 rgupta
Ram Gupta is a management consultant.
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There are far too many weight loss diets being advertised and marketed as sure shot ways to lose a ton of weight. But the question you should always ask is whether any given diet is sustainable and beneficial in the long run. It has been demonstrated enough times that you can even lose weight by abusing your body in the short run and risking serious malnutrition. However, drastic diets are not sustainable, they ruin your health, and the weight comes right back pretty soon. So, is the raw food diet one of these short-term weight losses 'miracles' or a sustainable weight loss solution?
Not a Restrictive Diet
One good thing about the raw food diet is that it is not severely restrictive like a lot of other fad diets. Yes, you are limited to only raw food, but 'raw food' includes an immense amount of variety, and you are expected to have balanced portions of all available raw foods.
As far as the quantity of what you eat goes, there are no major restrictions either. Since most fruits and vegetables are extremely low in calories relative to their weight, you can eat as much as you need to feel full without worrying about loading yourself with excess calories. In short, the uncooked food diet is not a restrictive diet and this makes it sustainable in the long run.
One of the Best Weight Loss Diets
As far as weight loss with the natural food diet goes, it is as near to a fail-proof method as you will ever find. Imagine, you are phasing out all high-calorie, rich meals and processed sugars and substituting them with fiber and nutrient-rich raw foods, which are much lower in calories. With the exception of nuts, certain seeds and bananas, you will hardly find a natural food item that is rich in calories. If you are drastically overweight, you could lose 6-9 pounds a month with the raw food diet, without putting yourself through any major trouble or tortuous weight loss methods.
Is Weight Loss the Only Benefit of the Raw Food Diet?
Not at all. To begin with, uncooked foods are rich in various vitamins and minerals, which offer numerous benefits to the body. These include peak performance of the various organs, hormonal balance, radiant skin and strong bone density. The raw food diet also detoxifies the body and keeps the digestive system in great shape. Clearly, weight loss is only one of the advantages of the raw food diet.
If you are following a regular exercise regime as well, it is important you don't ignore your protein needs, while following a natural food diet. Sprouted grains and lentils as well as nuts are great natural sources of protein.
100% Raw?
If you went 100% raw, there would be no harm done, considering that is how nature meant you to be! However, that is not possible or practical for various reasons. If you can maintain a 50-75% raw food diet, that is good enough. A lot of people maintain such a diet for a short period of time to lose weight and detoxify the body, so a 4-12 week period may be good enough.
At the end of the day, no one can deny that there is a clear link between the raw food diet and weight loss. Besides, the several other health benefits of this cleansing diet system are a real bonus.
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