Why Eat Raw?

Why eat raw food?

“Why is the benefit of eating food raw?” is another question I’m asked a lot. The most important reasons are to me that heating your food above 115 degrees F (45 Celsius):

• Kills enzymes. Enzymes help you digest your food. Your body can create enzymes but that process takes a lot of energy. This process makes you feel tired and heavy after a cooked food meal. Further, the enzymes your body makes are not as efficient and effective as the ones that were destroyed in your food.Consequently, your food is not be broken down as well and thus harder to digest. This also results in food starts rotting in your intestines, that parasites have more chance to survive

  It is further believed that your body has a limited amount of enzymes that it can produce. If the supply is finished, body organs will function less and less. It will accelerate aging.

• Changes the pH of the food and makes food acidic. We like to eat Read more…?

Starting a Live, Raw Food Diet

A Raw food diet is based on eating whole, live, uncooked and un-processed foods as a large percentage of your diet. When 75-100% of your total food consumption is raw food, you are a raw foodist. At that rate it is believed that your body’s elimination system can eliminate all or most of the toxins in the cooked portion of your diet. When you eat more cooked food, the body can’t eliminate all the toxins and they back up causing dis-ease. Heating food above 118 degrees F. is believed to destroy enzymes in food that can assist in digestion. Cooking is also known to diminishes the nutritional value of food, and the heat actually causing chemical changes in the food creating many of the carcinogens, mutagens, free-radicals and other toxins that are associated with many of today’s diseases, from diabetes and arthritis to heart disease and cancer.

In addition to all that, there is a lot of emphasis among raw foodists on the pH of food. It is believed that a mostly raw food diet is “alkaline forming,” while cooked and processed foods are “acid forming.” All medical resources agree that the pH balance of our blood is one of the most important biochemical balances in human body chemistry. pH stands for “potential hydrogen,” and refers to the number of hydrogen ions in a substance like your blood. Higher numbers mean a substance is more alkaline (absorbs more hydrogen ions). Lower number means a substance is more acidic (less potential for absorbing hydrogen). Human blood is usually around 7.0 to 7.2 – just above neutral or slightly alkaline. Raw foodists believe that the pH level of our bodies is directly influenced by what we eat and drink. So foods that tend to help maintain a more alkaline body chemistry are called “alkaline forming,” and visa versa. If you reember your basic chemistry, you know the chemical processes for an acid are very different than those for a “base” (another word for alkaline). Most chemical processes in a healthy body are alkaline based, so healthy people seem to be more “alkaline.” On the other hand, a more “acidic” lifestyle based on cooked and processed foods is believed to cause dis-ease. You can also alkalinize your body by making sure all the water you drink is not only clean, but high in pH and negative ORP. I use a water ionizer for this myself, but there are a couple of good brands of bottled water with pH above 8 (such as Fiji water). These days with so much talk about pH some companies are starting to list the pH of their water right on the bottle!

Raw foodists are usually vegan, meaning they do not eat animal-based products like dairy or meat. Only raw plant foods are generally eaten, including vegetables and fruits, plus soaked and sprouted grains, nuts and seeds. A small group raw foodists, part of the Natural Hygiene Movement, include raw, organic animal products, such as free range organic chicken, sashimi (raw fish), meat (carpaccio), organic eggs, organic yogurt or raw organic goats milk cheese. My personal preference is a raw vegan lifestyle.

Raw foodists in general all agree that consumption of uncooked foods encourages weight loss and prevents and/or heals many forms of chronic dis-ease. In my own case I lost a ton of weight and pretty much handled a serious case of chronic fatigue syndrome. Many medical studies have shown other positive health outcomes with such diets, though when not done properly it can also lead to some problems. When I was teaching at a major raw food health institute for several years, I personally saw thousands of people with various illnesses have “spontaneous remissions.” Of course, results vary with the individual and many other conditions.

How to Get Started on a Raw Food Diet
A common myth is that eating raw takes a lot of time to prepare. Nothing could be further from the truth! I am one of busiest people I know (mostly answering emails from my readers)! But when you do it correctly, a raw food diet is actually one of the easiest, most convenient ways you can eat.

Getting started and keeping it simple is easy once you learn some of the basics – and learn to keep it simple! My rule of thumb for eating 75% raw is this easy:

There are 4 meals in an average day for most people (lunch, breakfast, dinner and your combined snacks). So to be 75% raw you need to have any 3 of those be mostly raw, and add a good salad to whatever you are having for dinner (remember, whenever I talk about raw food I mean ONLY organic food). Here is how I do that myself.

First, I have a raw, tasty smoothie every morning for breakfast instead of my old favorite – a toasted bagel with cream cheese and coffee. What you have for breakfast determines the rest of your day so make sure you start out with healthy, energy-packed, nutrition-packed foods rather than toxins like wheat and caffeine! Yes, the gluten and some of the other heat-created chemicals in cooked wheat products are toxic! So try to eliminate all wheat and caffeine from your diet entirely!

