The Raw Truth

Beginning a meal with something real, You won't believe how much better you feel!

We've all heard it before: "An apple a day keeps the doctor away."  Some may scoff at this "old wive's" tale, but it holds a simple truth: raw fruits and veggies keep you healthy!  Our second simple step to improving your general health is to add something green or raw to every meal.  Now, when I say "raw", I mean fruit or veggies, not meat, or cookie dough, or anything undercooked.  This simple habit was instilled into me by my mom when I was very young.  Every sack lunch I ever took to school had an apple or carrot sticks in it.  But, why raw?  Aren't cooked vegetable just as healthy?  Let's look at the advantages of raw fruits and vegetables:

#1 Raw fruits and vegetables have digestive enzymes in them.  So, in other words, it's like they are already partially digested for you and they assist your stomach in digesting the other food you have consumed.  Anyone who suffers from regular stomach pain could help themselves by starting every meal with some raw apple or pineapple.

#2 They help build strong and healthy teeth.  Ever noticed pictures of tribal people in other countries?  They have never even heard of a tooth brush, let alone the thought of using one, yet they usually have beautiful white, straight teeth.  How does that happen?  Their main diet consists of natural, unprocessed foods that require more chewing and contain good nutrients for strong teeth and jaws.  As a child, I had extremely crooked teeth coming in after I lost my baby teeth, but I believe that all those apples in my lunches every day helped to realign my teeth and make them straight again-- without the aid of braces! As Ogden Nash so poignantly put it "Celery raw develops the jaw...".

#3  They help to keep you happy.  Seriously!  Leafy green vegetables contain a lot of b vitamins.  A lack of these essential vitamins can make you nervous, irritable and often depressed!  So, forget the Zoloft, just add some fresh spinach and romaine lettuce to your diet!

#4 They help keep you young looking.  Here's another crazy idea, forget Botox, just keep eating those leafy greens!  They are full of compounds that help prevent wear and tear on  your skin.  They help repair your cells as you get older.  Studies have shown that men and women who ate the most green leafy vegetables had the least wrinkles!

#5 Many, many other benefits: We all know that veggies contain plenty of fiber to keep things moving, lots of vitamin C to keep us from getting sick and lots of brain power to keep us smart!

So, try it today.  Just simply adding a small amount of raw fruits and vegetables to every meal, will make a big difference in how you feel!