Raw and living food - everything in there

When discussing a healthy way of life and eating, the words "raw food and living food" quickly come to mind. Raw and living foods also play an important role in cleansing and detox diets. And that has a reason. Because these foods are largely natural and are heated as little as possible during processing, they contain virtually all of the important ingredients that are good for the body. Nowadays, many foods are cooked, pasteurized or otherwise processed before they are packaged and offered to the public. A lot of the essential vitamins and enzymes that are actually in the food are lost with this processing. This is different for raw and vital food. Care is taken that these are processed as gently as possible.

Organic & raw food quality, where possible

The goal of SamaraNatura is to offer as many food items as possible in organic & raw food quality. Since Autumn 2015, we have also been certified according to Swiss law as an organic company. This certification is reviewed annually by the certification authority bio.inspecta in Frick and all products are listed on Easy-Cert. Our logistician is also certified organic. Unfortunately, not all products that are grown without pesticides are certified organic, including wild foods. An example of this is our extraordinary wild picked Sea Buckthorn raw juice, which is completely untreated and wild- harvested. 

Also, with some products, it is simply not available in raw food quality. In these cases, the aim is to provide the best possible alternative to offer the most natural product as well as to preserve the processing as low and as gentle as conceivable.

Living food is easy to integrate into everyday life

A key advantage of living foods is that these foods can often be consumed directly in the form in which they are offered and sold in the market. Some raw foods which are very easy to incorporate into any diet and are also suitable as tasty snacks in between meals, are:

• Organic Goji berries

• Organic Cashew nuts

• Organic Nut butters

• Organic White Mulberries

• Organic Coconut chips

• Hunza Apricots (wild apricots with stone)

• Organic Coconut Water as cooling refreshment

• Organic Pomegranate seeds

The food is packaged in a way that makes it easy and practical to consume them on the go. It’s always available when an energy boost is required or just to provide the body with all the elements it needs in everyday life. This is perfect for the many people who are having a hard time eating healthy food in our fast-paced times and pursuing a diet that provides the body with all the nutrients needed.

Why are Superfoods so healthy?

Many foods, which are available in raw quality, are so-called superfoods and include, among others, fruits, nuts, roots, algae and other products of nature, which because of their ingredients can be designated as true miracle food. In many cases these are regarded as healing plants in the traditional medicine of different regions and cultures. Their great strength is that they contain an above-average amount of vitamins, enzymes, minerals and other elements that help us to feel at our best and stay healthy.

If these superfoods are consumed in its raw form, that is, without heating or cooking them above 42 degrees Celsius during the preservation or drying process, the effect is, of course, all the greater because the ingredients are still intact. As an example, all the nut butters of our Bern supplier are produced through a gentle stone-grinding process for 2 to 3 days. This keeps the natural and delicious aromas optimally preserved.

Vital food in powder form

Vital foods do not always have to be eaten raw. The wide range of products makes it possible to use the valuable ingredients easily and practically even during cooking. A classic of course is the turmeric powder (Kurkuma). The spice, which is versatile in the Ayurvedic diet, looks very similar to the curry at first glance and is also used in curry recipes. In addition, it is used in soups, other cooked dishes and also go well in smoothies.

A less widely known food and condiment in powder form is Mesquite. The organic Mesquite powder is used in the traditional cuisine of North and South American indigenous peoples and is perfect as a healthy sweetener. With its relatively high protein content as well as many minerals such as iron, calcium, magnesium, iron and zinc, it provides the body with important nutrients and at the same time captivates our taste buds with its special caramel-like flavour.

Organic oils for refining and tasting

Perfect for the preparation of raw food dishes such as salads are the organic cold-pressed oils. The oils in the shop of SamaraNatura are all cold-pressed and from organic nuts and seeds. The natural flavour, vitamins and fatty acids are optimally preserved through the careful production. Some of our oils are also made from Swiss seeds, such as the cold pressed organic Swiss hemp oil or the Gold-of-Pleasure oil (Camelina oil). Cold-pressed oils are heat-sensitive. When strongly heated, e.g. with frying, some poisonous compounds can be formed. Some of the few exceptions are organic coconut oil, which mainly consists of saturated fatty acids, as well as the high-oleic organic sunflower oil.

Valuable vitality from the sea

It’s not only the organic cultivation on land that offers valuable superfoods and energy rich raw and living foods. A wide variety of nutritious and mineral rich food comes from the sea.

This includes:

• Organic wild crafted seaweed and spice mix, a very practical blend of different finely chopped seaweeds which can be easily sprinkled in almost all dishes with NO or a hardly noticeable algae flavour
• Mixed seaweeds for salads and cooked dishes
• Organic wild crafted Atlantic Kombu
• Sea spaghetti
• Organic wild crafted Dulse – a delicious salty snack with only a mild algae taste
• Kelp noodles as an alternative to pasta: simply soak and mix with a pasta sauce

Some of these marine vegetables contain high amounts of iron, folic acid, magnesium, selenium, chromium and many other elements which are often rare and in too small quantities in normal everyday food. In addition, algae and seaweeds give different recipes a very special flavour, which is particularly good for friends of Mediterranean and Asian cuisine. These raw and living foods provide a welcome culinary change. We harvest most of our marine vegetables from the wild, almost untouched north-west of Ireland's Atlantic coast.

Microalgae from aquaculture

In addition to the above-described marine vegetables (macro algae), microalgae are a valuable natural supplement. They contain not only one of the highest protein content of all natural foods, they are also rich in other important nutrients such as minerals and chlorophyll. Microalgae for nutrition are grown in aquaculture.

SamaraNatura offers among others, the following microalgae for human consumption:

• Spirulina with its easily digestible proteins, in powder or tablet form

• Chlorella, in tablet form

• Marine phytoplankton in ionic trace element solution