The Raw Vegan Lifestyle

Hi, I am Holly and I have been living on Live Foods for about one year.

I first learnt about being raw when I started to question what I had been told
about foods I was eating. When my son born I had been living on "healthy" vegetatian cooked food. A major part of my diet was soy based products, some organic yoghurt on occasion, lots of cooked grains, nice organic breads and salads.

The problem was, I was lethargic, bloated, kinda moody, and seemed like i couldn't get enough food. I was constantly unsatisfied and would justify a bit of sugar here and there as well "I'm breastfeeding, I must need a bit of everything". Another symptom I noticed was a definate lack of clarity, I was exsisting almost all of the time just a bit insecure and a little confused.

I read "Take Control of your Health and Escape the Sickness Industry" by Elaine Hollingsworth and immediately quit eating soy, dairy, bread and sugar! I was amazed at how those four staples (five if you include humanity's fascination with meat and it's products), cut out of my diet a: immediately left me with pretty much one direction to turn to (going raw) b: cleared up my asthma to the degree I stopped taking preventative medicines and Ventolin. I havent touched medication in one year. That change alone changed my life.

My energy also changed, my eyes became clearer and my skin experienced a vast improvement. Going Raw heightens that too!

Elains book describes in the last chapter what you actually CAN eat after you have eliminated the soy, toxic dairy (cooked, pasteurised), breads, cooked grains, sugar, processed foods and meat. This led me to experiencing for the first time emphasis on live foods. I wasn't a stranger to salads, fruits, juices or sprouting but I had never had Raw at the forefront of my nutritional understanding.

I had always believed in Organics, and eating well, but I now understood why I was not getting the results I wanted from my body, mind and spirit, I was cooking my food. That was my Ahaaa moment. I then EASILY and with anticipation of the big change, went Raw Live Foods.

The thing I didn't know, and it feels like now that i wasn't even concious of it! was that cooked and processed foods are actually toxic to the bodys innate biology. Destroying the enzymes in fresh raw foods by cooking them will cause your body to secrete its own precious limited enzyme supply from the liver, pancreas and digestive system simply to assist the digestion and breakdown of foods that have simply become unrecognisable and almost unusable by the body. The nutrients in cooked food have been dramatically changed through heating and have a completely different and physically new structure, not recognised as life force food by the body and subsequently stored inside generally around the middle, hips, thighs as fat and in our precious organs.

We are not only what we eat, we are moreso what we assimilate, from what we eat.

So, what can I eat? You might be asking.

Eating a diet of fresh raw wholefoods, sprouted nuts, seeds and grains and the good fats for optimum health is definately recommended. This combination offers up virtually endless delicious choices, that no one day need be the same as the day before!

I like to look at this choice to only eat raw live wholefoods as abundance not limitation! I eat everyday knowing that i am giving myself super health in the long run. I eat every day with a fascination and creativity that is inspired by the whole and complete foods that are found in Nature.

Throughout the life of this blog I will touch on why I eat some of the things that I do and how you can too!

Number ONE is EAT ORGANIC! please!

The Agricultural Mega Buisiness is a totally unsustainable practice and if you really look into it, it is unsustainable not only for the land as the soil is toxic and spent, but it is also putting our own bodies on the line, every time.

Our fruits and veges if not Organic (some small farms are not organic and don't spray, that is a safer option as well) are sprayed with Herbacides, Pestacides and Fungucides. These sprays are made from dangerous petrochemicals, and no, farming does not scrimp on amounts fo chemicals used. Need I say more?

The average person eating a non organic diet is unaware they are putting up to a whopping 7 kg of chemicals into their bodies every year. This food/chemical intake also includes all of the processed non foods, chemical laden soft drinks, candy, medication, household cleaning products, dyes in clothing, toxic hair products and more used by the average person on a daily basis!

Where are those chemicals going? Can the body get rid of them if there is unrelenting processed, cooked foods entering the system day after day, year after year?

What I eat:

A wide variety of fresh organic fruits and veges. Seasonal too!
(organic farming tends to follow seasons alot closer)

I eat healthy plant fats. Currently I am eating Raw Organic Cold Pressed Coconut Oil*
(more on this at a later date) Cold Pressed Olive Oil, Hempseed Oil, Avocados, Raw Olives,
Soaked nuts, seeds.

Alot of Green Foods!

Spinach
Lettuce
Kale
Wheatgrass
BarleyGrass
Parsley
Herbs
Rocket
Beet Greens
Sprouts: Lentil, Alfalfa, Mung, Radish, Brocolli, Sunflower Seeds.

Sprouted Grains:
Buckwheat
Millet
Flax or Linseeds

Nut Mylks
Coconut, Coconut and Macadamia, Almond, Sunflower, Raw Tahini mylk

Cacao*
Goji's
Maca
Lacuma
Mesquite
Purple Corn
Raw Vanilla
Wildcrafted Raw Organic Agave*
Raw unfiltered Honey
BeePollen

E3Live*

The combinations of foods is truely endless and abundant. From where I was to how I feel now I am so pleased that I had the means, energy and willingness to make the switch from Vegetarian to Raw Live Foods!

I feel truely blessed to have my new found awareness that keeps growing and expanding, and to share it with you is so special for me. I say that because I was "normal" I had period pains, monthly, I felt a bit bloated constantly, always not quite on the ball, a bit achey, moody, unclear.

All of those things have changed and more and I want to share my journey as perhaps others who are feeling "normal" or just okay can try something new and reap so many rewards from that simple choice to make the switch from cooked to raw!