No matter what your reason for going vegan or vegetarian, it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that just because you’re almost or entirely plant-based; it must mean you’re eating super-healthy.
The science is clear: according to The Global Burden of Disease Study published in 2012 – which is the most comprehensive and systematic analysis of causes of death to date, involving nearly 500 researchers from more than 300 institutions in 50 countries, and based on almost 100,000 data sources – the number 1 cause on the list of top dietary risks responsible for some 4.9 million deaths a year worldwide is not eating enough fruit!
This study also includes many vegans and vegetarians who get sick from not eating enough fruit.
You see, this is part of the problem.
When people decide to become vegan or vegetarian to be healthier, and even the most health conscious, what do they do?
They replace animal-based foods, such as bacon and cheese breakfasts, with granola and vegan cheese, or vegan yoghurts. Just look at Instagram or Twitter feeds; they are flooded with images of processed vegan foods that people eat on a daily basis.
When it comes to lunch or dinner, it doesn’t get much healthier; vegan burger and fries, vegan sandwiches, pastas, tacos, burritos, pates, you name it. Lots of recipes with many vegan cheeses that are flooded with oils.
And when you tell these vegans and vegetarians that they don’t eat enough fruit, guess what a lot of them say? Fruit has too much sugar, they said, LOL, which is, sadly, a typical comment from someone who is severely unaware of the science of nutrition and doesn’t understand that the sugar in whole fruit, comes “naturally” pre-packed with phytonutrients; and its effects on our bodies are hugely beneficial; totally different from consuming “refined” sugars, which indeed are bad.
Worse still, many vegans and vegetarians are simply “fat addicts”, of which our society is sadly full, whether they like to admit it or not; and who constantly gorge themselves with highly seasoned and fatty junk food, and cannot stand the subtle flavours of simple fruit. One of the reasons is that fruit does not stimulate the senses the same way fatty foods do. I know a lot of people like that. I call them “fruit-phobes”.
Of course, these types of fruit-phobes do not only include vegans or vegetarians, people who follow the standard American or Western diet are probably much worse in terms of fruit consumption, but we are not talking about those people right now.
Of all natural foods, that is, the foods we can eat in their natural state, fruit is what we are most attracted to and that first entices our senses. Humans are born with a natural instinct for sweet foods, and in nature that instinct naturally attracts us to fruit – we are frugivores!
Fruits are a delight to the senses. Of all the foods available to us, fruits are the most appealing, delicious, and enjoyable.
In the minds of the masses, fruit is a “snack” or a “dessert”, but is rarely considered as the basis of our diet. They don’t realize that fruit should be a staple in the diet, and has been for thousands upon thousands of years, long before wheat and rice were cultivated and long before cheese and sandwiches were invented.
Many health-conscious vegans and vegetarians who visit my website think, “Well, I’m not interested in eating a 100% raw food diet, so your information is not relevant to me.” When in fact, it should be the opposite.
I always tell people: If you want to learn the healthiest, plant-based diet; you need to master the science behind the fruit-based, raw food diet with the ever the important “water-containing food” that our bodies desperately crave. In this way, you will avoid suffering from many diseases and, in many cases; you will be able to overcome them.
By learning the raw food, Natural Hygiene approach, you can choose what percentage of raw food you want to include in your diet. For example, if you don’t feel like eating 100% raw, you can simply eat fruit during the day and low-fat, oil-free, wholefood vegan meals for dinners; many people do this successfully.
I prefer to eat 100% raw because it is easier for me, but I began to get huge benefits from this diet from day 1, when I was only eating 50% raw (as a percentage of calories). The difference was: I was eating a lot of fruit the “correct way”, because just as important as it is to eat fruit; it is also important to learn the correct way to do so.
Take my mother’s case, for instance. In 2001, my mother was diagnosed with leukaemia. I will never forget the moment when my brother told me, while walking along a beach in Buenos Aires, that he thought my mother had only two years to live. I was devastated.
Following my raw food approach, my mother started eating fruit while reducing fat intake in her diet. 21 years later, she managed to beat cancer for good, and thank God, she is still with us.
Before changing her diet, my mother’s visits to the doctor always brought bad news; whether it was problems with her blood count, thyroid hormones, vision, or whatever. But since my mother started eating a lot of fruit, while adopting some basic food combining rules, as well as other natural health practices, the doctor’s visits have been good news ever since. In fact, her doctor always compliments her on how well she looks.
No disrespect to the other vegans, vegetarians, health educators, and other websites out there, but had I followed their advice and eat their version of a plant-based diet with lots of pasta, vegan cheeses, peanut butter, and the rest; instead of following a raw food diet and eating plenty of fresh fruit – the important high water content food; I doubt I would be writing this article, because I don’t think either I, or my mother, would be alive today.
How to make sure you eat enough fruit – and how to do it correctly; as well as how to make sure your diet includes plenty of high-water content foods, is so important; that I have devoted the entire first module of my Health For Life program to this topic.
To learn more about this, and many other life-saving natural health practices, check out the link below:
https://store.nutritionraw.com/healthforlife/
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