Eat and live healthier


Does Eating Raw Foods Make Sense In The North?

Have you bought the idea that alevels. You don't have to eat 100% raw.
completely raw food diet is theThis is really an individual choice
ultimate, most logical, best diet forbased on your health, your location, and
all humankind, no matter where they liveyour preference.
in the world? (Like eskimos eating- A raw food diet can be unnatural -
watermelon...)Eating 100% raw foods in the north can
It seems to me that it's the impliedbe unnatural and unsustainable. And for
idea transmitted by many raw-foodists,many more reasons that I can expand on
raw food website, books and seminars.in future articles, it's certainly not a
The idea is:solution that can be proposed to the
Raw Food is Good, Cooked Food is Evil,entire world!
and the World Would Be a Better Place If- If you live in the north, follow the
Everyone Ate Only Raw Foodsseasons - Many people, as summer
OK, I may be exaggerating, but oftenapproaches, have the desire to include
that's the general tone of many of themore raw food in their diet. But in the
raw food gurus' message.winter, instead of freezing to death,
Is it actually true?they choose to incorporate more raw,
Would it be possible that the resourcescooked foods. That is perfectly fine,
required to transport those foods wouldnatural and even desirable for most
actually make the raw food diet fairlypeople.
unecological, considering the fact thatHere's a list of some additional tips to
eating a diet of bananas and mangoes inenable you to eat more ecologically and
Northern Canada isn't the most naturalsustainably, while incorporating more
choice?raw fruits and vegetables in your diet,
How much food do you need as a 100% rawno matter where you live:
food eater?1- Freeze Berries and other Fruits in
It's fairly well-known that anyoneSeason - Berries are some of the most
deciding to eat only raw foods in anutritious and antioxidant-packed foods
sustainable way (for health) needs toyou can eat. To avoid the consumption of
eat a tremendous quantity of freshtoo much imported foods in the winter, I
fruits and vegetables.encourage you to freeze a huge quantity
In order to get enough calories fromof ripe, local, organically grown (or
fruits and vegetables, without using toowild) fresh berries when they are in
much raw fat (which would be detrimentalseason. I personally freeze a lot of
for health), here's the average amountwild blueberries, which are local. Then,
of food that's necessary:use them throughout the winter in your
For a 2000 calorie diet: 10 pounds a dayrecipes. You can thaw them in advance to
(with peels and all)avoid the negative effect of consuming
For a 3000 calorie diet: 15 pounds a daycold foods.
(with peels and all)2- Grow Sprouts - Grow some fresh,
I based those numbers on averagetoxin-free sprouts such as clover and
consumption most 100% raw foodists gosunflower greens, to get a supply of
through in a typical day (those who arecheap, fresh, local vegetables in the
not on a detox program!).winter!
So basically, 70 to over 100 pounds of3- Avoid out of Season Fruits - Some
food per week!fruits may be available in your store,
That's a lot.but may actually be out of season in
Where does your food come from?your hemisphere of the world. If you
If we would want to get a more accuratelive in North America, the season for
picture on the ecological impact thatgrapes usually ends in September or
eating a large quantity of importedOctober. Grapes during the winter are
fruits would have versus a smallerimported from countries situated in the
quantity of local cooked, animal oropposite hemisphere, such as Chile,
grain foods, we would need to analyze awhere the seasons are reversed. Avoid
lot of variables. I haven't been able tothat! Learn the seasons of different
get an accurate estimate from the datafruits and vegetables and choose to
that's available.avoid foods imported from such far-away
But just knowing that most importedplaces.
fruits come from fairly far away, and4- Make Different Salads and Vegetable
that large quantities are necessary on aDishes in the Winter - In one of my
completely raw food diet, I can draw therecipe books, I give different kinds of
obvious conclusion that eating this waysalads and dressings depending on the
is not necessarily the most logical,season. In the winter, I recommend
natural and ecological choice.salads made with cabbage, carrots and
Consider that:other root vegetables. In the summer, I
- Grapes from Chile travel a minimum ofincorporate more lettuce, tomatoes and
4000 miles to get to youfresh vegetables. You should do the
- Bananas from Costa Rica travel aboutsame.
2000 miles or more to get to you5- Shun Exotic Fruits - Exotic fruits
- Mangoes from Mexico at least 1000such as durian, Thai coconuts and
miles to get to youlitchis can be great to try, but they
- And so on...inevitably come from faraway countries
All of the fossil fuels used tosuch as Thailand. In addition to leaving
transport all of these foods leave ana huge ecological impact for being
impact, which may offset or evenimported from so far, they are also
counter-balance the possibleheavily sprayed with toxic chemicals.
environmental benefits of choosing a rawDurians are particularly notorious for
vegan diet (which requires lessthat. Try them for fun, but stick to
resources when produced locally), versusfruits and vegetables as local as
a local diet that would contain bothpossible - at least from somewhere you
raw, cooked, plant and possibly evencould drive to.
animal foods.Finally, I would like to encourage you
It's always been obvious to me that ato continue making the best choices for
diet of all raw foods in Canada makesyour health. Sometimes, that may
less sense on many levels that one thatsometimes mean:
includes some cooked foods, more local- Eating fresher, locally grown
foods and fewer imported fruits.commercial foods instead of less fresh,
There's also the fact that these fruitsimported organic foods
are picked unripe in many cases, the- Eating ripe, local commercial food
acidity level is too high and theinstead of unripe, imported organic
nutrient level too low.foods
So is the solution for all raw-food- And eating some cooked, warm "local"
enthusiasts to move to the tropics?food instead of just cold imported
Certainly not!fruits
My point is:Lookt at true consequences of your own
- There's no need to demonize cookedchoices, and realize that there's not
food - A diet that includes both raw andone size that fits all.
cooked food makes a lot of sense on many



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