Raw Mistake # 5: Buying unnecessary appliances.

The topic of appliances seems to confuse many raw foodists. 

They often get caught up trying to decide whether they should buy this juicer or that juicer, or what kind of dehydrator, blender... etc. 

My advice to you is “don’t waste your money!”

Not only should you be able to get by on a raw-vegan diet with minimal appliances — you should excel on it.

The fundamental point of eating raw is to embrace the simplicity of it. 

You may hear all sorts of press about how wonderful juicer ‘X’ is, for example.  How it can extract every last drop of juice from a carrot or a blade of wheatgrass in seconds, or launch an astronaut into space. Don't let these marketing claims sway you.

I'm not saying they're inaccurate or untrue.  Not at all.  I'm just saying "who cares?".  These machines may be impressive and of great quality, but they’re unnecessary.  In fact, in some ways they’re counter-productive.

One of the greatest benefits of a raw-vegan diet is that you’re eating whole foods.  That means the water and the fiber are still present.  When you juice your food you lose the fiber.  This causes several problems.

The obvious one is that, without fiber, your body can’t effectively keep your digestive processes moving at the proper pace.  We rely upon the fiber in our foods to allow our intestines to keep pushing everything along.  Remove that fiber and things grind to a halt.

Another, less obvious, problem relates to blood sugar levels.  When you eat a whole orange, it’s digested at a certain rate and the sugars are absorbed and used by your body with ease. When you drink a glass of orange juice, however, the process happens too quickly.  There is virtually no delay in digestion because the fiber's missing.  The sugars are absorbed at an extremely quick rate and as a result your blood sugar level can spike, followed by a quick drop again as the ‘sugar rush’ subsides. 

This quick rising and falling is unhealthy and uncomfortable — potentially causing energy swings and headaches.  Furthermore, it can be of significantly greater concern for people who already have blood sugar problems.

I own several ‘elite’ juicers, but I never use them.  They sit in my basement in their boxes.  The only one I ever use is a simple citrus juicer for squeezing some lemon juice for the occasional dressing recipe. 

I don’t own a dehydrator either.  Like I explained in Raw Mistake # 2, it’s tougher to digest a dehydrated, concentrated food.  Why spend a bunch of time and energy turning an ideal, hydrated, whole food into a concentrated, dried food?

Not only is it a waste of effort, but it undermines the whole point of what you’re trying to achieve here — eating the most optimal foods in their most natural form.  

I doubt that you’ll be motivated to make any of those long, drawn-out, dried recipes anyway.  As I learned in the early going, it’s painfully time-consuming and the results aren’t what you’re looking for anyway.

Don’t waste your time or money on expensive juicers or dehydrators.

There is one appliance that is definitely worth the investment, however. 

That’s the Vita-Mix. 

From forty paces, you might call it a blender, but in reality this machine is infinitely greater than any department store blender.  The considerable power of a Vita-Mix and its much greater size allow it to handle jobs that your typical blender would never come close to managing.

The Vita-Mix is the ultimate smoothie-making machine, and the convenience factor will pay for itself many, many times over.  If I didn’t buy myself a Vita-Mix years ago, I truly believe I wouldn’t have stayed with my raw-vegan diet.

I literally use mine several times, EVERY DAY. 

If I ever lost mine, I’d buy a replacement immediately.  It’s that much of an asset to me. 

Telling you the dozens of reasons why a Vita-Mix is THE must have appliance for any health-conscious person is a project in itself.  In fact, I'm so keen on this machine that I dedicated a page of my site to touting the Vita-Mix’s merits.

You can check it out right here:

In summary, don't get caught up over-buying appliances for your new raw-vegan kitchen. 

The only appliance you’ll need is a Vita-Mix for making smoothies.  Other than that, you really won’t need anything.

Remember:

• We aren’t cooking anything, for obvious reasons.  
• We aren’t dehydrating because fruits containing their natural moisture are much more readily digestible. 
• We aren’t juicing because a whole fruit is vastly superior to fruit juice. 

When you look at it that way, how many appliances do you really need?

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Real-World Raw Health and Nutrition:
The raw food diet made easy for your busy life!

Mike Dillman is a self-taught raw-vegan who began his journey nearly five years ago.   Having worked his way through all the challenges firsthand, he wants to save you from making the same mistakes yourself.  You can visit Mike's blog at Real-World-Raw.com to learn how easy it can be to make a raw-vegan diet fit your busy lifestyle. FREE eBook – "The 7 Biggest Raw Mistakes" Mike's FREE eBook lays out the major missteps beginning raw foodists make that undermine their success and tells you how you can avoid them. To get Mike’s FREE eBook click here!