For lunch I have a fresh live salad or fresh green juice almost every day. I keep a Samson Juicer right in my office and stock my little office fridge with cucumbers, celery, spinach and carrots. At home I have a Green Power juicer. Why two juicers – so I don’t have any excuses to miss my juice – and because I love to juice! Remember, never stuff yourself and only eat when you are really hungry.

For dinner I have whatever I like, plus a good sized raw salad. I am actually around 90% or more raw, so you may occasionally find some cooked items on my plate around dinner time, but even then I stay vegan. And I always avoid sugar (or anything made with sugary ingredients, especially corn-based ingredients like corn syrup), wheat products (or anything that has “gluten” in it), anything “hydrogenated,” and finally salt (or anything salty including MSG).

Finally, there are snacks – what I call the 4th meal. I usually keep fruit, nuts and flax seed crackers at my office. But when I don’t have time for all that I always have organic apples handy. I always soak my nuts to activate the dormant enzymes in them and reduce the dense proteins and fats so they are more easily digestible. I soak almonds overnight, for example, then after rinsing I sprinkle them with some spices. Lately I like Pink Himalayan Mineral Salt. Then I stick them in my Good4U Dehydrator to dry them out for snacking. I also use some of the soaked nuts wet to make nut milk for my smoothies.

What you need
Most raw recipe books focus on fancier dishes, which can be fun sometimes. However, I prefer to keep it simple. Raw food doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive! In fact, I find it is cheaper to eat raw organic foods since they are more nutritious so I actually eat less!

While it’s by no means essential to own fancy kitchen appliances it really does help to own at least a good quality 3 HP blender like the Blendtec HP3A Blender and a low-speed masticating juicer like the Samson 6-in-1 Juiceror the Green Power Juicer. But if you are on a budget, then all you need really is a good sharp knife! However with these tools you’ll discover lots of new, exciting and healthy recipes!

As for foods, I find that I can get most of what I need in the organic “Greenwise” section at my local Publix supermarket. I also go to my local organic green markets on weekends to find locally grown and better quality produce. You can also use an organic produce delivery service if one is available in your area or subscribe to a local CSA farm (Googel “community supported agriculture”). Remember, always get organic produce! In addition to the pesticides on commercial produce, commercial produce can have huge health risks from genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Most importantly, organic food is usually 80% to 300% more nutritionally dense! As your body learns to absorb this additional nutrition, you be less hungry and actually eat much less, reducing your food costs well below what is was when you were eating empty calories filled with toxins that increase your health care costs.

You are entering on a wonderful journey – so please take the time to educate yourself about what you are doing. It really is a wonderful new life, but doing it properly takes time to learn, and give yourself time to let go of old habits and food addictions. Finally, be compassionate with yourself. If you find yourself feeling weak or a little flu-like, you may be detoxing, which is normal. You can slow down until you adapt more or take the time to learn more about cleansing to actually speed up the process. Feel free to contact if you have any questions!

by Robert Alan Ross

Start Eating Raw with a Green Smoothie

Green Smothie..learn all about it here

 

Have you had a green smoothie yet? Here are a few recipes I have collected and tried through the years to get you started.

By experimenting with different combinations, you will be able to come up with something that you and the whole family will love. You’ll even have an easier time getting your children on board to adopting a healthier diet.

Morning Smoothie collards spring greens raw cacao nibs frozen blueberries apple maca scoop of hemp protein

Kale and Spinach mix
I mix Kale or Spinach with blueberries. Kale or Spinach with melons, Kale or
Spinach with kiwi and grapes and fresh squeezed orange juice.
I also had kale with melon, pineapple, grapes, peaches, strawberries, blackberries, blueberries and raspberries. Divine!

Spinach-Mango
1 handful of fresh organic spinach
1 stalk celery (Optional)
1 or 2 sweet yellow filipino mangos
enough water to blend into a smooth smoothy!  Yummy!

Try adding some herbs, too! I LOVE parsley–it’s so healthy and cleansing. So yesterday’s smoothie had spinach, kale, arugula, parsley, and basil. I added three very small peaches, the juice of half a lime, and a banana. It was really yummy!

Smoothie
1 bunch red dandelion
1/2 small small watermelon
6 strawberries
1 cup of grapes

Smoothie
1 bunch dino kale
2 oranges
6 strawberries
1 cup of grapes

Kale-Strawberry-Peach
1 bunch green kale
1 pint strawberries
3 small peaches
2 cups water

Peach-Spinach
6 peaches
2 handfuls of spinach leaves
2 cups water

Apple-Kale-Lemon
4 apples
½ lemon juice
5 leaves of kale
2 cups water

Pear-Kale-Mint
4 ripe pears
5 leaves of kale
½ bunch of mint
2 cups water

Strawberry-Banana-Romaine
1 cup strawberries
2 bananas
½ bunch romaine
2 cups water

Mango-Weeds
2 mangos
1 handful edible weeds, (lambsquarters, stinging nettles, purslane, etc.)
2 cups water

Smoothie
One half small seeded watermelon, peel and all ( amazing by itself actually! )
10 strawberries
1 bunch spinach
1 cup water.

