Diet trends come and go a lot like New Year's resolutions do, but one culinary craze that seems to be sticking around is the rage for raw foods.

This particular diet consists of eating mainly uncooked, unprocessed and oftentimes organic foods. Its benefits are many-fold, according to the Raw Food Institute  in Washington, D.C., including:

• increased nutrition

• increased energy

• better digestion

• weight loss

• reduced risk of heart disease, diabetes and cancer

Several of my friends have gone on raw food diets. They dropped clothing sizes, improved their skin's appearance and felt energized. I'm already a vegetarian, and watch closely what I eat. Over the years, I've tried similar diets and experienced similar results. But I've avoided going totally raw.

That's all about to change. Just like more than 40 percent of American adults, I'm making some resolutions this year. Joining the raw food movement is one of them.

For a little guidance on getting started, I talked with Lisa Wilson, a health and nutrition counselor and founder of the Raw Food Institute. She dished out some tips and recipes to help make the switch easier. I hope that by following her advice—and perhaps some advice from Patch readers—I can avoid being among the dreaded 46 percent of people who abandoned their resolutions by mid-year.

Here is part of my Q-and-A with Wilson, followed by a couple of her tasty, healthy recipes:

Have you had more patients trying the raw food lifestyle recently? Why do you think more people are trying it?

Wilson: There is absolutely a trend doing this. People are hearing about the amazing results that others are getting. Everybody wants to feel that good. 

I started using it with my patients at the National Integrated Health Associates because the root cause of disease is toxicity. And although there are many ways to be detoxified, raw foods is definitely one way. I started using it strategically as a tool for healing with patients. The results I got blew my mind. 

Because we live in a toxic world, the air we eat and water we drink has toxins in it. Why don't we start using [raw foods] as a preventative tool? I love it when someone like you puts it in place and uses it as a preventative tool.

Should I start out eating only raw foods, or is it better to ease into a majority raw food diet?

When I'm working with people, I meet them where they are. If I'm working with someone who has been eating the standard American diet—meaning lots of meat and processed foods—I might start them out with steamed vegetables. That alone can be very detoxifying to most people. 

If you go all raw too fast, you get sick. If you go on this and you get sick, it is your body's way of detoxifying. Some of those symptoms are headaches, coated tongue, bad breath, body odor, nausea, and diarrhea. These are all things that I celebrate. It is your body's way of cleaning itself out.

What are some of the pitfalls I should watch out for when starting the lifestyle?

One reason people fail is because they are not getting enough vegan proteins. Some sources of vegan protein are brown rice protein, Pea protein, hemp protein, and sprouts. You also need to be mindful that you need to be supplementing with Vitamin B12. 

And they sometimes overeat seasoned nuts after cutting down or removing meat from their diet. Seasoned nuts are fine daily, but are very dense and are difficult for the body to breakdown if they are overeaten.

You must plan, plan, plan. If you're out and don't have a snack. My clients literally don't go anywhere without a cooler on wheels. They work, but you don't see them without a green juice in their hands, or snacks. A lot of the stuff isn't readily available. It isn't difficult, but it is a change and sometimes change is difficult for people.

What other lifestyle changes should I make to help the success of the diet?

Definitely you're going through detox. There are many  things to help with the detoxification. You could do enemas, exercise, go to saunas, or take hot baths with Epsom salts to keep the colon clean. Your skin is the only barrier between you and outside world. We want to sweat. If we don't have ways to get the toxins out, they'll re-circulate in our bodies. We must have ways to get them out.

Someone once said that we can't have a healthy body with a filthy colon.

I hear a lot about green smoothies and juices. Why are they so popular?

The first and foremost reason is the impact they have on your pH balance. When we have a diet of sugar and coffee they are very acidic. Filthy colons and acidic blood are the perfect place for viruses and bacteria to thrive—but if we can change the acidity of our body we can change the acidity of the blood. Green juices do this. For me personally, they are mood boosters. I'm a grump without my green juice.

Daily Green Juice

• 2 cucumbers

• 1/2 stalk celery

• 1/2 bunch parsley

• 1 lemon

• 1-2 cloves garlic

Put all ingredients in juicer, mix, and drink slowly. The base is always cucumber and/or celery, that is what makes it taste good. You can modify the recipe by adding a green apple, garlic, ginger, pea shoots, buckwheat, kale or collards—anything green.

Holiday Fennel Salad

• 1 head fennel, finely chopped, white parts only

• 2 naval oranges, peeled and chopped

• 1/2 cup pomegranate seeds

• 3 Tablespoons olive oil

• Salt and pepper to taste

• Fennel top for garnish

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix thoroughly.