In My Mind’s Zen Garden

A while back I posted an article entitled Boosting Your Energy Level With Smaller Meals.

I still stand by that bit of advice. I firmly believe that overloading the body with one huge meal is very detrimental to one’s overall energy level. It causes all the body’s energy to be drawn toward the digestive system in order to handle the overload. Not only that, overeating at any given meal is just hard on the body, period. One might feel in “food coma” heaven, but it doesn’t really help maintain a higher energy level for performance and efficiency.

Raw Foods and Performance

But let’s talk about the relationship of energy level and what goes into our body that can help boost that energy level. I believe raw foods is a way to improve one’s energy level and performance.

Caffeine and Sugar versus Raw Foods

By performance, I mean everyday activity and how one is generally feeling minute-by-minute. Usually, foods and beverages that contain sugar and caffeine can boost energy levels for a brief time. But then, as everyone knows, the body “crashes” and we lose that energy and drive, so we try to re-energize with another dose of sugar and/or caffeine.

Raw Foods are Easier To Digest

Raw foods contain live enzymes that aid the body in digestion and other internal processes, and because raw foods are in their raw, original state, they are very easily digestible, and thus the body doesn’t have to spend too much of its own energy in digesting the food eaten.

Better Nutrition To Calorie Ratio

Another value of raw foods is that generally they are packed with more nutrition than cooked foods. And when one primarily eats a raw food diet, this pretty much doesn’t include all the junk food and fast food that’s readily available out there, and which is not healthy for the body. Junk food and fast food also contain lots of empty calories, less nutritional value, and also contains additives, preservatives, residual pesticides, etc, etc… that the body doesn’t need.

Raw Vegetable Juices For More Energy

In my own experiments with raw foods, I’ve found that I get the most energy when juicing vegetables like carrots, cucumbers and celery. In fact, any kind of raw vegetable juice is ideal for boosting energy levels consistently. And trust me, being a 50 year old drummer, I need the same energy level I had when I was a 20 years old in order to maintain the same level of drumming at 50. And to be perfectly honest, I am a better, more energetic drummer now than I was back then. I just had youth on my side at 20.

What To Eat On A Raw Food Diet

So, what foods does one eat while on a raw food diet?

In Summary

I could go into another article about the benefits of raw juices. But, just to share with you some favorites for boosting energy levels, I like to juice watermelons, carrots, cucumbers, and celery. And beet juice is quite good too.

After about a week on a mostly raw foods diet, you’ll notice a dramatic increase in your energy level. And it won’t be a quick, fleeting boost like what coffee or tea can give you… it’ll be a dramatic, constant energy boost that can carry you for the remainder of the day. So, if you’re interested in experimenting with a raw foods diet to give you more energy for performance, try it for a week and see what it can do.