Smoothie
1 beautiful bunch of red dandelion greens
1 orange remove orange part of peel with knife, leave the white as it is high in calcium
1 mango
1/2 banana

I am hooked on green smoothies! I add different things, depending on what sounds good to my body each day. I haven’t been disappointed yet!

Article By: Eleni Prokopeas

Receipes

From  shttp://www.choosingraw.com/recipes/

Breakfast

Raw

Banana Breakfast Sushi
Banana Crepes
Buckwheat cereal
Chai (Chia) Pudding
Choosing Raw Graw-nola
Easy Raw Pancakes
Lower Fat Apple Cinnamon Raisin Graw-nola
Raw, Vegan “Cheater’s” Granola
Raw Cocoa Crunch Graw-nola

Beverages (Juices, smoothies, nut milks)

Berry, Banana, and Peanut Butter Bliss
Banana Chai Smoothie (and Chai Spice Tutorial)
Black n’ Blue Smoothie (with blackberries)
Butternut Squash Smoothie
Cinnamon Cherry Blast
Classic Almond Milk
Chocolate and Zucchini Smoothie
Creamy Hemp Milk
Deep Blue Sea Smoothie (with Spirulina)
Green Hemp Smoothie Mellow Green Smoothie
Peaches n’ Green Smoothie
Power Smoothie
Pumpkin Seed Milk
“Sinful” Smoothie (coffee added!)
Very Berry Protein Smoothie
Tahini Milk

Baked Goods

Ancient Grain Banana Breakfast Bread
Brown Sugar Plum Muffins
Carrot Raisin Muffins
Vegan Streusel Muffins
Vegan Fig Bars
Zucchini Date Muffins
Sour Cream and Cherry Muffins

Ch-ch-ch-chia

Basic Chia Seed Pudding
Chia Chai Pudding
Chia Power Pudding
Green Chia Pudding with Chlorella
Pumpkin Chia Pudding
Strawberry Ginger Chia Pudding
Very Berry Chia Hemp Pudding

Dips, Spreads, Sauces

Artichoke and Spinach Dip
Carrot Avocado Pate (raw)
Cashew Ricotta with Sun Dried Tomatoes and Basil (Pizza Cheese”) (raw)
Cashew Cheese with Dried Cherries and Meyer Lemon (raw)
Cheesy Parsnip Spread
Cheesy Red Pepper Hemp Dip (raw)
Chickpea, Avocado, and Nori Spread
Cool as a Cucumber Guacamole (raw)
Classic Choosing Raw Guacamole (raw)
Nutritional Yeast Cheesy Sauce (raw)
Homemade Coconut Yogurt (raw)
Creamy Hemp Basil Sauce (raw)
Dilly Carrot Avocado Spread (raw)
Garden Pate (raw)
“Goat Cheese” (raw + vegan)
Guacanara
Green Guacamole (raw)
Hempesan (raw)
Hemp Pesto (raw)
Muhammara (red pepper and walnut spread) (raw)
Peanut Butter and Tomato Sauce
Pumpkin Seed Poppy Pate (raw)
Raw Ketchup (raw)
Sweet Potato Cashew Cheese
Sunflower Seed and Carrot Pate (raw)
Walnut “Cheddar” Cheese
Walnut Lentil Pate
Zesty Orange Cashew Cheese

Hummus

Broccoli Hummus
Ginger Lime Edamame Hummus
High Protein Hemp Hummus
Sweet Potato Hummus
Smoky Southwestern Hummus
Sundried Tomato Basil Hummus
Raw Zucchini Hummus

Bread, Crackers, Wraps

Carrot Cinnamon Raisin Bread (raw)
Chia Crackers (raw)
Cocoa Crackers (raw)
Curried Kabocha Squash Flatbread
Crowd Pleasing Green Crackers (raw)
Hemp Bread (raw)
Gingery Carrot and Sunflower Seed Crackers (raw)
Juice Pulp Crackers (raw)
Lemon Thyme Crackers (raw)
Maple Flax Crackers (raw)
Tomato Bread (raw)
Zucchini Wraps (raw)

Dressings

Asian Dressing (raw)
Balsamic Tahini Dressing
Buttermilk Chive Dressing (raw)
Caesar Dressing (raw)
Carrot Miso Dressing (raw)
Creamy Cashew Dill Sauce (raw)
Fig and White Balsamic Vinaigrette
Outstanding Miso Sesame Dressing (raw)
Raw Green Goddess Dressing (raw)
Raw Ranch Dressing (raw)
Savory Sunflower Seed Herb Dressing (raw)
Smoky Avocado Cumin Dressing
Sweet and Salty Avocado Dressing
Tomato Tahini Dressing (raw)

