Raw Food Diet Tips

The raw food diet is a popular way to lose weight. You may not realize it, but you're probably already using this diet plan.

Anytime people go on a diet they tend to eat more raw fruits and vegetables. They eat more salads, more grapefruit, more apples.

The fact is that you don't have eat everything raw. It's OK to eat some cooked foods. There are no rules to a raw food diet. It simply means eating more raw foods than you normally do.

Here are some tips to getting used to a raw food diet...

• Eat a balance of vegetables and fruit. Putting more emphasis on vegetables will simply make you crave more sugar and eat more fruit. And if you eat too much fruit, you'll only elevate your blood-sugar level, making it difficult to burn off fat.



• Raw food doesn't mean avoiding seasoning. I love to eat raw tomatoes with salt. That's still a raw food diet. I also eat my salads with salsa for dressing, that's allowed too. In fact, fresh salsa is raw food.



• In fact, use salt. In raw food diets, it's very easy to become sodium deficient. If you feel tired or lethargic, more than likely your blood pressure has become too low. Pour some salt in your hand and lick it up. You'll feel better almost immediately.



• Raw food diet also requires protein. You need protein to prevent muscle loss. Eat plenty of nuts. Raw almonds are supposed to be the healthiest nuts for you.



• Eat fruits and vegetables high in potassium. Potassium is what our cells are made of, and you need lots of potassium per day (3,500mg for women, 4,700mg for men). Without adequate potassium, your body will strip away muscle tissue and get the potassium from there. Tomatoes and potatoes are very high in potassium.



• Avoid fruit juices. Fruit contains sugar, and when you drink 100% pure fruit juice, you end up consuming more fruit than if you were to eat whole fruit. Too much fruit will spike your blood sugar level and make your body stop burning fat.



• Eat low sugar fruits. Not all fruits are high in sugar. Some are actually quite low. Strawberries happen to be one of them, and are high in vitamin C. Read my previous article on "Best Fruits for Weight Loss".



• Use the USDA Nutrient Database. The USDA Nutrient Database will show you the nutrient content of just about every fruit, vegetable, nut, grain, meat there is. You can find out which foods are highest in fiber, highest in potassium, lowest in sugar, etc. It's been a big help for my weight loss efforts.



• Sushi is good too! Technically, sushi contains cooked rice and is not really a raw food. But like I said above, you don't have to eat everything raw. It's ok to eat some cooked foods. So if you love sushi, look for sushi that contains only raw food (minus the rice). Avoid the fancy stuff with cream cheese, or anything fatty.

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