A few lucky people from our team here at Healthy Holistic Living spent our summer vacation in Ecuador and attended the famous Matt Monarch,  educational retreat ,  located in the fabled “Valley of Longevity” where people live well into their 90’s and can still work in the fields as if they are in their youthful twenties. It was there that we discovered the secret many Hollywood stars have known for decades to remain youthful looking, radiant and healthy, have glowing skin, and retain the stamina to continue to work in the fast-paced entertainment industry.

While there, we watched our fellow retreat participants quickly lose between 10 and 30 pounds! One attendee in particular was able to get off almost all medications for high blood pressure and diabetes and his blood sugar and blood pressure levels almost immediately returned to normal (as a diabetic, he was even able to eat a good quantity of fruit after about 7 days). Many retreat participants also experienced deep healing (both physical and spiritual) during the retreat.

What are talking about? It’s called the Raw Food diet. Wait, wait, don’t let the words “raw food” and “diet” put you off—don’t stop reading yet! A raw food diet needs only be eaten for part of your daily consumption to be successful in promoting good health and supporting steady, healthy weight loss. And, preparing a meal can be fairly easy, if you learn a few simple techniques and use a few affordable kitchen tools.

The best part about eating some raw food every day, is that not only do you lose weight, but you DO NOT feel hungry! Some of us on the retreat had to force ourselves to eat and, for the first time in our lives, experienced NO cravings or that nagging, constant hunger that so often derails our best laid plans to be healthy and lose weight. We also discovered that we were not sleepy or sluggish after meals and slept better than we had in years (possibly due to our bodies not being stressed with harder to breakdown cooked foods).

Those movie stars we talked about earlier? They usually disappear to a spa or resort several times a year for an intensive 7 to 15-day raw food retreat, and then return to their daily lives feeling rejuvenated and lighter. Most of us don’t have the resources to do this but, there’s more good news, we simply need to incorporate some raw foods into our daily diet. Optimally, you will want to make 2 of your meals raw (for example, breakfast and lunch) and have your dinner be a cooked meal of organic whole foods of your choosing. Anyway, quite frankly, according to Emily Monaco’s Raw Deal Cookbook, “most experts don’t recommend that you eat raw foods for every meal, every day, since a 100 percent raw diet lacks some nutrients that your body needs to thrive.”

While it’s always fun to read about these “secrets of the stars,” you’ll also be encouraged to know that according to the research, transitioning to a plant-based diet, actually CAN both heal and prevent the top ten leading diseases that shorten our lives.

In addition, a plant-based diet is also good for our planet as many grain, soy, and corn crops are water intensive and are used to feed animal stocks. Even if you are a “flexitarian” and eat some animal protein, cutting back on your consumption can go a long way towards reducing our collective environmental impact.

Here are recipes for a simple but delicious raw breakfast and lunch.

Raw Chia and Oatmeal Pudding Breakfast Recipe

A few minutes of prep the night before, results in a nutritious protein and fiber-filled breakfast that you can enjoy at home or pack for breakfast and/or snack at work. This is a go-to breakfast for a lot of folks first starting out with raw foods.

Ingredients

1/3 cup organic oats

1/3 cup milk of your choice (I love almond or coconut)

1/3 cup filtered water

2 tablespoons chia seeds

Topping ideas: ground cinnamon, maple syrup, yacon syrup (a low glycemic sweetener) or raw coconut nectar, raw almond butter, organic mixed berries, sliced banana, raw pecans.

Preparation

Place all ingredients into a container or mason jar, cover, and shake until combined. Place in fridge and check on a few times before bed, adding additional nut milk if needed as the chia and oatmeal absorb the liquid. Check in the morning and add additional nut milk if needed.  Eat or throw in lunch bag to eat later after adding toppings and sweetener.

TIPS: Make a larger batch and store for 3 days in the fridge, taking out enough for breakfast each day. If you want real almond milk, buy raw almond butter and put 2 tablespoons into a quart jar and shake vigorously (add more or less almond butter as your taste buds dictate). Add to this recipe and reserve what’s left for smoothies! The almond butter will resettle in the fridge so shake before each use.

Zoodles with Pesto Recipe

Here’s a great recipe that can be ready in minutes (recipe adapted from, The Raw Deal Cookbook by Emily Monaco, see source below). A spiralizer can be purchased for $20-$40 (USAs long as you have a source for organic squash and zucchini, you can have raw noodles in minutes. Add a quick pesto and you have a wonderful meal.

For the Pasta:

2 large zucchini cut into noodles (zoodles) sprinkled with a little Himalayan salt

For the Pesto:

4 tablespoons raw pine nuts (you can opt to use just raw walnuts)

1 garlic clove (optional)

2 tablespoons nutritional yeast

2 cups fresh basil leaves (you can opt to use parsley and cilantro combo)

½ cup of extra virgin olive oil

Salt and black pepper to taste

Preparation:

Place your zoodles in a strainer for 10 minutes and then pat dry with a paper towel.

Make the pesto: Combine your nuts, garlic and nutritional yeast in a blender or food processor and pulse to break down into a consistent but not smooth paste. Add your fresh herbs and some of the olive oil. Blend (but don’t over blend and overheat the basil). Slowly add in a bit more oil until you see the pesto begin to come together and then add the rest of the oil. Season with salt and pepper and pulse to combine. If using basil, it’s best to only make enough for that meal. If using cilantro and parsley, the pesto will keep in the fridge for a few days so you can make a bigger batch and use over several meals. This pesto is good on everything! You will find that as you make this recipe more and more, you will not need to measure and you may frequently have extra zoodles and cilantro/parsley pesto that can be stored for an additional day.

TIP: If you can’t afford a spiralizer, you can make your vegetable noodles with a box grater by grating the zucchini lengthwise (they will be more like spaghetti).

These recipes and information are just a start. You will be amazed at the world of raw food recipes out there and we encourage you to do your own reading on this food-based approach to healing your body, mind and spirit!

Many thanks to Matt Monarch and a dedicated staff of many gracious people behind the scenes working around the clock to make our stay memorable and comfortable; they welcomed us with open arms. We were there to learn how we can allow our bodies to heal from all kinds of health conditions and pass this information onto our million plus Facebook followers! Please head over to The Raw Food World’s website and retreat page to learn more.

Sources:

The Raw Deal Cookbook: Over 100 Truly Simple Plant-Based Recipes For The Real World, Emily Monaco