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"Since eating E3Live, I've noticed an unmistakable boost in

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shorter. E3Live makes a big difference in my performance."
- RYK NEETHLlNG, Olympic Swimmer and World Record Holder
Doctor Endorsed for Rejuvenation and
Well-Being.
"E3Live helps restore overall biochemical balance by
nourishing the body at the cellular leveL.. lt is a specific food
for attention deficit disorders and for
depression... E3live is for peak performance
of body, mind and spirit. .. Include it in any
detoxification and rejuvenation program.
I take it myself daily."
- DR. GABRIEL COUSENS M.D., Author of
Conscious Eating, Director, Tree of Life
Rejuvenation Center in Arizona
The Super-Green Product Every
Athlete Dreams Of.
"With E3live I don't feel weak or tired. I am amazed by my
recuperation time between rounds. In one minute, I am ready.
I'm glad to have E3Live on my winning team. It gives me focus
like never before'"
- STEPHEN MOLlTOR, Undefeated Professional Boxer
Get It Fresh. All Organic, Raw & Natural.
E3Live has more bio-available chlorophyll than any other
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It comes fresh frozen straight from Lake Klamath. Mix with
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Test and Be Convinced!
"E3Live is the freshest and by far the best AFA on the
market! I recommend E3Live! Test and be convinced'"
- DAVID WOLFE, Founder, Sunfood Nutrition, Author of Naked
Chocolate, The Sunfood Diet Success System
Our "Feel the Difference" Guarantee:
We invite you to try our products at no risk. If you do not
"feel the difference" by your own evaluation, we will refund
your purchase price (minus shipping) for up to one year on
all of our products.
Available in the UK: Tel. 08450 60 10 60
International Tel. +44 (0)1603 891 678
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"Feel Good" Food.
Get Fresh! 1 Autumn2007
Contents
Main Features
18 Interview With David Wolfe
"Food is the major determinant of how we're feeling on any given day,
where we're going, and what our destiny is."
21 Food Combining
Easy rules for increased energy, better digestion and effortless weight loss.
36 What's In A Vaccine?
And why you don't want it in your body.
39 The Get Fresh Guide To Superfoods
Forget the hype; these are the foods that will take you furthest.
In This Issue
17 How To Be Raw And Have A Social Life
Paul Nison makes it easy.
24 Raw Coaching
Eating raw but not feeling energetic? Karen Knowler to the rescue.
28 Healthy Body, Healthy Planet
Top athlete Brendan Brazier talks to Get Fresh! about the plant-based diet
that led him to peak performance - the sustainable way.
34 Healing At Hippocrates
Overcoming cancer, by Dr Brian Clement.
48 Raw In The City
Sarma Melngailis on how she ended her love-hate relationship with coffee.
50 Raw Beauty
How to get the glow.
58 Rejuvenation
It's about more than being raw...
82 A Day In The Life of Rhio
The author of Hooked On Rawtalks us through her daily routine.
62
Food
62 Sexy Starters And Bite-Sized Bits!
Chad Sarno with teasers to leave your guests wanting more.
67 Ask Alissa!
How to use a dehydrator to recreate your favourite cooked foods.
72 How To Make Raw Chocolate
These recipes make the perfect raw treat.

Regulars
5 Editor's Letter
6 What's New?
10 Book reviews
12 News
15 Events
32 Healthy Changes
55 Readers' Raw Transformations
76 Healthy Breaks
Published by
Autumn 2007
Get esh!
Director Cary Kikis
Editor Sarah Best
Cover Image C iStockphoto.com/LiseGagne
Design Rudy Penando
Printer Mongo Print Limited
Contact details
Get Fresh/ magazine, The Fresh Network,
Chequers House, 9 Stratton Road, Hainford,
Norwich, Norfolk NR10 3AZ.
Editorial enquiries
sarah@fresh-network.com
Advertising enquiries
Sophie Callingham +44 (O)84S 833 7017
sophie@fresh-network.com
This magazine is printed on
environmentally friendly paper produced
from a sustainable source.
SUBSCRIBE
CALL t44 (O)84S 833 7017
SEE PAGE 9 FOR DETAilS OF
OUR SPECIAL OFFERS AND GIFTS.
The Get Fresh! Philosophy
Get Fresh! is the international voice of the
raw food movement, featuring viewpoints,
teaching and philosophies from some of the
most prominent natural health authorities in
the world, and real life stories and interviews
with those living a raw and living foods
lifestyle. Its aim is to educate, motivate
and inspire, while retaining a rational and
realistic worldview.
The Get Fresh! philosophy, while focusing
on diet, acknowledges that true health is
about much more than food. It encourages
each reader to seek, learn and discover what
works best for them as an individual, on all
levels - mind, body, spirit and emotions. If
you're Interested In including more raw foods
in your diet, having more energy, living more
consciously, or are already living the lifestyle,
Get Fresh! is for you!
Disclaimer
All recommendations featured in Get Fresh!
magazine are for information purposes only
and not intended to replace appropriate care
from a qualified practitioner.
A
biOl09y class when I was 14 has always stuck in my mind.
The topic was nutrition. As we studied the protein, fat,
carbohydrate and vitamin content of different foods, the
teacher announced to us that he'd worked out which food was
the most nutritious on earth. This, he explained in a state of some
excitement, was the one food that contained everything humans
needed and that you could live on alone for long periods of time,
should circumstances demand it. And what was this wonder food?
The peanut!
This was good news for me. I'd always been a big fan of peanuts
and peanut butter - the roasted, salted variety, naturally - so
after that I upped my intake and mentally polished my halo each
time I tucked in. Even though the term superfood hadn't been
coined back then, I was already into the concept, you see!
The knowledge of nutrition available to us just two decades ago
bears little resemblance to the knowledge - or range of foods-
available to us now. With the abundance of different vegetables,
fruits, nuts, seeds and guilt-free gourmet ingredients that we
can choose from today - whether they're on sale in our locality
or just a mouse click away - never has it been easier to eat a
supremely healthy diet.
In this issue, among other brilliant articles and features, you'll
find our Guide To Superfoods. Peanuts didn't make the list,
though my erstwhile teacher wasn't completely off track - most
nuts and seeds do qualify as superfoods. However, only one
food from this category is complete enough and rich enough in
nutrients across the spectrum to make it into our rundown of the
super superfoods that will give you the most and take you the
furthest. All is revealed on pages 39 to 46.
With our best wishes for a healthy and happy autumn, we do
hope that you enjoy this issue.
Sarah Best
Editor
Gel Fre II! 05
--
HAT'S E
?

Want To Become A
powders
that pack
a punch
Superfood specialists Raw Intent have
launched a range of health-enhancing
blends made from the finest natural
ingredients dehydrated at low
temperatures.
Pure
For more information see
www.rawintent.co.uk.
Choose from Pro Bio for detoxification,
Protein Punch for strength, Lean
& Light to nurture and aid natural
weight 1055 and Berry Burst to boost
immunity. The superfood powders can
be taken with water, juice or smoothies
or added to desserts or other foods.
Berry Burst's ingredients include camu
camu, acai, blueberry, goji extract
and immune-boosting herbs and
mushrooms. As well as packing a
powerful antioxidant punch, the blend
also has adaptogenic properties.
Juice With A Boost
The Juice Master has also been
busy developing his Ultimate
Juice Booster range. There are
five varieties to choose from:
Ultimate Detox Boost, Ultimate
Berry Boost, Ultimate Juice
Boost, Clear Skin Boost and
JM's Love Boost. The boosters
contain specially selected
blends of natural herbs,
superfoods, vitamins, minerals,
amino acids and fatty acids.
which is based purely on the fine balance
of liquid fuel designed by nature to act
as food and healer will not only also
be viewed as 'alternative', but will be
challenged by many as to whether it is
even credible as a therapy"
No doubt the course will have its critics,
but you won't find one here.
To find out more about the
Juice Master Juice Therapy
Course or the Ultimate Juice
Booster range visit www.
juicemaster.com, call 0845 1302829 or
email info@juicemaster.com.
