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The
human body is very delicate, physically, mentally and spiritually.
Many substances we ingest, can cause this delicate organism to
malfunction. It is our opinion that the human
organism was never configured to cope with the foodless nutrition
that we subject it to. The original design was living fruits and
vegetables, sprouts, and grasses which are ideal for the human
body to thrive and be strong and healthy.
We
found this interview from www.rawguru.com
(they have given us permission to reprint) and feel that it
can be extremely helpful to someone who is trying to help their
body to heal. A living food vegan diet
and adding wheatgrass juice to this diet was Ann Wigmore’s
method also. People from all over the world went to her institute
to learn her diet---some of them extremely ill and on their death
beds. They learned her diet for the two weeks
they were at her institute and went home and stayed on the diet
for 18 months. For her recipes, go to http://www.wheatgrasskits.com/issue14.htm
1.
What are some Raw Food Staples in your current diet? Are you 100%
Raw? How did you start?
I
have been on a 100% Raw Food Diet for 5 years now. I only eat Raw
vegetables, fruits, nuts, and seeds. I jumped into a 100% Raw Food
Diet overnight after reading Become Younger, by Dr. Norman Walker.
He talks about the scientific reasons why processed starches,
refined sugar, dairy, and animal protein have harmful effect on
the human body. He lived to be well over 100 years old. At that
time I didn’t even know that eating a Raw Food Diet was an
option. But the inspiration and practicality of Dr. Walker’s
book left me thinking to myself, how can I not do this, how can
anyone not do this? I became a 100% Raw Food Eater the very next
day.
2.
What is your book "Raw Spirit" about? How is it
different than other raw food books?
After
that first book by Norman Walker I devoured every written word I
could find about being Raw. I was eager to experience all the
miracles these books talked about. And as promised, AMAZING,
INCREDIBLE, things started happening, the most earth shaking being
those changes I had not read about and was not expecting. The Raw
Diet propelled me into a spiritual lifestyle, which for me was
fairly uncharted waters. I couldn’t believe the astonishing
range of experiences I was having; a lot of them are explained in
my book. There were also challenges that came up when I became
Raw. They were hard for me and I can see them being hard for
others. I share those “not to pleasant” jabs, as well. I also
make clear the basic scientific reasons why all these positive and
negative experiences happen. Additionally, there is an interview
with Dr. Fred Bisci, PhD in the book. Dr. Bisci has been on a Raw
Food Diet for over 40 years. He is a renowned nutritionist who has
seen well over 25,000 people during his career. He has helped heal
numerous conditions and degenerative diseases using an improved
diet protocol. When I have a burning question, Fred is definitely
my most frequently used resource.
I
believe that the Raw Diet, if done correctly, is the ultimate diet
for the human body. However, I understand that it is not an easy
task and may simply not be practical for everyone’s lifestyle,
climate, etc. My goal is not to convert everyone to Raw Foodists.
In Raw Spirit, I explain how someone can experience high levels of
health without adhering to a 100% Raw Food Diet. I also include
Dr. Bisci's Intermediate Healing Diet, a protocol similar to what
he gives clients who want to heal from disease. This intermediate
diet, containing some cooked foods, can be adopted as your daily
guideline for health and healing; or it can be used to transition
safely and easily to your new Raw L ifestyle.
3.
What’s it like working with Paul Nison and Dr. Fred Bisci?
Fred
is like my father and Paul is like my brother. I am very lucky to
be associated with these two extraordinary men. For the last four
years, I have consulted with them both on an almost daily basis.
Paul has been doing the Raw lifestyle for almost a decade now. He
shows me the ropes and guides me in the right direction. Paul’s
outreach has motivated me to take my talents to the limit. He
encouraged the writing of this book from the get go. One of my
future plans is to travel from state to state speaking about the
Raw Diet. Paul has been doing that for many years and is excited
for me to do the same. His kindness and willingness to help
catapulted me into this reality.
As
for Dr. Bisci, I have come to him with hundreds of questions from
people around the globe. There has never been a question he
could not answer, in detail. Regardless of whether people’s
concerns are about arthritis and Crohn’s disease or indigestion
and migraines, he always has an answer, a solution. In every
case he knows what foods should be added or eliminated and what
supplements are needed to speed recovery. I have seen it happen
time and time again that Fred’s nutritional advice has empowered
people to heal from degenerative diseases of all kinds. I have
never met anyone that is as knowledgeable about the human body and
the Raw Food Diet. His guidance allows people to take their health
to the highest possible limit.
4.
What are some quick tips or hints for someone trying to start a
Raw Diet?
