RAW Food Detox: How To Start
Raw Food Detox: How to Start
A raw food detox diet is a way to detoxify the body. If you do it well, it removes toxins or other contaminants that are stored in our body fat and cells. Detoxing improves health, energy, immune system, memory and digestion.
Warning
Most people are low in minerals such as: calcium, magnesium, sulfur, phosphor, sodium, iron. In order to detoxify, you need alkaline minerals. An important role of calcium is to aid in detoxification. It is an alkaline mineral and will "catch" the toxic acids that your body releases.
If the acids can't be "bound" because your body lacks (alkaline) minerals, the chance is high that you will feel seriously ill during your detox, that your body refuses to release the toxins (you won't be able to lose weight, since acids and toxins are often stored in your body fat), or that your body re-absorbs the released toxins again.
Alkalize
Therefore, it's crucial that - before or during your detox - you get plenty of green vegetable juice and alkalizing super foods.
You may also replenish your minerals by adding a tablespoon of spirulina, blue green algae (i.e. from the "E3 Live" brand) or wheat grass powder in your purified drinking water. These have highly available amino acids and minerals. And they alkalize you.
Once you've remineralized, your raw food detox will be much more effective and easier.
Tip
You may also want to get activated zeolites or bentonite clay. The zeolites especially, are incredibly effective in attaching themselves to toxins, making them harmless and guiding them out of your body. The tiny zeolites neutralize the most toxic elements from our body such as arsenic, mercury.
Clay is much cheaper and is fine too but usually not strong enough. These zeolites will help you get rid of the toxins in an easy, safe and effective way. They also avoid that you reabsorb the toxins your body tries to get rid of. Highly recommended for use during the detox. Zeolites come in a tiny bottle and are pretty expensive, but I highly recommend then when you detox.
Also make sure that you drink enough alkaline and pure water during the process and that you get enough rest.
Raw Food Detox Recipes
On this website you'll find many raw food recipes that you can use during your detox. Go to the Vegetable Juice Recipe, How To Juice Veggies page or check out some Super Foods to see if there are some that might work for you. For all juice recipes visit the Recipe Index page.
Enjoy the detox and be amazed at the results!
Raw Vegan Shopping List
Here's my raw vegan shopping list. With the basics I always have at home. Affordable and available at health food stores, green markets and online.
Whole food Vegan
The shopping list has whole food and healthy stuff only. No refined sugars, flours or vegan junk food. Now that vegan is becoming more popular you see more and more vegan (and gluten free) fast food in the aisles.
Technically, many of these are vegan, but so are sugar, trans-fats and chemicals, artificial sweeteners, MSG etc. Just read the labels well.
What To Look For
I always look for organic and raw products. If I have a choice I go for in season, local and as fresh and uprocessed as possible.
Where To Buy
For shopping, my first choice is the farmers market (fresh, cheap, mostly local and in season). I'm lucky, because the green farmers market I go to has many fresh, raw condiments like pesto, salsa, mustard, horseradish, tapenade etc.
I also have a deal with a local farmer that is not officially organic certified but who does not use any pesticide on most of his produce. Every two weeks, he delivers a bag of local, seasonal fruit (apples, pears, strawberries) and vegetables (carrots, fennel, broccoli) at my house.
What I can't get there, I buy at the health store or online.
Go here to download shopping list
Go to recipes (free!)
Raw Food Diet Conversion Chart
You are interested in a raw food diet. Now you have to decide what to eat. To help you with the transition from cooked to raw, here's a raw food conversion chart.
