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Best time to Start a Raw Foods Diet
Hint: It is not During the Winter!

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Ask A Healer Nutrition Series

Going Raw This Winter - Think Again! Timing is important for starting raw foods diet

Except for noted source material
this article is by Ask a Healer

Nutrition Information/Resources:
Raw Food World Superstore for Raw Foodists

Organic and Natural Supplements Store

Thinking of going raw? It may not occur to you to consider the time of year, yet it might make a big difference in how the raw foods lifestyle makes you feel. While raw foods are nutrition-packed and while our bodies can access and use the nutrition in raw foods very successfully, raw foods are also considered "cooling". What does this mean?

In ayurveda, a cooling herb or food is called that because it literally has a cooling down effect on the body. For that reason, some raw foods diet advocates say it may be better to eat live foods for three seasons of the year and to eat a little differently in the winter months, rather than going raw completely and year round. This is particularly important for people who have a cool system to begin with, which would be someone who feels cold most of the time.

If you know you are what's called a "winter type", you may want to wait until late spring to being switching to primarily live foods and you may also want to look at adding in different, warmer foods (perhaps including some cooked foods) during the winter months.

Eating Seasonally for Better Health: One book that addresses eating for winter and other seasons of the year is The 3-Season Diet: Eat the Way Nature Intended: Lose Weight, Beat Food Cravings, and Get Fit by John Douillard. This is not a book on the raw food diet but rather talks about which seasons best lend themselves to raw, light foods and when our body may need more dense proteins. In this fascinating book, the author actually gives different shopping lists for each of the three seasons ... spring, fall and winter ... so you shop from the list of items for the particular season you are in.

Douillard claims that eating seasonally will naturally cause you to start to crave what is in season; and your body will become more attuned to the foods that are freshest and best for each season of the year. I guess it makes sense that seasonal foods might be best eaten in the season they grow, rather than canned or frozen. It's an intriquing concept.

Getting most of your dietary fat from veggies rather than meat is another focus in Mr. Douillard's book. Eating a diet low in meats and dairy fat helps resuce risk of heart disease and also helps the body ward off certain types of cancer.

From the Book:
"Derived from a 5,000-year-old traditional medical system, the 3-season diet does what no other diet will: work along with the body's natural response to the changing seasons, feeding it what it craves and can best utilize at all times. In spring, for instance, we want salads, berries, and leafy greens, a naturally low-fat diet. By contrast, in winter, we yearn for hearty soups, nuts, warm grains, and high-fat and protein-rich foods such as fish and meat. Following the foods that nature provides seasonally creates the best diet for balancing weight, mood, and energy for anyone living anywhere on earth."

Health Disclaimer: This article on the raw foods diet is provided as nutritional information only and is not intended to present raw food as a substitute for needed medical attention or treatment you may also require. Be wise with your health.