4 Principles Healthy Raw Diet

The 4 Principles of a Healthy Raw Diet

How to End Your Confusion and Go Raw Today!

by Swayze Foster

www.fitonraw.com

http://www.fitonraw.com


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None of the recommendations or information contained in this publication should be considered medical or health advice. The publisher and distributors of this special report recommend that you consult a physician before making any dietary change or before implementing a new exercise program.

While every attempt has been made to verify the information provided in this special report, neither the author nor her affiliates/partners assume any responsibility for errors, inaccuracies or omissions. The responsibility for any consequences resulting from any suggestion or procedure described hereafter does not lie with the author, publisher or distributors of this book.

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Copyright © 2009 Fit On RawAll Rights Reserved.

Published by:Fit On Raw

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© Fit On Raw 2009, All Rights Reserved Page 2



About the AuthorSwayze Foster

Swayzeʼs interest in diet and fitness began early on in an attempt to release excess weight. After over 2 years of struggling with anemia, restless leg syndrome, and “those last 10 pounds,” she stumbled upon the raw food diet in late 2007. Swayze has been actively living and avidly promoting a low-fat, high-fruit raw vegan diet ever since.

In May 2007, Swayzeʼs love of animals convinced her to start her own successful pet sitting business. She currently has four beautiful raw-fed pets of her own, one 11-year-old Border collie and three adult domestic tabby cats.

Swayzeʼs formal studies include a focus on philosophy and anthropology at the University of Memphis.



To receive Swayze’s raw health and fitness newsletter Peachy Keen Ezine, as well as lots of practical information on going raw and being fit, go to:

www.fitonraw.com



Table of Contents

FEELING CONFUSED? 5

WHY RAW? 5BENEFITS OF RAW 6

#1:EAT ENOUGH CALORIES 8

THE TRUTH ABOUT FRUIT 8BENEFITS OF FRUIT 9HOW MUCH FRUIT? 11

#2:LIMIT FAT CONSUMPTION 13

MACRONUTRIENTS DEMYSTIFIED 13THE PROBLEM WITH TOO MUCH FAT 14HOW MUCH FAT? 15

#3:DON’T NEGLECT YOUR GREENS 17

FRUIT FIRST, GREENS SECOND 17HOW MUCH GREENS? 18

#4:TAKE A WELL-ROUNDED APPROACH 19

DIET IS NOT THE END-ALL, BE-ALL 19

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER 20

7 DAY MEAL PLAN 20COUNTING CALORIES 23CONCLUSION 24



Feeling Confused?

If you are reading this special report, it probably means that you are brand new to the raw food diet. Perhaps you encountered it somewhere on the web or heard about it from a friend. Regardless, I’m sure you are very excited and can’t wait to get started!

With that said, you might be a little confused about exactly how to get started. Okay maybe really confused! That’s completely understandable.

I remember when I first heard about a raw food diet. Not only did I have no clue as to what exactly to eat, it seemed that no one else in the raw food movement did either! There are so many raw philosophies and “gurus” out there that it can be overwhelming for any beginner.

Luckily, I found myself on the right raw path fairly quickly and I have been following it ever since. After reading The 4 Principles of a Healthy Raw Diet, you will be armed with the tools you need for raw success!

But first, let’s look at the basics.

Why Raw?

Why go raw in the first place? Is there really a difference between foods that are cooked and foods that are raw? Aren’t raw foodists just a bunch of crazy tree-huggers?

No, we are not all tree-huggers…but we are a bit crazy! ;)

On a more serious note, there is a huge difference between cooked and raw foods. Here are just a few ways in which raw foods excel:



Raw food is more nutritious –- Cooking food, whether you steam or fry it, removes much of the water from the food. Just look at the difference before and after a pound of spinach is cooked! This water is necessary for both hydration of the body and assimilation of many important nutrients by the body.

