It's been said that stars and celebrities are flocking to the raw food diet in the same way as they once shifted to Kabala. Well, they're not the only ones. More and more, people are seeing the value of a diet rich in good, wholesome foods, low in meat, and one that avoids processed foods. Some people claim it's a curative for almost everything that ails you, it improves your appearance, and it extends your life expectancy.

Now, some people hear: raw diet, and they immediately think rabbit food. They think they're going to be eating sprouts and carrots, peas and rice, and broccoli and nothing more. Or they expect to have to squeeze mango juice or kiwi pulp, or some other exotic fruits and vegetables; all of which may be quite expensive. True, a raw food diet is essentially a vegetarian or vegan diet, but that doesn't mean it can't be tasty and it doesn't have to be made of up foods you don't know and love.

Advocates of the raw food diet sat it will prolong you life expectancy, clear and improve your skin, decrease the risk of you getting strokes, heart disease or diabetes; give you more energy and allow you to control your weight in a natural manner so that you don't have to count calories and monitor the grams of fat in your daily diet. You might think this is all too good to be true, but it's been shown that many of the chemicals and preservative in processed foods cause a host of problems for people. Food allergies can lead to rashes, stomach and gastrointestinal troubles, even anaphylactic shock! Many people are lactose intolerant or have a gluten allergy. Eliminating these from your diet is far better than spending your life taking medications.

For some people, the idea of a raw food diet summons up images of eating like some sort of prehistoric being. Yes, as stated above, a raw food diet is vegetarian. So, that means eating a variety of fruit and vegetables, nuts and seeds, whole grains, unpasteurized dairy products and freshly squeezed fruit and vegetable juices. Now, if you have a gluten allergy, you can substitute whole rice for the grains; it's an excellent, healthy food.

While you may look at that list and see it as rather limited, there is plenty of variety available to you. As with any foods, some are easy to prepare, and others take some time and planning. So, something like the dish listed below, vegetables topped with raw vegetable sauce, is a fine example:

Cut up some zucchini into strips. Then, use your food processor to blend 1lb fresh tomatoes, half a cup of chopped white onion, some basil (vary it depending on your personal preference), a clove of garlic (minced), some chopped and seeded red peppers, and a couple teaspoons of dried herbs. Once they are all blended together, pour this sauce over the zucchini strips, and start eating. It's a tasty and healthy meal!

Now, that's just one recipe. Let's look at what you could expect for a typical day. First, for breakfast, have some raw fruit juice or whole fruit and have all you want. The fiber and natural sugars will keep your energy levels up, and help keep your "pipes" clean. You body will process this quickly; so long about mid-morning, you'll need a little boost. The same is true in the afternoon. Have a snack of a handful of nuts or some avocado. For lunch, a salad made up primarily of salad greens; add to it some vegetables like cucumber or red peppers. Now, many people make the mistake of putting a lot of heavy dressing on a salad. Instead, go with some fresh lemon juice or maybe just oil and vinegar. Finally, for dinner, go with a nice spinach salad with some almonds, and one to two avocados. Again, no processed dressing; go with orange juice. Then wash this all down with some fruit or vegetable juice which has been freshly squeezed.

Now, this is but one example of a daily menu. Don't think you have to stick with it. The point is, you can see that a raw food diet is easy to make delicious. To improve your health, boost your energy levels, and maybe increase your life expectancy, give the raw food diet a try.

It's been said that a raw food diet program is the most influential diet trend to hit the scene in years. For many people, they hear that term: raw, and they figure they know exactly what's involved in it. However, you'd be surprised as what it really encompasses.

Of course, a raw diet is nothing new. Looking back over the history of humanity, primitive man ate a raw diet prior to the discovery of fire. In modern times, at the beginning of the 20th century, a number of people began to advocate a return to such a diet as being the healthiest way for people to live.

Your mouth is – quite naturally – the means by which food enters your body. A key benefit of raw foods is that you have to chew them well before swallowing. No doubt your parents may have told you to chew your food a certain number of times before swallowing! The reason for this is that the digestive process starts in the mouth. Chewing releases saliva, an enzyme that helps you digest your food better. In the case of starches, it begins the process of breaking it down into its component sugar molecules.

Some people wonder if a raw food diet means you eat raw meat. No, that is not the case. For the most part, a raw diet is a vegetarian diet. In general, your diet will be composed of things like fresh fruit and vegetables (and their juices), nuts, seeds and sprouted seeds, purified water and unpasteurized dairy products. There are other foods included in the diet, but it's important that they be unprocessed and free of any chemicals or preservatives. Typically, a raw food diet means that about three-quarters of the food you eat is raw. The remaining components of your diet are usually dehydrated fruits and vegetables. You can either buy them that way, or get yourself a dehydrator specially made for food. The one caveat with such a device: be sure that it operates below 116 degrees Fahrenheit; a good dehydrator functions best at this temperature.

Now, once you start eating the raw food diet, you'll start to see some of the benefits and then you won't miss those steaks and chops you once ate. A raw food diet will lower your risk of developing heart disease or diabetes, give you more energy, improve the glow to your skin by erasing some of the signs of aging, diminish your digestive troubles, help you to control your weight loss, and even get rid of some of those illnesses and chronic health conditions you may be suffering from. So many processed foods have so many chemicals that we still don't know the long-term health impact of. By purging your body of these things, you can see a real improvement in your overall health.

Of course, deciding on a raw diet isn't as simple as starting to eat a vegetarian or vegan diet, and that's it. No, you should always meet with a doctor or dietician to design a diet just right for you. For one thing, you may have a food allergy that can cause you trouble are you lactose or gluten intolerant? If so, you must avoid dairy and/or some grains. Gluten is present in most grains; so the doctor will tell you to substitute whole grain rice. Then there are certain vitamins and minerals that you need on a daily basis. If you don't eat certain foods (maybe you don't like certain vegetables), then you'll need to take supplements.

A raw food diet isn't ideal for everyone, but with the basic information contained here, you now have enough knowledge to discuss it with a specialist in the field, and see if it's something you want to pursue.