Brad's Raw Made Easy: The Fast, Delicious Way to Lose Weight, Optimize Health, and Live Mostly in the Raw

by Brad Gruno

To bring your pH level back to a more normal ...

concentrate on eating a diet that is 80 percent alkaline-forming foods. Once you are back to normal, you should eat a diet of 6...

Bear in mind that not only are raw foods laden with vitamins, minerals, and micronutrients, but they also add oxygen and chlorophyll to your diet.

Green vegetables are primarily composed of water, which is mostly oxygen by weight.

Chlorophyll is the pigment that gives plants their green color and is found in most plants and algae; it facilitates

photosynthesis, the process by which plants use sunlight to synthesize food (energy) from carbon dioxide and water.

It is rich in minerals as well as...

chlorophyll’s pH levels are exactly the same as those found in our blood, eating foods high in chlorophyll help yo...

Chlorophyll acts as a natural detoxifier in the body. It helps the blood deliver oxygen to the cells of the body and neutralizes free radic...

It is also a natural deodorizer and can help neutralize bad breath or body odors (which is why you’ll find it in ...

heterocyclic amines.

In addition, cooking food changes some of the active compounds found within them, most notably antioxidants. “Antioxidants” and “free radicals” are words that are often used when talking about food or skin care, but most people don’t quite understand what they mean.

Free radicals are damaged cells that can become problematic. From a scientist’s perspective, free radicals are defined as atoms or groups of atoms containing an unpaired number of electrons, formed when oxygen interacts with certain molecules. Because they are missing a critical molecule, they are highly reactive while in desperate pursuit of another molecule with which they can bond,

and

they are particularly damaging when they interact with cellular components such a...

If they finally latch on to a molecule within a cell itself, the cell can be injured and its DNA altered, setting off a chain reaction of...

Antioxidants are molecules that can safely interact with free radicals and stop this damaging, disease-causing chain reaction. The principal micronutrient antioxidants are vitamin E, beta-carotene, and vitamin C; they must be consu...

Microwave ovens heat food through creating molecular friction.

The unusual heating process of the microwave leeches numerous toxic chemicals out of Styrofoam and plastic, releasing dioxins and other toxins that are known carcinogens into your food. One of the biggest offenders is bisphenol A, or BPA, which is an estrogen-like compound found in many plastics. It was declared a toxic substance in Canada in 2010, and only in 2012 was it finally banned from use in the manufacturing of plastic baby bottles in the United States. That is scant comfort to the generations of parents who trusted that the bottles they were using for their precious infants were safe. When it comes to chemicals and packaging, it’s often hard to know what to believe.

Hippocrates lived in ancient Greece and is considered the father of medicine.

When doctors graduate from medical school, they take a modernized version of the Hippocratic oath. The part that resonates most strongly with me is “I will prevent disease whenever I can, for prevention is preferable to cure.” He also said, “Let food be thy medicine, let medicine be thy food.” Now that was one smart guy!

But you know as well as I do that our modern diet has changed radically from what Hippocrates’s patients, or even our great-grandparents, ate. Before modern refrigerators, freezers, mass manufacturers, plastic packaging, and microwave ovens came along, consumers went to local markets and purchased fresh food. The only kind of packaged food available came in metal cans or glass bottles; it was much more expensive than fresh food and usually considered a treat. Fast-forward to now. Processed, not fresh, food dominates so much of the average diet. Sure, it’s awfully easy to open a box and whip up a quick meal, but you might not be aware of how much is sacrificed for s...

raw food that has not been processed retains a much higher level of nutrients and antioxidants. Put all other food through typical processing—by which I mean removing much of the fiber and essential vitamins and minerals—and the food is much less nutritious. You don’t just have to worry about what’s been added to it, but also what’s been taken away.

Antioxidants, fiber, and good fats are an essential part of a healthy diet, but most processed foods are missing these good ingredients.