Raw food is not altered — Cooking food completely changes the chemical makeup of the food. For example, heating proteins fuses the basic amino acid chains together in a process called denaturing. The human body cannot dissolve these unnatural bonds and so the food becomes useless to the body, not to mention toxic. Also, cooking carbohydrates results in carmelization of the sugars and heated fats quickly become rancid.

Raw food contains fewer calories per bite --- A pound of bananas contains only 400 calories with 3% fat. Compare that to the same amount of broiled steak and you get a whopping 1251 calories, 64% of which is fat! And that’s with the excess fat trimmed off.

Raw food is much more satisfying – Because raw foods retain their water and fiber, they are higher in volume. On a healthy raw vegan diet, you can eat a very large amount of food and you will still lose weight!

Okay, so raw foods are inarguably better for us. But what about the effects of eating this way? What benefits can you expect from a raw food diet?

Benefits of Raw

Here are just some of the awesome results you can experience on a healthy raw vegan diet:

Improved digestion

Permanent weight loss

Increased energy

Better sleep



Great hair

Smooth, soft skin

Healthy teeth and gums

Mental clarity

And so much more!

So what are you waiting for? Let’s get started! :)



#1:Eat Enough Calories

The calories we eat on a day-to-day basis provide the fuel our bodies need to function. Without sufficient calories, we will not receive adequate fuel or nutrition.

Remember the comparison I made between a pound of bananas and a pound of steak? The steak contained over half the amount of calories as the bananas. This means good things for you. To meet your caloric needs, you get to eat substantially more calories on a raw diet than you do on a cooked diet.

I say that you get to eat more calories because I see this as a plus rather than a minus. I’m sure you do too! How many diet programs have you been on that have insisted on calorie restriction? Personally, I’ve been on far too many to count.

With that said, the average raw foodist has a problem with the calorie concept. Unlike most Americans, many raw foodists do not eat enough calories! This has all sorts of consequences, such as severe cravings, binges, unwelcome weight loss and overall fatigue.

Believe it or not, there is a simple explanation for why the average raw foodist does not eat enough.

The Truth about FruitThere are several myths circulating within the raw food movement regarding fruit. Some raw food leaders even advocate severely limiting or even eliminating nutritious sweet fruits such as bananas, peaches, mangoes, and oranges! As a result, many raw foodists do not eat enough fruit.

I find that for most people on cooked food diets, fruit is not an issue. We have all heard since childhood the importance of eating your fruits and veggies. While it might seem rather strange to eat a lot of fruit, most people are pretty open-minded. It is usually the



raw foodist that regularly shuns fruit.

To get to the bottom of this misguided fear, let’s take a look at the most common fruit myths.

Fruit is the cause of sugar metabolic disorders --- Many people, not just raw foodists, believe that disorders such as diabetes and Candida are directly related to fruit consumption. It is not fruit that causes these disorders, but an excess of fat. Too much fat in the bloodstream blocks insulin from the pancreas from reaching the sugar. The pancreas becomes fatigued from producing extra insulin and the blood-sugar level becomes elevated because the sugar cannot be transported out of the blood by the insulin.

Simple carbohydrates do not provide adequate nutrition --- The fallacy here simply lies in equating sugar with refined sugar. There is no question that processed junk foods like sugary cereals, donuts, and candy offer no nutritional value whatsoever. In fact, these foods do a lot of harm to our bodies. However, raw fruit is not part of this category. The simple sugars glucose and fructose found in fruit provide easy-to-access fuel for our bodies in their natural states.

You simply can’t eat a meal of fruit --- Oh, really? While it may be hard at first to eat an entire meal of fruit, it gets easier with time. In fact, eating a large fruit meal is extremely enjoyable…and completely guilt free!

Benefits of Fruit

Now that we’ve discussed some of the “problems” with fruit, I want to talk a little bit about the benefits of fruit.