Salads

Avocado, Fennel, and Cherry Tomato Salad
Avocado Sea-sar
Beet and “Goat Cheese” Salad
Broccoli and Cauliflower Salad with Creamy Asian Dressing
Cauliflower Salad with Orange Vinaigrette
Chicory Salad with Warm Mustard Dressing
Cucumber and Coconut Salad with Sweet Basil Dressing
The “Gena Divine” Salad
Golden Harvest Kale Salad
Jicama Salad with Smoked Cumin Avocado Dressing
Kale and White Bean Salad with Caesar Dressing
Mango Kale and Avocado Salad
Radicchio, Butter Lettuce, and Cabbage Salad with Steamed Yam and Peanut Sauce
Root Vegetable Salad with Maple Cinnamon Vinaigrette
Rosie’s Salad
Spicy Thai Salad
Sprout Salad with Smoky Guacamole
Sprouted Lentil Salad

Small Plates, Side Dishes, and Snacks

Blueberry Oat Bars
Carrot Fries
Corn and Zucchini Pancakes
Curried Cauliflower and Cranberries
Eggplant Bacon (raw)
Fig Bars
Five Minute Raw Cacao Snack Bars (raw)
Five Minute, No Bake Sunflower Oat Bars
Hemp Cacao Energy Bites (raw)
Lemon Kissed Cashew Hemp Bars (raw)
Mashed Cauliflower
Mushroom, Lentil and Quinoa Croquettes
Nori Cigars with Gingery Sunflower Seed Pate (raw)
Raw “Mashed Potatoes” (raw)
Raw, Vegan “Tuna” Salad (raw)
Spicy Curry Kale Chips (raw)
Tangy Potato Salad with Basil Chiffonade
Tomato Tahini Kale Chips (raw)
Vegan Colcannon
Yukon Gold Potato Chips with Rosemary
Zesty Orange Cashew Cheese and Apple Wraps (raw)
Zucchini Hemp Hummus Wraps

Soups

Raw

Avo-Coco Soup Blended Salads
Butternut Squash and Apple Soup
Coconut and Red Pepper Soup
Perfect Raw Gazpacho
Raw Borscht Raw Tortilla Soup
Spring Pea Soup

 

Entrees

Raw and Semi-Raw

Beet “Ravioli” with Sweet Root Vegetable Filling
Carrot Falafel with Tangy Tahini Sauce
Cauliflower and Mesquite Falafel with Parsley Dressing
Cauliflower “Rice” with Mint and Pistachio
Conservation Burgers
Creamy Coconut Parsnip Rice with Caramelized Butternut Squash
Gena’s Famous Zucchini Marinara
Gingery Sunflower Seed, Cabbage, and Red Apple Rolls
High Raw, Vegan Manicotti
Kelp Noodles and Aduki Beans with Avocado, Carrot, and Ginger Sauce
Kelp Noodles with Cucumber, Dulse, and Date Mustard Sauce
Mexican “Rice” Pilaf with Spicy “Cheese” Topping
Nori Rolls with Cashew Ginger Filling
“Peanut” Noodles”
“Polenta” with Marinated Cherry Tomatoes
Raw Goddess Bowl with Kelp Noodles, Smoky Avocado Dressing, and Hemp
Raw Nutloaf
Raw “Steak and Potatoes”
Spinach Burgers
Sprouted Wheatberry Salad
Swiss Chard Leaves Stuffed With Middle Eastern Rice Thai Red Pepper Coconut Noodles
Zucchini Alfredo
Zucchini Pasta with Roasted Butternut Squash and Garlic Cream Sauce
Ultimate Raw, Vegan Mushroom Burgers

Cooked

Aloo Gobi Wraps
Artichoke, Onion, and Sun-dried Tomato Pizza with Herbed Crust
Black Bean and Quinoa Salad with Quick Cumin Dressing
Butternut Squash Risotto
Cheesy Stuffed Peppers
Chickpea Tart with Roast Potatoes, Beets, Swiss Chard, and Cashew Cheese
Creamy Fusilli with Beets, Kale, and Toasted Pine Nuts
Dilly White Bean and Beet Napoleons
Eggplant Rollatini
Foolproof Tofu Burgers
Ginger Lime Edamame Sweet Potato Burgers
Gingery Rice with Roasted Butternut Squash, Onion, and Green Peas
Lentil and Sweet Potato Loaf
“Meaty” Wild Rice Stuffing
Millet, Butternut Squash, Brussels Sprout, and Cranberry Stuffing
Mung Bean Pancakes with Mustard Sauce and Mango Kale Salad
Mushroom Stroganoff
Quick White Bean and Summer Vegetable Pasta
Quinoa and Bean Salad with Spicy Seared Tempeh and Cumin Vinaigrette
Quinoa Protein Bowl
Ridiculously Healthy Millet, Kale, and Yam Burgers
Roasted Barley, Corn and Radicchio with Balsamic Reduction
Roasted Summer Vegetable Pasta Salad
Savory Polenta Stacks with Mashed Yams, Beans, and Greens
Sesame Noodles
Shepherd’s Pie
Sunflower Seed Burger
Sweet Potato and Black Bean Enchiladas (reader favorite!)
Sweet Potato and Beet Nori Rolls
Sweet Potato Chickpea Burgers
Tofu Tahini Scramble
Zucchini and Tomato Gratin

