So with all the Christmas parties and eating you anticipate every year, the sense of guilt will follow once the holidays end. This is when people start to search for weight loss strategies to cut down those extra pounds especially when the new year is set with new resolutions about getting healthy.

Well, one of the ways to keep your weight in track is to observe a raw food diet. A raw food diet contains little or no saturated fats, is low in sodium, high in potassium, magnesium, folate and fibre. This can help people who are supplementing with weight loss pills in keep their weight down. Raw food diets are also excellent detox diets. Different combinations of raw, living foods and juices can be used for colon cleansing, liver cleansing, kidney cleansing and skin cleansing.

Any fresh fruits, vegetables, grains, seeds, beans, nuts, legumes, young coconut milk, can be menu items of a raw food diet. Your choice of foods may depend on your reasons for dieting, for example:

- sprouted brown rice slows glucose absorption and improves the metabolism

- cabbage supports healthy cellular function; radish leaves act as an anti-oxidant, as does Shitake mushroom

-carrots are a great source of vitamin A as well as encouraging healthy vision and a healthy cardio-vascular system