Order from www.alissacohen.com
Have you tried UIi Mana's goji cherry truffles?
They're not available in the UK yet, but we
hear they're been creating something of a
stir at Alissa Cohen's Maine offices where
they've been called "a virtual symphony for
the senses", "a little drop of heaven" and
"the best truffles in the world," Vegan, raw
and organic, they contain cacao, agave, dried
cherries, goji berries, vanilla beans, date sugar
and Celtic sea salt.
LoVe BooSt
o
.J
J
ason Vale, the best selling juice and
addiction author also known as The
Juice Master, is launching the world's
first accredited juice therapy course in
January 2008. Juice therapy has been
around in various forms for centuries, but
it has never been widely recognised in
the same way as other therapies such as
acupuncture, iridology, 'normal' nutritional
therapy and 50 on.
Juice Therapist?
The Juice Master Juice Therapy
Course will be made up of four
distance learning modules and a
five-day intensive training course
conducted by Jason himself
and Dr Enid Taylor. The course
will cover not only biology,
anatomy, physiology and which
juices work for which ailments,
but will also give participants
a good understanding of
addiction and every aspect of
health.
"It is a great shame that any
type of therapy which doesn't
involve medical drug intervention
is deemed 'alternative'," says Jason. "It is
an even greater shame when a therapy
Tantalizing treat
06 Gel Fresh!
For more information see www.
totalrawfood.com or ring 01273248697.
The latest raw chocolate brand to launch
in the UK is the Real raw chocolate bar
range from Total Raw Food. In the place of
refined sugar, dairy and preservatives are
100% natural ingredients, including some
surprising additions.
There are five bars to choose from: Real
Gold has a mesquite crunch, Real Silver
contains ionic silver and suma, Real Red is
packed with whole goji berries, Real Purple
gets its colour from purple corn and Real
Blue is enhanced with blue-green algae.
Bars cost 2.85 and are now on sale in
health stores across the UK.
For more information or to order, visit
www.fresh-network.com, email
orders@fresh-network.com or ring +44
(0)8458337017.
Gourmet ra
n k rang
hit th K
The range, which includes chocolate
macaroons, savoury crackers, energy
bars, granola, nuts and nut butters
is now available to buy direct from
the The Fresh Network, which is also
selling their men's and women's 'EAT
RAW LIVE LONG' shirts.
In the last issue we could hardly
contain our excitement as we told you
about the One Lucky Duck range of
gourmet raw snacks. Now we are back
with great news for UK and European
readers.

1St
Real chocolate
ith a t
/i. 'S NE
?

Super stuff!
What do you do when you crave an ice cream fix? For UK raw foodies
who've ditched dairy and shunned soya, the only way to get that fix used
to be to get busy in the kitchen. Not any more!
The Booja-Booja Company has launched 'Stuff In A Tub', an all-natural ice
cream made with a base of cashew nuts and sweetened with agave nectar.
Better still, none of the ingredients are heat-treated.
The range comes in five fabulous flavours: Vanilla
M'Gorilla, Coconut Hullabaloo, Fesity Winjin Ginger,
Pompompous Maple Pecan and Hanky Panky Chocolate.
The chocolate flavour picked up a Gold Great Taste
Award from the Guild of Fine Food Retailers and the
entire range scooped the award for Best New Organic
Food Product at the Natural and Organic Products Europe
show earlier this year.
As an active supporter of independent retailers, the Booja-
Booja Company has pledged that none of its products
will ever be sold in supermarkets. The Stuff In A Tub range
will be available in good independent wholefood shops,
delicatessens and farm shops.
For more information see www.boojabooja.com.
Pamper yourself
08
Get Fresh!
Raw Gaia, the only company in the world offering 100% raw skin and body
care, has added some exciting new products to its range. Its Living Facial
Cleanser contains a unique blend of cold-pressed oils, organic essential oils
and organic floral waters, each carefully selected for their anti-microbial and
anti-fungal properties. Meanwhile, its Sun-dried Green Clay Face Pack is a
detoxifying treat, gently drawing out toxins and environmental pollutants.
Raw Gaia is also launching a range of gift packs, which will be available from
September 10. Pictured below is the Pamper Box. Priced between 27 and
48, they make the perfect treat for someone you love - including yourself!
For more information see www.rawgaia.com or ring 01273311476.
." ,-
. Subscribe to Get Fresh! and save 20%!
More and more people wor dwide are
discovering new levels of health and
wellbeing by eating high raw or all raw.
Get Fresh! is the magazine for those who
want to discover and enjoy these benefits
for themselves. Every issue is packed full of
ground-breaking nutritional and holistic health
information *news *reviews *inspiring true
stories *advice on finding the most natural,
eco-friendly products and services *insightful
and thought-provoking commentaries on our
mental, emotional and spiritual potential *the
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much more!
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selection of the worid's leading experts on raw and
IMng foods and optimum health talking about the
link between nutrition and achieving your potential
- on aI/levels. Also covered: ground-breaking natural
healing information and the tricks to making healthy
food taste amazing. Talks by world-renowned
authorities Victoria Boutenko, Elaine Bruce, Brian
Oement and Paul Nison and rawchefs Rene Al'chner
and Cherie Soria.
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BOOK REV
10
The Raw 50
By Carol Alt,
Clarkson Potter, 517.00
An American supermodel, Alt has graced the covers of
over 700 magazines. She discovered the healing and
rejuvenative powers of raw food a decade ago and has
been eating close to 100% raw ever since. She detailed
her astonishing transformation in her first book, Eating
In The Raw. This sequel is a practical guide to living the
lifestyle she recommends. Although largely a recipe
book, it also contains advice on setting up a raw kitchen,
selecting ingredients and sprouting, plus six moving
testimonials from people who have transformed their
lives with raw food.
The promise on the jacket is "10 breakfasts, 10 lunches,
10 dinners, 10 snacks and 10 drinks" - hence the '50'
in the title. But as the lunches and dinners are multi-
course feasts, this is a book that really delivers on the
recipe front. For example, the Un-Supersize Me Lunch
includes Raw Burgers, Sprouted Kamut Buns, Coleslaw,
and Choco-Coco Mousse. The Tuscan Supper, meanwhile,
encompasses Squash Spaghetti with Garlic Oil and Pine
Nut 'Parmigiano', Tuscan Bread, Field Greens Salad with
Creamy Black Pepper and Sage Dressing and Cool Lemon
Cream Pie.
As Alt asks on page 16: "Eating what other diet, living
what other lifestyle, can you shamelessly have such a
wide range of delicious foods and treats?" Many of
the recipes in the book were contributed by renowned
raw chefs; 14 of them from Dan Hoyt of New York's
celebrated Quintessence restaurant.
In the next issue of Get Fresh! - our exclusive interview
with Carol Alt.
Get Freslr!
Ani's Raw Food Kitchen
By Ani Phyo,
Marlowe & Company, 519.95
At the front of this book, raw chef Ani Phyo
promises: "This book is the green living resource
for busy, health-conscious people who want to eat
more fresh organic living foods that are fast and
easy to make, delicious and nutritious to enjoy."
Although the book doesn't disappoint one bit on
the recipe front, its most unique selling point is
the huge amount of information on sustainable
living. With titles like 'Recycling Helps but Reusing
is Better' and 'Lemon Rinds are Great for Cleaning'
if you're convinced you're as green as it gets,
chances are you won't think that after reading
this book. You might decide to stop short of 'Pedal
Power Your Appliances' but if you want to take
sustainable living to the next level there is no better
source of ideas for turning your carbon footprint
into a tiptoe.
Phyo was raised on a raw food diet but drifted to
the standard diet during university only to find
herself overweight and with high cholesterol. So
she came full circle and returned to the pure diet
she was raised on, in the early days even hosting
raw dinners in Los Angeles so she would have
gourmet raw food to feed herself on for the rest of
the week.
She is now one of the most talented raw chefs in
America and recipes in the book include Mushroom
Risotto with White Truffle-Infused Olive Oil, Black
Sesame Sunflower Bread and Pecan Chai Pie on
Cashew Crust.
