12 Steps to Raw Foods: How to End Your Dependency on Cooked Food

Why do we overeat time and time again? Why do we make poor diet choices while we want to be healthy? What makes losing weight so difficult? These and many other vital questions are addressed in 12 Steps to Raw Foods in an open and sincere dialogue. Based on the latest scientific research, Victoria Boutenko explains the numerous benefits of choosing a diet of fresh rather than cooked foods. This book contains self-tests and questionnaires that help the reader to determine if they have hidden eating patterns that undermine their health. Using examples from life, the author explores the most common reasons for people to make unhealthy eating choices.

Rather than simply praising the benefits of raw foods, this book offers helpful tips and coping techniques to form and maintain new, healthy patterns. Learn how to make a raw food restaurant card that makes dining with co-workers easy and enjoyable. Discover three magic sentences that enable you to refuse your mother-in-laws apple pie without offending her. Find out how to sustain your chosen diet while traveling. These are only a few of the many scenarios that Boutenko outlines.

Written in a convenient 12-step format, this book guides the reader through the most significant physical, psychological, and spiritual phases of the transition from cooked to raw foods. Embracing the raw food lifestyle is more than simply turning off the stove. Such a radical change in the way we eat affects all aspects of life. Boutenko touches on the human relationship with nature, the value of supporting others, and the importance of living in harmony with people who dont share the same point of view on eating. Already a classic, this enhanced second edition is aimed at anyone interested in improving their health through diet.

In this revised edition of her highly praised book, "12 steps to Raw Foods," award-winning author Victoria Boutenko outlines the many advantages of eating fresh rather than cooked foods. Providing the most current scientific research, she guides readers out of “ cooked-food dependency” through the physical, psychological, and spiritual phases of the raw-foods lifestyle. Boutenko also covers practical aspects, offering helpful tips and coping strategies for forming and maintaining healthy new patterns. Boutenko’ s expert knowledge combined with her engaging style makes this book useful for seasoned raw-fooders as well as anyone interested in healthy living.

Victoria Boutenko lives in Ashland, Oregon. She is the author of Green For Life, Raw Family, 12 Steps to Raw Foods, and several raw recipe books. She teaches classes on raw food all over the world, and is an adjunct professor at Southern Oregon University. As a result of her teachings, many raw food communities have formed in numerous countries. She continues traveling worldwide sharing her gourmet raw cuisine and her inspiring story of change, faith, and determination.

Boutenkos Green For Life was nominated as a finalist in health and medicine for the Independent Publishers Award (IPPY) in 2006. She has published a monthly newsletter since 2003 on her website www.rawfamily.com. Boutenko contributes regularly to a number of periodic publications including Get Fresh, Just Eat an Apple, Alive, Natuurstemmingen, Neva, Die Wurzel, Naturaleza Cruda, and many others. She is a leader in the raw food movement and her works are recognized as having a profound impact on the development of raw food communities across the globe. Boutenkos work is referenced in numerous books on the subject, and her books have been translated into nine languages. She has been a keynote speaker at a number of international expositions in Germany, England, Brazil, Canada, Belgium, Iceland, Holland, Jamaica, Spain, France, and the United States.

Foreword by Dr. Gabriel Cousens . . . xi

Authors Note . . . xv

Part 1 Why Raw Food?. . . 1

Chapter 1 Where My Search Began . . . 3

Chapter 2 What Was Missing in Our Raw Food Plan? . . . 13

Chapter 3 Ode to a Green Smoothie . . . 15

Chapter 4 Modern Science Studies Un-Cooking . . . 25

Chapter 5 What Is Life? . . . 36

Chapter 6 Your Body Never Makes Mistakes . . . 41

Chapter 7 What the First Humans Ate . . . 49

Chapter 8 Convenience versus Health . . . 59

Chapter 9 How My Family Eats . . . 65

Chapter 10 Bacteria-Natures Brilliant Invention . . . 70

Chapter 11 What About Insects? . . . 76

Part 2 Human Dependency on Cooked Food . . . 83

Chapter 12 Is It Really a Dependency? . . . 85

Chapter 13 How Important Is It To Be 100% Raw? . . . 90

Chapter 14 The Addictiveness of Common Foods . . . 96

Chapter 15 Looking for Comfort in Cooked Foods . . . 107

Chapter 16 Feeding Inner Hunger . . . 112

Part 3 How to End Your Dependency on Cooked Food. . . 117

Step 1: Becoming Aware of the Problem . . . 119

Step 2: Nourishing Your Body to Eliminate Cravings . . . 130

Step 3: Acquiring Skills and Equipment . . . 134

Basic Formula for Delicious Soup . . . 146

Basic Formula for Delicious Nut Burgers . . . 147

Basic Formula for Delicious Candy or Cake Dough . . . 147

Formula for Delicious Dressing . . . 148

Basic Formula for Delicious Nut or Seed Milk . . . 148

Step 4: I Love You No Matter What You Eat . . . 149

Step 5: Avoiding Temptations . . . 161

Step 6: Getting Support . . . 169

Step 7: Gratitude and Forgiveness . . . 175

Step 8: Actualizing Dreams . . . 181

Step 9: Embracing Other Healthy Habits . . . 189

Step 10: Gaining Clarity . . . 202

Step 11: Searching for Ones Spiritual Mission . . . 207

Step 12: Giving Support to Others . . . 213

Part 4 Recipes . . . 219

Raw Family Green Smoothies . . . 221

Apple—Kale—Lemon . . . 221

Peach—Spinach . . . 221

Mango—Weeds . . . 221

Strawberry—Banana—Romaine . . . 222

Pear—Chard—Mint . . . 222

Raw Family Green Soup . . . 222

Valyas Stupendously Magnificent,

Outstandingly Exceptional,

Green Spinach Soup . . . 223

Real Rawssian Borscht . . . 223

Chowder . . . 225

Chili . . . 226

Gazpacho . . . 226

I Cant Believe Its Just Cabbage . . . 227

Igors Crackers . . . 228

Live Garden Burgers . . . 229

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Live Burgers, Low-Fat Version . . . 230

Live Fries . . . 231

Tomato Basil Sauce . . . 231

Live Pizza . . . 232

Nori Rolls . . . 234

Nut or Seed Cheese . . . 235

Valyas Spicy Almond Cheese . . . 236

Sunny Spread . . . 236

Sergeis Hummus . . . 237

Generic Cake Recipe . . . 238

Sergeis Young Coconut Dream Cake . . . 239

Un-Chocolate Cake . . . 240

Sergeis Amazing Truffles . . . 241

Allas Cranberry Scones . . . 242

Sergeis Butternut Squash Cookies . . . 242

Sesame Cookies . . . 243

Morning Cereal . . . 244

Nut or Seed Milk . . . 244

Notes . . . 245

Bibliography . . . 257

Index . . . 259