The raw vegan diet is rapidly gaining popularity. Some people choose this way of eating for its health benefits. Others choose it due to concerns over the environment and animal welfare. Whatever their reasons for changing their eating habits, people tend to find themselves becoming noticeably slimmer after only a few weeks of consuming raw vegan food. If you are serious about shedding those unwanted pounds and inches, read on to learn more about raw food weight loss.
Why is the raw vegan diet better than other weight loss diets?
The main advantage is that you can eat as much as you want, as long as you stick to raw plant foods. There is no need to count calories, add up food points or follow a meal plan. You can fill up at breakfast, lunch and dinner and snack whenever you're hungry.
How quickly will you lose weight?
Most people who stick to the diet experience a weight loss of about two pounds a week. The good news is that the people who need to lose the most weight will drop the pounds even faster. This is because the heavier you are, the more calories you use during everyday activities. If you're not constantly replacing those calories with fatty, starchy processed foods, your body will burn fat to maintain its normal functions.
What can you eat?
A raw food vegan diet consists of fresh or dried fruits and vegetables, fruit and vegetable juices, nuts, seeds, sprouted beans, soaked grains, raw nut butters, raw nut milks, cold pressed oils, cider vinegar, honey, herbs and spices. If you're afraid this means eating nothing but salad, you'd be surprised by the variety of foods you can create from these ingredients. There are even raw vegan recipes for cookies and crackers.
How does it work?
Fruits and vegetables have a high water content and are naturally low in calories. Most are fat free. Some raw vegetables, like carrots, take more calories to chew and digest than they actually contain. All plant foods are naturally high in fibre. Fibre cannot be utilized by the body and is expelled in the digestive process. In addition, fibre helps to make you feel full, so you naturally eat less.
Why vegan?
By eliminating animal products from your diet, you automatically eliminate saturated fat. Animal fats are present in many high calorie foods. Cakes and cookies contain butter and eggs. Pizza is made with cheese. Hamburgers, bacon and sausages contain high amounts of beef or pork fat. By going vegan, you will almost certainly reduce your intake of fattening foods.
Why raw?
Raw foods aid weight loss because your body must burn more calories in order to digest them. Cooking breaks down the fibres in foods so that they require less chewing and their calories are absorbed by the body more quickly. Compare the time it would take you to eat a bowl of applesauce with the time it would take you to eat a raw apple.
Fat and carbohydrates are often added to foods in the cooking process, increasing the calories they contain. For example, tempura vegetables are a vegan food, but because they are battered and fried in oil, they are very high in calories compared to the same vegetables eaten raw. At least half the calories in potato and corn chips come from the fat they are fried in.
Can you stick to the diet?
As with any diet, raw food weight loss requires personal commitment. The more research you do into creative ways to combine and prepare the foods you are permitted to eat, the less likely you are to be tempted to cheat. There are plenty of tasty and tempting raw food recipes to be found in books and on websites. Many people find that learning a whole new way of eating is an exciting challenge. Since this diet practically guarantees weight loss, you'll be motivated to stick to it every time you step on the scales or look in the mirror.
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