Raw food cleanse: living foods for living energy

According to a report by Scientific American, “A raw foods diet typically consists of unprocessed foods that are not heated above 115 degrees Fahrenheit so as to preserve nutrients otherwise lost during cooking.” Many people choose to go on a raw food cleanse to flush out toxins and avoid potential carcinogens. However, the affects are not just physical. For those on a intentional healing journey, a raw food cleanse can help clean your energy field and centers, while also supporting greater awareness and enlightenment.

If you are in search of conscious change that will shift your understanding of yourself, your self-worth, your lifestyle, and the world around you, the best advice is to start with your food choices. When you begin to pay attention to your lifestyle, diet, thoughts, behavioral patterns and inner feelings, and start to question the accepted cultural/societal norms, the shift in consciousness you are desiring occurs.

WHY DETOX?

One factor that is often overlooked when making dietary changes is the huge effect it can have on the state of your emotions. This is even more important while you are going through detox because in addition to dealing with physical discomfort you are also likely to be challenged in unfamiliar ways that you may not be prepared for. A large amount of our personal identity is related to the way we eat and when we suddenly take away our habitual foods, as well as our social connection surrounding those foods, this can cause a bit of a challenge.

Most of us don't realize just how much we rely on food to change our emotional state, usually on a daily basis, and when this crutch is taken away we are left to face the feelings that may have been repressed for many years. In most cases we never allow these emotions to truly come to the surface and at the first minor sense of discomfort, we unconsciously reach for food as a way to make us feel better.

HOW IT WORKS

A raw food diet physically cleans up your system. Then, your consciousness moves on into emotional detoxification, as the next step in a standard progression, from cleaning the physical body to cleaning the emotional body. When you eat a natural diet that is fruit and vegetable based – it’s light on your body, it’s high in it’s water content, it’s has lots of sun energy, it’s easy for your digestive system and it’s purifying and healing for your health and your consciousness.

As you increase the quality of your nutritional intake your body will naturally begin to heal itself on so many different levels. Raw foods have qualities that support the ability of your body to cleanse and release toxins. Since toxins are stored in fat tissue, it can be hard to eliminate them from the body – especially toxins that have been stored in our tissues for decades! Cleansing and fasting are two methods to help eliminate toxins, and get us started on the road to total body healing

Here are just a few of the ways we are exposed to toxins every day:

Air pollution Impure water Food additives Household chemicals Beauty products – a big one! Alcohol Pharmaceuticals Poor digestion

THE BENEFITS

Both fasting (abstaining from food) and cleansing (eliminating harmful substances and choosing fresh, wholesome raw fruits and vegetables) are important choices to help us create optimal health. Some noticeable benefits you may experience after your cleanse are:

1. Increased energy

Instead of a large amount of your energy going to your stomach to digest complex meals, all that extra energy is available to you to do other things.

2. Improved mental health

A raw cleanse contains brain-healthy micronutrients that aid in improving mental health and reducing depression and stress.

3. Expanded awareness

You experience a heightened state of consciousness and your mind becomes very clear.

4. Balance to the body's acid-alkaline levels

it balances the body's acid-alkaline balance—if your body is too acidic, it cannot absorb enough oxygen into the blood. The alkaline nature of raw food helps restore this balance and minimizes risk.

5. Boosted creativity

Eating more fruits and vegetables can increase our sense of well-being and make us more creative because of flavonoids, which are compounds found most commonly in fruit and many vegetables. Research states that flavonoids seem to both increase blood flow within the brain, increase memory, and sharpen thinking. In addition consuming more fruits and vegetables often means eating less sugar, and excess sugar has been shown to contribute to cognitive decline and depression.

6. Emotional release

Most of us don't realize just how much we rely on food to change our emotional state, usually on a daily basis, and when this crutch and addiction is taken away we are left to face the feelings that may have been repressed for many years. In most cases we never allow these emotions to truly come to the surface and at the first minor sense of discomfort, we unconsciously reach for food as a way to make us feel better.

So what happens when we go raw vegan and have to face our feelings? We have an emotional detox! It’s important to realize that healing is mostly emotional. When we face our pain and allow ourselves to feel what we don’t want to feel we are healing, we are growing, we are evolving!

Note* whenever you attempt a dramatic dietary change I encourage you to become attuned to whatever you are going through and attempt to fully experience the emotions and feelings that arise, even if they are temporarily uncomfortable. A complete detox does not just involve the body, and if you want the benefits it is necessary to open yourself to the experiences that occur so that you are able to let go of the emotions and negative patterns that are not serving you well.*

In conclusion eating raw is not particularly easy but it can be helpful to focus on the benefits you will obtain and your original reason for starting your cleanse. Above all remember that your patience and persistence will be rewarded. Visualize yourself as the healthy, vibrant being that you know is there within you and imagine how you will feel when you achieve this goal!

Thank you for making it to the end of this post! KM wants you to grow with us. If you are looking for a little more wellness and balance you have come to the right place. Make sure to check us out on other platforms to see how we are truly living The KM Life and comment below with any questions or feedback! The goal is always to build and uplift our community.

Xo, KM