Bioaccessability and Bioavailability

Definition: The potential for a substance to interact with (and be absorbed by) an organism
All foods are have a certain state in which their bioaccessability is at it's highest. Certain foods need to be cooked slightly in order for your body to be able to access the nutrients fully, while others lose nutrients the more you cook them. Even water loses it's healthy minerals when you boil/distill or filter it.
The Raw Food Diet is both tough and a nice break on your body: The lack of most highly processed foods, refined sugars, and meats, the only things your digestive system needs to work on are all the raw veggetables, fruit, nuts and other proteins.
It is important to avoid highly processed foods, because they hold very little nutrition, and you just end up putting indigestable, food in your body that only does your body bad. Lean toward fresh veggies and fruits, fueling you with good proteins, vitamins, and other important nutrients!

Working with the Raw Food Diet

So, the Raw Food Diet lasted about one week for me before I decided that it was not something that I needed to do. I am young, active and very healthy, and don't eat any "fast" or highly processed foods, and tend to gravitate toward veggies as it is. I don't doubt that it is a great diet for people who are trying to cleanse their body, or lose weight, but for me, it wasn't worth the separation from my friends when we went out, and the struggle of finding something tasty for every meal. 
The Raw Food Diet really helped me realize how many unnecessary foods I take in on a regular basis, While on the diet, I wasn't eating any bread (which I eat very little of as it is) helping me stay away from carbs, and all the little tempting things like chocolate, cookies, cake and all those things that torture you every day, weren't an option, making it easier for me to turn them down! I have started eating cooked foods again, but continue to avoid foods with refined sugars, highly processed foods, and anything else that I know my body doesn't eat. 
One of my favorite food sayings is: "eat for your body not your mouth". I am very good about that until it comes to quantity. I eat natural, organic, local foods, but if there is food in front of me, I will eat it...even if I'm full. That is a vise of mine, but since I eat such good food, I don't need to worry too much if I overdo it a little.

~Iolani

The Raw Food Diet

For a couple of different reasons, I decided to try the Raw Food Diet! I have been doing it for about 5 days, and all I can say about it so far is that it is tough! It hasn't changed the way I feel quite yet, or how I look, but eating family meals, it's hard for me to restrain from eating all the delicious, cooked things. The first day I cheated a little bit, eating some hummus with my veggies, but since then I have been 100% loyal to the diet.
There are some things that are tedious, like only heating tea water to 118 degrees, and not eating any refined or processed foods; but since my diet was very good to start with, it has been easier for me that for many. I try to make it a habit to drink a few glasses of warm, tap water every morning and evening! My main sources of protein right now are nuts and seeds, and sprouts. 
Every morning I start off my day with either a fresh, natural, organic, nutritious smoothie (banana, apple, strawberry, blueberry, mango, water, flax seeds, sunflower seeds) or an apple, eaten with raw, organic, natural almond butter with NO additives and a glass of raw milk from my uncle's cows! These foods give me energy for the day I have ahead!
For lunch I have a nice big bag of homemade trail mix (almonds, cashews, Brazil nuts, walnuts, pecans, sunflower seeds, raisins, dried apple, ginger, dried cranberries) to fuel me for track practice after school, and a salad!
For dinner I eat one or two avocados on a bed of spinach, carrots, tomato, and whatever else I find in the fridge. 
I'll check in again soon about how it's going! 

~Iolani