Experience raw food diet benefit after another with the raw food lifestyle. You’ll enjoy greater health and vitality, more energy and might even enjoy your life more, if thousands of successful raw vegans are to be believed. What’s more, in recent years, more and more scientific studies are being released in support of these testimonials.
Being a vegetarian I noticed some benefits, including more compassion for others but as my lifestyle did not change (I still ate large amounts of processed foods, smoked cigarettes and drank alcohol) I didn’t experience major health improvements.
As I transitioned to vegan, and gradually changed my lifestyle to support my diet, I noticed even more benefits, but nothing can compare to what I experience on a daily basis as a raw vegan. It’s a little like being in a whirlpool of joy, happiness, beauty and awareness.
Raw food diet benefit 1: Clear, soft skin
My skin is fantastic with the high-fruit, plant-based diet with minimal fat. I had bad skin both as a teenager and a young adult and since going vegan to raw, it’s gorgeous and has a healthy glow.
I do not use moisturizer anywhere on my body except my legs, which I have to due to shaving (apparently you can shave with almond or coconut oil instead of soap, which I’m keen to try). I also use handmade pure, natural oil-based soaps (most commercially-bought soaps contain animal fats).
Raw food diet benefit 2: Increased energy
Every successful raw foodist claims increased energy. I now actually want to get outdoors and run or bike, a marked change from my SAD lifestyle. I feel fantastic and best of all my energy is consistent throughout the day. Is this any surprise considering raw foods are alive? An apple is filled with life, its seed can be planted and can yield an apple tree. A steak is dead.
What’s more, I don’t need any stimulants (no caffeine, no energy drinks or bars) to get me going, it’s all powered by fruit and veggies.
However, it’s important to note, that carbohydrates are fuel for your bodies. If you’re cutting carbs to lose weight, you’ll be compromising your health and your energy levels.
Raw food diet benefit 3: Improved sense of smell and taste
This can sometimes work to my disadvantage, as body odours, unwashed hair, and other unpleasant smells can be horribly intense. However, gorgeous smells like flowers, certain plants and the earth after a rain storm become much more powerful, and you’ll gradually grow more aware of the wonderful smells around you.
Your sense of taste also becomes highly acute. I go crazy for the taste of a fresh, ripe tomato, I’ll scoop out an avocado from its skin without any need for salt and consider a mango to be the ultimate gastronomical heaven. On the raw food diet, your taste buds become alive, and you’ll enjoy the (once subtle) natural flavours of fresh, raw food.
Raw food diet benefit 4: Increased stamina and faster recovery time
I can exercise for much, much longer and never get out of breath. I’ve run a 21 km marathon without training whatsoever and not only completing it, but doing so without once suffering any kind of cardiovascular difficulty. For someone who suffered from exercise asthma her entire life, this is a major benefit!
Not only will you experience increased stamina, you’ll also discover your recovery time after intense physical exercise is much faster.
The reason for this is that fruits and vegetables are easily broken down, digested and assimilated by your body. This means that the energy conserved during digestion is surplus energy available for your body to use for working out and recovery.
What’s more, those on a raw food diet naturally increase their intake of alkaline-forming foods (leafy greens etc). Thus the body does not need to draw upon alkaline mineral reserves such as calcium and magnesium (which help the muscles relax).
Eating alkaline foods also results in the reduction of stored acid wastes in peripheral body tissues, assisting in healthy blood circulation through the capillaries to the muscle tissue, and thus improving the elimination of metabolic by-products produced during exercise.
Raw food diet benefit 5: Better sleep
I sleep deeply, waking up to pee about three times in the night. I wake up refreshed and get out of bed instantly, not groggy at all. How amazing! No more morning grumpiness.
Raw food diet benefit 6: Mental clarity
I think better. I feel like a veil of fog has been lifted from my brain, leaving me sharper, more able to focus. I am more disciplined and far more productive. Ideas flow like a river as opposed to the stagnant pond of a SAD (cooked) lifestyle. I’ve also noticed that my (long and short-term) memory gets better every day that I am raw.
I believe the reason that this occurs is that when you no longer poison your system with cooked food toxins, there is less repetitive damage to your body and mind. Resources are freed up to repair any issues in your physical and mental capabilities leaving you with enhanced mental clarity.
Raw food diet benefit 7: Happiness
My overall level of happiness increased dramatically since going raw. I am more even-tempered, more positive, and sometimes am overwhelmed by such feelings of joy that I want to dance in the street or hug strangers. It’s like the feeling you get when you’re really excited about something, a new love, a much-awaited vacation or an unexpected promotion.
These intense feelings of joy could be short periods lasting between one to three hours or sometimes even as long as half a day. Sometimes, I managed to maintain this euphoric feeling for an entire day or more. So if you want to feel happier in your life, try giving raw a try (note: I would encourage a 30 day trial to start as the first week you may experience detoxification symptoms).
