Raw Food Dehydration
health benefits
Many people are now
choosing to follow a raw food diet for the
extreme health benefits of eating only raw,
unprocessed foods. One way to follow this
type of diet is to dehydrate raw foods, so
that they are conveniently available. Dried
vegetables and fruits provide convenient and
delicious additions to all types of meals.
Raw foods, also
known as living foods, are uncooked, free
from animal products, organic, easy to
digest and highly nutritious. Anyone
following this lifestyle consumes a large
portion of uncooked, unprocessed and often
organic foods in their diet.
Some raw
food dehydration requires
refreshing the dried food. Refreshing is
accomplished by soaking or cooking the dried
food in water until the desired volume is
restored. Depending on the food being
refreshed, you would adjust the amount of
water and the length of time.
Here are some
general guidelines for refreshing various
dried foods:
- Root, stem and
seed vegetables are soaked for 30 to 90
minutes in enough cold water to keep
them immersed.
- Spinach, kale,
cabbage, chard or tomatoes are refreshed
by covering with warm water.
- Dried fruits
are soaked in warm water. Of course,
dried fruits can be eaten as is, and do
not need to be refreshed to enjoy.
Another reason
raw food dehydration
is so popular is that dehydrating does not
subject the foods to high temperatures
associated with traditional canning. This
has an added nutritional benefit because
when a raw food is heated to an internal
temperature of over 120F, the majority of
its nutritional value is lost, particularly
the enzymes. In addition, the canning
process also leaks out water-soluble
minerals and vitamins, thus depleting the
nutritional value even further.
Another added bonus
of raw food dehydration is
the ability to make a beverage like a juice
or smoothie using the powdered fruits and
vegetables from the dehydration process.
This allows you to boost the nutritional
value and content of your raw food beverage
even further!
Visit Excalibur
Dehydrator online store to learn more about
the health benefits, ease and convenience or
raw food dehydration. |
