Raw Food

I have been reading a lot about raw food (I mentioned this in another post after going to hear Green Smoothie Girl & David Wolfe). I really see the health benefits, but am having difficulty grasping going even 50% raw. David Wolfe is 100% raw (he eats no cooked foods) & Green Smoothie Girl is about 80% raw. There are many, many foods you can eat that are considered raw, but there is definitely a learning curve on...recipes.:) I just reserved some books at the library on raw food recipes, so we'll give some a shot. Erik gets nervous every time I mention the word. :) He is worried he'll never get a taco or a chocolate chip cookie again! (Actually, chocolate - or cacao - is a very popular raw food, as long as it's not processed chocolate) Obviously, I like the ideas of being HEALTHY, losing weight, living longer, not having disease, pain, or other difficulties...but will I be able to give up my favorites? I don't see us becoming 100% raw (phew!), but my goal is to aim for 50% & then see where we go from there. A huge piece of this is smoothies & our Vita Mix blender. SO WORTH THE $$!!! If you are even a little bit trying to improve your health, I recommend saving your $$ to buy one of these. It makes it so easy to add fruits & veggies into your diet with very little effort. And blending is a huge benefit in absorption as it breaks down the cellular wall of many veggies, maximizing the health benefit. Also, you are able to use more of the fruits/veggies by using a Vita Mix. I leave the seeds in almost all fruits, sometimes the peels (lemons/limes), the stems (strawberries), the core in the pineapple, etc., again maximizing the nutrition. And I am able to get foods into my kids' diets that they normally wouldn't touch!

(I sound a bit like an info-mercial here...:) But we truly love this machine! And it is really superior to any other blender, with the exception of the Blend-Tec.)