Sunday, December 8, 2013

As Raw As You Wanna Be: The Blog

Welcome! It's so nice to have you as my guest here at the brand-spankin' new As Raw As You Wanna Be blog. As Raw As You Wanna Be is a raw food lifestyle philosophy that I have integrated from years creating, eating, experimenting, experiencing, observing and listening to my body and the experiences of others. When I was first introduced to raw foods their was this prevailing ideal (and in some places still is to this day) that the end goal of a raw food diet should be to eat 100% raw food. Not only would this supposedly allow you to derive all the benefits of a diet high in raw foods-and certainly there are many-but according to many this was the most natural, most acceptable and absolute best diet for human beings...and some even went so far as to say all human beings everywhere. This dogmatic approach to raw foods has driven a large segment of people away from the idea of eating raw altogether and keeps many others from attempting to incorporate more raw foods into their diet. Frankly, I found myself that a lot of the rigor and inflexibility sucked most of the fun right out of things. If creating and eating food isn't fun and enjoyable, you simply aren't doing it right! If figuring out what to eat and how to make it is going to be an all-day, nearly-impossible hassle--who in the heck is going to want to deal with that? This is why, as I have seen, so many people keep raw foods at arms length. What I have found personally, and what I strongly believe, is that raw food can be fast, easy and fun, and that it is a great base for health, wellness and longevity. I do not believe that it is necessary, or even desirable, to eat 100% raw food, all the time, exclusively, forever. Going 100% raw for a month or two may be a fantastic way to cleanse the body, but it's not an ideal way to live for the next forty or eighty years. Instead, I believe that a plant-based diet, high in raw foods, is one of the healthiest-and certainly most ethical,compassionate and sustainable-and most balanced diets available to us here in America and many other countries and locales around the world. I also believe that a 100% raw diet will be a diet lacking, or at least low in, certain nutrients, anti-oxidants and other beneficial health-giving and healing properties. I know for a fact that there are certain foods which are better for you cooked, and that if the idea is to be in the best health possible, it would be counter-productive and counter-intuitive not to eat them because they were cooked (and thereby improved). What I have encountered, as a vegan and raw food advocate, chef, entrepreneur and educator/instructor for almost a decade now, and what I still see happening to this day is the spreading of-whether with willful acknowledgment, or earnest, well-meaning-a lot of misinformation, miscommunications and the spreading of myths. As Raw As You Wanna Be means just that, you choose how raw is right for you based upon your experiences experimenting with raw foods, not based upon what someone else decided was right for everyone 20 years ago, or unrepeated, flawed studies from a century ago. As Raw As You Wanna Be is a common sense approach to a health and balanced lifestyle high in raw foods that cuts through the myths and gets right to the heart of the matter: what is raw food, why is it beneficial for you, where can you find it, how do you store and prepare it. This blog will seek out to explain all that, answer any questions you might have, and offer you with killer recipes, tips and tricks, informational and inspirational posts and more. Join for our updates, invite your friends and stay tuned, because great content is coming your way. How raw is right for you? Together, we'll discover the answer and techniques that will get you to As Raw As You Wanna Be. You can stay connected and in the know by liking my facebook page and follow me on Twitter.