Fruits and vegetables are great for your body, providing an abundance of biologically appropriate vitamins, minerals, and fiber to maintain optimal health. You might even know, both innately and through research, that the best way to eat fruits and vegetables are in their unadulterated living (raw) and fresh form. Since this is so different from what most of us have been taught our whole lives, the biggest question we get is, “then what do I eat?!” What a great question. We have great answers. Here is a big start. Follow our blog over the next couple weeks for more tips. Start at the grocery store. If all you buy is fresh fruits and vegetables, guess what you will have to eat? Follow these guidelines when you get there.

• Stay to the outside aisles in the grocery stores. The farther in the middle you go, the more processed foods you find. The produce and nuts can usually be found on the outside aisles so stick to those.
• Go for variety. You can also start out with what you know already and week-by-week incorporate different foods to try. Good first choices for fruits include those that you already enjoy eating, just make it a daily practice. Go for the apples, berries of all kinds, bananas, oranges, grapefruits, grapes, plums, and fruits that are locally grown or in season. Don’t stop at just these suggestions though. Try something new, too.

• Make a salad. Choose your lettuce: romaine, green leaf, red leaf, spinach, arugula, and sometimes iceberg. You can stick to one at a time or combine these to create a diversity of flavor and nutrients. If you are not yet a fan of big leafy greens a good starter tactic is to layer the freshly rinsed leaves on top of each other in a stack, roll them up and slice all at once into shreds! Add other veggies to your salad such as cucumber, tomatoes, carrots, fennel, broccoli, cauliflower, bell peppers, onion, and any others that you can think up. The more colorful the salad, the more complete your nutrients and minerals will be.

• Healthy fat is important! Don't forget to incorporate some good fats into your diet such as raw nuts like almonds, cashews, and walnuts or go for the raw nut butters that are delicious on top of bananas! Avocado is also a great source for good fats and nutrients and tastes amazing in salads and as guacamole.

• Visit other places too! Grocery stores are a great place to start, but don’t forget about your local farmers market, or you can drive yourself to the closest produce-bearing hub near you. Marvel in the beautiful colors that surround you, then bring those colors home!

What is the hardest part that you have found when trying to eat more raw foods? Let us know and we can incorporate the answers in our ongoing tip blogs!