What to eat when you can’t find raw food (or don’t want to eat raw foods for any reason) is a hot topic within the raw food movement.
I know a few raw food teachers older than me that have been doing my job coaching people on a raw diet for many years that would not give a straight answer to this question.
I can understand their approach. They realised (just like I did) that a raw food diet is the optimal diet of humans – as it is for the rest of animals; and they are not willing to give themselves the option of “recommending” eating any alternative cooked food to people.
I have to admit that even though some of these teachers are role models for me, their “extreme” attitude on not recommending any cooked food was simple “not helpful” for me at the time when I was trying to change my diet to raw foods.
Why? Because I believe it’s impossible to change your diet from cooked to raw overnight and maintain it indefinitely.
If you are serious about your health and want to learn positive eating habits that will last you a lifetime, Its best to implement healthier habits gradually in my opinion.
For this reason, my approach is totally different.
I do recommend eating cooked foods as transition foods to a raw food diet. Why?
Because I believe by the time people see the massive improvements in their health as a result of my approach they will be more inclined to eat more raw foods and less cooked foods. Simple as that!
Let me give you an example:
One of my readers sent me an email the other day saying that she is a truck driver and it’s very difficult for her to get available raw foods at truck stops.
She is probably right. What am I gonna say to her? Don’t eat anything if you can’t find raw food? Of course I have to recommend for her other eating options because I believe my job is to guide people towards healthy eating and choosing the best options in the best circumstances.
Yes, you can take ripe bananas with you whenever you go but even that option is limited.
In most cases I believe the problem is not so much that we cannot find raw food, but the fact we have been “wired” to wrongly eat cooked food since childhood. It’s just a bad habit and it’s hard to break.
On top of that, our world has been re-designed for cooked food consumption mostly.
Let me also add that our current world is also designed for sickness. There are sick people everywhere if you look around and we have streets full of hospitals, junk foods restaurants, pharmacies and so on…
If people would stop consuming dairy products alone, 80% of hospital beds would be empty.
So keeping all the above in mind, what cooked food do I recommend eating?
Here it goes, this simple 2 step frame of mind approach worked well for me and for the many people I’ve coached over the years and I believe it will work just as well for you:
1- Think vegan
This is an easy one. You can find vegan foods pretty much everywhere. Just avoid consuming animal products and you’ll be much better nourished by doing so.
2- Choose wholefoods
If you eat cooked foods (or even raw food for that matter) always choose eating the less processed foods available; as the more processing the food goes through, the less nutritional value it has.
Less processed food also means “less fat” in most cases.
For instance, eating baked potatoes is healthier than eating French fries or pasta.
Eating steamed vegetables is healthier than eating vegetable lasagne and so on…
If you are addicted to grains, just like a lot of people in the world are, eating wholemeal bread is going to be healthier than eating white bread.
You should also avoid adding mayonnaise, fry sauce and other processed condiments to the food, whether these products are vegan or not.
Don’t underestimate the effect on your health of taking these two important steps. They will do wonders to your wellbeing.
If you’d like to know more in detail what healthy cook food you could be eating every day to make the transition to a raw diet successful , I spent a great deal time designing the Health For Life Menu Planner, which specifically addresses this issue.
The 31-page eBook menu planner contains full recipes of cooked and raw foods so you can easily create meals for yourself or others, and track nutritional information per meal.
I believe it’s the only menu planner available in the entire raw food movement that shows you how to make the exact transition from eating cooked to raw and make it work overtime.
Eat Better, Feel Better
Looking for easy ways to boost the nutrition power of your meals? Check out the real-world-tested recipes in The Raw Dinner Recipes eBook.
You can get it right now – for FREE! – by clicking the banner below.
