Anything sugary that you put into your body – whether it’s a slice of pound cake or a slice of a peach – is bad for you.  It spikes your blood sugar, causes Diabetes, makes your children go nuts, increases belly fat, on and on…

But this hatred of all things sweet is not just limited to the cooked food world.

Most raw foodists are very wary of the sweet stuff and shun eating more than a piece or two of fruit a day.  Some even eliminate fruit altogether, for fear of Candida overgrowth and fermentation in the intestines

In fact, the most sugar-bashing I have seen has come from RAW FOODISTS!

But is this really true?  Is all sugar really created equal and, therefore…evil?!

We Have a Sweet Tooth For a Reason

How many times have you heard someone claim they have a “sweet tooth”?

How many times have you finished a big starchy, meaty cooked meal and wanted nothing more than a big bowl of ice cream or a piece of chocolate to truly satisfy you?

In my cooked food days, a meal was never complete if I didn’t finish off with a cookie, candy, or pastry…or two.

There’s a reason for this sweet obsession and the reason is clear: humans need sugar!

Just look at the way your body processes food.  Every single thing you eat – carbohydrate, protein or even fat – is broken down into sugar (glucose).

This is the only way your cells can utilize the food for fuel.

So…if our cells must break everything down into glucose anyway, wouldn’t it be efficient and make sense to eat food that is already in this form?

And wouldn’t it be even MORE efficient and make MORE sense to get this sugar from a healthy, whole, easy-to-digest source?

But I’m getting ahead of myself…

Refined Sugar vs. Fresh Fruit

Of course, you can’t just eat ANY ole’ sugary substance and become a beacon of health.  Unlike what modern medicine, media, and mainstream raw foodists will have you believe, all sugar is NOT the same.

I’m the first to admit that junky, empty calorie, processed and packaged foods like breakfast cereal, candy bars and fruit gummies are NOT healthy and contain little to no nutritional value whatsoever.

But these foods are not unhealthy because they contain simple sugars glucose and fructose.  They are unhealthy because they contain *refined* sugars!

Even the so-called “natural” products containing “natural fruit flavors” are still completely refined.  They contain nothing more than the concentrated sweetness of the whole, raw ingredient they are meant to resemble.

Fresh fruit, on the other hand, is well…fresh!  When you eat whole, ripe fruit, you are getting all of the simple sugars completely unprocessed, along with the oh-so vital water, fiber, and other necessary nutrients.

No refined sugar.  No nutrient damage.  No preservatives.

Yet another problem only tied to *processed* sugar products?  Many of them are quite fatty.  Just look at some of the ingredients in America’s favorite dessert dishes:

• Apple pie – granulated sugar, butter (100% fat), eggs (63% fat)
• Brownies – granulated sugar, butter, eggs
• Chocolate chip cookies – granulated sugar, butter, eggs

Are you seeing a pattern?

When eating these foods, you get a double whammy: nutrionally-ruined refined sugar AND copious amounts of fat!

And I’m sure I don’t have to tell you the problem with eating a diet even moderately high in fat…

And eating this fat with copious amounts of sugar?!  Oh man, that’s just *begging* for trouble!

Ditch the Processed Desserts, Go for the Gold (Apple)

Moral of today’s story? All sugar is clearly NOT created equal OR evil!

When it comes to refined sweets, most people have it right.  Processed sugary foods provide nutritionally deficient calories and hold no place in a healthy diet.

But when it comes to WHOLE, RIPE, RAW sweets, ignore the hype and use your better judgment.  Our species thrives on simple sugars and the best way to give your body what it needs is to eat a diet high in delicious and nutritious fruit!

Go raw and be fit,

Swayze

P.S. Looking for recipes high in delicious and nutritious fruit?  Check out my raw recipe book “Low Fat, Fruit Filled, High Fun Raw Recipes” at the link below:

www.fitonraw.com/low-fat-raw-vegan-favorites

Perhaps you can relate…

Reason #1: I Have NO Excuse Not to Exercise

I began exercising many years before I even knew about a raw food diet.  I knew that moving my body was good for me, but I didn’t necessarily want to do it.

Luckily, I could always find excuses to skip a workout while eating cooked foods…

• I’m too tired.
• My knees ache.
• My joints are sore.
• I have a headache.
• I’m too bloated

On and on and on…

Now that I’m on this crazy fruit-focused raw food diet, I have no more excuses!

I never feel too tired or too lazy to work out.  My knees are in tip-top shape and my joints never ache anymore.  I can’t even remember the last time I had a headache or felt yucky and bloated.

