Mr Green goes on a high raw diet

Summer is officially here! How do I know? Because Mr Green has changed his diet – radically!

For the past two years my beloved man has switched from meat and two veg with a beer to swill it down to high raw for the summer months. How he makes such an overnight transition (for it is an overnight sensation), I will never know.

But make it he does and this is the week that was.

High Raw Diet

A high raw diet is just as you might imagine – where 80% of the food you eat is raw. For Mr Green this is predominantly fruit,  vegetables, salads and sprouted seeds. He doesn’t eat raw meat or dairy, like some advocates do.

Protein and a raw diet

Where do you get protein on a raw diet? From plants! The same place as the cows, pandas and horses, in fact. It is a myth that we need lots of protein. A man only needs about 30 grams per day, which can be easily obtained from a high raw diet.

Essential fats

On a raw diet, fats come from cold pressed oils (hemp or flax seeds is particularly good), avocados and nuts. These are ‘good’ fats, essential to health and well being.

Hunger

Don’t you get hungry on a raw food diet? Initially, yes! Your stomach needs to learn to obtain its nutrients in a different way from less calories and this can take a few days. But it’s an interesting time for Mr Green and one which becomes not just a physical, but a spiritual journey.

He had a revelation the first year he adopted a high raw food diet with new feelings about what hunger and ‘feeling full’ was all about. It just feels different to him; there is a satisfaction after a meal without the bloating, which gives him lightness and energy, rather than draining him.

A typical day

A typical day might look like this:

Breakfast: large mixed fruit salad, sometimes with a little yogurt (not raw) if he’s hungry. Herbal tea to drink

Snack: fruit; a banana and an apple or handful of mixed seeds

Lunch: large  green salad, mixed herbs, tomatoes, onions, peppers and a little cheese (not raw)

Dinner: handful of mixed seeds, sprouted seeds such as mung beans or alfalfa, large green salad and herbs

Weight loss and increased energy

Two of the most poignant positive changes Mr Green experiences are increased energy and weight loss. I won’t divulge his weight here, but I’ll keep up updated on his progress! I usually have to roll him out of bed at some point in the morning, but within a few days of the high raw diet, he is springing out of bed with the dawn chorus.

What about you – have you ever gone on a high raw diet? How did you find it?