Who doesn't love soup and who likes to take a break from cooking, raise your hands? This soup is packed with nutrient dense foods with active enzymes. This is the time of year you can go to your garden or farmer's market and get ALL of these ingredients fresh, local and organic if possible (well not the lemons). Both my son (22 months) & my husband love this soup. Plus you have easy left overs for days, its a vegetable smoothie in a bowl. Some fun health facts about why raw foods are great to have in your diet.
- Live foods. It’s common sense right? A cooked seed won’t grow, but a raw seed will. Heating food over 118 degrees Fahrenheit destroys much of the nutrients in your food. Cooking food also diminishes the natural life energy.
- Enzymes. Cooking food destroys much of the natural enzymes (your body can also create enzymes, but can only do so much) in your food that are needed to break down nutrients. Eating raw eliminates this problem.
- Energy. You won’t know this unless you try it for yourself, but eating raw gives you an amazing boost in energy. Get tired around 2 or 3pm try eating soaked nuts, a orange or apple this will recharge you within a few minutes. (I worked overnights/shift work for 12 years, this worked like a charm)
- Better sleep. I’ve slept better than ever while eating raw, especially during my juice cleanse. But most importantly, you don’t wake up feeling tired or groggy.
- Increased mental clarity. Eating raw can helped you focus on the things that are important and made me more emotionally in tune with others.
- Eat as much as you want. I never get that uncomfortable full feeling eating raw. You know where you have to unbutton the top button on your pants and take a nap? I don’t get that. I can eat as much as I want, and while I will feel full, I don’t feel weighed down or tired.
- No packaging. Eating raw means less packaging all around. This means less trash in a landfill and more room in your cupboards. Win/win for everyone.
- More regularity. You should naturally have around two to three bowel movements a day. If you’re going less than that, it probably means your intestines are unhealthily clogged. A raw diet gives you more than enough fiber to keep you regular.
- Connection with the earth. Eating food that’s been freshly picked just feels different. You feel more connected to the earth and more grounded. Eating lots of processed foods — frozen or from a box — makes creates more of a gap and leaves you feeling disconnected from the earth that sustains you. (1)
This alllll being said, I am not a raw vegan by any means, my constitution just doesn't jive well with that 100% of the time. Cold fall and winter days I need warm grounding foods. I like muffins, cooked pies and burgers (from my father in laws farm) or a chicken stir fry. But I have learnt and felt the amazing effects of a raw diet and it is amazing. I eat less meat, I love the farmer market and all things farmers and of course processed food has no place in our lives.
[yumprint-recipe id='23']1. http://zenhabits.net