When I talk to people about "eating raw," the first response often is a scrunched-up face, followed by a disapproving "Eeew." Maybe that's what you're thinking about now.

Well, consider this. Have you ever eaten a piece of fresh fruit, celery stalk or carrot sticks? Or how about that tasty dinner salad you had last night? If you have, then guess what-you're already eating raw!

A couple of months ago, Dr. Life and I were invited to dinner by a lovely couple, Ronnie and Minh Skurow, from Mesquite, Nevada. Both are longtime devout raw foodies. Frankly, I really wasn't sure what to expect. I've eaten raw things all my life, but never had an entire raw dinner. And believe me, it was amazing!

My first "raw" dinner. We started out with a crunchy, tasty (and very healthy) seaweed snack appetizer. Then we moved on to "crackers" with almond spread, followed by Minh's spring rolls with peanut sauce. Next was the pièce de résistance: one of the best pizzas I've ever eaten, and every bite was raw. It truly changed my way of eating.

In this issue, Minh shares her recipe for those delicious "raw food" spring rolls-plus the interesting "tools" for making raw food dishes.

Now, relax. I'm not trying to turn everyone into raw vegetarians, but what if I told you that adding more raw to your nutrition regimen helps you reach your goals faster? Well, it's true.

Eating Raw: Major Benefits

• Gain healthy nutrients typically lost by cooking
• Have less fat in your nutrition
• Have weight loss with faster decrease in body fat percentage
• Consume lower calories
• Eat less (higher-quality food satisfies nutritional needs better)
• Eat foods lower on glycemic index
• Have no more bloated feeling (like we often get from eating high carbohydrates)
• Detoxify the body, giving you more energy
• Enhance your skin and overall health
• Enjoy easy, on-the-go eating anytime, anywhere

Now, eating raw doesn't mean you can never eat cooked food again. We all know that protein is essential for building and maintaining muscle mass-and it's difficult to get the amount of protein needed by eating totally raw. However, adding more raw food to your diet is a smart, healthy change.

So where do you start? A simple first step I suggest is visiting Ronnie and Minh at www.ubraw.com or watch their YouTube video about the art of eating raw here: http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=U-EnDT3DAkQ

There are recipes, informational videos and tools to easily prepare your raw food. Minh takes all the guesswork out and shows you how to make incredible, tasty dishes with very little effort while Ronnie humorously enlightens us on the world of eating raw.