It is true that eating raw foods alone can do wonders for a person's health. This is because raw foods contain enzymes that the body needs. They also contain the necessary vitamins and minerals that the body needs, which is somewhere in the area of 90 different nutrients required for the body to run the way it needs to. Foods that are cooked at temperatures over 116 degrees destroy those very important enzymes. In addition, 50% of the protein and 70 to 90% of the nutrients are destroyed. When the foods are ingested raw, 100% of the nutrients and enzymes are intact.

Raw foods are those foods that are eaten in their raw form. The safest raw foods are those that are organic because the farmers do not use pesticides and they are not genetically altered. They are 100% natural inside and out. This is what makes one wonder why it is so difficult to change the emotional and physical aspects of their life when changing their diet. It takes a lot of discipline that doesn't show up naturally or overnight, it takes a lot of time for some.

Many individuals have made the changes in order to lead healthier lifestyles. They have either made the changes because of a health issue or because they simply do want to make a change in their life. The decision to make a change in their life has a lot to do with preventing future health problems and simply feeling better. Eating raw foods does something for the skin as well, which gives individuals a youthful glow that they wouldn't have otherwise. The change is very easy to see. It is just making the change that is so difficult for some.

For people who transition to raw food gradually, making the change is what is going to be difficult. A person must sit down and evaluate why it is they are making these life changes. By looking at reasons such as family, friends, the environment, functioning at one's best and the prospect of longevity, they have motive. If they feel tired all of the time, they most likely want to feel better. If they feel that they could look younger, then they’re going to work to look younger.

Some may be aided simply by seeing the results that have been displayed by others who have maintained a diet consisting of at least 75% raw foods, exercised a few times per week, and have eliminated a lot of the chaos in their lives. These people have found a spiritual center in which they can manage chaos at work, chaos within their home, and even minimize noise in their lives. All of these elements together can help garner the discipline to make the changes that are necessary to begin a diet that is full of raw foods.

The problem at hand is not necessarily eating the raw foods, but making that transition from usual eating and lifestyle habits that held no positive long-term results because raw food is not a fad diet, it is a lifestyle. Those habits were enjoyable because anything involving such foods as fried foods and chocolates can be enjoyable at the moment. However, they cause rapid crashes in energy and they add weight and contribute to stress to only name a few of their shortcomings. There is so much sugar in chocolate that a person can become very hyper, but anything that is green will keep a person calm and energized.

Changing to raw foods takes work, but it can be done. It takes an evaluation of a person's current state mentally and health wise. After that, it is important to make goals to gain the motivation needed. Once that motivation is found through researching the benefits and making it a goal to make changes, the changes can occur and be enjoyed. Here is just one idea of how to transition to raw food that I hope will prove helpful to you.

By TTS Cofounder Botanical Chef Omid Jaffari