Raw is all the rage Courtesy Fiona TappThe raw food diet is the hot new trend in wellness and health circles. If you're curious about this approach, you can try eating raw for a day with these recipes. The movement has grown steadily as an extension of veganism. Raw food advocates believe that processing and cooking food reduces its nutritional benefits; followers find they eat plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables and claim that this approach has physical and mental benefits. Melanie A. Albert is an intuitive cooking expert, author, and speaker, who is passionate about good, wholesome, and healthy foods. She has been a leader in wellness, integrative medicine, and nutrition for over 15 years, and her sprightly energetic vibe is a walking advertisement for the foods she promotes. I met her in the Arizona desert for an intuitive cooking class where she showed me how to make fresh, delicious foods from locally grown ingredients. By local, I mean they were grown steps from where we cooked! Albert talked about how she has become more interested in alternatives to cooking lately and has actually just taken a course on becoming a professional raw gourmet. She explained how the natural properties of food in its original grown state can be very appetizing, especially on warm summer days. "Raw food makes sense in our diets especially when the weather is hot and our bodies naturally crave cool foods. When you think about it, foods that cool naturally grow when the weather is warm. In the hot summer, it's all about melons, tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers, which are all full of water and very hydrating." As I prepared Albert's recipe of dinosaur kale, fresh veggies, and nuts in the heat of the Arizona sun at The Farm at South Mountain, just 15 minutes from downtown Phoenix, I had to agree this type of cuisine certainly suits the warmer weather! If you are intrigued by this trend read on to see what you need to know...
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9 Things to Know If You're Thinking About Starting a Raw Food Diet This Summer - Reader's Digest