Quantum Eating:
The Ultimate Elixir Of Youth
By Tonya Zavasta,
BR Publishing, 530.00
As the title suggests, this book marries quantum physics and
nutrition. The aim? It's the culmination of the author's quest
to discover the ultimate anti-aging diet. Tonya Zavasta
is best known for promoting the beautifying benefits of
the all-raw diet, and what makes her regime unique is the
suggested prolonging of our natural night-time fasting
period by gradually phasing out dinner. Zavasta eats her last
meal at 2pm and goes for 16-18 hours a day without food -
and here's the thing - or water.
Zavasta provides compelling evidence that this complete
digestive system rest, dubbed 'dry fasting' by other health
pioneers who have similarly extolled its benefits, has
detoxification, longevity and rejuvenative benefits. The
regime also provides 'calorie restricted optimum nutrition' -
the book draws on the body of research that suggests that
if we can meet all our nutrient needs on a low-calorie diet,
we're likely to live longer, healthier lives.
Zavasta emphasizes that the plan she recommends is only to
be considered by those who have a few years on a pure raw
diet under their belts and are ready to go to the next level.
She is also explicit that she is recommending dry fasts that
last hours, not days.
At over 400 pages the book is a comprehensive and
engagingly written guide to staying young gracefully and
ends with a selection of recipes and a rundown of the
gadgets Zavasta has discovered to help keep skin looking
fresh and glowing. Turn to page 50 to read an excerpt from
the book.
The New Energy Body
By Natalia Rose,
E-book available from TheRawFoodDetoxDiet.com, 514.95
Quantum physics and raw food meet again in this new e-book which
expands on the themes from Rose's recently published Raw Food Life
Force Energy. What is the new energy body? It is reached through
what Rose dubs "the ultimate detox process" because it cleanses on
all levels, not just physical. As she writes in the introduction: "The
old energy body is a body steeped in density, burdened by existence,
relationships, fears and premature aging. The new energy body is a
body that has been enlightened, literally and figuratively." The book
outlines 12 stages for getting there and they encompass everything
from raw food, meditation and breath work to 'Detox Your
Detrimental Programming and 'Raise Your Light Quotient'. Another
highly recommended book from this original and insightful thinker.
The Hundred-Year Lie: How to Protect Yourself from
the Chemicals That Are Destroying Your Health
By Randall Fitzgerald,
Plume, $10.20
The author is a former Wall Street Journal
investigative journalist and the lie in question dates
from 1906, the year Congress enacted the Pure
Food and Drug Act. This Act lulled - and still lulls -
most of the American public into believing that if a
substance is allowed in our food, water or anywhere
else where it might get into our bodies, it must be
safe. The reality? There are estimated to be over
100,000 synthetic chemicals in use worldwide and
only a fraction have ever been tested for their effects on humans.
This book, which includes the details of the author's wheatgrass juice
and living foods detox at the Hippocrates Health Institute, is a must
read for anyone who wants to know how to live a healthy life in a
polluted world.
All books can be ordered from The Fresh Network. Call +44 (0)845 8337017.
Gel Fre II! 11
E
Hippocrate In itut lead
ad an ing kno 1 dge of ra
th a in
food di t
Attendees at the 2nd International living Foods Summit, held in April this year. Back row, left to
right, Or Brian Clement, Hippocrates Health Institute, USA; Oan Laderman, living light Culinary Arts
Institute, USA; Viktoras Kulvinskas "Father of living Foods, Costa Rica; Oiana Store, Raw Superfoods,
Holland; Laura Gonzalez, GHAW Institute, USA; Ken Blue, Hippocrates Health Institute, USA; Claudine
Richard, living Food, France; Or Anna Maria Clement, Hippocrates Health Institute, USA; Alicia Hall,
Hippocrates Health Educator, England; Katrina Cunliffe, Tree Of Life, USA; Or Jameth Sheridan, Health
Force, USA. Front row; Oorit, Serenity Spaces, USA; Cherie Soria, living Light Culinary Arts Institute,
USA; Paul Nison, Raw life Inc, USA; Jill Swyers, liVing Foods For Health, Ut<,; Brenda Cobb, living Foods
Institute, USA; Oavid Rainoshek, Tree of life, USA.
hen 22 of the world's leading
raw and living foods experts
gathered in spring 2006 to
discuss the most frequently asked
questions relating to the diet and lifestyle,
it was a landmark moment.
The event in question was the 1st
International Living Food Summit,
organized by Drs Brian and Anna Maria
Clement at the Hippocrates Health
Institute in West Palm Beach, Florida. The
result was a joint statement outlining
the experts' consensus on a number of
important issues, and offering a series of
guidelines for those following the raw and
living foods lifestyle.
This official consensus was especially
significant because the raw food arena
has a history of being plagued with
contradictory advice from different
quarters. For example, with one camp
insisting the healthiest diet should have
fruit as the main source of calories, and
another arguing that fruit should be eaten
in moderation if at all, health seekers who
are attracted to the lifestyle are often left
scratching their heads.
So it is good news for raw food fans
everywhere that a group of experts is
committed to ongoing scientific research
into the diet, and to reaching informed
consensus on all controversial issues
pertaining to it.
The 2nd International Living Food Summit
was held in April of this year and again
attracted experts from around the world.
In a recently released statement about the
event the organizers revealed that this
year's discussion focused heavily on the
urgent importance of living in a way that is
environmentally sustainable.
The group reviewed the statement issued
last year and plans to add to these
nutritional and health guidelines as and
when new research becomes available.
Controversial topics addressed this year
included cacao and salt. The view of the
assembled experts? Both are best avoided.
Those present this year echoed the
organizers' belief that ongoing
cooperation between raw food leaders
is essential, as this unity will help spread
the living and raw foods message into the
mainstream, where it is most desperately
needed.
The 3rd International Living and Raw Food
Summit is scheduled for May 2nd and 3rd
2009.
The 2006 statem.ent
The group's recommendation's for a
healthy diet:
Vegan (no animal products of any kind,
cooked or raw)
Organic
Whole foods
High in vitamins, antioxidants and
phytonutrients
Highly mineralized
Contains a significant quantity of
chlorophyll-rich green foods
Contains adequate complete protein
from plant sources
Contains a high proportion of high
water content foods and provides
excellent hydration
Includes raw vegetable juices
Contains all essential fatty acids,
including omega-3 fatty acids, from
naturally occurring plant sources
At least 80% raw (the remaining to be
vegan, whole food and organic)
Has moderate, yet adequate, calorie
intake
Contains only low to moderate sugar
and exclusively from whole food sources
(fruitarianism is strongly discouraged)
Is nutritionally optimal for both
detoxification and rebuilding
The group added the following proviso
to its dietary guidelines: "Diet is a critical
piece of a healthy lifestyle, yet not the
entire picture. A full-spectrum, health
supportive lifestyle is encouraged. This
includes physical exercise, exposure
to sunshine and psychological health.
Avoiding environmental toxins and toxic
products is essential.
12 Get Fre It!
chool
(5
Import..... vvhol...lernd retail.... of
revv, v.g.n, org.nlc .nd vvlld .uperfood.
FOR THE SUPERBEI G GE ERATIO
RAW
CHOCOLATE
8> its euperlood __
But raw, organic almonds could soon be an expensive and
hard-to-find commodity in the United States. After two isolated
instances of salmonella contamination of non-organic almonds,
the US Department of Agriculture has passed legislation
effectively making it illegal to sell raw Californian almonds.
Most of the country's almonds are produced in this state and if
the ruling goes ahead, from March 2008 almonds - even those
labeled raw - will have to be 'sanitized', either through high-
temperature sterilization or with a toxic fumigant.
s a staple in many raw recipes, from milks and smoothies
to pates, crackers. cakes, cookies and numerous other
tasty creations, the almond is officially the favourite nut
of raw fooders.
aw
almonds
under threat in
The fumigation chemical to be used is propylene oxide. Its use
on food is banned in many countries, including Canada and the
whole of the European Union. Even the US's own Environmental
Protection Agency has classed propylene oxide as a probable
human carcinogen.