Raw food diet benefit 8: Compassion
I feel more deeply. I feel this connection to everyone and everything and this burning desire to do something that makes a difference to the world. I can instantly put myself in anyone’s shoes and feel what it must be like to live their life. This empathy allows me to become a kinder, warmer and more loving person.
Raw food diet benefit 9: Elimination/digestion
I digest food so quickly and convert it to energy that it’s amazing. I used to have IBS. Now I have no issues with digestion or elimination. Ever.
As mentioned earlier, digestion and elimination of raw fruit and vegetables is faster because their molecular properties are less complex than SAD foods. Fruits and vegetables are just glucose, vitamins, minerals, and water.
Raw food diet benefit 10: Spiritual
I feel so much more inspired, so much more connected to my inner (and higher) self. I have become interested in all sorts of fascinating topics that I would have barely thought about earlier.
I know that my diet is the most natural, and compassionate one – it does not harm the environment, other humans or animals. I’ve also made profound changes in my life since going raw vegan, that I may not have had the courage to make before.
It’s definitely given me a whole new perspective on my purpose. I consider myself to be more open-minded, less judgmental of myself and others, and more aware of my ego and how it affects my life.
Raw food diet benefit 11: It’s green
The raw vegan diet has the lowest possible impact on the environment. By not cooking, you are reducing your overall energy needs. What’s more buying locally sourced raw ingredients reduces overall greenhouse gas emissions (no transportation of goods, no packaging or processing).
Ultimately, the ideal is to grow your own food in a permaculture system, where you have no waste whatsoever and therefore limited to no carbon footprint.
Raw food diet benefit 12: Zero personal odour
As a raw vegan (specifically 100% raw without any garlic, chilli, onion or cooked food), I have no body odour. My sweat has no smell. It’s like water, or morning dew!
And if having nice smelling breath is important to you, then look no further than the raw vegan diet. You’ll wake up with fresh smelling breath every morning, ready to enjoy the day.
Raw food diet benefit 13: Light menstruation
Even as a vegetarian I used to have bad PMS and a heavy period that lasted up to 10 days. I would also get a pre-menstrual migraine, like clockwork. As a vegan this improved but as a raw vegan it is a vast improvement.
I now get a day or two of PMS blues at the most, my period is light and lasts 2 days and I no longer get migraines.
In fact, in this article about raw foods and menstruation, Dr Dave Klein says:
“Detox entails (1) the cells off-loading metabolic wastes and environmental toxins into the bloodstream for filtering by the liver and kidneys for elimination and (2) the organs of elimination (bowels, kidneys, lungs, skin, vagina) releasing metabolic, environmental and residual food wastes via feces, urine, sweat, breath and menses.”
“I have heard that many women’s periods diminish, become lighter, and in some cases stop temporarily or for good on the 100% raw food diet. This suggests to me that the cleaner the diet, the cleaner the body and lesser the need for detoxification.”
Again, it’s important to ensure you’re getting enough calories! If you’re carb-deficient your menstrual flow may come to a stop, often seen in anorexics. If you’re going to go raw to experience all the benefits, make sure you do so properly and aim for 10g carbohydrates per kilogram of body weight.
Raw food diet benefit 14: Love of nature
I feel greater appreciation and love of nature than ever before. I observe nature in all its beauty more often, noticing things I would never have before. Like the perfection of a flower. Or the slow trail of a hermit crab. Or the beauty and uniqueness of each and every person.
I love watching the sun rise or go down, the feel of the ground beneath my feet when I run, the sound of waves crashing to the shore in an endless cycle of give and take. I love the amazing life under the ocean’s depths. Truly loving nature in every aspect, from the tiniest ant to the universe in its vast totality, has really changed my life.
Raw food diet benefit 15: Simplicity
I spend less time in the kitchen preparing raw food than I did preparing healthy, cooked vegan food. It’s really easy to make a mango-banana smoothie, or a quick and easy raw soup. No cooking means less mess, less fuss and less effort.
It’s important to note that any food you prepare at home is going to take more time than convenience food heated in the microwave. But hopefully you’re long past that!
Overall, there’s so many benefits to the raw food diet, benefits that need to be explored more fully by long-term scientific studies. Some people Ultimately, I believe that the only way to fully understand something is to try it.
So go ahead and give the raw vegan diet a 30-day trial, but be sure to first fully understand that you need to eat enough, drink and sleep enough as well as exercise to fully appreciate all these benefits. I highly recommend reading Dr. Douglas Grahams, the The 80/10/10 Diet
Going raw is the best thing have ever done.
The ideal way in which to spend one’s time is in the perfection of the expression of life, to lead the most evolved life possible, and to assist in and celebrate the existence of life forms other than humans.
– Bill Mollison (co-founder of permaculture)
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