Take the familiar potato. The peel is a good source of vitamin C, vitamin B6, copper, potassium, and zinc, and the flesh is a great source of fiber. But when the potato is turned into potato chips, the peel is stripped away, the flesh is fried in unhealthy oil, and salt and synthetic seasonings and chemical preservatives are sometimes added to the bag for “freshness.” The result is a chip that contains a lot of crunch and not much else. That’s why a normal eater can eat one fiber-rich potato ...

Converting brown rice into white rice strips off the kernel and hull that contain most of its fiber, selenium, and magnesium. Making oatmeal “instant” and adding lots of sugar to the packets makes it a simple carbohydrate, whereas a batch of steel-cut oats dehydrated into granola will give your body a huge dollop of fiber and keep you filled for hours. Take a look at some of the ingredients listed on a typical box of macaroni and cheese: “enriched macaroni product,” cheese sauce mix with whey, modified food starch, milk fat, salt, milk protein concentrate, cheese, medium chain triglycerides, silicon dioxide as an anti-caking agent, enzyme modified butter oil, yellow 5, yellow 6, yeast, and much more.

milk. Both take the exact same amount of time to cook. But which one is so much better for your kids? Better yet—try Brad’s Raw Mac and Cheese.

Worse, many processed foods are full of hidden sugars, chemicals, and fats that are added solely to improve “taste.” As you know, eating too much fatty food is a contributing factor to heart disease and other cardiovascular problems. Eating too much of any food that is not good for you leads to obesity, which is at epidemic levels in this country. In addition, processed food often contains harmful trans fats. This kind of fat increases your levels of bad cholesterol (LDL) and decreases your levels of good cholesterol (HDL). These foods also contain very high levels of sodium. Your body needs sodium, of course, to regulate your blood pressure and maintain your body’s fluid balance—you’d die without it. Many of the raw foods you’ll be eating contain sodium naturally, such as celery (which is a great base for fresh juice). But most Americans are so used to eating salty food that they overdo it on a daily basis. It drives me crazy when I see people adding salt to food before they’ve even tasted it, and it makes me even more crazy when I know how overloaded processed foods are with totally unnecessarily high levels of sodium. Last but not least, many processed foods contain high-fructose corn syrup. You already read about how bad this stuff is in chapter 1. It raises the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. You’ll soon see how reducing your consumption of sugar, especially in the form of high-fructose corn syrup—and eliminating it

Did you know that 46 percent of Americans suffer from poor digestion issues?

Because the processed foods they’re eating on a daily basis are overtaxing their digestive systems. I’m talking about excessive burping, chronic bloating, diarrhea, gas, constipation, heartburn, and acid reflux. These are all very unsubtle signs that your poor stomach and intestines are trying to talk to you.

If you would like to connect with Jaime and ask her questions about her experiences, you can find her through the Nourished Community, our online community support forum, along with the stories and blogs of others who overcame health issues by changing their lifestyle and diet. Visit bradsrawfoods.com to connect.

chia seeds are a superfood that will help you feel full, and they have the added benefit of being an amazing cleanser for your digestive tract. Hemp seeds are another superfood that you can easily add to your smoothies, and they are especially easy to digest. Other examples of high-fiber foods that help you feel full are broccoli, carrots, Brussels sprouts, raspberries, bananas, and oranges.

Toxins are poisonous substances produced within living cells or organisms; they’re found in our homes, at work, in the air we breathe, in the soil, and, of course, in the over-processed food we eat. They can kill you quickly (if you get bitten by a snake or if you breathe in contaminated air), or they can affect how your body functions, slowly, over time (if you eat and drink a lot of food containing ingredients that aren’t good for you). Even healthy substances, such as fat-soluble vitamins, can be toxic if consumed in enormous quantities.

Over time, toxins from our foods and environment are stored in our bodies. This is because most environmental toxins are fat soluble, which means they are stored in your fat cells. This creates a double whammy of stressing your thyroid (which regulates your metabolism) while affecting your appetite (often increasing it). A slower metabolism means you need and burn fewer calories, and you can gain weight even when eating the same amount of food you usually do. A normal or high-functioning metabolism, on the other hand, helps you lose weight.

