One of the biggest mental hurdles that most people struggle to overcome when trying out a raw food diet is the idea that they’ll need to eat bland and boring food. They feel like they’ll need to sacrifice all the yummy and tasty dishes to eat rabbit food. You don’t have to sacrifice your yummy dishes. Let’s see how to flavour your meals with raw ingredients, so you can enjoy your food.
The hard truth is that there will be a slight uphill struggle in the initial stages. Your body is used to processed ingredients. It may have a sugar addiction without you even realizing it. It may crave more salt than your body needs. All these physiological cravings will arise when you switch to a raw food diet.
However, these are temporary and will dissipate over time. If you cave into temptation and eat the foods that you’re not supposed to, you’ll not be able to break free from the invisible chains of these detrimental foods.
The raw food diet does NOT have to be a boring and tasteless diet. There are many ways to flavour your food. You just need to know what to do, and this article will give you a few ideas. You can read more on the raw food diet here.
There are 5 basic flavours: bitter, sweet, salty, sour and umami. You’re probably familiar with the first four. Umami, however, is a Japanese term that refers to a taste the body craves. It’s the craving for savoury glutamate that can be found in foods such as cheese, mushrooms, etc. In fact, the additive, monosodium glutamate, was created to mimic the taste found in these foods.
Now that you know what the 5 flavours are, all you need to do is a flavour your food with the right ingredients to achieve the flavour you crave.
If you prefer foods that are sour, you can use limes to flavour your salads or juices. Want a burst of sweet flavour with your vegetable juices? Add some pineapples or tropical fruits such as lychees and longans into your juicing.
You can make your food salty by using Himalayan pink salt, tamari or soy sauce. While soy sauce is not a raw food in the traditional sense of the word, a light dash of it will really help to flavour your food and is not that harmful to your body, when consumed in moderation. The umami flavour can be achieved using dark miso or seaweed.
Besides these, there are many other spices and ingredients that can make your food much tastier. Ginger, garlic, chilli, cumin powder, turmeric, etc. are all ingredients that you can use.
You can even use extra virgin olive oil or cold-pressed coconut oil to flavour your dishes. Not only will they add that little ‘kick’ to your dishes, but these oils are highly beneficial fats that your body needs. Despite all the negative information you may find about coconut oil, the truth is that it’s one of the best ingredients on the planet.
The real danger comes from hydrogenated oils which are responsible for a plethora of health problems in millions of people around the world.
A raw food diet can be tasty once you learn to flavour it with the right ingredients. You may even wish to be adventurous and try out using cacao butter, psyllium, dried fruits, avocado, etc.
What really matters is that you get over the initial hump at the beginning when you’re trying to make the raw food diet a part of your life. The raw food diet can be a lifestyle choice and it could change your life. You can read what to eat when you are on a raw food diet here.
Start small and choose a raw food meal every day and over time you can substitute most of your meals with raw food. Ease gently into the diet. There’s no need to make an overnight change. Little by little, a little becomes a lot. You can now flavour your meals with raw ingredients and enjoy your dishes.
Disclaimer: This blog post contains affiliate links to products and services I am passionate about. Purchasing via these links won’t cost you any extra but it will help me enormously.