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| Burdock salad with wasabe sprouts as a life force salad |
A lot of vegetarians
decided to pick up a vegetarian diet
to
pursue better health.
Hence, along the path
of their wellness pursuance,
it’s common to see vegetarians
following
the fad of raw diet.
Raw diet is a special diet which consumes
only foods which
are not treated with heat,
to avoid damaging the natural enzymes in the food
so
that the foods are easy to digest.
By wellness principles,
the ease of
digestion leads to better conservation of energy,
and in turn brings about
better skins, anti-aging effects.
This is one major reason raw diet is gaining
popularity.
Raw diet, just like a vegetarian diet,
requires basic
education, to plan safely and healthily.
A common mistake is that
many presume
raw diet is merely avoiding cooked food.
Therefore, many under-informed raw
foodists,
when avoiding heating their foods,
have inevitably fallen to the trap
of consuming mainly
fruits, leafy salads and smoothies only.
From the view of
nutrition,
although enzymes is highly valued,
raw diet may cause nutritional imbalance
due to the relatively limited food choices.
By Yin-Yang principles,
fruits and leafy vegetables are generally
inclined towards Yin properties.
If
one is to consume Yin food in large amount
for prolonged period,
the bodily
system balance will be upset and cause disorders.
Therefore, there are a few critical remarks,
raw foodists
must take note of:
（1） Not to be
selective with food, and to diversify food varieties:
Due to the fact that
most plants
generally contain toxins to different extent,
heat is often
recommended to degenerate the toxins.
Going raw hence inevitably attracts fewer
food options/varieties.
If a raw foodist, further becomes selective with food,
the
risk of nutritional imbalanced may be worsened.
（2） Emphasize
on germinated seeds and sprouts:
Among
the 6 plant parts (root, stem, leaf,
flower, fruit, seed),
seed has got the most comprehensive nutrition and
is
generally inclined towards Yang properties.
Hence, the proportion of seeds in a
raw diet
must be substantially high,
in order to secure comprehensive nutrition
and
Yin-Yang balance.
Although some seeds can be eaten raw,
they are still
somewhat toxic.
It is recommended to soak, germinate or sprout them
prior to
consumption.
Some examples are:
sprouted mung beans, soaked almond and
sunflower seed sprouts.
（3） Increase the intake of root vegetables:
If can be taken raw,
try to increase the
consumption of root vegetables;
because generally root vegetables contain more
minerals
which is relatively little in other plant parts like leaf, flower and
fruits.
Roots which can be eaten raw
include:
ginger, radish, carrot, beetroot, sengkuang, burdock, Huaishan etc.
（4） Take
fermented food more frequently:
Fermented foods are rich in Vitamin B
complex
which are relatively lacking in a raw diet.
The source of Vitamin B
complex is mainly cereal grains
which generally cannot be eaten raw;
hence
fermented food becomes a major source of Vit Bs for raw foodists.
Moreover,
fermentation reduces toxins in raw food,
rendering some raw ingredients safer to
be taken raw.
For examples: fermented soy bean paste, rejuvelac, saurkraut,
For beginners,
(i) it is generally not recommendable
to consume
large quantity of raw food,
because beginners have yet the matured skills and
in depth knowledge about raw food.
(ii) Should one decide to adopt a raw diet,
it is
advisable to take one raw meal per day only.
This is to reduce the risk of
nutritional imbalance.
(ii) Also, if possible avoid taking raw during breakfast,
as morning
is already lacking of Yang elements.
(iv) Furthermore, as both raw and cooked diets are
treated
differently in the digestive system,
it’s always recommended to keep both
raw
and cooked food eaten separately.
If both raw and cooked foods are constantly
mixed in meals,
the digestive tract may be compromised in long term.
(v) If
occasionally both raw and cooked foods have to be mixed,
ensure that there is
an obvious difference between raw and cooked portions.
In other words,
arrange
such that cooked food portion
is a few times more than raw food portion,
or
vice versa.
(e.g. 80% cook+20% raw or 20% cooked+80% raw)
This way the digestive tract is less confused.
Raw diet is profound.
Before hastily leaping into a raw
regime,
slow down and first get the foundation of vegetarian diet steadily built
up.
As to how to build a good foundation for vegetarian diet,
consider
consulting experienced vegetarians or attend a vegetarian nutrition course.
*More raw diet tips at Recipe eBook: http://tinyurl.com/SimpleVegetarian
{Learning Holistic Wellness for Wisdom and Compassion}
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