The threat of the legislation has forced US-based companies
selling products containing raw almonds, including raw almond
butter, to start looking for overseas sources. There has never
been a contamination scare associated with organic almonds, and
the two instances of salmonella outbreak linked to conventional
ones came not from the almonds themselves but from cross-
contamination with livestock manure.
The Cornucopia Institute, an organization which upholds the
interests of small farmers, has launched 'The Authentic Almond
Project' which it hopes will successfully overturn the planned
legislation. "If almonds require pasteurization, what foods will
be next on the list of mandatory sterilization, heat treatment and
irradiation?" asks Will Fantle, the Institute's research director.
"Truly raw, untreated frUits, nuts and vegetables might no longer
be legally available in the marketplace."
If you want to join the campaign against this craziness. af/ the
information you need to do this is on the Action Alert page at
www.comucopia.org.
LEARN ABOUT RAW
FOOD AND ITS LIFE
CHA GI G BE EF TS
Come and learn how easy it is to
incorporate Raw Food into everyday life
whilst creating mouth-watering recipes in
a relaxed. friendly environment.
We offer classes to suit everybody no matter
what level you are at. Start with a 4-hour
introduction or start your transformation with
a 2-day Raw Foods weekend covering all
aspects of Raw and LIVing Foods.
We teach at venues in Richmond, Chiswick
and Soho, London. For class dates and
times please call or visit our website.
CA L ANDP W A 'IS 0 0786 58 863
WWW.THERAWFOODSCHOOL.COM
E A roo r'\... OM
NE S
Rm\' r l<turant
mplr in the
making...
We reported in our last issue
that top raw chef Chad Samo is
preparing to open a restaurant
in London before the end of
the year. A location has been
found and as this issue goes to
press building work is about
to begin on what promises to
be a stunning venue. Samo
is partnered with Turkey-
based lifestyle company The
LifeCo and together they
have established the Saf
restaurant brand. Saf stands
for 'simple authentic food'
and is also Turkish for 'pure'.
The LifeCo has plans to open
Saf restaurants, educational
'experience centres' and detox
centres across Europe.
The first Saf restaurant opened
in Istanbul earlier this year and
we have it on good authority
that the London launch will be
preceded by a branch of Saf
opening its doors in Munich this
autumn. Rumour has it that by
the end of 2008 Samo will also
have a Saf restaurant in Geneva
and a further restaurant in
Ottawa, which is a project of
his own company, Rawchef.
For more information about
the Saf chain of restaurants see
www.thelifeco.com or www.
safrestaurant.com and for more
information about Chad Samo
visit www.rawchef.com.
I'd 111.
ra\\' t' ...
London has its very first raw
food delivery service. Chef
Anya Ladra has set up Raw
Fairies to offer pure gourmet
food to companies, yoga
centres, spas and health clinics
as well as private clients. On
the day we checked, dishes on
offer included Shitake Walnut
8alls; Cucumber, Beetroot and
Seaweed Salad with Sweet Miso
Ginger Dressing; and Nut and
Seed Granola with 8erries and
Brazil Nut Milk.
The closest competitor to Raw
Fairies is My Little Earth, run
by Katia Narain and Christophe
Reissfelder, the raw chefs
behind the former Little Earth
Cafe in Primrose Hill. My
Little Earth is a London-based
delivery service which offers
healthy, pure, whole cooked
dishes as well as innovative raw
ones, including some of the
favourites from the menu at
The Little Earth Cafe. Both Raw
Fairies and My Little Earth also
cater private events, including
dinner parties and retreats.
You can sample Anya
Ladra's raw creations at the
Bonnington Cafe in south
London. This is a communally
owned vegetarian restaurant,
and every second, fourth and
fifth Sunday of the month Anya
is guest chef.
For more information about
Raw Fairies or to book a place
at one of Anna's raw Sundays at
the Bonnington Cafe visit www.
rawfairies.com or call 07879
246501. The Bonnington Cafe
is at 11 Vauxhall Grove, London
SW81TD.
For more information about
My Little Earth visit www.
mylittleearth.co.uk or ring
07834 988522.
'he CK\ hI' t olllinc
ra\\' forum
Get Fresh! reader Debbie Took
has started the Raw Food UK
Forum. This online facility is
for anyone interested in the
lifestyle, from the long-time
raw fooder to the person just
curious to out more. To join, go
to http://health.groups.yahoo.
com/group/rawfoodukl
I <t\\'f oclon.\\\T
Suz Evasdaughter, author of
The Raw Route to Perfect
Health and Weight, will appear
on UK television on September
11 at 9pm. She will be making
her raw solstice pudding with
cashew cream on chef Anthony
Worrell Thompson's show The
People's Cookbook, on the
UKTV Food channel. Read Suz's
story on pages 55-56 of this
issue.
Chocolate
RaxKrisps
AlmondBu er
Cocon utter
Cashe u
Macadam;as
Do call us!
+44 (0)870 850 7112
THE RAW WAY OF LIFE!
./Champion Juicer
./ WaterWise Distille
./Personal Blender
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London
Or Clement is the director
of the Hippocrates Health
Institute in Florida and one of
the world's leading authorities
on optimum health through
the liVing foods lifestyle.
This evening event is a rare
opportunity to hear him speak
in the UK.
nckets now on sale - ring The
Fresh Network on +44 845 833
7017.
F
S nd
For more information see www.
rawspiritfest.com or call +1928
7761497.
hO
o30!
With Oavld olf
Sedona. Arizona. USA
Speakers include Viktoras
Kulvinskas, Or Jameth
Sheridan. Victoria Boutenko
and Oavid Wolfe. plus Get
Fresh! regulars Or Brian
Clement. Karen Knowler. Tonya
Zavasta and Cherie Soria. As
well as lectures. the agenda
includes workshops, raw
food demos. yoga, music and
dance. Say the organizers:
"This is more than a raw vegan
food festival. Our vision is
to integrate healthy living,
eco-sustainable solutions
and world peace because
together these comprise a
comprehensive strategy for
addressing current global
challenges...
Brighton
Hear Oavid talk while
enjoying the goodies in your
complimentary superfood kit.
Read our exclusive interview
with Oavid on pages 1820 of
this issue.
For more information and for
bookings see
www.detoxyourworld.com or ring
+44 8700113 119.
For more information see
www.simplyraw.ca
or call +1 613 234 0806.
For more information and for
bookings see
www.detoxyourworld.com or
ring +44 8700 113 119.
Ottawa, Canada
A day of lectures.
yoga. food preparation
demos and shopping
opportunities. Included in
the line-up is top raw food
athlete Brendan Brazier.
featured on pages 28-31 of
this issue.
Oxon Hoath Country Estate
Retreat, Hadlow, near
Tonbridge. Kent.
Featuring Oavid Wolfe,
Shazzie, Magic Kate and
Oaniela Vanilla. the setting
for this intimate residential
retreat (45 places only)
is an old country house
set in over 70 acres of
grounds. Read our exclusive
interview with Oavid on
pages 1820 of this issue.
o 0 Your orld Annual
1,( eLrn. 1)(' ill -pin.d.
hop. (at. ha\!' run
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EV T
Yoga
Meditation
Raw organic gourmet cuisine
Raw organic juices
Food preparation workshops
Health and nutrition lectures
Now taking bookings for March 2008 onwards.
Raw Living Style presents
RawSpain Detox Retreats
Andalucia, southern Spain
ur n ult tions
u\ r\c rOODS
FOR 11 L\ LT11
w,,,,.jilb,,,, er.... lom
lpp erat
Ulinary
Havin trouble ju gling our health goal and our ociallife?
Paul i n ha om imple ad ice.
have been raw for over 12 years
now, and teaching about making the
transition to a raw food diet for about
seven of those. As I travel all over the
world, one of the questions I get asked
often is: "How does someone consume a
raw food diet while not being considered
an outcast by society?"! I thought when
I first started eating this way many years
ago that this was going to be an issue for
me as well, but to my pleasant surprise I
have found it to be very easy.
