How to Transition Into a Raw Vegan Diet

What does it mean to be Raw Vegan?

Veganism is a type of diet focused primarily on consumption of plant-based products. The main focus of this diet is to exclude all animal products and animal by-products. This does not exclude, however, processed or "chemical based" foods. These are sneaky treats or convenient foods found in the grocery store in packages. If you were to read the label, there may be ingredients that are difficult to pronounce. This is still considered a vegan product, as it does not have any animal-product based elements. But it is not nutritious nor healthy for the body, as these are usually so processed that living elements are essentially removed or non-existent. The concept of a "living element" is what Raw Veganism is motivated by. These are not processed, non-cooked, and non-packaged foods, derived from completely raw (living) plant-based sources.

So while being vegan is absolutely better for the body than eating meat or other animal-based products and by-products, cooking these foods denatures them. Cooked foods only retain approximated 10% of their nutrient content than in their non-cooked state. This is WILD! And unfortunately true. The goal of Raw Veganism is to minimize this nutrient deficiency by maximizing the nutrient content provided in every meal.

Types of Raw Vegans

There are different types of Raw Vegans. Some participate in being Fully Raw (100% Raw Vegan food) or there can be different degrees where some enjoy 75% Raw Vegan food and 25% Cooked Vegan food. These are considered "High Raw" Foodists. We do not subscribe to 100% Raw Veganism, we consider ourselves 95% Raw to leave 5% in there for room for error (or enjoyment.)

It will be up to you what degree you choose to subscribe to and this can be adjusted at any time within your journey with healing foods.

The concept behind having some wiggle room falls under the title of a "Flexitarian" (which High Raws would be too). This is to be FLEXIBLE. It's important to stay open during this process because there WILL be days where you'll just want to enjoy something like you used to. And that's not only okay, but encouraged!

What if I relapse?

To relapse during a transition to a Raw Vegan Diet is to go back to any of the foods that you've removed from your diet once you've acclimated and committed to the lifestyle. This is perfectly acceptable, within reason, as it's more important to display compassion and self-love towards yourself than it is to harbor guilt or intensity (for any reason). Those negative emotions create stress-like responses in the body that can sometimes be more detrimental than the food or treat you've relapsed with. It's definitely important not to make a habit of reincorporating foods that are toxic or unhealthy for the body in excess, as it can thwart the efforts being made to maintain the results of your Raw Vegan Lifestyle. A little stress for the body is good SOMETIMES, but not all the time.

By the time you've transitioned into a Raw Vegan diet and way of life, your relationship to food will become a more mindful one. What's most important behind ANY way of eating is knowing why we're eating what we're eating. If we know why, we can navigate the experience in a way that better serves us instead of taking from us.

Why should we eat Raw Vegan?

By removing processed, cooked, and toxic foods from the body and adding whole, unprocessed, living foods to our diet, we offer our bodies healing as a result. That is to REGENERATE instead of DEGENERATE. Raw Food is referred to as "Healing Food' for this fact. No matter what you're eating, as long as it's raw, it's healing. This is one of the strongest reasons for going Raw. It has claimed to heal many from a diverse range of illness or disease (such as cancers, blood disorders, diabetes, etc.) to merely improving sleep, mood, and weight-loss. Feel free to check out our story to see our personal account of these things.

These are all side-effects that have little research to back them and are more based from personal accounts. They are still VERY real, none-the-less, and more concrete than anything the S.A.D (Standard American Diet) or others (including Keto or Paleo) can do for the body.. even Veganism (you'll have to read our story to learn more about that). Once again, anything that is cooked is essentially foreign to the body. Though it does make SOME (very few in comparison to what Raw Food's provide in totality) nutrients more bioavailable, there just isn't enough that it does do for the body that a Raw Food Diet can.

A little Science…

We are the only species on the plant to cook food. Is that a good or a bad thing? Considering the different effects that living foods have on the body in comparison to cooked foods, it's obvious that our 'killing" of anything and putting it into our bodies promotes faster degeneration of cell bodies. Our cells and DNA are reproducing rapidly every day. When a damaged cell reproduces exponentially, this becomes cancer. These breaking down of cells has an effect on our DNA as well. Mutations that reproduce rapidly result in other illnesses and disease that can even be passed down through our genes. These are scary truths. But there's a light that Raw Food provides despite these facts. These things are REVERSIBLE!

Ailments, illness, disease, disharmony, and much more can be repaired with consistency in a Raw Food Diet. That is why it is one of the largest contributors to longevity, in fact. These foods promote healthy cell growth and repair damaged DNA- now to find out that it can even CHANGE our DNA! Which ultimately runs our whole energetic system, communicating to the body what and how it needs to do something. When these strands are healthy, the body runs at top performance. When they begin to degenerate, our body does as well- where we start to see signs of aging, mental illnesses… even Alzheimers.

The best known advantages to a raw diet include:

• Weight-Loss and/or Maintenance
• Improved Sleep
• Increased (Natural) Energy
• Better Skin and/or Hair
• Healthier Digestion
• Improved Mood/ Mood Maintenance
• Vitality
• Longevity
• Increased Mindfulness/ Self-Awareness
• Improved Connection to "Source" (Life-Force within and around us)
• Mental Clarity
• Increased Balance within the Body
• Minimizing Carbon Footprint

Changes Over Time

The more proactive we are with our diet, the more responsive our bodies become. This is something that will dramatically change the way you experience your body. Issues that may have arisen without our conscious awareness of them come to the surface and dissipate. There's so much freedom in being liberated from physical suffering or inadequacies, that Raw Food magically improves and even eliminates. For more science behind the healing properties of Raw Food, visit our Detoxifying page.

This doesn't come without it's own degree of hard work thought. It can be a daunting and tedious task to remove half the pantry, meal prep, and become self aware with every meal. There are many steps and ways to go about transitioning, but here is a simple guide to approaching it for anyone at any stage of their journey to wellness.

Our 4-Step Guide on How to Transition

How to Transition Into a Raw Vegan Diet

Source: https://rawfoodrevive.com/transitioning-to-a-raw-vegan-diet-and-lifestyle-with-its-advantages

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