Even *after* my workouts, I’m still totally alert and ready to go, go go.  And my recovery time is great, too…which just means less rest days and more work!

And as much as I hate to admit it, I actually enjoy working out and look forward to it.

Strange…

Reason #2: I NEVER Have a Reason to Skip Class

You see, when I used to eat cooked food (even vegan), I could count on getting sick at least 4 times a year AND catching the flu about every two years.

You know what that meant for me?  No School!

With my healthy fruit-based raw food diet, I never get sick anymore and so I have no reason to ditch class.

Drat!

Luckily, I graduated from school this year so I don’t have to worry about missing a class anymore.  But it does still hurt my heart to think of all those times I could have ditched school to lounge around in my pj’s, doped up on cold meds and chicken noodle soup, watching mindless morning TV.

So if you actually *want* to have energy to exercise and stop catching “inevitable” seasonal colds, then I suggest adopting a healthy raw food diet as soon as possible.

But who in their right mind would want that?

Go raw and be fit,

Swayze

P.S. I hope you enjoyed this cheeky little post.  I certainly enjoyed writing it.

In all seriousness, going low fat raw vegan really *will* bring you all these wonderful benefits as well as a myriad of others.

And if you really DO hate sweet fruit, maybe some tasty raw, fruit-filled recipes are in order.  Just check out my book Low Fat, Fruit Filled, High Fun Raw Recipes at the link below:

www.fitonraw.com/low-fat-raw-vegan-favorites

The individuals who believe this are simply not examining the whole picture when it comes to determining a foods absorption rate.

Glycemic Index

The glycemic index is used as a way to measure how quickly particular foods are digested and how quickly the sugars in those foods enter into the blood stream.

For example, pineapple rates 59 on the glycemic index.

A glycemic index rating of 1-55 is low, 56-69 is medium, and 70 and above is high.

By only relying on the glycemic index, it appears as though many fruits are medium-to-high glycemic foods.  In other
words, the simple sugars in these foods enter your bloodstream very quickly.

The problem here is that the glycemic index only measures the rate at which the sugar enters the blood, not the amount of sugar in a particular amount (let’s say a serving) of food.

That’s where the oft-ignored glycemic load comes in.

Glycemic Load

In The 80/10/10 Diet, Dr. Graham explains the glycemic load and how it is necessary to truly make sense of sugar
digestion.

The glycemic load is calculated by multiplying a food’s glycemic index value by the amount of available carbohydrate per serving (grams of carbohydrates less fiber), then dividing by 100.  Thus, fruits, which are, mostly water, have a low glycemic load even though they rate high on the
glycemic index.

For example, watermelon rates high on the glycemic index at 72.  However, its glycemic load is low at only 4.

A glycemic load rating of 1-10 is low, 11-19 is medium, and 20 and above is high.

As it turns out, all fruits rate low to medium on the glycemic load scale.

So stop worrying about eating “high-glycemic” fruit and go EAT MORE FRUIT!

Go raw and be fit,

Swayze

Do you find them bland and boring?

Here is a quick tip for you that will make sure you are getting the most flavor out of your raw fruits and veggies.

Forget the Fridge

Many people like to keep most or all of their raw foods in the fridge to extend the food’s shelf life.  This is fine for some fruits, such as strawberries, which tend to rot quickly out on the counter.

The problem is that when food is cold, it is impossible to get the full flavor of the food.  You miss out on all the little subtleties.

Even the texture is changed.

What’s the solution?  A few hours before you plan to have your next meal, simply take the food out of the fridge so that it can get to room temperature!

It takes seconds and I promise raw produce tastes so much better at room temperature than when eaten straight from the fridge.  I do this with all my food, even my greens and non-sweet fruits.

Give it a try!

Go raw and be fit,

Swayze

P.S. Still not enjoying the taste of simple sweet fruits, tender leafy greens, and nuts and seeds?  Still turning to cooked food for flavor and comfort?

Perhaps my step-by-step, daily program can help:

21 Days to Conquer Your Cooked Food Cravings

A Daily Guide for Ending Cravings on a Raw Food Diet

www.cookedfoodcravings.com

In the spirit of the holiday, I have a little gift for you today. No, it isn’t a box of chocolates, a thoughtful card, or undersized lingerie (tee hee)…

It’s a raw food tip, of course!

How to Stop Bananas From Ripening Too Fast

Click here to view the embedded video.

Go raw and be fit,

Swayze