Fruit is easy to digest --- Fruit is very easy to digest because the sugars in fruit are already in their simplest forms. The body does not have to do any extra work. It literally takes minutes for the body to digest a simple meal of fruit!

Fruit is water rich --- Fruit is full of water. Even dense fruits like bananas



contain much more water than any cooked food. This leads to easy digestion and satiation, not to mention comfortable elimination. :)

Fruit is packed with vitamins and nutrients --- The various vitamins and nutrients in fruits are necessary for adequate nutrition. For example, fruits are high in vitamin C, an essential vitamin for human health; we do not produce this vitamin like carnivores. Just about everyday a new scientific study is produced linking the consumption of fruits to healthy living. I’m sure you have heard of the connection between fruits like grapes and pomegranates and the antioxidants they contain. It’s the big “to-do” right now.

Fruit is full of fiber --- Fruit in its whole state provides lots of fiber. Fiber is necessary for digestion, satiation, and elimination. Unlike the fiber in complex carbohydrates, the fiber in fruit is water-soluble. This means that it is easy-to-digest and does not harm the soft walls of our digestive tracts.

Fruit is appealing to everyone --- Everyone loves fruit! No one can resist the beautiful colors and aromas of fruit. I bet you have noticed that whenever a fresh fruit tray is offered at family or friendly gatherings, people flock to it.



What about complex carbs?

You might be wondering why I have not mentioned complex carbohydrates like potatoes and grains. “Complex carbohydrate” means that the starch in these foods must be converted into sugar before it can be properly absorbed and assimilated by the body. Fruit is already in this easy-to-digest form.

Humans do not have the ability to fully digest grains like some birds do. That’s because we lack a little pocket in our throat called a “crop” that removes the tough outer shell from the grain. In addition, grains contain insoluble fiber, which is very tough and can actually leave little tears in our intestines!

Plus, who would want to eat a raw, starchy sweet potato or a handful of flavorless grains anyway?

How Much Fruit?

The amount of fruit actually required in the diet will vary from person to person. You should eat as much as you care for until you are full and this fullness should last until your next meal time (about 3-5 hours).

If you find yourself hungry an hour after a meal, you did not eat enough fruit.

For those of you who need direct guidelines, 80-90% of your daily consumption should come from sweet fruit. This actually closely mimics the dietary habits of our closest primate relatives.

This means you will get to eat a substantial amount of fruit to meet your caloric needs. Let’s return to the banana. One medium banana has about 100 calories. To eat 2000 calories, you would get to eat 20 bananas.



Again, I say get to eat because it really is a pleasure to be able to eat as much as you want. By eating a diet comprised of mostly fruit, you will be getting the best nutrition and fueling your body right.

Take a lesson from your primate cousins

I find it interesting that many people like to pick and choose what they want to take from nature. For instance, people eat raw because it’s natural, but then they create complicated “mock” pizzas and “raw” burgers. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think nature provided us with a pizza tree or a burger bush.

If you want nature to be your guide, look to your closely related primate friend the bonobo chimpanzee. These intriguing creatures are frugivorous, eating a diet of primarily fruit with small amounts of vegetable matter, nuts and seeds. While they do partake in animal consumption on occasion, this is only 1% or less of their diet.

All of the other great apes eat a high-fruit diet as well. The only exception is the mountainous gorilla, who does not have access to adequate fruit. When given the choice, even the gorilla prefers fruit over greens, bark, insects, etc.



#2:Limit Fat Consumption

I’m sure many of you know the importance of limiting how much fat you eat. That’s the one thing that almost every diet program has in common! A new study is produced almost everyday pointing to the consequences of too much fat. The results cannot be ignored.

However, there is one group of eaters who like to scoff at these facts about fat. You guessed it, the raw foodists. The average raw foodist eats 65% of his or her calories from fat! That’s more than the average American.

This actually makes perfect sense. Let me explain.