The chart has the following categories:
- Food
- Beverages
- Condiments and Spreads
- Special Treats
- Supplements
- General Guidelines
1. Food
| Bad | Better | Best | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sugar | All forms: - Dextrose - Corn syrup - Rice syrup - Malt | Raw honey Raw Agave Maple syrup Raw fresh fruits Raisins Dates | Stevia Vanilla Cinnamon Raw honey (25g) and Coconut Sugar Raw fruit in moderation |
| Sweeteners | All forms: - Aspartame - Splenda | - Xylitol | Stevia Vanilla Cinnamon |
| Salt | Table salt Iodized salt | Unrefined sea salt Unrefined Celtic sea salt | Organic salt from plants: Celery Seaweed Phytoplankton |
| Flour | White flours from: - Wheat - Corn - Rice, etc. | Organic whole flours from: - Spelt* - Kamut - Quinoa - Buckwheat - Millet - Brown rice* - Other non stored grains *stored grain | Sprouted grains Almond flour Coconut flour |
| Bread | From supermarket | Home made Health store Sourdough (Yeast free) Wheat free Sprouted | Dehydrated flax crackers Essence bread Lettuce wraps |
| Pasta | White pasta | Organic spelt or buckwheat Sprouted pasta | (Raw) spaghetti made from squash |
| Fat | Butter Shortening Margarine Chemicals Trans fats Animal fats Fermented fats | Cold pressed coconut oil Olive oil Hemp seed oil Flax seed oil | Whole hemp seeds Whole organic flax Seeds Nuts Fresh coconut |
| Meat | Cold cuts Processed meat: Hot dogs Bacon Salami, etc. | Organic raised Nitrites free E-numbers free (EU) MSG free, etc. | Vegan nut pate's Raw "meat" balls made from nuts/seeds |
| Fish | Farm raised fish | Wild fish Not endangered | Wild Alaskan fish Caught same day & sustainable Cold smoked wild Alaskan salmon Krill Oil |
| Eggs | Conventional eggs | Organic farm free eggs | Egg replacers: - Agar agar - Flax seed - Psyllium fiber |
| Cheese | Cheese From cow Pasteurized Not organic Homogenized | Organic raw goat cheese Organic raw sheep's cheese | Nut cheese Seed cheese |
| Milk & Yogurt | Milk, yogurt From cow Pasteurized Homogenized | Organic milk Raw goat's milk Almond milk from store Rice milk Coconut milk | Raw almond milk Raw milk from nuts Raw milk from seeds & grains Home made Kefir Raw coconut juice & milk |
2. Beverages
| Bad | Better | Best | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Water | Water from tap | Plastic bottled water Evian, Poland Spring, Fuji Water | Distilled water Low mineral spring water Bottled in glass |
| Thee | Black tea | Herbal teas | |
| Coffee | Coffee Decaffeinated coffee | Coffee replacer | Raw "hot" chocolate milk |
| Soft Drinks | Lemonade Jam Soft drinks Fruit juices | Organic fresh juices Flash pasteurized | Freshly squeezed juice: Fruit juice Orange Juice Vegetable juices Green powder juice Juice fresh from juice bar super foods drinks Coconut water (fresh) Smoothies Home made lemonadew stevia |
3. Condiments and Spreads
| Bad | Better | Best | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tomato Ketchup | Tomato ketchup From supermarket | Organic, sugar free ketchup Home made ketchup | Raw ketchup |
| Mayonnaise | From super marked | Organic, no sugar added Home made | Raw home made mayonnaise Raw mayonnaise made from avocado Raw mayonnaise made from nuts/seeds |
| Pasta Sauces | From package Cans Mac n cheese Ready made | From health food store Organic Home made Pesto sauce Tomato sauce Organic Cheeses | Fresh Raw Tomato Sauce Raw Pesto Nut Cheese Salsa |
| Bread Spreads | Cold cuts Processed meat Jam Chocolate spreads Cheese | Organic almond butter Jam/Jelly 100% fruit Raw honey Raw cheese | Avocado Pesto Tapenade Salsa Guacamole Nut pates Nut cheeses Coconut butter |
4. Special Treats
| Bad | Better | Best | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Candy | Candy from supermarket Energy bars Diet bars Chips Cookies | Organic from health store: - Candy - Chips - Cookies - Popcorn | Larabars Raw Cookies Raw cakes Fresh fruits Dried fruits Dehydrated crackers/chips |
| Cookies, Cakes | Cookies from super marked Cakes from super marked | Organic from health store Home made cookies Home made cakes | Raw cookies & cakes Raw cakes & pies Dehydrated cookies |
5. Supplements
| Bad | Better | Best | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Supplements Vitamins | Supplements Vitamins From supermarket From drugstore | Supplements from some small companies | Whole foods supplements Super foods Green powders |
6. General Guidelines
| Bad | Better | Best | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Resources | Grocery store | Health store | Home made foods Green/farmer's market |
| Grown | Conventional grown | Organic foods Naturally grown No pesticides, herbicides, chemicals Local farmer's/green market | Wild Local and organic Own garden, sprouts |
| Processed | Junk Pre-packaged Fast food Grilled Microwaved BBQ Fried | Steamed Cooked Stir fried Baked at low temperatures | Raw Juiced Blended Dehydrated |
| Ingredients | Many ingredients Conservatives Sweeteners Chemicals E-numbers MSG, flavor enhancers, etc. | Few ingredients Ingredients you can pronounce | Home made All fresh ingredients |
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