Increase the Health of Your Lunch: Add Healing Herbs to Raw Salads

by Administrator on Jan 23, 2012 0 Comment(s)

The issue of treating illnesses while following a raw food diet concerns many individuals who prescribe to this lifestyle. Are the medications that your doctor prescribes raw? How will they interact with your body? With so many chemicals, modern medications may be as harmful as they are helpful.

Many raw food dieters have taken to adding healing herbs to their meals in order to keep their health in top shape. While this in no way should take the place of the recommendations of a trained, licensed healthcare professional, introducing healing herbs to your meal plan may help keep you healthy.

One great way to add healing herbs to your diet is to add them to raw salads. Not only will the texture of the herbs often blend well with the leafy components of the meal, the herbs can be used to create delicious new flavors.

What Healing Herbs Can You Add to Your Salad?

Some recipes advise cooking herbs before consuming them, which does not hold with the raw food lifestyle. Herbs can be used, but make sure that you do a bit more research about the individual herbs you are looking to eat before adding them to your meal.

Here is a list of herbs that you can add to a raw salad to improve your health:

Alfalfa: Alleviates symptoms of diabetes and arthritis, purifies the blood, and acts as a mild
stimulant. Alfalfa, which contains eight essential amino acids, also acts as a diuretic and can
reduce infection in the urinary tract system.

Basil: Acts as an antiseptic, fungicidal, digestive aid, and antibacterial.

Chives: Possess antiseptic properties.

Cilantro: Acts as a digestive aid and diuretic. Also contributes to detoxification by the removal of heavy metals.

Dill: Alleviates symptoms of gastro-intestinal issues.

Garlic: Has antibacterial, antiseptic, antifungal, antiviral, and anti-parasitic properties.

Ginger: Functions as a digestive aid and tonic.

Mint: Performs antiseptic and cleansing functions.

Oregano: Provides antimicrobial and antiviral properties.

Parsley: Acts as a diuretic and tonic.

Rocket: Also known as arugula, rocket is a great raw salad base.

Rosemary: Functions as an antiseptic, antimicrobial, and diuretic.

Thyme: Possesses antiseptic and antimicrobial properties.

Boost Your Health

By adding these healing herbs to your raw salads, you can boost your body's health while enhancing the flavor profiles of your diet. Herbs often have strong flavors, so experiment with them to determine which ones best complement your favorite salad recipes!


Tagged in: raw herbs

Top Organic Raw Nuts and Seeds for Your Diet

by Administrator on Jan 11, 2012 0 Comment(s)
Nuts and seeds are a valuable part of a raw food diet. Not only do they provide a great boost of energy, they give your body vitamins and minerals and help protect it against illness, including heart disease. When adding nuts and seeds to your diet, make sure that they are organic and raw, as the roasting process can harm the important nutrients that they have to offer. 
Best Nuts
Nuts are high in fat, it is true, but they are high in monounsaturated fat. The "good kind," this fat helps keep your heart healthy and fights many other diseases. Nuts are also a great source of protein, which is important in a raw diet. People traditionally get their protein by eating meat, so raw food dieters must ensure that they incorporate protein into their meals in other ways. Furthermore, nuts can help lower cholesterol and prevent weight gain! 

Here is a list of the five best nuts to incorporate into your diet: 
Almonds
Brazil Nuts 
Pecans 
Walnuts
Cedar Nuts / Pine Nuts

Best Seeds
Seeds also provide a great deal of value to your raw food diet. High in vitamin E, fiber, and monounsaturated fats, seeds contribute to keeping your heart healthy and protecting your body from disease. Furthermore, seeds contain protein, zinc, and a variety of other minerals and nutrients that are important to the proper functioning of your body. Once adopted into your diet, organic, raw seeds will become an important asset to a healthy meal plan. 

Here are some of the best seeds you can eat: 
Sunflower Seeds
Sesame Seeds
Hemp Seeds
Chia Seeds
Pumpkin Seeds

Picking and Preparing the Right Nuts and Seeds
When perusing the selection of nuts and seeds at your local grocery store, you may find it difficult to determine which are actually organic and raw. A federal mandate, which was passed in 2007, requires that all almonds grown in the United States be pasteurized. Due to the pasteurization process, these almonds are not raw. Although supporting local business is important, you will have to purchase imported almonds in order to procure raw almonds. Do your research to ensure that the nuts and seeds you buy fit in with your raw food diet. 
Before eating nuts, they can be soaked. Some people believe that the soaking process enhances the way that they interact with the body. Soaked or not, raw, organic nuts and seeds are a wonderful addition to any diet!  

Tagged in: organic raw nuts and seeds

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