Fresh Fruits and Greens: The REAL Raw Superfoods
Spirulina, bee pollen, and hemp protein powder are just some of the “superfoods” heavily marketed to raw foodists and other health conscious folk.
These foods are promoted for their superior nutritional content, being good sources of various vitamins and minerals, as well as antioxidant and protein-rich.
But as I show here, these products are not so super at all. In fact, the REAL raw superfoods are plain and boring fresh fruits, greens, nuts and seeds.
Don’t believe me? Check it out:
SIDE NOTE: The following percentages given are based on the Percent Daily Values (%DV) for a 2,000 calorie diet.
Vitamins
Fruits are known for being an excellent source of vitamins, including vitamins A, B6, C, E, and K and folate.
For instance, just 3 medium mangoes (605 calories) contains 10,907 IU of vitamin A (218% DV), 1.2 mg of vitamin B6 (60% DV), 366.9 mg of vitamin C (611% DV), 9.07 mg of vitamin E (30% DV), 42.3 mcg of vitamin K (52% DV), and 433 mcg of folate (108% DV).
Greens are also great sources of these vitamins, especially vitamins A, C, K and folate. For example, one head of romaine contains 54,525 IU of vitamin A (1,090% DV), 25 mg of vitamin C (41% DV), 641.6 mcg of vitamin K (802% DV), 851 mcg of folate (212% DV).
Minerals
While fruits do contain necessary minerals like calcium, iron, and magnesium, greens typically contain a higher amount. That’s why it’s so important to get in your greens in addition to sweet fruits.
For instance, one bunch of spinach (12 ounces) contains 337 mg of calcium (34% DV), 9.2 mg of iron (51% DV), 269 mg of magnesium (67% DV), 167 mg of phosphorus (17% DV) and 1,897 mg of potassium (54% DV).
Nuts and seeds are also good sources of minerals. Just one ounce of brazil nuts contains 107 mg of magnesium (26% DV), 206 mg of phosphorus (20% DV), 0.49 mg of copper (24% DV), and 543.5 mcg of selenium (776% DV).
Antioxidants
Antioxidants are substances that inhibit oxidization. Within the body, these substances help to counteract damage caused by free radicals (unstable molecules that have been linked to aging, inflammation, and cancer).
Antioxidants include vitamins A, C, and E, as well as beta-carotene (a precursor to vitamin A primarily found in fruits and vegetables), lutein, lycopene, and selenium.
As I’ve shown above, it’s easy to get enough of vitamins A, C, and E and selenium from raw fruits, greens, nuts and seeds. But what about lutein and lycopene?
Lutein, a carotenoid necessary for healthy eyesight, is found in high amounts in kale, spinach, green peas, zucchini, pistachios, broccoli, and kiwi. Lycopene is found in gac (a Southeast Asian fruit), tomatoes, watermelon, pink grapefruit, pink guava, and papaya.
If you eat a diet of raw fruits, greens, nuts and seeds, you will get plenty of antioxidants. In addition, you’ll avoid many of the health factors – such as eating meat, cholesterol, fried foods, too much fat, drinking alcohol, and smoking – that lead to excess free radicals in the first place.
Protein
As I spoke about here, the human body does not need much protein at all. As long as you are meeting your caloric needs, you’re likely getting enough protein.
According to this 2007 report by the World Health Organization, the average protein requirement for adults is 0.66 grams per kilogram of bodyweight per day, while the safe level comes to 0.83 g/kg per day.
So a woman weighing 120 lbs (54.4 kg) would need about 45 grams of protein each day (54.4 x .83). It’s actually very easy to meet and even exceed this “safe” requirement on a raw food diet high in fruit and greens.