Macronutrients Demystified There are three macronutrients that provide our bodies with the calories we need: carbohydrates, protein, and fat. While it is thought that protein provides a lot of calories, this is unfounded. Many supposedly high-protein foods are actually high-fat foods. For instance, one ounce of pecans is only 5% protein, but 87% fat!

Did you know that the average American consumes only 16% of his or her calories from protein? On a diet of 2000 calories, that means only 320 calories come from protein.

We already established that the average raw foodist does not eat enough simple carbohydrates. That only leaves us with fat, in the form of nuts, seeds, oils, and avocados. These are the foods that provide the calories in most raw diets.



How much protein do we actually need?

People are really confused when it comes to the amount of protein the human body actually needs. This is perfectly understandable. There is so much misinformation out there, even within the raw movement itself. It can be hard to sift through it all and uncover the truth.

Actually, all foods contain protein. Fruit on its own will provide you with 3-6% of your calories from protein. The best way to get your protein is to eat a healthy raw vegan diet predominated by fruit, along with moderate amounts of vegetables and limited nuts and seeds.

Still not convinced? What about a human child? One would think that growing children need the most protein of all, right? However, human milk contains only 5-6% protein.

The Problem With Too Much FatMany raw foodists will argue that raw fats are much healthier than cooked fats and do not result in such problems as heart disease and atherosclerosis. In essence, you can eat as much avocado, nuts, and seeds as you want as long as they are raw.

Yes, it’s true that raw fats are much better than cooked fats. Cooked fatty foods have had the majority of the water removed and many necessary micronutrients along with that water. And let’s not forget all the nutrients that are destroyed by the heat alone.

Once fats are cooked, they quickly go rancid and produce harmful carcinogens. The more oxygen that these foods come into contact with, the more rancid they become and the more dangerous carcinogens they produce.

However, too much fat in any form produces a host of problems for the consumer.

Excess fat interferes with sugar metabolism --- As discussed in Principle #1,



fat takes a much longer time to digest than fruit. This excess fat keeps insulin from reaching the sugar, resulting in sugar metabolic disorders like Hypoglycemia and Candida.

Excess fat interferes with transportation of oxygen --- Too much fat in the bloodstream also interferes with the red blood cells’ ability to transport oxygen. A low oxygenated body is a perfect environment for cancer cells to thrive.

Excess fat is linked to various conditions --- These include heart disease, atherosclerosis, breast cancer, prostate cancer, arthritis, and even depression.

How Much Fat?

Unlike sweet fruit, it is very easy to quantify how much fat we should eat. No more than 10% of your daily calories should come from fat. Anymore than this and it means that you are not eating enough carbohydrates. Again, this is what we see with the other great apes.

In practice, this means 1-2 ounces of nuts/seeds or half to one medium-sized avocado. This amount may seem rather paltry, but remember that you will also be eating a great deal of delicious sweet fruit. You will hardly have room for anything else!

And if you feel the need to include more fatty raw food in your diet, you simply need to increase your consumption of sweet fruit at meal times.



When to consume fatty foods

Because fat digests so slowly compared to fruit, I suggest eating fatty foods during your dinner meal. If you eat fat before a fruit meal, you will experience complications in your digestion.

The best way to do this is to begin dinner with a fruit meal and then continue with a vegetable salad, soup, etc. in which you can add some avocado, nuts or seeds. Just make sure to wait at least 30 minutes between your fruit and vegetable meal so that the fruit is fully digested before you consume any fat.

You also do not have to eat fatty foods everyday. Personally, I have gone weeks without eating any fatty foods. You will not become deficient in essential fatty acids because these can be found in sweet fruits as well. On just fruit alone, 3-5% of your calories will still come from fat.



#3:Don’t Neglect Your Greens

Vegetable foods are an important addition in a healthy raw vegan diet. Vegetables like lettuce and zucchini contain more minerals and high-quality protein than sweet fruits do. Did you know that romaine lettuce contains almost 25% protein and is a great source of iron, calcium, and sodium?