Like any change, at first it can be a
challenge, especially when most of the
world doesn't understand the reason for
the change or anything about it. The raw
diet is so different from any other way of
eating. But it is becoming the new
'in thing' so it is not as challenging in social
settings as it was just a few years ago.
It is good to know that years ago
consuming a vegetarian diet was
considered weird or different but today it
is pretty much accepted all over the world.
Well, today the raw food diet is becoming
accepted and there are more and more
raw food vegetarian restaurants opening
up, especially in the United States.
First off, if you plan to consume anything
less than a 100% raw food diet (which
is fine) you won't run into the same
challenges as someone who wants to go
100% raw. You can just simply have cooked
food on those occasions when you can't
get raw. If doing so, do your best to make
sure the food is as healthy as possible.
If you are planning to go 100% raw
remember that just like making the
change from an animal eater to a
vegetarian or vegan, how we handle the
situation can make all the difference.
If someone tells you that you are sick,
you will say to them, how do you know
how I feel? But if 100 people come to
you in one day and tell you that you are
sick, you might start to think, am I? When
first starting to eat a raw food diet many
people are going to tell you things like,
you are crazy, that's dangerous, you need
cooked food, or you can't do that, and the
more you hear it, the more you might start
to believe it.
As long as you've thought out the reason
and purpose for going on an all raw diet
you should not be bothered too much by
what others say, but if you are in doubt
before they say anything, their words
might take you over the edge.
Don't go beyond your understanding. Do
the research before changing your
diet so that when you get these comments
you will know you are doing the right
thing.
Make the choice yourself and not because
someone else talked you into it. As long as
it is your choice to change, that will help
keep you strong, but if you try to change
for someone else, it will make it harder to
stick with it when the pressure is on.
Even if you have the knowledge and you
made the choice yourself, their words
still might make you second guess your
decision to go on an all raw diet. We are
all human and we all have feelings and
emotions. It's like if you get a new haircut
and think it looks great. You could be
pretty confident in that feeling but if
you keep hearing that your hair looked
better before you cut it, you might start
wondering whether you made a mistake.
The most important rule we have to learn
is that we cannot let our feelings override
our decision. I call this decision over
emotion. It is hard to be consistent if we
are living off of how we feel. After just
a few days on a raw diet many of us will
feel the need for cooked food. Also many
of us will base our feelings on what other
people tell us. This is why once we make a
decision we should learn to stick to it.
Make a promise to yourself that your faith
is so strong in what you are doing that
you are going to stick with it and no one is
going to talk you out of it.
Once you feel confident in what you are
doing, how do you deal with friends,
family and others who think you have
gone off the wall?
Do not get over zealous. It's easy to
believe so strongly in the message that
you just want to push it on everyone else.
I and you most likely know that the raw
food diet is the healthiest way to eat,
but it took us a while to learn this, and it
might take other people a while. Accept all
people where they are.
Live by example. Let people see how
great you feel and look and how much
energy you have. Then they will start to
ask questions. That will open the door for
you to give them the answers.
Now I am going to give you the most
amazing advice you will ever get on how
to socially fit into society on a raw food
diet. Three magic words will make this
path so much easier for you. No matter
who it is or where you are these three
words will work for you. Do not tell people
you are eating a raw diet because... Most
people do not care about or understand
health and will think you are crazy!
Here are the three magic words: "My
doctor said... "! If you tell them that, they
can accept it with no problem.
Understand, most people do not eat
for health. They eat for taste. If you are
making food for your family, don't put the
food on the table and give them a health
lesson. Just make the food taste great and
they will enjoy it - and you will enjoy most
people accepting the way you eat.
If anyone tells you how to eat, just tell
them nicely, if you do not want me to
tell you how to eat, please don't judge
my eating habits. That should keep them
quiet. If not, just shove a carrot in their
mouth.
Paul is an internationally recognized authority
on the raw food diet, and the author of six
books on the subject. For more information see
www.paulnison.com.
Get Fre h! 17
SPECIAL FEATURE
Interview with
e
David olfe is one of th world leading authoriti n the raw di t and life t le. He i the
author of se eral be t- lling bo k on th ubject including The unfood Diet ucc s
ystem and Eating For Beauty. H ha n r 1 000 health lecture and emlllar
around the \1 odd and reGularly h t r treat . Da id i 0 f nlin ra'.; uper t r
unfood utriti n and co-found r of rh non-pr fit ruit Tree Plantin Foundation,
Here h talk to arah B t ab ut the link b tw en nutrition and human potential.
You've been writing and lecturing about
raw foods since 1994. At what point did
you notice interest in this lifestyle really
start to take off and how has it grown
since then?
I noticed a massive increase in interest
seven or eight years ago. Since then it
has grown to the point that raw food is a
major grass roots movement worldwide.
It's already to some degree mainstream.
When I talk to people about goji berries
- even people with no knowledge of
nutrition - they connect that to the raw
food diet. They know what that is. Does
that mean they will choose to go raw? Not
necessarily. But is it more likely they will in
this environment? Of course.
Can you remember the moment when you
first saw the connection between nature,
nutrition and health?
The initial seed was planted when I was
seven and my family took its first trip to
California. We stayed at my uncle's ranch
and planted fruit trees all summer. This
was my first experience of gardening and
eating fruit directly off the tree.
At what point did you leave behind the
'standard diet'?
When I went to college and started buying
my own food I started to notice something
wasn't agreeing. I was only eating about
20 different foods so I knew it would be
easy to work out what the problem was.
So I just ate 10 foods one day, then ate the
other 10 the next and soon, by process of
elimination, I was left with only two foods.
One day I just ate grape nut cereal - I felt
fine. The next day I just had milk and it
was clear that this was the problem.
I got off dairy and people started asking
where I was getting my calcium. I realized
I needed to investigate. I started reading
books on nutrition and I've been a huge
advocate of people educating themselves
about nutrition ever since.
'Raw food not only
tran forms people
health; it also
reconnect them
to the earth"
So this quest for knowledge led to your
discovery of raw food as the ideal diet?
Eventually. At that time the only book
that mentioned raw food was Fit For
Life, by Harvey and Marilyn Dimond. It
actually mentions the term 'raw foodist'
and this concept made immediate sense
to me. Later I read Blatant Raw Foodist
Propaganda by Joe Alexander: this is
the first book that was really on point
from a nutritional and an ethical and a
philosophical perspective. I've been 100%
raw for 13 years now, That's not going to
change. It's who I am.
How would you summarize the difference
between living on cooked food and living
on raw?
First, there is no better directive than
raw food. It's almost impossible with the
choices available today to avoid processed
food unless you have a strong directive
that guides you. Once you know about the
importance of eating natural, raw foods
you can guide yourself in any restaurant,
store or forest much better than if you
didn't know.
Raw food not only transforms people's
health; it also reconnects them to the
earth. The major reason people have lost
connection with the earth is because they
don't eat foods that come from the earth.
It helps people reconnect with what's
valuable. So many people are so lost they
think their car is more valuable than their
body! They'll take better care of their car
or other possessions than they do their
body! It's an epidemic in our society.
Raw food heals that disconnect from
what's important: family values, friends,
love, gardening, connection to the earth.
It brings about a spiritual transformation
that is very badly needed. A lot of
problems are caused because people are
not actually in their body; not here in the
moment, connected to the great workings
of nature. Raw food changes all that.
Although thousands who have already
gone high raw or all raw can vouch for
all of that, those who are new to these
concepts find it hard to believe. Would
you agree that people initially tend to be
attracted to raw food purely for what it
can do for them on the physical front?
Of course. Weight loss is a big one. Raw
Get Fresh! 19
20
food helps people quickly reach their
ideal weight. When I lecture I often ask
this question: "How many of you have
lost over 100lbs on a raw food diet?" No
matter what city I'm in I'll usually see at
least three people raise their hands. One
hundred pounds!
What, specifically, do you eat?
I live on superfoods but you have to go
through a lot of cleansing, detoxing and
green juices before you can do that. Once
you're alkaline the whole picture changes.