Check out this sample low fat raw vegan menu plan:
- Breakfast: 5 medium bananas
- Lunch: 4 mangoes
- Mid-Afternoon: 8 peaches
- Dinner: Salad of 1 bunch spinach, 1 cucumber, 4 med. tomatoes, and 1 ounce brazil nuts
This example plan comes to 1,975 calories consisting of 448 grams of carbohydrates, 26 grams of fat, and 47 grams of protein. That’s MORE than enough protein for the average 120 lb female…all from just fruits, greens, and an ounce of nuts!
Calories are King
You can’t just eat a few bananas, a bowl of grapes, or a normal-portioned (read: tiny) salad and expect to get all the nutrients you need. If you wish to get enough vitamin C, folate, magnesium, iron, what have you, you have to get in your calories.
So save your money for the real superfoods: fresh fruit, veggies, nuts and seeds. You can get all the protein, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants you need from a healthy raw food diet predominated by fruit with generous portions of greens and limited amounts of nuts, seeds, avocados, and other fatty foods.
Go raw and be fit,
Swayze
P.S. Are you finding it impossible to maintain a REAL superfood-rich raw diet because of crazy cravings? Are you constantly tempted by unhealthy salty, fatty raw food dishes and even your old cooked food favorites?
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“How to Conquer Your Cooked Food Cravings Once and for All”
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13 comments
I eat 12 big bananas mixed together with two heads of letuce or other green for breakfast.
For lunch I would eat about 15 wild medium mangoes.
Mid afternoon 2 kilos of strawberries.
Dinner, two heads of letuce (or any other kind of salad) with a kilo of tomatoes an avocado and other season stuf
Is it normal ?
[Reply]
Swayze….I have found your philosophy to be refreshing. You helped me gain perspective and balance in areas I didnt even know I needed it.
I have always wondered about the various powders I use, and I justify by the notion that they are ‘low temp dehydrated’. I would prefer the whole fruit, but I wont be getting fresh camu camu, noni, lucuma, or acai in LA anytime soon.
One of the only things I have felt out of balance in regards to your philosophy is the raw vegan menu plan in the above post. I do believe a person can become radiant and healthy on that menu, it just seems out of balance to eat 5 bananas, 4 mangoes or 8 peaches at one sitting. I have eaten 3 mangoes before at one sitting and thought better of it in terms of doing it again.
There is nothing harmful about it, and I know most people would have huge health improvements eating such a regiment….I simply would not want to put 5 bananas in my tummy at one sitting.
I do want to underscore I am not looking for a debate, I’ve been down that path too many years…I feel arguing diet is like talking politics or religion.
My breakfast and/or lunch includes: coconut meat/water, raw nut mylk, a few powdered cliche superfoods, chia or flax or hemp, aloe vera… blended and topped with fresh berries and cacao nibs. I snack on oranges and mangoes.
I suppose one would argue that there is too much going on with that vs a simple plate of bananas. Hmmm.
cheers and keep up your fantastic work, reasoning, and philosophy
matt g
[Reply]
Swayze Reply:
June 14th, 2011 at 7:25 PM
Hi Matt,
Sounds like a pretty complicated and high fat breakfast. I’d definitely recommend sticking with fresh fruit. And you don’t have to eat mono-meal (one fruit at a time). You could make a fruit smoothie, salad, soup, etc. You could even add greens for a green smoothie. The key is to focus on fruit and limit your fat intake.
Swayze
[Reply]
bobbi Reply:
September 14th, 2011 at 9:42 AM
Where I live (North), fruit is expensive…15 mangoes would cost $ 22.50 ! I just bought a basket of peaches and there were 6 large ones for $4.99 because they are in season… I am really interested in eating raw but my husband doesn’t want to, and wecan’t afford all the extra produce…any suggestion son how to make it more affordable? I know most people would say: “Okay…how can you afford not to, for your health?” I just went to a membership store and it cost me almost $ 400 I can’t afford to be doing this when I am bringing
in double that in pay!
[Reply]
Swayze,
Jumping around.
Thanks.
