[RawFoodGrl]

I wanted to add also that one of the things I started with, even came here with, was what exactly do I eat to make sure I'm getting all the vitamins, minerals, protiens, fats, and other micro-nutrients to be full and healthy?

Mostly people here really talk about getting a wide variety (true) and listening to your body (true), but that knowledge tends to come in time. So where do you start?

I did a lot of trial and error, but I was exited to find this book called Rawsome! by Brigitte Mars. It has recipes, talks about a raw food diet, but it also lists all kinds of foods and what they're good for, what nutrients they have, and lists the nutrients and where you can get them.

I went through each category and realized I was getting most things covered but missed a few. So this was VERY helpful for me as I would prefer to get all of my nutrition through food rather than supplements, where possible.

For instance, I found out that I'm not getting much Vanadium which is needed for teeth and bones, reproduction and cellular metabolism. It's found in dill, olives, parsley, radishes, soy, string beans, and whole grains (especially buckwehat and oats). I eat hardly any of these foods, so now I know to be sure to add more of them.

I'm also getting hardly any of the many flavinoids, since I don't eat much fruit.

This is ALSO where you see the many benefits of eating a lot of leafy greens - because most of the nutrients listed can be found in leafy green vegetbables. It's quite amazing! So, "just making salads" has a lot to be said for it, besides being easy!

I haven't tried her recipes, but I HAVE tried the ones in the book Rainbow Green Live Food Cuisine by Gabriel Cousens. I find his recipes to be a bit heavy on the salt and "spicy" spices like chili powder and cayenne pepper, but so far I've loved everything I've made (which I've not been able to say for other recipe books).

One reason I suggest this also is that he has a WIDE RANGE of leafy green salads, all of which are delicious, in addition to salad dressings and soups you can make in your blender.

(And he talks even MORE about the benefits of a raw food diet and provides a lot of fasinating information.)

I think with these two books you can get off to a great start.