It
is what you leave out of your diet completely that produces
extreme health. There are so many diets out there today – The
Maker’s Diet, Macrobiotics, Zone Diet, etc. – have helped
people lose weight and improve their health conditions. There is
one common denominator for all their successes. That common
denominator is they all leave something COMPLETELY out of the diet
such as refined sugar, starch, and so on. Raw Foods is the best
way to go because you leave out all the bad and only keep the
good. It is not solely Raw Food that heals people; it is what they
are not doing that heals them.
I
have a friend with some health issues that tries to eat a lot of
raw veggies when I’m around. I’m fully aware that he still
eats “other foods” like orange chicken from Panda Express. I
don’t care if he eats raw foods until he is blue in the face. If
you don’t eliminate the cause of your trouble, then you are not
going to get better. Fred jokingly uses this extreme example. If
you were to subsist on a diet of dead rats and a little lettuce,
nothing else, you are going to get better. Why is a fast so
healing? Because you are leaving EVERYTHING OUT. It is critically
important to understand that it is what you leave out of your diet
completely, without cheating, is what heals you.
I
like to break the foods down into the following categories:
Processed
Starches (Bread, pastries, cereal, pasta)
Refined Sugar (cake, soda, candy, ice cream)
Dairy
Animal Protein
Raw Foods
Stimulants (Coffee, Cigarettes, drugs, alcohol)
Which
of these food groups should be eliminated completely from your
diet first? If you were talking from a moral standpoint, animal
protein would be the first choice, because all life is sacred.
From a scientific standpoint, however, animal protein would be the
last group I would eliminate.
Take
for example the diet of a vegetarian. A vegetarian who eats freely
of “meatless junk food,” processed sugars and starches, yet
eliminates meat, is nowhere near the caliber of a Raw Food Eater
or a mindful moderate meat eater. The order of total elimination
from the diet is first: stimulants, second: processed starches,
and third: refined sugar. I believe the first things to go would
be the stimulants, processed starches, and refined sugar. That is
a huge secret. If you can leave out these three groups you are on
your way. You can get a book by Dr. Norman Walker, called Become
Younger, which discusses in detail the harmful effects that these
foods cause to the body. Since reading that book, I haven’t
ingested anything but live raw foods. He also discusses the
harmful effects of cow’s milk, pasteurized dairy products, red
meat, etc.
5.
What are some quick tips or hints for Raw newbies?
L
et’s say that you are one of the rare cases that actually
eliminates everything except for Raw Foods from your diet.
Inevitably, the famous “detox” starts to happen. Your body on
a cellular level begins to dump endogenous material and toxins
into your blood stream. What your diet was like in the past, your
age, etc., will determine the outcome of how harsh the detox will
be. Not only do we have to deal with all the age-old waste matter
being released from our system, we also have to deal with our
day-to-day burden of environmental toxicity, cell metabolism,
digestion, and maybe even what our parents did. Those that don’t
realize what is happening usually blame the diet and either quit
or cheat with some cooked foods. Feeling the effects of detox can
sometimes last years. I have found the best way to keep up with
all this waste matter is colonics. I jumped from the Standard
American Diet into a Raw Diet overnight. If it wasn’t for
colonics, I don’t think I would have been able to stay Raw.
Colonics are especially beneficial for someone committed to
improving his or her diet indefinitely. Imagine that you are on
the Standard American Diet and you decide to improve your diet for
a week. No more greasy foods and junk foods. After that junk free
week, you eat a couple slices of pizza. Because you have been
eating so well, you’ll probably feel ill and get a stomachache.
A colonic would most likely clear that right up. If you were to
eat the pizza again after doing that colonic, you may even get
more sick then before, because you are even cleaner now then the
first time you ate the pizza. This yo-yoing between really good
and poor diet can prove to be harmful. Raw Spirit gives more
explanation about why it is better to move gradually and
consistently, or not at all.
Colonics
are powerful healing aids and can catapult your body to the next
level. Your body will be free of waste buildup, allowing it to
work on deeper levels of healing like your internal chemistry. If
you returned to the Standard American Diet, you would eventually
end up right back where you started.
Waste
removal is crucial for ultimate health. Most people look at me and
estimate my age as early 20s, when in fact I am almost 31 years
old. I owe my youth and glow to colonics, leaving things out of my
diet completely, and drinking green vegetable juices. Drinking
vegetable juice is very important. Not only does it provide us the
best nourishment by giving us vitamins and minerals in the most
soluble, easily absorbed form, it also acts as a powerful
alkalizer. It helps alkalize the acidic endogenous material being
released into our blood. If you combine a Raw Food Diet, colonics,
and vegetable juices, your body will immediately respond with
astonishing results.