Really enjoy your point of view. Read almost everything you wrote here! On dry brushing (can’t spend 15 minutes, to busy) on low fat, on you’re healthy view. I am on 90% rawfood since 4 months and love it. Lost 40 pounds, feel happy, no cravings nor problems. Even the cats and dog are on raw food now and they are happy
When we started I did everything according to the “book”. Superfoods, dried stuff … but slowly we needed less and all those superfoods became to complicated.
Reading your blog asserted me in following my intuition
[Reply]
Swayze, I really like what you said. Powdered superfoods are useless. Eat real foods like fruits and greens and you get everything you need. If you have trouble eating a lot of Fruity blend it into a smoothie, or eat green smoothies. Sometimes I’ll just eat green smoothies when I’m in a rush, and to my surprise I even felt better and more energized !
Keep the info coming , Its great to read your articles, It keeps reminding me why I eat raw and also learn some new things.
Thanks
[Reply]
stillewaters Reply:
June 16th, 2011 at 10:20 AM
I experienced this also : that smoothies give you a lot of energy !
Easy to understand : with the electric mixer or blender , you break the cell-structures of your food , much more than it would be possible to achieve with your dental system only
the digestion of a smoothie is always without any problems ( smoothie made without nuts , without fats , without starches )
Even when it sometimes happens that i have made too much quantity of a smoothie , i never experienced digestive problems
( although kept cool in the refrigerator , it is also good the next day without any noticeable change in taste )
[Reply]
good work , wonderful ,keep going
[Reply]
Very well explained , but tell me in a simple way how to use raw spinach leaves in terms of selecting,washing,dehydrating& eating at dinner,as market spinach is not properly cleaned.
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I always combine many fruits and vegetables together : eaten together their benificial protective properties are enhanced
than it would otherwise be the case when eaten in mono-meals
( using only 1 kind of fruit )
This enhancement is called “synergetic effect” ( researched in many animal experiments about cancer-prevention or cancertumor-reduction )
For example : an experiment with rats involved the weight-reduction of tumors with changes to their diet
With “lycopene” alone ( extracted from tomatoes ) the weight of their tumors , were reduced by 18 %
With only tomato-powder the weight of tumors were reduced
by 34 %
With only broccoli-powder the weight of tumors were reduced by 42 %
In a diet with tomato-powder and with broccoli-powder
added together , the weight of their tumors were reduced
by 52 % , thus more than the animals who recieved only tomato-powder or only broccoli-powder
[Reply]
Other benefits when combining different kinds of fruits and vegetables :
- one is avoiding “boredom” in his/hers diet , because you experience the many different kind of creative tastes
- one is combining the beneficial properties of fruits and the beneficial properties of vegetables ( both are needed )
With fruits i always use soft and tender vegetables like celery, sweet bell-peppers, grape-tomatoes (although i see them now as an acid fruit ) , fennel , sliced celeriac , ….
- one is avoiding some possible allergic reactions
to some kind of food ( because you never end up eating too much from it )
- an example where it is better to avoid a mono-meal : kiwi’s are very rich in oxalic acid , and it would not be very wise to eat 10 kiwi’s together ( even if they have benificial properties to protect against “age-related macular degeneration” )
- i am not quite sure if eating 10 bananas at one mono-meal
will digest very well ?
( Because banana’s are so very rich in starches , i will never try it myself )
[Reply]
Hi Swayze,
Thank you so much for your wealth of info!!! This way of eating makes so much sense to me so thanks for making me aware of it!!:)
I have been experimenting with different ways to enjoy my greens and get enough in on a daily basis. I find it impossible to chew my way through it and am pushing it to fit them all in to a smoothie. What are your thoughts on consuming green juices?
Thanks again,
Suraya
New Zealand
[Reply]
Swayze Reply:
February 9th, 2012 at 3:15 PM
Hi Suraya,
Green juices are okay, but blending or eating whole is better. If you’re really struggling to get in your greens, juicing is better than not eating them at all.
[Reply]
Leave a comment, beautiful.