Generally, foods processed as little as possible are the main ingredients of a raw food diet. Of course, that implies heating as well - and there are shades to the issue. Foods that have not been cooked to a certain temperature may be called raw foods, and there are certain categories, which usually vary somewhere between 33 and 48 degrees Celsius temperature of preparation.

The range of raw foods is diverse. It can include anything from the usual vegetables, fruits and nuts, to some dairy products and even meat & fish. Not only does a raw food diet help prevent a whole series of sicknesses, but it also contributes to healing some.

In addition, it is up to every individual raw foodist to decide where to draw the line. It is definitely a matter of personal choice. Options vary between different types of foods. Variations are also available to what concerns the permitted heating temperature and whether freezing is acceptable or not. At the end of the day, the only clear borderlines of following a raw food diet concern the adding of as many raw foods in your everyday meals, if not entirely preferring them to traditional foods.

Practically, raw foods made the basic foodstuff of our ancestors. Therefore, one belief is that our digestive system deals best with a raw food diet - at least, it deals with it better than with processed food. More specifically, we are referring to a vegetable diet. However, the tricky part begins when you start asking yourself what exactly is raw and what is not. Drawing the line may be slippery.

Going systematically is probably the best approach. Fresh fruits and vegetables are obviously the number one priority. Ideally, you should be able to pick them yourself. Nevertheless, since that is mostly improbable, the next best thing is having a trustworthy source like a farmer who is bound to offer only the freshest things. A farmers market is also okay, and in case you do not have one nearby, a health food store is acceptable as well.

Supermarkets are the least desirable. They are better than nothing is. However, the general recommendation is that you should avoid filling your fridge up from there on a regular basis. The raw foods' nutritious attributes decrease drastically because of the supermarket handling: freezing and shipping time take away numerous vitamins and an amazing number of useful substances.

On the other hand, regarding seeds and nuts, the issue is slightly more accessible. A bit of space and time dedicated to gardening may bring you your own fresh sprouts to supply the much-needed raw seeds. As for the ones you buy, pay attention to the info on the package. Some nuts are raw and some are not.

Surprisingly enough, most dried fruit are cooked. As manufacturers reveal, they heat them for drying way above the 118F raw diet acceptable temperature limit. Actually, the usual temperature for this kind of fruit is somewhere around 200 degrees - producers claim a lower one would interfere with the product's quality. Most of these fruits also have a lot of added sugar. Therefore, the ones that remain acceptable are those dried in the sun, since it is a natural method. The point is that you should do your best to avoid over-heated foods in an organic foods diet.

The base of a raw food diet is having discipline and being well motivated - in this manner, you have completed half the work. From that point on, it is simply a matter of choosing the right raw foods. In this, you must look for a few features: how healthy a certain product is, to what extent it was processed and whether it they cooked it at over 118F degrees or not.