Maintaining a strict raw food or high-fruit diet is typically not easy during winter season.
Often, the problem is with lack of variety, reduced quality, and the increased cost of fresh produce. Apart from that. there's also the issue of periodically or constantly feeling cold (which can resolve itself in due time) and unsatisfied regardless of how much raw and fresh produce you eat.
If you can succeed with it, and it’s serving you well, that’s phenomenal – keep it up. We just encourage everyone to do the best they can.
More important yet, don't create more stress for yourself as a result of trying to stick to a diet that's ultimately too strict for you. It'll be counterproductive to your long-term success.
Each person's individual needs, circumstances, and what they're personally willing to do should always dictate what's the most balanced and productive approach to take during a detoxification program and outside of it.
These personal variables are always in fluctuation and therefore the approach should always be adjusted accordingly. If you can grasp this firmly, it'll help you circumvent typical pitfalls such as fear of heating food too much to preserve enzymes, or being fearful of high-fat foods.
Understand also that, from a dietary and environmental perspective, as well as the psychological effects commonly involved (think winter depression), the winter season isn't a proper, easy, or motivational time for deep tissue cleansing. Nevertheless, some people may need to buckle up and do whatever it takes to turn their health around.
I agree that cold food in cold weather is a little out of balance.
Dr. Morse, Questions & Answers 216 @ 23:55 (Source)
During this time, cooked or mildly warmed dishes can and often do play a significant role in keeping a person on track. Such dishes are simply another set of tools you can use to work yourself through your healing journey until the season changes and things get easier. Cooked food can also form part of a longer transition period as a means of easing your way into an exclusively raw, plant-based diet.
Stewed or baked fruit; steamed, boiled, or baked vegetables; vegetable soups; and herbal teas/infusions. These are all options you can look at for keeping warm and satisfied.
Fats and Spices:
When trying to maintain an exclusively raw, plant-based diet during cold seasons, some people prioritize a high intake of sprouted grains, foods rich in fats – herein nuts, seeds and various oils – and also use spices (e.g. cayenne pepper, ginger, turmeric, ceylon cinnamon, cloves, cumin, nutmeg, mace, saffron, etc.) to stay warm.
Again, all the above are [dietary] tools we can work with to be used at the right time. What, when, how much, and how often to consume or make use of these food items is best determined by your individual situation.
As general rules of thumb, we don’t recommend:
- nuts and seeds if in pain, if trying to reverse kidney damage, gastrointestinal problems, if attempting to rebuild the liver/gallbladder, or if working on health problems related to the nervous systems
- sprouted grains if dealing with gastrointestinal issues and preferably also not if in pain
- excessive, frequent, or otherwise unnecessary ingestion of hot spices (cayenne, black pepper, etc.), as these act as irritants on mucosal tissues leading to excess mucus production
- frequent ingestion of oils if dealing with a distressed liver/gallbladder
Apart from that, the above items can easily form part of your diet. Unless undergoing some form of a specific cleanse, then, if possible, always aim to have fresh fruit as the first meal of the day and as snacks throughout the day.
When eating nuts and seeds, have them together with dried fruit or as part of a salad which makes for better intestinal transit and elimination of the digested nuts/seeds.
Remember that you can warm your raw salads and soups (use an oven or dehydrator). Some also warm their bowl(s)/plate(s), which they’ll use before serving.
Favorable oils one can use include:
- almond oil
- argan oil
- avocado oil
- coconut oil
- evening primrose oil
- hemp oil
- olive oil (stone-crushed)
- pumpkinseed oil
- sacha inchi oil
- walnut oil
- borage oil (treated as supplemental oil)
- Black seed (Nigella sativa) oil (treated as supplemental oil)
Diet aside, keep your home warm, stay well-clothed for insulation, and be sure to consider checking the condition of your thyroid gland for optimal body temperature, which, apart from anemia, ultimately determines how easy or complex of a time you’ll have staying warm.