In her book The Alkaline 5 Diet , ultra marathon runner and fitness coach Laura Wilson explains why a plant based diet is grounded in solid science. Here she explains why going raw could be the best thing that ever happened to you…

Many people each day make the decision to try a raw food diet – this can be 100% raw, one raw meal per day or anything in between.

The most popular type of raw diet is a short raw food detox – where you have only fruits and vegetables, via juices and smoothies, usually for a few days or up to a few weeks.

100% raw diets are by their nature usually vegan, since raw animal products are neither appealing nor usual to eat. However, if you opt for a 50% raw diet, for example, you may choose to continue with meat and/or dairy products in your other meals.

Why go raw?

Most people try going raw or commit to it a long-term lifestyle for one main reason – the anticipation of better physical and mental health.
A raw vegan diet has a lot of promises around it in regard to really improving your health and wellbeing. Let’s take a look at eight major benefits of a raw food diet…

1. It gets you back to nature

Eating fruits and vegetables and preparing your own food from scratch really helps you to connect back to nature and with your body. When we eat packaged and ready-prepared and cooked foods, it can disassociate us from where it came from – our wonderful earth – and eliminates any chemicals and unnatural ingredients.

2. Prevents and fights disease

A diet full of raw fruit and vegetables is renowned for aiding the healing process and really helping to prevent degenerative disease. Since raw foods are full of live enzymes and vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, you can view it as a bit of an insurance policy for your good health.

3. Better digestion

Raw vegan plant foods are mainly carbohydrates and therefore take less energy and enzymes to digest, so you won’t get any problems with wrong foods combining and your digestion will likely be very good. If you’re having juices and smoothies, which are already half digested, this will really improve your digestion and get rid of any issues with bloating or gas.

4. You’ll lose weight

A natural by-product of easily-digested, low-fat plant foods is pretty effortless and sustainable weight-loss. Also, you’ll have less cravings for unhealthy and fattening foods, since your body will be well-nourished.

5. Better skin

Every time I go on a raw detox, within a couple of days, my skin is glowing and people remark on how fresh I look. This is typical, so you can expect to enjoy having more youthful, vibrant-looking skin.

6. You retain the nutrients in your food

Cooking your food can reduce the vitamins and minerals in it by up to 80% and denatures the live enzymes that help with digestion. Raw plant foods, on the other hand, are abundant with nutrients, especially if you buy organic.

7. More energy

I’ve never met anyone who has embraced a raw food diet and not experienced higher levels of sustained energy throughout the day. When you first include a high level of raw foods in your diet, you may experience some detox symptoms for a few days, but after that your energy will increase, since your cells are getting optimally nourished.

8. It alkalizes your body

Your blood needs to be maintained at a slightly alkaline pH and eating raw plant foods works in harmony with this – you can think of a raw food diet as high-octane rocket fuel for your body.