So....I've been looking into a raw vegan lifestyle. Actually, I've just been watching Kristina of
FullyRawKristina and Yulia of
RawsomeHealthy's videos and....well....I am not going to become a raw vegan, but I am going to incorporate more raw, vegan foods into my diet. I am considering eating a raw breakfast, a cooked lunch and a raw dinner depending on how lazy I am at dinner time. If I'm to lazy to go for soups at lunchtime, and I hope dinner's good, I'll eat raw at lunch and if dinner ends up being bad, I'll eat raw at dinner too. (Incase I didn't mention it before, I'm a college student who lives at school most of the time, and my school provides most of my meals).
Why do I plan on incorporating more raw foods into my diet?
Well....if you read the Bible or (in case you've never read a Bible) any old historical book, you will notice that the people lived WAY longer than we do now. Also, you might notice that your grandparents or (if they're still alive) great-grandparents looked much healthier in the pictures of them while they were young than now. Why? Well....they didn't have all the artificial and synthetic things we have in our foods now. They didn't have so many pesticides and antibiotics in the food they ate and....well.....some of the things we eat now that are totally not good for our health, they didn't have it back then. Food was food not a bunch of chemicals and food.
Our sugar intakes have increased over the years resulting in people being more obese, becoming diabetic, having a chronic heart disease or even cancer:
Our intake of sugar-sweetened drinks has increased too:
Fruit drinks are pretty much unhealthy, just like fizzy drinks. Why? If you notice, on the ingredients list, many of them have the words, "sugar" or "sweetener" on them and whichever of those words is on there is never at the bottom of the ingredients list meaning that there is a significant amount of artificial sugars in what you're drinking so....basically, it's a fruit and sugar drink. Sometimes, it's actually a fruit, flavouring and sugar drink or even just a flavouring and sugar drink!
Our calorie intake has increased quite significantly because of aggressive marketing, the increase in sugar consumption, processed foods, et cetera:
The wheat we eat now is less nutritious that the ones our grandparent and their parents and those before them ate:
"There is evidence that modern wheat, which was introduced around the year 1960, is less nutritious than older varieties of wheat.
The graph above is from an experiment that has been run since the year 1843. In it, scientists have grown different wheat strains and measured the amount of nutrients.
You can see that the mineral content starts declining around 1960, which coincides with the introduction of modern wheat.
Today’s wheat has about 19-28% less of important minerals like Magnesium, Iron, Zinc and Copper, compared to the wheat our grandparents grew up with.
We have started eating fast food more often and in higher quantities and we have started spending more on processed foods that we cook or eat in our homes.
We are killing (or just harming) our bodies with what we put in them.
Incorporating more raw vegan foods into my diet, I will be eating even healthier, getting all the nutrients I need and because I prefer to eat organic foods, I won't be ingesting all the pesticides and other toxic things that other foods might have. By eating raw vegan, my body will be able to detox itself and simply work better.
Please note that I do not plan on going 100% raw vegan because I pretty much have an eating disorder called SED so if I go 100% raw vegan I will end up protein-deficient and deficient in a few other things. I am currently a lacto-ovo vegetarian, have been for almost 8 years now and I plan on continuing to be a lacto-ovo vegetarian although I'll be eating as a raw vegan every now and then.
Why do I plan on going more raw vegan with my life?
Well....every issue I have had with my body, the allergies (including the reason I had to have surgery on my arms), have been because of things I have put on my skin and what did these things have in common? Chemicals. Toxic. Harsh. Chemicals.
There was a time I started reacting to my soap, changed it up to one with more natural ingredients, my skin got better, but I started reacting to that one too. I started reacting to my body lotion and the only thing "natural" in that one was sea salt, if I'm right. My hair didn't look so healthy back when I used any product off of the shelf to care for it. The reason I had surgery on my arms was related to a deodorant use and the chemicals in the deodorant. I've also had some serious skin discolouration from the stuff I've put on my skin.
By using more raw vegan things, I am keeping all those nasty, harsh things away from my body. I went on an underarm detox thing a while back where I used apple cider vinegar straight instead of a deodorant (I ran out of deodorant and was unable to purchase more). My underarms did pretty well and were odourless throughout that period of time! I applied the cider vinegar on it in the morning, at around 6:30am and by the time I went to bed at around 10pm, my underarms were still odourless.
I plan on using coconut oil as my body lotion (which I do every now and then now), eye cream (I always use it around my eyes), lip balm (always use it as this) and extra virgin olive oil on my face (I break out when coconut oil goes on my cheeks or forehead). I might even switch between a natural butter and coconut oil or make a mix of both for when my skin needs something a little stronger/thicker or a little more protection especially from UV rays.
I believe God didn't put us in a place where we can't survive. I'm pretty sure He didn't place us in a world where we can't heal and be healthy. What I mean, is that He gave us things that we can live with and use in our everyday life that are actually good for us. Natural things are best for us.
My grandparents had much healthier skin when I was younger and in the pictures I see of them before I was born than they have now. Why? Most of the products they use now are so chemical-laden and less natural than the ones they used to use. My nana and I both have really sensitive skin and we have had quite a number of skin allergies thanks to what we've put on our skins.
I hope my points came across well and this helps somebody.