The foods I eat often include honey,
bee pollen, royal jelly, blue green algae,
chlorella, noni and aloe vera. I practically
live on smoothies. When I'm travelling I'll
mix honey, bee pollen, cacao, maca and
goji berries into a ball and eat that. I still
have green juices and salads but I eat a
lot less than I used to and I'm a lot less
attached to food. My goal is for everything
I eat to be super-loaded with nutrition and
consciousness in as few calories as possible.
But the key is I want to eat this way and
don't feel I am denying myself.
Clearly nutrition is only one component
of a healthy lifestyle and there are many
others. Do you believe nutrition is the
single most important factor?
Nutrition is where the rubber meets the
road. Food is the major determinant of
how we're feeling on any given day, where
we're going and what our destiny is.
What, in your view, is the next essential
component of a healthy lifestyle?
Counteracting stress. Connecting with
nature is an important de-stressor.
Planting foods, trees, gardens; as well
as de-stressing us, these are also a great
form of exercise. Then there are the yogic
Get Fresll!
practices including breathing, meditation
and asanas. Every couple of hours I step
away from my desk and do five minutes of
simple yoga. It reconnects me.
There is a very strong correlation between
stress levels, state of consciousness, diet,
thinking and exercise. All of these feed off
each other. You have to watch all aspects
of that equation. And you have to balance
it properly in order to have true success
and to maintain a high vibrational nature.
You've spoken before about the power of
a high-raw diet to affect what we absorb
from the atmosphere around us. Please
explain how this works.
The earth itself is negatively charged;
that's its polarity. The sky and the heavens
are positively charged, and the sexual
union between the two is what creates
life. Ozone and oxygen are male, seminal
particles from the sun. If you are charged
up with the negative ions from the
earth, through eating living food filled
with prana, that positive energy in the
atmosphere - the ozone and oxygen - goes
to you instead of to the average guy in the
street. You attract it right into you in the
way that iron filings are attracted to the
strongest magnet first.
What does that mean? Let's say you're in
New York City in July and the air is really
dirty. If you're negatively charged enough
with the right stuff, you walk out there
and you get all the oxygen, ozone and sun
force energy you need. This is because you
have such a strong negative charge inside
your body from what you're eating that
these things are attracted right to you.
You don't have to know what I'm talking
about. Just eat the food and you'll feel it.
I am writing a book called Amazing Grace
which explores this, and other subjects, in
greater depth.
You are a leading advocate for the power
of superfoods. What do you consider to be
the number one superfood?
A microscopic plankton organism called
krill. Krill is what whales use to build their
nervous system and high consciousness.
It is extremely loaded with mitochondrial
nutrition [the mitochondria are the
energy-producing powerhouses of the
cells). With enough energy a cell can
correct its damage. Krill oil is also densely
loaded with antioxidants and essential
fatty acids, including the long chain
omega 3s found in fish. Fish is not an
option because of pollution and ethical
considerations. There are vast expanses
of no pollution in the Antarctic, where
krill is harvested. I've gone long periods
of time with krill oil being the major fat
in my diet. Blue-green algae and spirulina
actually contain what's in krill and they are
a better choice than krill if you need a lot
of protein. I don't.
Will the raw food diet be consigned
to history as just another fad, or is
the explosion of interest we are now
seeing just the start of a huge shift in
consciousness?
I believe it's the latter. Being raw isn't just
about health. It's about sustainability. It's
about meeting the green demand of the
future. What sustainability comes down to
is you have to be able to grow your own
food in your own back yard. And when
you're doing that, why on earth would you
want to cook it?
Eating in this way gives us control back
over our food supply. In the west that
has been taken over by chemicals. I fully
believe it will be the major diet worldwide
in 100 to 200 years. Raw food is the only
diet that makes sense to everybody, the
world over.
David's newbook, Amazing Grace, is scheduled
for release in early 2008. For more information
about David visit www.davidwolfe.com.To
access his archives of information on raw food
and peak performance subscribe at www.
thebestdayever.com. In the US, David's books
and other products are available from www.
sunfoodnutrition.com. In the UK, they can be
ordered from www.fresh-network.com. David
will be in the UK this autumn for the Detox Your
World Annual Retreat from Monday 1st October
to Thursday 4th October. and he will be giving a
talk in Brighton on Friday 5th October. For more
details see page 15.
e
e feet ~
bi
It's not just what you eat but how and when you eat it) says Angela Stokes. By following
some simple food-combining principles you can improve your digestion) increase your
energy and shed excess weight more easily.
I
n nature, wild animals don't combine
foods. You're unlikely to see a bear
catch a fish, then pick berries to go
with it. Animals generally eat one thing
at a time - a 'mono-diet' - and there are
substantial benefits to eating this way.
Different types of foods - proteins,
starches and sugars, for example - all
digest in different ways. So when we
combine different foods together, it can be
challenging for digestion. Unfortunately,
most of us learnt to eat exactly this way
- combining many different foods in one
meal. It took time to learn to eat this way:
people don't tend to feed babies complex
concoctions, rather simple blended fruits
or veggies. It also takes time to unlearn
eating this way, but the benefits are worth
it. All you need to know are a few simple
food-combining rules and you can improve
digestion immediately.
What we consume either digests easily or
ferments, and food combinations strongly
affect this outcome. This doesn't mean you
have to follow a strict 'mono-diet' (though
many raw fooders certainly do choose
this path). It just means paying a bit more
attention to what you mix together: the
simpler you keep things, the easier it is to
digest. One term coined by raw foodists
is 'combo-abombos' - i.e. abominable
combinations resulting from budding
raw foodists throwing everything into
the blender at once. The more you avoid
such combo-abombos and aim towards
keeping things simple, the better for your
digestion.
Imagine the difference, for example,
between digesting a mono-meal of five
peaches or a slice of raw peach and
blueberry pie with a base of three kinds of
nuts and honey, plus chocolate sauce. Get
the idea... ?
The fruit mono-meal is easily recognised
by the body and digested within about
30 minutes. The pie, on the other hand, is
much more challenging for your stomach.
The fruits and honey are simple sugars,
which means they digest quickly. The
heavy nuts are fat and protein-rich, so they
require substantial time in the stomach's
acidic environment to break down.
These two food groups thus start to
'compete' for digestion. This confusing
set of messages challenges the stomach.
Sugars are our primary source of energy
and therefore 'shout the loudest' to get
priority for digestion. This means that the
protein-rich nuts get hurried out of the
stomach, along with those sugars, before
they're really ready, leaving them to
putrefy in the intestines. Hmmm, perhaps
that pie doesn't sound so pleasant
after all ...
Let's not get too rigid here though. It
doesn't need to be about perfectionism.
For those starting out with raw foods
especially, it can be much more a case of
'anything goes'. If you're coming from a
background of processed junk foods, just
the fact that you start eating mostly or
all-raw means your digestion and health
will improve. There is more margin for
'error' in the beginning. As time goes on,
your cells get cleaner and tighter and your
body lets you know it would prefer simpler
combinations.
Then you can start refining things, as feels
good to you. That's really what it comes
down to - do you feel good after you eat
a certain combination? Nobody knows
your body better than you do and what
feels just fine to you might feel like a
Gel Fre hf 21
22
horrible combination to someone else. We
can certainly use books and ideologies for
reference, to learn about general patterns
people find useful, but the real key is
listening to our own bodies.
The side effects
So, what happens when foods are not
'well-combined'? A very common side
effect is feeling sluggish, tired and heavy.
This is because complicated combinations
require so much energy to digest that
there is little energy left for anything
else. We may also feel mental fogginess,
especially if we've eaten a lot of fat.
Digestive issues may include gas, bloating,
constipation, fermentation and candida
overgrowth. You may also experience
rashes, mucus, spots, weight gain, difficulty
losing weight or any number of other
symptoms, as gas and waste back up in
your over-worked system.
A less obvious side effect is that it's much
easier to overeat foods you later realise
don't agree with you, when eating
'combo-abombos'. Many people eat
quickly and this, along with the longer
time taken to decipher messages in
muddled combos, means that by the
time the stomach's worked out the
puzzle, you've already finished a plate of
something that doesn't serve your health.