Desserts

Avo Berry Pudding (raw)
Avocado, Chocolate, and Sweet Potato Pudding
Banana Soft Serve (raw)
Banana Caramel Bread Pudding
Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting (raw)
Cheesecake with Cacao Crust (raw)
Chilled Plum Soup with Cashew Cream
Chocomole (raw)
Double Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Molasses Gingerbread Cookies
Lemon Chiffon Pudding (raw)
Mexican Spiced Chocomole (raw)
Mocha Chip Macaroons (raw)
Peach and Blackberry Skillet Cake
Pumpkin Pudding and Chocolate Mouse Parfait (raw)
Pumpkin Spice Macaroons (raw)
Sweet N’ Spicy Candied Nuts
Raw Whipped Cream (raw)
Raw Vegan Pumpkin Pie (raw)
Vanilla Macaroons (raw)

The 7 Steps to Going and Staying Raw™

Over the years, many people  have struggled to make sense of eating raw. It seems that as soon as one area seems to become clearer (like how to make a good smoothie or nut milk or which juicer is best) another area seems to open up and bring with it yet more confusion and even more to learn.

It actually took the author over 5 years to figure out not just what the facets of going raw were, but how they actually fitted together, what order they were best learned in and how mastering each in the right order would lead to inevitable success.

The good news is, none of this is rocket science! It’s super-easy to learn, much quicker to implement and follow than most people think and great fun too – especially now that finally there’s a map!

You can go raw!

In fact, by learning The 7 Steps anyone can eat raw, and just as importantly stay raw, if they so desire, and Karen’s 7 Steps to Going Raw model will both enlighten you and hopefully also relieve you too!

Are you ready to learn the 7 Steps?

Here they are…

 

	1: Know and understand fully Why Going Raw Is A Whole Person Journey. It’s crucial to understand the importance of aligning yourself internally as well as externally, and “getting” that will form your foundation for success.
	2: Food, Glorious Food! Learn about what raw food is and isn’t, how to select the best, where to find it and what can be done with it. Also includes the importance of variety and vitality and the need to “eat green”.
	3: Create A Living Foods Kitchen. Understand the equipment used, what’s right for you, how best to get organised, and how to set yourself up for success so that temptations aren’t there to sabotage your efforts.
	4: Get Creative! Learn about the various techniques that can transform simple raw foods into pure delights or much more elaborate and comforting drinks and meals such as pizzas, ice-creams, cookies and crackers.
	5: Raw Food Recipes for Everyday Living. To go raw you need recipes that are quick, easy, fun and delicious with minimum prep and clean-up time. By focussing on great-tasting fast-food like this, eating raw will be a doddle.
	6: Menu Planning. Knowing what to eat, when to eat it, how to cover all of your nutritional bases, get enough variety, and to learn about how a great day on raw really looks is vital to make the most of eating raw.
	7: Where to Next? Looking good, feeling great – so what next? In this final step you move into territory that continues with your raw transformation – not just inside the kitchen but in your life as a whole. Exciting stuff!

 

So, this is the overview. That’s the 7 Steps outlined, and there’s nothing in there that you can’t master! (Though maybe you might need a little help).

The important thing to know is this: By mastering these steps you’ll be set up for life! Don’t waste 5 years of your life like Karen did, trying to figure it all out for yourself – not when everything you need to know has been laid out for you.

Karen Knowler, The Raw Food Coach  http://www.therawfoodcoach.com/about_karen.php

Ten Advantages of Eating Raw Foods

The human race learned long ago that cooking meat before eating it would protect them from certain diseases. Since then this practice of cooking has grown to include all types of foods and is now considered an art. Very few meals are eaten which include raw elements, except for the leafy green salad. One advantage of eating raw is that it brings Nature’s intentions into focus. When I speak of eating raw, I am referring to fruit, nuts, and vegetables that taste good to the majority of humankind in their basic simplicity direct from tree, bush, or vine.

I realize it isn’t easy to simply abandon thousands of years of tradition and revert back to 100% raw food. Margaret Mead once said, “It is easier to change a man’s religion than to change his diet.” So to the point, here are 10 advantages to a diet of fresh, whole raw fruits, vegetables, and nuts that may lead you to find a greater place for them in your diet.

