When I first stumbled across the raw food diet, I really felt like I had struck gold, in terms of health and wellbeing. I was already eating lots of raw green smoothies and salads without really thinking about it. However once I was introduced to the wider raw experience by none other than Shazzie herself at a delectable banquet that she kindly made just for me and my family to show us how exciting raw can be made me realise how much more I could up my game with food.

After I embarked upon a thirty day ‘In the Raw’ trial (you can see the results and recipes here http://www.littleguru.co.uk/store-for-littleguru/books/30-days-in-the-raw-1321529966), I really noticed a difference with my overall health. A pain in my arm that I’d had for months simply disappeared and my hair, skin and nails sparkled like I’d just stepped out of the salon. I lost weight (11 pounds) and yet when the trial period was over, I started to notice that old habits crept in slowly but surely. All my ‘favourite’ foods and the weight made a comeback and the sparkle soon vanished.

So I have been going back and forth trying to find the middle ground. I felt that eating 100 per cent raw was manageable for that period but not sustainable for me for the whole time. Yet I didn’t want to revert to eating cooked foods that made me feel lousy. So what was the alternative, I asked myself?
I am a big fan of noodles, chocolate and sweet things! So I am pleased to have discovered the following products that if you are transitioning within your diet to incorporate more raw food, here’s how you can do it:
If you’re a fan of….

1. Sugar
Forget the white refined sugar — it’s not doing us any favours! Why not try coconut sugar instead? One of my favourite varieties is Biona organic coconut palm sugar.

2. Chocolate
Detox Your World has all the ingredients for the perfect chocolate hit. So stock up and treat yourself, even once a day if you like with either a ready-made bar or your own creation.

3. Crisps
Some of us love to munch on crispy food don’t we? I was never a real crisp fan but I did occasionally grab a pack of salt and vinegar. Well now you can snack on kale chips!

4. Sports drinks
I always thought the best drink to guzzle whilst exercising would be water but no! We lose precious salts and minerals whilst working out that need to be replaced but you can forget drinking sugary chemical-filled sports drinks. Coconut water is nature’s sports drink — it’s full of natural electrolytes to both satisfy your thirst and replenish you.

5. Noodles
Try King Soba noodles and be sure to try out my favourite type, brown rice and wakame. Serve with lightly steamed veggies, a lovely big salad and some olives. You can of course try out raw noodles too but sometimes you might want something warm and more comforting, just without the wheat. If you do fancy the raw variety, you can try beetroot, courgette, butternut squash and even carrot noodles!

So if you want to up your raw game, you now know you don’t need to work in percentages all the time. You can cook up a batch of noodles and serve with a crunchy salad and you don’t need to beat yourself up if you eat too many kale chips!

Victoria Leith

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