Explaining raw food in simple terms
There is a lot of confusion about raw food and we often receive questions about what raw means. We sell a range of raw nut butters, for example, and people wonder how these differ from other nut butters. We are often asked how we make raw crackers and crispbreads without baking them. And what exactly is raw chocolate? Surely that’s not safe to eat, is it?!
Well, we thought we would try to answer these questions in simple terms, without getting too technical or making any far-flung claims. Here goes…
To be specific, raw food is food that has not been heated above 42oC. This rules out all food that has been or needs to be cooked at a high temperature and leaves us with foods that are safe to eat in their natural state. So, yes, this means a huge array of fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs and spices, but it can also mean chocolate, cake, cheese, pasta and the like (if you get creative…!).
There are many misconceptions about following a raw diet and we want to bust some of those myths.
People immediately assume that a raw diet is limiting. While eating a raw diet 100 percent of the time does limit your choices in some ways, it also opens you up to trying a huge range of new ingredients in ways that you may not have otherwise discovered, pushing you to get creative with your flavours and ‘cooking’ methods.
Spices and herbs take centre stage, adding incredible flavour, and experimenting with different preparation methods, like preserving, fermenting, pickling, dehydrating (this is how our crispbreads are made) and sprouting opens up the raw food diet immensely.
Single ingredients (cashew nuts, we’re looking at you) become so much more than their natural state and we realise how we can use them to make raw versions of all of those things people believe are banned from a raw food diet. We like to focus on how we can use amazing ingredients in different ways, rather than worrying about what is not included in this way of eating. Instead of thinking, ‘I can’t eat cake’, instead we get creative and make a raw cake using nuts, cacao, coconut oil and honey. Trust us, they’re often much tastier!
And it goes without saying, that raw food is incredibly good for us.
The idea behind eating a raw diet is that heating some foods can destroy some of their nutrients. Raw food is full of essential vitamins, minerals, enzymes and much more. There are no hidden, dodgy ingredients, no added nasties, just pure food, straight from nature.
Another big misconception about eating a raw food diet is that one must exclusively eat raw foods all of the time. This is not the case. We encourage everyone to incorporate more raw foods into their diets because we think that everyone can and should feel the benefits from doing so. It should not be an intimidating way of eating, it is and should be attainable and sustainable so if that means you eat one raw meal a day or one a week that is absolutely fine. Our products are created with this idea in mind. We want to make it as easy, convenient and delicious as possible for you to be part of the raw food movement!