1.) Raw foods are better quality; therefore, you eat less to satisfy your nutritional needs. The heat of cooking depletes vitamins, damages proteins and fats, and destroys enzymes that benefit digestion. As your percentage of raw foods increases, you feel satisfied and have more energy on smaller meals because raw food has the best balance of water, nutrients, and fiber to meet your body’s needs.

2.) Raw foods have more flavor than cooked foods, so there is no need to add salt, sugar, spices, or other condiments that can irritate your digestive system or over stimulate other organs.

3.) Raw foods take very little preparation, so you spend less time in the kitchen. Even a child of 5 or 6 can prepare most items for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. This gives children a sense of self-esteem and independence, not to mention the break it gives Mom or Dad.

4.) When you are eating raw, there’s little chance of burns, unless you’re in the middle of a forest fire or out in the sun too long. Just think! No burns to tongues, the roof of your mouth, or fingers, and many fewer house fires.

5.) Cleaning up after a raw meal is a snap. No baked-on oils or crusty messes. And any inedible parts go directly to the compost pile.

6.) Eating a diet of raw foods can reverse or stop the advance of many chronic diseases, including heart disease and cancer. Remember, cooking creates free radicals, which are the major cause of cancer. When you lower the number of free radicals your cells are bombarded with, you lower your risk of cancer.

7.) A raw food diet can protect you from acute diseases such as colds, flu, measles, etc. Raw foods maintain a healthy body, and a healthy body will not become diseased.

8.) As long as you combine raw food properly according to the rules of Natural Hygiene, you will soon reach a level where you no longer suffer from heartburn, gas, indigestion or constipation.

9.) It is environmentally sound. With humanity on a diet of raw foods, the food industry would close up shop and take up organic gardening. This would save us enormous amounts of natural resources used to produce power for these industries. Nuclear power would be clearly unnecessary. And think of how many trees and oil reserves could be saved without the need for the paper and plastics used in packaging our processed foods.There would also be less carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere when all the cooking stopped. More oxygen would be produced from all the new orchards and gardens, thus helping to reverse the Greenhouse Effect.

10.) Eating raw saves you money on food, vitamins, pots and pans, appliances, doctor bills, drugs, and health insurance.

So don’t waste your food, yourself, and our planet by cooking what you eat. Fruits, nuts, and vegetables which are whole, fresh and raw are brimming with life and have the ability to transmit their life force directly to you.

Susan Jorg,
Estacada, Oregon

Source: http://www.vegparadise.com/otherbirds28.html

Organic Food is More Nutritious

“Organic food is even more nutritious, of course, if you enjoy it raw, with all the fresh, whole nutrition intact and no toxins created by cooking!”

Organic food IS more nutritious, especially if fresh, and eating it is vital to good health; let those who claim otherwise try to prove their case! I still see articles in reputable magazines stating that there is no nutritional difference between organic produce and regular supermarket food. I’ve even repeatedly received this erroneous information from Agricultural Extension offices and Professors of Agriculture at “reputable” State Universities…although one Professor, probably safely tenured, told me in hushed tones that “of course, most of our funding comes from chemical companies.” Here’s how I found the truth. In May of 1995, when I thought I was pretty healthy, a business acquaintance talked me into trying an unusual food supplement. After some misgivings I did, and became astounded at my improved health…lowered weight after a 30 year losing battle, more energy, loss of a chocolate addiction, and additional pleasing results. Testimonial tapes from different food supplement companies disclosed that others claimed similar amazing results.

This quite unexpected situation led me into an ongoing research into “why” and a continuing study of the links between soil fertility, plant nutrition, and animal/human diet and health. I’m now to the point where I can argue with “experts” and often win. Here’s the proof that organic produce is more nutritious and necessary for good health…let’s build the case step by step:

First, Dr. Westin A. Price, DDS, of Cleveland, Ohio, wondered about negative trends in dental cavities in the late 1930s. He examined 14 native tribes in places like Africa, the far North, New Zealand, Australia, South America. Dr. Price found that where original native diets were followed there was very little evidence of dental cavities. BUT, when modern white flour, white sugar, and canned foods were introduced, not only did dental cavities increase markedly, but the next generations of these people developed poor bites, restricted nasal breathing, cavities, and often other physical deformities. These findings were implicit evidence that malnutrition even negatively affects DNA! The original native diets varied from sea oats, to fish, various plant crops, insects, animal blood, etc. and they were richly natural, organic, and not polluted with pesticides. The Price-Pottinger Foundation was formed to republish Price’s 1939 book, Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, from time to time, until the world wakes up to its message. The last updated 1989 publication carried endorsements from leading authorities, one of whom, Dr. H. L. Newblood, MD, said, “This is the most important book ever written.” However, as the age of NPK (Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium) salt based fertilizers became dominant, and wonder drugs turned medical schools away from nutrition – from post W.W.II to the present – this information fell by the wayside according to Dr. A. Hoffer, MD, Ph.D. He added “Recent research has shown that, on a uniformly poor diet, the offspring of each generation deteriorates more and more. Unless we begin to take the message [of Dr. Price] seriously …I think we are in for major health catastrophes.”

