In short, yes. No doubt. But there are some things to know about a raw
food diet for weight loss that can make or break its success.
Not all raw foods are ideal for weight loss. If you are going to chose any food to lose weight, you want to chose alkaline foods and foods that are very high in moisture content. These are actually practically the same list of foods.
There are clients I have had that said, “Oh I tried that raw food diet for weight loss and it didn’t work.”
When I looked what there were eating before the raw food diet for weight loss and during it, they chose raw foods with the highest sugar content! This totally defeats the purpose of choosing raw foods weight loss. They also chose the most dry raw foods.
It turned out they were consuming more sugar on the raw food diet than before it. Their insulin levels were shooting through the roof. Also, they were consuming dehydrated foods. Dried fruits and bars. When a fresh, raw food is dehydrated, it becomes a starch. A starch is a dense carbohydrate with low moisture.
So two rules for doing a raw food diet for weight loss - chose high moisture content foods or chose alkaline forming foods. I have these lists on my website if you can’t find them
The second rule for a raw food diet for weight loss is to chose foods that are low in sugar.
How do you know if it is low in sugar? I tell people half jokingly that if it is sweet, then it has sugar. This can be a bit of a revelation to some.
The other problems people have is that they get overwhelmed and never start. There are two parts to this. One, people get overwhelmed with cravings for the foods they used to eat. The other is the overwhelm from the time and work needed to do a raw foods diet for weight loss.
Let me see if I can help with the first one. When a person goes to a raw food diet, especially, when they do not transition and go cold turkey, they WILL go through withdrawals. People have no idea how many chemicals are in the cooked and prepared foods we eat.
These chemicals are highly addictive and toxic. Some examples of these are Heterocyclic Amines that are created when food is cooked. This has proven to be chemically addictive as well as toxic. Another is Beta-Carbolines. Beta carbolines are another set of chemicals that are created within food when it is cooked. Both of these chemicals affect how your neurotransmitters such as serotonin are produced and eliminated from your body.
Processed foods are also sprayed with fragrances to make it taste like the food you are eating. When food is processed, all the nutrients are stripped. So the taste and flavor is stripped from it. The IFF (Institute of Flavors and Fragrances) is one of a handful of companies that produces these “fragrances” and “flavors.” Not many people know that most of what we consider the sense of taste is actually the sense of smell. We lose most of our sense of taste when we cannot smell. Long story short, these chemicals are also toxic and addictive.
There will be a transition your body will go through when going on a raw food diet for weight loss, and you should expect it. Detoxing will take place one way or another. It is just a matter of how drastic the experience will be. The more you are educated the less you are surprised and the more you will be able to control things.
The other reason of overwhelm is the amount of time and work it turned out to be. Preparing fresh fruits and vegetables took time. Then finding them wilted in the fridge was frustrating. Also going to work and having to pack your raw foods was also a huge hassle.
Some end up buying prepackaged salads to solve this problem but then this is expensive.
Here is a suggestion that has worked for clients getting starting a raw food diet for weight loss. First, get educated and keep reading about raw foods. There is a lot more information now than there was before on the effects of raw foods. The more you know the more you understand what is going on.
The other suggestion is to transition with their raw food diet for weight loss. With my weight loss clients I first make sure they eat on a schedule. This is always going to be a first step. By scheduling the meals they prevent hunger and start that simple level of control over their eating. Then I start having then add a salad to one meal. Then two. Then three. Then I start having them make the salad the main course and the rest of the meal the accompaniment. Sooner or later, it breaks through and the client has begun to develop new habits.
By transitioning to a raw food diet for weight loss this way, their body detoxes at a slower pace so it was not so taxing for them.
The point was that they took it one step at a time and kept building. A raw food diet for weight loss does not have to be a mystery.
I hope this has been helpful to you and given you some avenues to transition to a healthier and life giving diet.
Not all raw foods are ideal for weight loss. If you are going to chose any food to lose weight, you want to chose alkaline foods and foods that are very high in moisture content. These are actually practically the same list of foods.
There are clients I have had that said, “Oh I tried that raw food diet for weight loss and it didn’t work.”
When I looked what there were eating before the raw food diet for weight loss and during it, they chose raw foods with the highest sugar content! This totally defeats the purpose of choosing raw foods weight loss. They also chose the most dry raw foods.
It turned out they were consuming more sugar on the raw food diet than before it. Their insulin levels were shooting through the roof. Also, they were consuming dehydrated foods. Dried fruits and bars. When a fresh, raw food is dehydrated, it becomes a starch. A starch is a dense carbohydrate with low moisture.
So two rules for doing a raw food diet for weight loss - chose high moisture content foods or chose alkaline forming foods. I have these lists on my website if you can’t find them
The second rule for a raw food diet for weight loss is to chose foods that are low in sugar.
How do you know if it is low in sugar? I tell people half jokingly that if it is sweet, then it has sugar. This can be a bit of a revelation to some.
The other problems people have is that they get overwhelmed and never start. There are two parts to this. One, people get overwhelmed with cravings for the foods they used to eat. The other is the overwhelm from the time and work needed to do a raw foods diet for weight loss.
Let me see if I can help with the first one. When a person goes to a raw food diet, especially, when they do not transition and go cold turkey, they WILL go through withdrawals. People have no idea how many chemicals are in the cooked and prepared foods we eat.
These chemicals are highly addictive and toxic. Some examples of these are Heterocyclic Amines that are created when food is cooked. This has proven to be chemically addictive as well as toxic. Another is Beta-Carbolines. Beta carbolines are another set of chemicals that are created within food when it is cooked. Both of these chemicals affect how your neurotransmitters such as serotonin are produced and eliminated from your body.
Processed foods are also sprayed with fragrances to make it taste like the food you are eating. When food is processed, all the nutrients are stripped. So the taste and flavor is stripped from it. The IFF (Institute of Flavors and Fragrances) is one of a handful of companies that produces these “fragrances” and “flavors.” Not many people know that most of what we consider the sense of taste is actually the sense of smell. We lose most of our sense of taste when we cannot smell. Long story short, these chemicals are also toxic and addictive.
There will be a transition your body will go through when going on a raw food diet for weight loss, and you should expect it. Detoxing will take place one way or another. It is just a matter of how drastic the experience will be. The more you are educated the less you are surprised and the more you will be able to control things.
The other reason of overwhelm is the amount of time and work it turned out to be. Preparing fresh fruits and vegetables took time. Then finding them wilted in the fridge was frustrating. Also going to work and having to pack your raw foods was also a huge hassle.
Some end up buying prepackaged salads to solve this problem but then this is expensive.
Here is a suggestion that has worked for clients getting starting a raw food diet for weight loss. First, get educated and keep reading about raw foods. There is a lot more information now than there was before on the effects of raw foods. The more you know the more you understand what is going on.
The other suggestion is to transition with their raw food diet for weight loss. With my weight loss clients I first make sure they eat on a schedule. This is always going to be a first step. By scheduling the meals they prevent hunger and start that simple level of control over their eating. Then I start having then add a salad to one meal. Then two. Then three. Then I start having them make the salad the main course and the rest of the meal the accompaniment. Sooner or later, it breaks through and the client has begun to develop new habits.
By transitioning to a raw food diet for weight loss this way, their body detoxes at a slower pace so it was not so taxing for them.
The point was that they took it one step at a time and kept building. A raw food diet for weight loss does not have to be a mystery.
I hope this has been helpful to you and given you some avenues to transition to a healthier and life giving diet.