Adding vegetables into your diet also adds great variety. There are so many different types of greens and non-sweet fruits available all year round.

All vegetables are not created equal

Cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli and cauliflower are acceptable once in a while, but should be limited as they are a little bit harder to digest.

The best vegetables are tender leafy greens such as romaine and iceberg lettuce. These foods are easily digested by the body and, therefore, provide for great nutrient absorption and assimilation. A good variety can be found in most supermarkets and organic is steadily becoming more available. You can even grow your own with very little effort!

Non-sweet fruits, what I like to call vegetable fruits, are also excellent. Botanically, these foods are fruits. Culinarily, they lack a lot of sweetness and have a higher mineral content similar to vegetables.

Fruit First, Greens Second

While greens and vegetable fruits are very important in a healthy raw vegan diet, they do not provide much in the way of calories. One pound of romaine lettuce only provides 77 calories! And that’s quite a lot of lettuce.

This is one of the main reasons why sweet fruits will be your staple. They provide the



nutrition and calories to meet your needs.

While it may seem a bit difficult to eat a meal of fruit, it will not stay this way forever. If you give it your all and really make the effort, you will find yourself eating pounds of fruit and enjoying it!

How Much Greens?

I recommend about 1-2 pounds of greens per day. You can eat them in the form of a salad, on their own, in a green smoothie, or any way you like. Non-sweet fruits are great too, they just aren’t quite as high in minerals as spinach, red leaf, and other leafy greens.

Many people find it hard to eat this much vegetable matter in one sitting. An easy way to increase your vegetable consumption is to blend your greens into a smoothie with fruit.

Called “green smoothies,” these are very popular within the raw movement. And with good reason! Blending your greens does the chewing for you, making it much easier to increase your consumption. Not to mention the great combination of sweet fruit and refreshing greens!

See my 7-day menu plan for examples of some awesome green smoothies. :)



#4:Take a Well-Rounded Approach

Now that you have come to understand the basics of a healthy raw food diet, I want to throw in a very important concept that most people miss. It is this lack of understanding that can lead to fanaticism within many diet programs, especially the raw food movement.

Diet is Not the End-All, Be-AllWhile it is no question that what you eat on a regular basis is extremely important to your overall health, food is not the only factor.

Here are a few of the lifestyle factors that have a direct influence on your well-being.

Adequate exercise

Adequate rest and sleep

Fresh air

Sunshine

Mental stimulation

Healthy relationships

There are many more, but these are the factors that people tend to miss. If I had to pick, I would say many people disregard sleep all together. This is a shame because even the best efforts put towards diet and exercise can be affected for the worse without enough sleep. Never forget the power of a good night’s sleep.



Putting it All Together

Now that we’ve gone through the 4 principles of a healthy raw diet, let’s tie it all together into a simple diet plan.

Eat Enough Calories — Make sure to consume enough nutrient rich sweet fruit to satisfy you, between 80-90% of your daily calories, so that you are completely satisfied between meal times.

Limit Fat Consumption — Limit fat consumption to 1-2 ounces of nuts/seeds or one half to one medium sized avocado per day (based on a 2000-calorie diet).

Don’t Neglect Your Greens --- Eat 1-2 pounds of mineral rich greens a day, along with non-sweet fruits like tomatoes, cucumber, and bell pepper.

Take a Well-Rounded Approach --- Being healthy is more than just diet. Clean air, exercise, sunshine and sleep are all necessary to experience optimal health.

7 Day Meal PlanHere is a simple 7-day meal plan that will allow you to get started today. It is based on a 2000-calorie diet. As you will see, it is very easy to modify.