Second, in 1948 a remarkable study was sponsored by Reader’s Digest, and conducted at Rutgers University by a team led by Dr. Firman Bear. This was before the age of “organic gardening” and examined the differences in nutritional content of commercially raised snapbeans, tomatoes, cabbage, spinach, and lettuce as grown in 10 different states covering South Carolina to New York to Colorado. Findings: trace mineral and nutrient content vary considerably, are affected by geography, climate, fertilizing and liming practices, and that the “variation is of considerable significance to [the health of] animals and man.” Third, during WW II, Prof. William Albrecht, one of the greatest soil scientists ever known, then a department head at the University of Missouri, analyzed 70,000 US Navy dental records as a function of where in the US it was that the sailors were born and raised. Findings: Sailors from the topsoil rich midwest had far fewer dental cavities than sailors from other parts of the US where the soil was more eroded and less rich in nutrients.

Fourth, more of Dr. Albrecht’s work showed how animals like cows and sheep would naturally seek out more nutritious pasture…areas where overgrazing had not occurred, where a mound of hay had been left to rot, adding nutrients back into the soil, etc. Albrecht made a film “The Other Side of the Fence” demonstrating this information.

Fifth, in 1993, Doctor’s Data Lab, in Chicago, did a study published in the Journal of Applied Nutrition, Vol. 45, Issue #1. For over two years, researchers collected specimens of similar variety and sizes of apples, peas, potatoes, corn, etc. from Chicago area organic food stores and supermarkets, just as would a local shopper. Their lab test results showed that organic produce had TWICE the nutritional element content of regular supermarket produce, on a fresh weight basis (how else would one buy fresh food?!) and far less of the dangerous heavy metal residues; aluminum, lead, and mercury.

Sixth, also in 1993 came the book Genetic Nutrition: Designing a Diet Based on Your Family Medical History, by Drs. Simopoulos and Herbert, and B. Jacobson. They showed that as ancient man settled in different parts of the world, dietary practices and natural selection led to adaptations such as Eskimos easily eating high fat/fish diets but having trouble assimilating carbohydrates, Finns and many European peoples adapting to dairy products while Asians easily able to eat fish and rice had a lactose intolerance. However, I found the authors did not comment on the link between soil fertility, plant nutritional content, and animal/human health. So, I wrote to Dr. Simopoulos and received a most cordial reply including a copy of her article published p. 1412, The New England Journal of Medicine, Nov. 16, 1989. It showed favorable fatty acid levels to be far higher in chicken egg yolks from wild purslane and range fed chickens than from commercial supermarket eggs.

Seventh, in 1993 came the book Super Nutrition Gardening by William Peary and Dr. William Peavy, an understudy of Dr. Albrecht. The authors show that a one-acre planting yielding one ton of tomatoes will remove 800 pounds of the soil’s mineral nutrients, the rest of the weight coming from air and water. With 23 elements essential to human health being taken out of the soil, obviously just fertilizing with NPK, and perhaps calcium, hardly replaces what is withdrawn. (16 elements are declared essential for crop growth, according to the Soil Science Society of America, which is oriented toward farm crop yields and not primarily your health.) Further, excessive NPK fertilizing displaces the absorption of other minerals, AND even produces nitrate forms of nitrogen within the plant tissues, not good for human consumption. Zinc, selenium and other minerals are already known as in severe shortage in both soil and human health. The authors show how to analyze your soil, add rock dust and other needed nutrients, and produce food rich in nutritional elements. MDs S. Davies and A. Stewart are quoted, “the quality of (regular commercial) food is often so poor that the actual nutrient intake in terms of vitamins and minerals is inadequate and can produce disease.”

It is NOW, when more and more lay persons and health care professionals are becoming frightened over soaring health care costs, increases in degenerative diseases like cancer, diabetes, and heart problems, and the increase of antibiotic resistant strains of killer “bugs,” that attention is coming back to the vital role played by nutrition. Strong immune systems tend to fight off diseases. The immune “system” is basically the health level of each of the body’s trillions of cells. And, the best cellular health can only come from sound nutrition, including the all important micro-elements.

Eighth, famed medical researcher, Dr. M. Colgan, in his 1994 book, The New Nutrition, says about iodine, “About 50 micrograms (millionths of a gram) per day is sufficient for most people. This is still an amount so tiny you could hardly see it on the head of a pin.” About Vitamin B12, where only a few micrograms per day are needed, “without it one declines into pernicious anemia, leading to blindness, insanity, and death.”