6.
Do you have any major influences?
I
would have to say Dr. Fred Bisci and Dr. Norman Walker are the top
two. I have some other favorite authors such as Arnold Ehret and
Hilton Hotema. Dr. Norman Walker lived to be well over 100 years
old. He was obviously doing something right.
7.
How do you come up with a recipe?
After
being Raw for five years now, my diet is pretty simple and I
don’t use many recipes. I do enjoy experimenting for friends,
though, and have fun creating dishes similar to some of my old
favorite cooked foods. Intuition and fearlessness have produced my
best recipes. My mom used to make me the best banana nut bread and
I would spread cream cheese on each slice. That was amazing.
Although, my banana nut bread creation didn’t esthetically
resemble her version, it sure tasted like it. And the cream
cheese! Yumm! I squeezed a lemon or two in the blender along with
a couple of large avocados, 9 dates, and a small handful of dulse
and blended it up. Ta-dah! It was cream cheese. For the banana nut
bread, I took a bunch of pulp from juicing carrots, romaine
lettuce, spinach and celery. I put it in a food processor with the
S blade along with 3-4 frozen bananas, some dates, and 10
tablespoons of ground flax. I may have added carrot juice to make
it mix easier. After that was blended, I pulsed in soaked raisons
and chopped walnuts. Then you just add the cream cheese and heaven
prevails.
Paul
Nison comes up with the craziest recipes, too. He made raw eggnog.
Soak 1 cup of almonds overnight. The next day, blend the almonds
with two cups of water and 2 tablespoons of Fred Bisci’s
Probiotics and blend. L et sit overnight. Strain the mixture with
a nut milk bag (we carry nut milk bags and Fred’s Probiotics at www.TheRawWorld.com).
Blend the strained liquid with 1-2 bananas and a little agave
nectar to taste. The substance in the strainer is an amazing
seed cheese for you to enjoy. To avoid having to use more
probiotics for future batches, take four tablespoons from the
mixture before you strain it, put it in a separate container and
use it in place of the probiotics the next time.
8.
Do you have any dental problems on the Raw Diet?
I
do not have any dental problems. If the Raw Diet is done
correctly, I would be surprised if you got a single cavity. A lot
of people run into problems because they think the Raw Food Diet
is a cure-all. You have to continue proper dental hygiene even,
even on an ideal diet. Make sure to brush and floss your teeth on
a daily basis, making sure to brush all the way to the gum line.
Many people have swollen gums. It’s likely they don’t floss
everyday and as a result have developed gingivitis. When a person
with gingivitis flosses, their gums bleed. Flossing everyday for
two weeks would be enough to stop the bleeding and the swelling.
Frequently,
Raw Foodists eat too much fruit. If you overeat fruit you may
become mineral deficient and calcium could leach out of your
teeth. When you are doing a Raw Diet right – eating a good
variety of foods, leafy greens, and drinking green juices – you
will have no problem assimilating plenty of calcium and magnesium.
If you are doing the Raw Diet correctly, your chances of running
into teeth problems are much less then a cooked food eater. Citrus
is another thing you have to watch out for, especially if the
fruit is non-organic and prematurely picked. Drinking or eating
too many lemons, oranges, or grapefruits can erode your tooth
enamel. Make sure to rinse and brush your teeth after having
citrus. If the citrus fruit is allowed to fully mature on the tree
and is organic, the effects won’t be as bad on your teeth.
However, I think rinsing your mouth out and/or brushing your teeth
post-citrus is still a good idea.
9.
Where do you see the Raw Food movement heading?
I
see the Raw Food movement growing exponentially. Every time I turn
my head I see a new Raw Food Restaurant open. I am astonished when
random people I meet start talking about their plans to transition
toward a Raw Food Diet. Also, there is a great demand for Raw Food
books, as I’m learning. Education about the Raw movement is
definitely being sought out.
10.
Can you please tell us about some of your current projects
you’re working on and/or developing?
Currently,
I have plans to start traveling the United States , getting the
word out about how to heal thru diet, especially the Raw Food
Diet. All three of us, Fred, Paul, and myself, may travel together
at some point and do a trio-speaking event. We’re also chatting
about the possibility of doing healing retreats or establishing a
center where people can come, heal, and be educated on a healthier
lifestyle.
Matt
has written a book called: Raw Spirit: What The Raw Food
Advocates Don't Preach.
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