Day 1

Breakfast --- 12 large peaches (730 calories)

Lunch --- 7 medium bananas (730 calories)



Dinner --- Salad of 2 heads of red leaf lettuce, 1 medium cucumber, and 5 medium oranges (480 calories)

Day 2

Breakfast --- Smoothie of 5 bananas, 1 pint of strawberries, and 1-2 cups of water (670 calories)

Lunch --- 7 medium bananas and 5 stalks of celery (760 calories)

Dinner --- Course 1) large cantaloupe, Course 2) Half a pound of tomatoes, half an avocado, squeeze of lime over a huge bed of greens (560 calories)

Day 3

Breakfast --- 5 mangoes (670 calories)

Lunch --- 2 pounds of grapes (630 calories)

Dinner --- Salad of 2 heads of butter lettuce, 1 medium red bell pepper, and 8 medium grapefruits (700)

Day 4

Breakfast --- Fruit salad of 3 medium papaya, 3 medium oranges, and 3 medium kiwi (700 calories)

Lunch --- Smoothie of 5 mangoes, 4 oranges, 1-2 cups of water and 10 romaine



leaves (960)

Dinner --- Course 1) 1 medium pineapple, Course 2) Soup of 4 medium tomatoes and a handful of basil (330 calories)

Day 5

Breakfast --- Half of one large watermelon (680 calories)

Lunch --- 2 pints of strawberries and 2 pounds of grapes (850 calories)

Dinner --- Salad of 4 medium kiwi, one fennel bulb, and 1 ounce of raw pistachio nuts (416 calories)

Day 6

Breakfast --- 12 deglect noor dates and 6 apples (700 calories)

Lunch --- 3 pints of wild blueberries (690 calories)

Dinner --- 2 medium zucchini sliced into “pasta” with sauce of 3 mangoes, 1 pint of cherry tomatoes and basil to taste (560 calories)

Day 7

Breakfast --- 1 pound of persimmons (580 calories)

Lunch --- Smoothie of 5 bananas, 1 pint of blueberries, and 1 bunch of spinach (790 calories)



Dinner --- Course 1) 2 pints of raspberries, Course 2) 12 medium stalks of celery with 2 tbsp of raw sesame tahini (567 calories)

This menu contains much more variety than what most people eat in a day, or even a week. I just wanted to show you what is possible. You will likely only use a few of these fruits during the week, depending upon what is in season and available in your area.

For instance, if it is autumn, you will probably be eating lots of grapes and persimmons. During the summer, melons, stone fruit, and berries are in season.

Of course, some fruits like bananas and papaya are available all year round. Bananas are known to be a staple in a high-fruit diet because they are calorically dense, easy to eat, and cheap.

I also tried to use fruit that is available in most grocery stores. Feel free to include more exotic fruits like cherimoya, rambutan, durian, and jackfruit. They are regarded as extremely delicious and add great variety throughout the year.

Counting Calories

At first, I recommend to keep track of your calories on a daily basis. This will ensure that you are eating enough sweet fruit and not overdoing it on fat.

The source I recommend for this is www.nutridiary.com. It’s free and easy to get started.

Once you are more comfortable with this way of eating, you will no longer need to track what or how much you eat.



http://www.nutridiary.com

http://www.nutridiary.com

How many calories should I eat?

Typically, an active woman needs at least 2000 calories while an active man needs at least 2500 calories per day.

If you sign up with nutridiary.com and fill out the personal data (height, weight, activity level, etc.), the site will generate a rough estimate of how many calories you need each day.

Remember, this figure is merely an estimate. You may find that you need more food to feel satisfied after meals or less food if you feel stuffed and uncomfortable after meals.

ConclusionI hope The 4 Principles of a Healthy Raw Diet has shown you how simple it really is to go raw. You can literally get started today by simply starting your next meal with as much fruit as you care to eat.

Now go eat some fruit! :D

Swayze

What are your thoughts on this report? Did you love it? Hate it? Have you already forgotten what you read? Please send your comments to [email protected] or stop by the Fit On Raw Blog and leave a comment: www.fitonraw.com/blog



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4 Principles Healthy Raw Diet