On April 1st, i started a mostly raw, vegan diet. Since then, the only cooked food i've consumed were a few steamed brussels sprouts and a couple sweet potatoes. (Tonight i'm having roasted potatoes and carrots as a treat with a raw salad). I have to be honest and say that i enjoy the hell out of eating raw fruits (like the bowl of blended banana, yellow papaya, cherimoya and date in the photo to the left), but raw veggies...not so much. So, to make raw veggie consumption more pleasant to me, i juice and drink my veggies a lot.
Some people, like local-to-me, Jake Mace, The Vegan Athlete, seem to embrace veganism pro-style. For me, it doesn't feel quite as satisfying or natural. Maybe it's the Neanderthal in me (a bit less than 4% according to my 23andMe DNA test results). At any rate, i'm giving the raw vegan food thing a go in hopes of improving the µbiome of my gut, which is in a bit of a state of disrepair lately. For more on that, click here.
The surface of raw fruits and veggies are covered in probiotics. The thought is that beneficial bacteria that we consume naturally from our foods "stick" better in the gut than bottled, lab-grown probiotics. I guess i'll find out this summer after i send in another gut sequencing test, since the bottles and bottles of probiotic pills i've swallowed over the past 2 years haven't stuck around. For now, my goal is to stay 95% raw for the remainder of April and then stay 80% alkaline from then on, consuming fruits early in the day and veggies and either starches or proteins for dinner.
If you've done a before and after gut sequencing test around a raw-food or other significant diet change, i'd love to hear from you! Message me through my Facebook page.
xxoo,
s