Winter is HERE!!!!
I know it’s only November so technically we’re still in autumn, but the way the wind and rain are slapping me in the face, it’s feeling pretty wintery to me.
During the spring, summer and (other) autumn months, the idea of eating more raw food isn’t too bad, but not so appealing when the days get shorter and the heating dials goes higher.
So what do you do when you want to eat more raw foods in winter like fresh fruits and vegetables, but the cold weather is putting you off?
Well you’re not the only one. Many people find it difficult to eat and drink cold foods in winter. But you can still enjoy all the benefits of raw food during the winter without having to drink freezing green juices or iceburg lettuce straight from the fridge.
All you need is warming raw foods!!!!!
I once had a conversation with a lovely young lady during our Free Naturally You Planning Session (you can book your free session with me here). During which, she said she wanted to eat more fruit and veg.
Our conversation went something like this:
Me – Do you have a smoothie maker or blender?
Lovely Young Lady – Yes, I do.
Me – Do you make smoothies?
Lovely Young Lady – Yep
Me – Ok, so can you start making a smoothie every morning before work and have it with 2 pieces of fruit?
Lovely Young Lady – No
Me – Why wouldn’t you want to try that?
Lovely Young Lady – I can’t drink cold drinks and foods straight from the fridge in the mornings,
Me – Oh I see, you know you can have them warm, you don’t need to have them straight from the fridge, I very rarely have cold fruits and vegetables or smoothies and juices, even in summer. Here’s how you can warm them up…
I know this is a challenge many people have, so here’s a list of some warming foods you can enjoy, plus a bit more about the below:
***PLEASE NOTE*** – I love green juices, celery, lettuces, raw vegan ice creams & sorbets and melons. They can all be very nutritious. But if you are put off by cold foods during the colder months you may want to eat LESS of these foods, due to their high water content and cooling effect by nature, not completely avoid them.
Here are 13 ways you can eat more raw foods in winter, whilst staying warm & without cooking all your food:
- Ginger & Garlic – These circulation stimulating ingredients are spicy in natural, but not too strong if used in small amounts. Ginger can add warmth and heat to smoothies, juices and even sauces and desserts, while garlic can be added to most savoury sauces, crackers, snacks and soup recipes.
- Cayenne & Hot Peppers – If you really want to crank up your circulation and break into a slight sweat even, get a hot spicy kick by adding cayenne pepper or hot peppers to your raw foods. Whether it’s half a scotch bonnet pepper blended into a butternut squash and tomato soup or a sprinkle of chilli flakes or cayenne pepper on your salad leaves, you choose how much you can handle and go for it.
- Coconut, Nut & Seed Milks – These high fat drinks can be made with warm water to create a room temperature beverage that can be filling, nourishing and won’t drop your body temperature.
- Kale Salad – Kales leaves can be used to make a salad instead of the higher water content leaves (like spinach and lettuce), which you can finely chop, massage in some salt and olive oil, top with chopped tomatoes, cumin, cayenne pepper and dried herbs even, for a filling room temperature salad in minutes.
- Green Smoothies – If you’re used to green juices, then why not switch to green smoothies during the colder months instead, which you can add a tablespoon of coconut oil and a knob of ginger to, to warm them up more.
- Porridge & Granola – These are some of my favourite raw foods in winter, they make great breakfasts that you can make with warm water and add cinnamon, pimento, nutmeg and other warming spices too.
- Curries, Nut Cheeses & Pates – If you want something to add to your main meal or to snack on, a raw curry sauce, some nut cheese or seed pate is ideal. You can normally make them in bulk and keep them in the fridge, then take them out 10mins before use, so they get to room temperature before you eat them. You can make them with peppers or warming spices to add to the creamy warmth they already have.
- Coleslaw & Dips – Using a cashew or almond mayonnaise to pour over grated carrots, cabbage and white onions, gives you are rich warming side dish or in a bigger portion, an entree that is filling, warming and yummy.
- Thick Creamy Avocado or nut based salad dressings – These fat rich dressings can warm and bulk up a salad much better than a thinner oil and vinegar based dressing if you’re having a salad.
- Soups warmed to hand heat – There are so many varieties or vegetables you can blend together with warm water, oil and seasonings to make a warm hearty soup, which can make you forget it’s even raw.
- Vegetable spaghetti – To replicate the cooked wheat spaghetti, you can use a potato peeler and a knife or a special spiraliser tool to create vegetable spaghetti, which you can then cover in a spaghetti sauce of your choice, from a raw tomato marinara or an oily pesto or even a creamy cashew or macadamia nut alfredo sauce, which can be so similar to the cooked version that it becomes a favourite.
- Dehydrated breads, crackers & snacks – To create really rich and flavoursome raw foods, you can use a machine called a dehydrator, to gently warm and remove the water from foods, in the same way raisins or dried mango are dehydrated, all without getting them hotter than 30 degrees celsius where nutrients start being destroyed . So again, who said raw food have to be cold?!?
- Root Vegetables – As these are less water rich than salad vegetables, they are a great choice when thinking of raw food in winter, if you’re looking for something to grate into salads or blend into soups.
- Sprouted beans, lentils & grains – Possibly the most protein rich raw vegan food you can find are sprouts, so it’s great to eat more of them all year round, but as they are generally less water rich than most salad vegetable, just like root vegetables, they can be the basis of salads and sprinkled onto other foods for a room temperature nutrient booster.
I hope you found today’s article useful, please feel free to share & If you have any other ideas for eating more raw foods in winter, or any comments or questions, please post them in the comments below.
For over 100 delicious raw food recipes, including recipes for all the warming raw foods mentioned above, download a copy of my best selling book Leah’s Raw Food Feast today for just £9.99.
Plus you can download 3 free videos from my latest online program “The Naturally You Reset Program” here now
Take care and stay healthy
Leah
The Naturally You Coach
About the Author: Leah Salmon, The Naturally You Coach, is a bestselling author, speaker, nutritionist, live blood analyst and life coach, focused on womb & pregnancy health and premature birth prevention & on a mission to help 100,000 black women to eat for health, think for happiness and live in harmony by 2020 or what she calls Becoming Naturally You. She does this through her clinic, books, programs, coaching, events, workshops, videos, articles and a free weekly ezine.
Hi Leah
Does following the raw food diet program encourage weight loss? And what about fighting fibroids?
Any advice would be helpful
Greetings sis, the short answer to both is yes, raw foods can help encourage weight loss and help to fight fibroids. But it does depend what diet you’re on now and the cause of the weight gain and fibroids. Raw foods are very nutrient rich and the raw food diet has contributed to the reversal of so many health conditions because of it. If you aren’t already eat raw foods daily, that’s a great place to start and at this time of year, you can include as many of the foods from the list in this article as you can, hope this helps sis 🙂