Break the cycle of imbalance: lose weight and keep it off

by Mariana Bozesan

For the human race, cooking food began thousands of years ago ever since the discovery of fire. Thus, its scope has expanded and many of us assume that it's the proper, natural way of preparing most types of food. Whether baking, roasting, sautéing, simmering, grilling, frying, steaming, or stewing, there are few foods that escape our modern assumption that they should be heated in order to be palatable.

In highly developed nations, cooking is part of a larger tendency to treat, process, and otherwise manipulate food into near oblivion. Unfortunately, this trend toward eating too far from the original source of our food is resulting in epidemic obesity, coronary disease and diabetes. Thus, many of us are struggling to find ways to lose weight and lessen a dependence on unhealthy foods¹. As the society progressed we began not only to cook our foods but in order to keep them over a longer period of time we realized that heating food makes it last longer. Thus, processing became the thing to do. Many of today's foods are so heavily processed that they don't remotely resemble the natural ingredients from which they are derived. Driven by financial interests our society has created whole industries that only care about shelf life of foods and not about our health². Preservatives are supposed to prevent nature from breaking down foods so they can last longer on that shelf in the super market. Please leave that food there³. Why would you put it into your body/nature? Who could guess that a cheese puff, for instance, is made from something that once existed as a green, growing plant in the ground?

So, when a body is overweight and has gone out of balance, how on earth can we turn it around? The first and most effective step is to alkalize the body through green drinks and essential fats, both of which can be purchased at any health food store or simply go to http://www.sageera.com/Shop. The next step is to begin including more fresh leafy green vegetables, i.e., salads (raw foods) into our diets. An ideal gage we can use to measure our sufficient intake of fresh vegetables is the 70:30 rule. In essence, we should have 70 percent fresh vegetables (raw foods) versus 30 percent cooked foods, i.e., fish or chicken on our plate during each meal time. Through our conscious decision to bring more raw foods back into our diet we experience a profound and unanticipated array of benefits as a result. Here are just some of the weight loss benefits of diets that contain 70 percent fresh vegetables (raw foods):

• Because raw foods include primarily fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds, eating more raw foods is one of the easiest ways to alkalize the body. This is a free ticket to losing weight since the body must no longer hold on to fat to protect itself from the acids induced through unhealthy foods such as the standard American diet.



• Because bringing raw foods back into the diet means we are eating more fruits and vegetables, this type of diet can protect against colds, flu, and other viruses. Raw foods are rich in life saving enzymes, vitamins and help to support a healthy immune system.



• Organic raw foods are typically of better quality for they contain 300 percent more vitamins and minerals and much less herbicides and pesticides. So a smaller amount can satisfy our nutritional needs. Cooking over 90 degrees Fahrenheit (45 Celsius) –depletes vitamins, damage proteins and fats and destroy the enzymes that help digestion. So an increase in the percentage of raw foods we eat makes us feel more satisfied and more energetic.



• Eating a variety of raw foods can be a tremendous help to those of us facing health problems like diabetes and heart disease or any other condition in which lifestyle has a major impact on outcome.



• Eating raw saves money in the long run! Processed food tends to be far more expensive than natural food and those who eat raw food also save money on such things as vitamins, pots, pans, appliances, and more importantly visits to the doctor!



• Raw foods are more flavorful than cooked foods and so there is less need for adding butter, sugar, salt and other dressings that can exacerbate health conditions and irritate our digestive systems.



• Eating raw foods is good for the environment! In our consumer culture, the varieties and pleasing qualities of raw foods are often overlooked because they don't lend themselves well to trademarks and proprietary brand names. This commercial approach requires a tremendous amount of resources and packaging, which has a negative impact on the environment. A diet more focused on natural, living foods means less strain on the planet and its resources.



• Cleaning up after a raw meal is a breeze. No greasy pans, baked-on bits of food or oily messes. Any inedible parts will break down naturally in the compost heap.

These are just a few of the advantages of bringing more raw foods back into our diets. Once we're aware of these benefits, it's possible to start seeing food in a whole new light. Raw food is bursting with the vibrant energy of the sun and soil from which it comes. We too can be filled with the same energy and light by eating more raw, living and natural foods.