The benefits
One major benefit of good food
combining is it helps conserve energy.
Digestion of food takes a lot of energy.
The simpler our combinations, the easier it
is to assimilate and use this fuel efficiently.
As a result you'll feel cleaner, lighter, more
alert and more energetic.
Good food combining will also help you
lose excess weight, especially if you avoid
complicated meals late at night. Ideal
combining also helps you maintain an ideal
weight. Your digestion and elimination
become smooth and regular and your skin
clear and fresh.
Simplifying your food can have knock-on
benefits in other areas too, like using less
Gel Fresh!
electricity, having less washing-up and
shorter food-prep times. Mono-meals of
fruit, for example, usually involve picking
up fruit and eating it, with maybe a bowl,
knife and chopping board at most to wash.
Compare that to making a raw pie, or
more complicated yet, a greasy
cooked meal.
When you eat a mono-meal, the body can
tell you precisely when it's time to stop, as
the food will begin to taste different and
even unpleasant. This is the body's way of
letting you know it's had enough for now.
This feedback is a real advantage, as you
can get exactly what you need, without
going to excess.
Overall, eating 'good' food combinations
can thus bring more energy, time and
vitality to enjoy the things you love.
No more pie?
Does all this mean you'll never eat raw
cake again? Not necessarily - it's really up
to you. How easy do you want to make
things for your body; how much energy do
you want going to digestion? The example
with the peach pie above, for instance,
illustrated the overall idea behind why
someone might want to pay attention
to food combining. You don't have to do
anything, or be 'perfect': just do the best
you can, while enjoying yourself. A less-
than-optimal combination is unlikely to
leave you in hospital - this isn't a critical
matter - it's more about tweaks that can
take your health to the next level. whether
you're 40%, 80% or 100% raw.
The raw advantage
The good news for raw foodists is that
food combining boundaries can be a little
more flexible than for traditional cooked
food eaters. This is useful if you do desire
to eat raw gourmet foods. The high
enzyme content of rawlliving foods helps
digestion enormously, meaning you can
afford to make more 'mistakes' (at least in
the beginning).
In moderation, you can often eat 'Iess-
than-optimal' raw combinations and find
you feel fine afterwards - eat complicated
recipes to excess however and you're
unlikely to feel great {though taking
digestive enzymes at such times will help}.
Many different theories exist about food
combining and here we'll examine only a
basic, suggested outline.
For optimal digestion, try not to eat raw
nuts and seeds, avocadoes, etc {fats} with
your fruits {sugars}, or starchy vegetables
with either. Green leafyllow-starch
vegetables combine fine with just about
everything.
Of course, foods don't consist exclusively
of sugars, starches or fat/protein. So aim at
not combining concentrated protein foods
with concentrated starchy foods and so on.
Guidelines
A key recommendation is keeping melons
separate from all other food. Melons
digest extremely quickly {in about 20
minutes}, so are best eaten by themselves.
You can, however, eat different melons in
one sitting if you like, with little digestive
interference. Some people also keep other
types of fruits separate from each other.
For example, it's recommended to avoid
eating 'acid' fruits, such as citrus, with
'sweet' fruits like bananas. 'Sub-acid' fruits
like peaches and plums can be enjoyed
with either acid or sweet fruits.
Examples of acid fruits
Oranges, pineapples, lemons, grapefruit,
tangerines.
Examples of sub-acid frUits
Apricots, strawberries, nectarines,
raspberries, blackberries, mangoes, apples,
cherries, peaches, plums, gooseberries,
pears, kiwis, grapes.
Examples of sweet fruits
Dates, bananas, raisins, papaya, figs,
prunes, persimmons, grapes.
One way to avoid considering whether
something is a 'good' combination or not
is to just mono-meals of fruit. Eating only
one kind of fruit at a time until you've
had enough is an easy way to keep things
simple and digest more easily. You'll likely
also notice and appreciate the subtleties of
fruits more when eating in this way.
Preferably, acid and sub-acid fruits
shouldn't be eaten within 30 minutes of
any other food, to avoid complications.
Less acid fruits, like ripe bananas can be
more easily combined with other foods, for
example in a bananalcoconut smoothie,
though this isn't an optimal combination.
Be cautious of eating fruit as a dessert,
as it gets stuck behind other foods in the
digestion queue and simply ferments. I
would recommend instead eating fruit
before other foods.
Try to be aware of overlapping your
meals. After eating anything, or drinking
a juice/smoothie, leave sufficient time
to finish digesting that before you eat
more. Otherwise, if you're half-way
through digesting some pineapple, for
example and then eat a nut burger, you're
overlapping digestive tasks and asking
for complications. An ideal set-up would
be eating fruit, or drinking veggie juice
before a meal, on an empty stomach (for
better absorption), then eating about 30
minutes later.
I'd also recommend avoiding combining
different fats in one meal - e.g. a salad
with olives, avocado and nuts. Opt for just
one or two fatty/protein foods in a meal
and you'll find them much easier to digest.
Cooked combo catastrophes
Cooked food eaters can and do easily run
into combining issues. Classic combos like
hamburgers, cheese sandwiches, rice and
dhal or meat and potatoes, for example,
are digestive minefields. This may seem
shocking at first. We may argue that these
'traditional' meals of dense protein with
starch are eaten all around the world.
Surely all of those societies can't be
'wrong'; there must be a reason why
people eat like this. Well, there is, but
it has little to do with nutrition. It's all
about economics. In India, for example,
rice is widely available and cheap, so an
average meal consists of a mass of rice,
accompanied by something dense and
spicy, like dhal. The protein and starch
combination is troublesome for digestion,
as these foods digest differently. This
means digestion slows down. Thus, it
takes longer for the eater to become
hungry again.
Naturally, this is good for finances, but
hardly ideal for wellbeing. If we're in a
position to choose what we eat and when
based on health, rather than finances,
I believe there's no better choice than
learning food combining basics and
applying them consistently, in the context
of a high-raw diet. As natural healer Dr
John Tilden put it: "Nature never produced
a sandwich."
For those transitioning to , 00% raw, bear
in mind that the more of a meal that's
raw, the more you can afford to have
combination clashes. This is good news
if you find eating salads challenging, for
example. Making salad dressing with
whatever ingredients you like (raw or not),
not only makes the salad more attractive
to you, but the enzyme-rich veggies also
make it much easier for your body to you
digest the non-raw foods.
Bendmg the rules
There are also reasons why someone
may want to deliberately not eat 'good'
combinations. For example, in general, as
we've seen. fruits and nuts don't combine
well. However, for a diabetic, or someone
dealing with blood sugar irregularities,
eating these two foods together slows
sugar absorption into the bloodstream.
The heavy nuts interfere with the much
swifter digestion of fruits, so a diabetic can
use this to their advantage, to be able to
eat fruits. increasing the range of foods
they can eat.
Other raw foodists may choose 'less-
than-optimal' combinations like this to
actually hold themselves back from rapid
c1eansing/detox. A raw lifestyle is highly
cleansing and the more we eat simple
combinations and mono-meals, the more
we press onwards into cleansing. The body
always works towards optimal health;
every chance it gets to move more into
cleansing, it takes.
After months or years of simple eating,
it becomes very uncomfortable to eat
raw pie for example, as the digestion
has become so unaccustomed to such
mixtures. While some people love being
in that space of feeling so 'clean' inside.
others don't want to go there yet. They
want to still enjoy raw gourmet foods if
they choose, so will eat more complicated
things sometimes, to stop their body from
moving further into cleansing.
Keep it simple
It comes down to this: better food
combining means better digestion and less
fermentation. That means more effective
nutrient absorption and less back-up in the
intestines. You don't have to follow any
of the suggestions here. but you will feel
benefits if you do.
The most important concept to remember,
is to let your body be your guide.
Everybody's digestive system is different
and can handle some combinations better
than others. This article has hopefully
provided some useful combination
guidelines, but there really are no
'definitive answers'. If you're in doubt
about whether a combination seems like
a good idea. just think about the other
animals in nature and how they eat: keep
it simple and above all, enjoy!