In a 2008 study published in the journal Acta Paediatrica, researchers from Barcelona’s Municipal Institute of Medical Research found that babies born with higher levels of pesticide were twice as likely to be obese by age six. Another study published in the International Journal of Obesity in 2010 concluded that participants who reported a large amount of weight loss had about 50 percent higher levels of six organic pollutants in their blood serum than participants who had large weight gains. In other words, these two studies demonstrated that toxins can be released from fat tissue during short-term weight loss.

When you start to eat 100 percent raw, you may feel like you have the flu, or you might have headaches and fatigue. These symptoms can last anywhere from five days to two weeks. That’s why your first step will be the first phase, Prepare—a two-week time where you gently transition to raw. Even if you’re still feeling a bit crummy, please understand t...

Alcohol is also very acidic, as are

aspirin, tobacco, and coffee.

Too much acidity decreases your body’s ability to absorb minerals and other nutrients, decreases its ability to repair damaged cells, decreases its energy production ability within the cells themselves, and decreases its ability to detoxify heavy ...

A high-acid diet triggers your body to bind the acidity in your fat cells and store it under the skin, often in your stomach, thighs, arms, and under your chin. Your body is smart enough to know that t...

If, on the other hand, you start to remove high-acid foods from your diet and switch to a balanced diet that is higher in alkaline foods, it will prevent all this acidity from being stored in your fat cells. Our bodies naturally keep large alkaline reserves to balance a diet containing acid-producing foods. When these reserves are depleted beyond a certain ratio, it creates an environment that allows yeast, viruses, and parasites to thrive, which can contribute to conditions such as chronic fatigue, allergies, arthritis, and more. If the body becomes too acidic, it will start using its reserves of sodium, magnesium...

eat more alkaline foods as you continue your daily pH testing, including green leafy vegetables, avocados, almond milk, young coconut water, wheatgrass, green smoothies, seaweeds, and pineapple.

Bear in mind, though, that when you first start the plan, you might test higher in acidity, especially if you are changing your diet for the first time. If you test your pH every day, by week 3, which is the start of the 100 percent raw portion of the diet, you will start to notice your pH rising every day. By sticking to the plan you will be able to naturally alkalinize your body, and I hope that will keep you motivated to stay on the raw food track.

Your first line of defense should be the things that you put into your body. Food is medicine and medicine can taste good.

The average adult needs to drink half their body weight in water every day.

Your body is made of 70 percent water, and you need to nourish it with foods that are 70 percent water, too. That won’t happen if you eat a lot of processed food containing loads of salt and chemicals, as these ingredients can cause rapid dehydration as well as high blood pressure. When you eat too much salt, your body retains water to get rid of the overstock of sodium that is pumping through your bloodstream. As a result, your heart has to work extra hard, and it causes your veins and arteries to constrict. The average person should limit their sodium per day to about 1,500 milligrams. That’s only about three-fourths of a teaspoon of

s...

Many times you’ll think you’re hungry or have strong cravings for certain foods when you’re not really hungry at all—you’re...

Even the puffiness I’d always had around my eyes disappeared. And when I joined the raw community, the first thing I always noticed about a newbie to raw was the glow. What’s behind the glow? A detoxifying cleanse gets the gunk out—and since your skin is the largest organ in your body, it is going to show the effects of a good diet. Once you go raw, you might soon notice, like me, that any puffiness or bloat you have had will start to diminish and then disappear. This is because a healthy digestive system not only eliminates solids from your intestines smoothly and quickly, but it gets the excess fluid out, too. You should also notice that the whites of your eyes become clearer, your skin gets softer, your hair becomes shinier, and your nails grow stronger. Once your skin starts to glow, so will your confidence. You’ll start to feel better on the inside because the positive changes on the outside will be so wonderfully visible. You’ll carry positive energy and a positive aura with you throughout the day. You’ll have the glow!

I was not surprised when I read in a 2009 article published in U.S. News and World Report that nearly two-thirds of American adults say they are not getting the right amount of sleep each night.