Last night my vegan friends, Candice and Doug hosted a potluck. I joyously brought these delicious balls, which were gone in the blink of an eye! They were raw, vegan and uberlicious.
Eating raw foods is an excellent way to ensure you are getting the maximum enzymes available in your food. In fact, without even thinking about it, I personally eat raw foods at every single meal (with cooked foods too). Next time you are eating, check out your plate and become aware of how much or how little raw you eat.
Let’s talk more about enzymes! They are EXTREMELY important for hundreds of processes in your body, particularly digestion. In simple terms, the very food you eat every single day can actually improve your digestion by providing the raw (pun intended) materials for your digestive juices, as long as you chew your food well. Plus this eases the burden on your pancreas which is an enzyme factory. There are many proven benefits of eating a mostly raw food diet, including better better bowel movements, glowing skin and — the most common one among my clients — improved energy and stamina.
I want to emphasize that as a nutritionist I actually do not recommend a diet of 100 percent raw foods — there are many cookable foods that you shouldn’t eat raw for both health and taste reasons. In fact, for some foods like broccoli, cooking actually brings out its health-promoting nutrients. Furthermore, eating raw in the winter can be far too “cooling” for the body.
Let’s get back to this recipe…You don’t have to be experienced in the kitchen to make these cookies — they’re really easy. If you don’t have all the ingredients I’ve listed below, feel free to get creative. You can really use any nut or seed to make these delicious.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup raw almonds
- 12 plump medjole dates, pits removed
- 1/4 cup organic raw cacao nibs
- 1 tsp vanilla
Method: Put all the ingredients into your food processor. If you double up the recipe, then you will need to make them in batches.
Blend for 2-3 minutes until all the ingredients become like fine pebbles (see below).
Then roll them into 1 inch balls and sprinkle with some organic cinnamon.
Makes 24 balls.
Enjoy!
Ps. I will be at Rawlicious in Yorkville tonight doing a short talk on the benefits of raw foods at 5pm and helping to kick off a 5-day raw food cleanse. It’s FREE, but you need to RSVP by calling 416.646.0705.
Love this recipe! Thank you for the note about doubling it
Good luck tonight…wish I could be there!
Thanks Cynthia!
Hi Joy, you say that there are many proven benefits of eating a mostly raw foods diet. I’m wondering if you could share some of those resources/findings that led you to that conclusion? I’m curious about raw food diets and would like to read some of the scientific literature behind it.
But I have a larger concern. You say that by eating raw foods (presumably plants/veggies and fruit, nuts) we take in more enzymes and thereby put less stress on our pancreas. But raw food enzymes are digested by our stomachs so they wouldn’t even reach our small intestines which is where enzymes do most of their work (there are a few enzymes in our mouths and stomachs, but the real work is done in the small intestine). We don’t absorb or digest enzymes from raw food sources since enzymes in those sources aren’t the ones that we as humans use to digest our food and conduct our metabolic processes. It makes sense – raw foods have completely different metabolic processes than humans. So we don’t need their enzymes. Humans make all the enzymes needed for our digestion.
In the case of raw veggies/greens, its good that we can’t digest/absorb the enzymes. The enzymes are located within plant cells, and cellulose is a component of cell walls in plants. Humans enzymes can’t break down or digest cellulose in our stomachs (no matter how many times we chew our food) so those enzymes can’t even be accessed for digestive purposes by our bodies. Cellulose, because it can’t be digested by our enzymes, is therefore what we call dietary fiber. And we all know the benefits of fiber.
I of course think raw veggies, fruits, seeds, and nuts are good and delicious to eat. But as a nutritional biochemist, I’m really curious as to where you picked up your views on enzymes from raw foods being transferred to humans. I’m not trying to stir trouble! I think you just misstated some basic biochemistry! It happens!
In a nutshell, the takeaway message I want people to know is that eating more raw and by default, whole foods provide a viable source of the raw materials to make enzymes (amino acids being the building block of all enzymes). Just tried to simplify it for people. Thanks for clarifying! Apologize if it was misleading or confusing.
this is my first go at this sort of treat. But for some reason my ingredients wouldn’t roll into a ball? I used prunes instead and only half the number of dates recommended. Could this be why?
Yes definitely because the dates are what make them stick together. Try again and let me know how they work out!
Thank you so much. They’re delicious! And so easy…
My pleasure, glad you like them!