substitute whole rice for the grains; it's an excellent, healthy food. While you may look at that list and see it as rather limited, there is plenty of variety available to you. As with any foods, some are easy to prepare, and others take some time and planning. So, something like the dish listed below, vegetables topped with raw vegetable sauce, is a fine example: Cut up some zucchini into strips. Then, use your food processor to blend 1lb fresh tomatoes, half a cup of chopped white onion, some basil (vary it depending on your personal preference), a clove of garlic (minced), some chopped and seeded red peppers, and a couple teaspoons of dried herbs.

Once they are all blended together, pour this sauce over the zucchini strips, and start eating. It's a tasty and healthy meal. Now, that's just one recipe. Let's look at what you could expect for a typical day. First, for breakfast, have some raw fruit juice or whole fruit and have all you want. The fiber and natural sugars will keep your energy levels up, and help keep your “pipes” clean. You body will process this quickly; so long about mid–morning, you'll need a little boost. The same is true in the afternoon. Have a snack of a handful of nuts or some avocado. For lunch, a salad made up primarily of salad greens; add to it some vegetables like cucumber or red peppers.

Now, many people make the mistake of putting a lot of heavy dressing on a salad. Instead, go with some fresh lemon juice or maybe just oil and vinegar. Finally, for dinner, go with a nice spinach salad with some almonds, and one to two avocados. Again, no processed dressing; go with orange juice. Then wash this all down with some fruit or vegetable juice which has been freshly squeezed. To improve your health, boost your energy levels, and maybe increase your life expectancy, give the raw food diet a try. Now, this is but one example of a daily menu. Don't think you have to stick with it. The point is, you can see that a raw food diet is easy to make delicious.