CONCLUSION: There is sufficient authentic and legitimate research, along with common sense, that shows your best nourishment AND HEALTH comes from obviously more nutritious organic food, much of it eaten fresh and raw to assure live enzymes and vitamins. So, grow your own soil enriched organic food and eat it freshly picked. It is even smart to grow your own sprouts, especially in winter, first soaking the organic seeds in a liquid kelp type fertilizer, and then spraying them with same while they grow. Next best: buy certified organic produce, from local organic farmers when possible. Given the practicalities of travel, urban living, etc., it is also wise to take an organic whole food supplement. Stay with whole foods to keep your body in balance, unless competent testing by a licensed health care practitioner discloses a specific need in addition. Don’t let anybody tell you otherwise. The proof IS there! The odds favoring your having a long healthy life depend upon your following the organic food pathway. Social critics like John Robbins in his books Diet for a New America and Reclaiming Our Health…, and Charles Walters in his acres USA publications, describe the wrongs coming from reliance on vested interests surrounding America’s allopathic medicine and agribusiness industries. Our degraded health as individuals and as a nation are described. Certainly change is needed. We should all legislatively push for open competition in the health care field, and more small organic farms. But massive change takes time, and one needs to be aware of the dilemma of poor old Dr. Semmelweis, who went insane 100 years ago trying to get Doctors to wash their hands before traveling from examining a cadaver to delivering a baby.

This article was first published in the November 1997 edition of the Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients.

Bob Heltman is President of Leading Edge Products & Services Co., and is an independent scholar and freelance author who has published in numerous magazines. You may reach him on Internet: bobh@ioa.com

TEN ADVANTAGES OF EATING RAW

The human race learned long ago that cooking meat before eating it would protect them from certain diseases. Since then this practice of cooking has grown to include all types of foods and is now considered an art. Very few meals are eaten which include raw elements, except for the leafy green salad.

One advantage of eating raw is that it brings Nature’s intentions into focus. When I speak of eating raw I am referring to fruit, nuts, and vegetables, which taste good to the majority of humankind in their basic simplicity direct from tree, bush or vine.

I realize it isn’t easy to simply abandon thousands of years of tradition and revert back to 100% raw food. Margaret Mead once said, “It is easier to change a man’s religion than to change his diet.” So to the point, there are 10 advantages to a diet of fresh, whole raw fruits, vegetables, and nuts, which may lead you to find a greater place for them in your diet.

1. Raw foods are better quality, therefore you eat less to satisfy your nutritional needs. The heat of cooking depletes vitamins, damages proteins and fats, and destroys enzymes which benefit digestion. As your percentage of raw foods increases you feel satisfied and have more energy on smaller meals because raw food has the best balance of water, nutrients, and fiber to meet your body’s needs.

2. Raw foods have more flavor than cooked foods so there is no need to add salt, sugar, spices, or other condiments that can irritate your digestion system or over stimulate other organs.

3. Raw foods take very little preparation so you spend less time in the kitchen. Even a child of 5 or 6 can prepare most items for breakfast, lunch or dinner. This gives children a sense of self-esteem and independence, not to mention the break it gives Mom or Dad.

4. When you are eating raw there’s little chance of burns, unless you’re in the middle of a forest fire or out in the sun too long. Just think! No burns to tongues, the roof of your mouth, or fingers, and many fewer house fires.

5. Cleaning up after a raw meal is a snap. No baked-on oils or crusty messes. And any inedible parts go directly to the compost pile.

6. Eating a diet of raw foods can reverse or stop the advance of many chronic diseases, including heart disease and cancer. Remember, cooking creates free radicals, which are the major cause of cancer. When you lower the number of free radicals your cells are bombarded with, you lower your risk of cancer.

7. A raw food diet can protect you from acute diseases such as colds, flu, measles, etc. Raw foods maintain a healthy body and a healthy body will not become diseased.

8. As long as you combine raw food properly according to the rules of Natural Hygiene, you will soon reach a level where you no longer suffer from heartburn, gas, indigestion or constipation.

9. It is environmentally sound. With humanity on a diet of raw foods, the food industry would close up shop and take up organic gardening. This would save us enormous amounts of natural resources used to produce power for these industries. Nuclear power would be clearly unnecessary. And think of how many trees and oil reserves could be saved without the need for the paper and plastics used in packaging our processed foods. There would also be less carbon dioxide released in to the atmosphere when all the cooking stopped and more oxygen produced from all the new orchards and gardens, thus helping to reverse the Greenhouse Effect.

10. Eating raw saves you money on food, vitamins, pots and pans, appliances, doctor bills, drugs, and health insurance.

So don’t waste your food, yourself, and our planet by cooking what you eat. Fruits, nuts, and vegetables which are whole, fresh and raw are brimming with life and have the ability to transmit their life force directly to you.

Susan Jorg, Estacada, OR