Starting a raw food diet with the raw food conversion chart

Do you want to start a raw food diet and you don’t know how to transition?
Esme Stevens made a fantastic and easy raw food website for starters: thebestofrawfood.com.
This raw food conversion chart comes from the Best of Raw Food and tells you exactly how to transition.

Once you have decided that you want to try the raw food diet, you get a feeling of what not to eat. But now the question arises "what can you eat"? To help you with the transition to a raw food diet, Esmé made this raw food conversion chart, a great help for starters.

The conversion chart is divided into the following categories:

1. General Guidelines
   
2. Food
   
3. Beverages
   
4. Condiments and Spreads


5. Special Treats


6. Supplements

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1. General Guidelines

	Bad	Better	Best
Resources	Grocery store	Health store	Home made foods Green/farmer's market
Grown	Conventional grown	Organic foods Naturally grown No pesticides, herbicides, chemicals Local farmer's/green market	Wild Local and organic Own garden, sprouts
Processed	Junk Pre-packaged Fast food Grilled Microwaved BBQ Fried	Steamed Cooked Stir fried Baked at low temperatures	Raw Juiced Blended Dehydrated
Ingredients	Many ingredients Conservatives Sweeteners Chemicals E-numbers MSG, flavor enhancers, etc.	Few ingredients Ingredients you can pronounce	Home made All fresh ingredients

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2. Food

	Bad	Better	Best
Sugar	All forms: - Dextrose - Corn syrup - Rice syrup - Malt	Raw honey Agave Maple syrup Raw fresh fruits Raisins Dates	Stevia Vanilla Cinnamon
Artificial Sweeteners	All forms: - Aspartame - Splenda - Xylitol		Stevia Vanilla Cinnamon
Salt	Table salt	Unrefined sea salt Unrefined Himalaya salt	Organic salt from plants: Celery Seaweed Phytoplankton
Flour	White flours from: - Wheat - Corn - Rice, etc.	Organic whole flours from: - Spelt* - Kamut - Quinoa - Buckwheat - Millet - Brown rice* - Other non stored grains *stored grain	Sprouted grains Almond flour Coconut flour
Bread	From supermarket	Home made Health store Yeast free Wheat free Sprouted	Dehydrated flax crackers Essence bread Lettuce wraps
Pasta	White pasta	Organic spelt or buckwheat Sprouted pasta	(Raw) pasta made from squash
Fat	Butter Shortening Margarine Chemicals Trans fats Animal fats Fermented fats	Cold pressed coconut oil Olive oil Hemp seed oil Flax seed oil	Whole hemp seeds Whole organic flax Seeds Nuts Fresh coconut
Meat	Cold cuts Processed meat: Hot dogs Bacon Salami, etc	Organic raised Nitrites free E-numbers free (EU) MSG free, etc.	Vegan nut pate's Raw "meat" balls made from nuts/seeds
Fish	Farm raised fish	Wild fish Not endangered	Wild Alaskan fish Caught same day Cold smoked wild Alaskan salmon
Eggs	Conventional eggs	Organic farm free eggs	Egg replacers: - Agar agar - Flax seed - Psyllium fiber
Cheese	Cheese From cow Pasteurized Not organic Homogenized	Organic raw goat cheese Organic raw sheep's cheese	Nut cheese Seed cheese Raw milk from seeds & grains Raw coconut juice & milk
Milk & Yoghurt	Milk, yoghurt From cow Pasteurized Homogenized	Organic milk Raw goat's milk Almond milk from store Rice milk Coconut milk	Raw almond milk Raw milk from nuts Raw milk from seeds & grains Raw coconut juice & milk

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3. Beverages

	Bad	Better	Best
Water	Water from tap	Plastic bottled water Evian, Poland Spring, Fuji Water	Distilled water Low mineral spring water Bottled in glass
Thee	Black tea		Herbal teas
Coffee	Coffee Decaffeinated coffee	Coffee replacer	Raw ("hot") chocolate milk
Soft Drinks	Lemonade Jam Soft drinks Fruit juices	Organic fresh juices Flash pasteurized	Freshly squeezed juice: Fruit juices O.J. Vegetable juices Green powder juice Juice fresh from juice bar Superfood drinks Coconut water (fresh) Smoothies Home made lemonade w stevia

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4. Condiments and Spreads

	Bad	Better	Best
Tomato Ketchup	Tomato ketchup From supermarket	Organic, sugar free ketchup Home made ketchup	Raw ketchup
Mayonnaise	From super marked	Organic, no sugar added Home made	Raw home made mayonnaise Raw mayonnaise made from avocado Raw mayonnaise made from nuts/seeds
Pasta Sauces	From package Cans Mac n cheese Ready made	From health food store Organic Home made Pesto sauce Tomato sauce Organic Cheeses	Fresh raw tomato sauce Raw pesto Nut cheese Salsa
Bread Spreads	Cold cuts Processed meat Jam Chocolate spreads Cheese	Organic almond butter Jam/Jelly 100% fruit Raw honey Raw cheese	Avocado Pesto Tapenade Salsa Guacamole Nut pates Nut cheeses Coconut butter

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5. Special Treats

	Bad	Better	Best
Candy	Candy from supermarket Energy bars Diet bars Chips Cookies	Organic from health store: - Candy - Chips - Cookies - Popcorn	Larabars Raw Cookies Raw cakes Fresh fruits Dried fruits Dehydrated crackers/chips
Cookies, Cakes	Cookies from super marked Cakes from super marked	Organic from health store Home made cookies Home made cakes	Raw cookies & cakes Raw cakes & pies Dehydrated cookies

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6. Supplements

	Bad	Better	Best
Supplements Vitamins	Supplements Vitamins From supermarket From drugstore	Supplements from some small companies	Whole foods supplements Super foods Green powders

For the best raw food website for starters, go to http://www.thebestofrawfood.com/