Raw food author and lifestyle consultant
Angela Stokes lost an incredible 12 stone
(160Ibs) with a raw lifestyle, reversing
morbid obesity. 28-year-old Angela started
eating raw in May 2002 and has spent
the last five years exploring and promot-
ing raw foods and natural healthcare for
weight loss. Visit www.rawreform.com
for more information. Angela offers e-
books, retreats, consultations and lectures
internationally on raw foods. She can be
contacted at angela@rawreform.com.
Get Fresh! 23
Eating raw food but still haven)t got that (boundless energy that many raw foodists
rave about? Or perhaps) ou)re new to raw foods and want to be fast tracked to
energy central (like yesterday) ... Karen Knowler has the answers.
24
hen Marion telephoned me I
already knew from a previous
email that her main issue was
energy - specifically, lack of it, in spite
of the fact that she had been "eating
healthily" for 4 or 5 years, dabbling with
mostly raw food for a few months to
varying degrees of success and had a clean
bill of health from both her doctor and
naturopath, so had no underlying health
issues to speak of.
What Marion went on to describe to me at
the start of our call was not dissimilar to
Gel Fresh!
anything I had heard before, with phrases
such as "lacking oomph", "tired in the
morning", "tired by 9pm", "no bounce",
"no energy to spare" - Le. about 80% of
the UK population's major health issue-
pure and simple lack of energy.
"But I've been eating mostly raw foods
for over four months now," said Marion.
"Surely I should be feeling better by now?"
A good question, of course. And an obvious
one too. With the lure of "vibrant health"
and "boundless energy" at the heart of
the raw food promise, it's only natural to
wonder why it's not happening so fast and
furiously as we would expect.
I began by asking Marion one of the most
important questions of all: "What exactly
do you eat?" Important because, at a time
where raw food menus can be as diverse as
cooked ones, to say you "eat raw" is simply
by no means enough information!
Marion went on to describe a typical day's
eating:
Fresh fruit or fruit smoothie for
breakfast (porridge or muesli in the
winter).
Lettuce, tomato, cucumber, carrot,
avocado and olive salad for lunch
with lemon and olive oil dressing.
Flax crackers and raw hummus or
avocado-based soup for dinner.
Snacks included goji berries, cacao
nibs, dehydrated cookies, nuts and
raisins, raw chocolate bars, other raw
bars or more fresh fruit.
Drinks included various smoothies, the
odd cup of tea or coffee, the
occasional glass of wine and spring
water.
On face value, looking at Marion's diet it
seemed generally very good overall, but a
few things sprung immediately to mind:
Where are the greens?
Where are the sprouts and living foods?
Where are the fresh green and/or
vegetable juices?
How much water are you drinking?
How often are you snacking? (And
what on, mostly?)
Are you only eating when hungry?
How much are you eating for emotion,
and to what extent?
How often does the wine, coffee,
tea etc slip in? Is it really only
"occasionally" ?
All of these questions come up for most
people who consider themselves to be
generally in good shape but somehow not
losing weight or gaining energy. When
you dig a little deeper, there is always
something - or somethings - there that
just needs a little tweaking...
In Marion's case, further discussion
revealed that:
Greens were something Marion
found "difficult" to incorporate.
After I gave her a few anyone-can-
do-this ideas, she realised that yes she
could actually bring masses more greens
into her daily diet in a way that she would
genuinely look forward to and enjoy on
a daily basis. See my Spinach and Mango
Smoothie recipe, overleaf, for one of the
most potent and genuinely delicious ways
of doing this.
As far as sprouts went, Marion
confessed that she had tried a couple
of times to sprout seeds and beans
herself with limited success and had
promptly given up. I explained that not
only were they the cheapest and among
the most nutritious of all raw foods to eat,
but as far as energy enhancement was
concerned they are second to none. With
further discussion Marion agreed that
she would try again using my sprouting
guidelines sheet (we worked out where
she had gone wrong!) and if she still felt
it wasn't working for her then she would
make a point of ordering or buying in
ample sprouts for herself on a weekly
basis.
When we came to discuss juices,
Marion confessed that she had
never had a mixed vegetable juice
and the green one she had tried had put
her off trying or making any future ones
altogether! The reason being, I soon found
out, because someone had once made her
one consisting primarily of kale, broccoli
and spinach (all dark leafy greens which
are the most potent - both in taste and
nutrition) with a little celery thrown in to
"tame" it, and it had promptly made her
feel sick! Well, quite frankly it's enough to
make most people gag - myself included! -
so we discussed how to adjust green juices
and vegetable juices to suit all palates and
stages and Marion committed to trying my
light green juice with a view to making
one every morning an hour or two prior to
her morning fruit meal.
As far as water was concerned,
Marion was drinking at least a pint
every day but that was generally in
smoothies. We agreed that there was some
room for improvement, both for hydration
and detoxification purposes (drinking
helps us regulate body systems and this is
extra necessary when we are cleaning out
our systems as we are when we purify our
diet). This was pretty straightforward and
easy to do.
When we came to discuss snacking
Marion realised as we spoke that
she was snacking almost constantly
throughout the day. Normally this was
on cashew nuts, sometimes mixed with
raisins or dried apricots and more recently
she had been experimenting with raw
chocolate bars to pick herself up (with
mixed results). I explained that due to
her regular snacking, her body was not
getting a rest from digestion throughout
the course of the day, and by not letting
her stomach empty she was never going to
experience that wonderful "clean burn"
that we get when we allow ourselves
to get truly hungry (or the weight loss
that comes with it). She was very keen to
experience this, so promised to "go for the
burn!" from tomorrow morning onwards.
This all led us nicely on to the classic
question "do you only eat when
hungry?" By this point we were
beginning to establish that this wasn't
generally the case. Marion's desire to
eat came from a number of sources -
mind, body and emotions. They all had
different ideas about what she should be
eating, when and why and any of them
could win on any given day - or at any
given moment. Ranging from "voices"
such as "Eat this it's good for you" to
"If you eat this you'll get more energy"
to "It's one o'clock - it's time to eat" to
"Treat yourself" ... we uncovered more
than twenty different beliefs Marion
had acquired about food and eating, as
well as raw food eating specifically, that
simply weren't true - or constructive! As
we uncovered these one by one Marion
had light bulb moment after light bulb
moment until she had begun to see that
it wasn't so much a lack of energy that
was essentially the issue, but that she was
blocking it through her constant eating as
well as the compound effect of the other
things that were either present or not
present in her diet.
When we came to discuss emotional
eating Marion confessed that she ate
mostly out of boredom. She worked
in an office where she had spent the past
, 5 years and she knew her job inside out.
Nearing retirement age she felt there was
nowhere else to go in her job and she
was craving challenge and stimulation but
it didn't seem likely that any would be
forthcoming. For this reason each time she
finished a job she would reward herself
with a snack, each time she went to the
bathroom she would grab a handful of
grapes, nuts or raisins on the way back
to her desk, each time she felt bored she
would reach for the raw chocolate bar...
and on it went. We established very early
on that most of Marion's eating was
superfluous and that any energy that may
have been trying to emerge would be
being constantly quashed with the volume
and regularity of food she was consuming.
With all this now clear (Marion had not
really admitted to herself just how bored
she was until our call) together we came
up with a game plan for how she could
bring more excitement into her work and
daily life taking into account her passions,
skills and strengths and an option two if
her boss was not quite as keen as she was!
At this point I could almost audibly hear
Marion's heart lift as she realised that
Get Fresh! 25
yes, indeed, the food/energy issue was much more a
symptom of her life circumstances than the cause she
had originally thought.
The final question was to now get to absolute
honesty about what Marion was eating and
drinking. It is so easy to kid ourselves into thinking
we only have the occasional bite or sip of something
when in actual fact it is more of a daily habit! This
proved to be the case with Marion who realised that
"the odd glass of wine" was in fact currently creeping
up to two or three times per week (in line with her
boredom) and she was typically drinking this late at
night accompanied by a couple of handfuls of nuts to
stop the alcohol affecting her too much. On the odd
occasion this had led to a late night toast-and-butter-
binge (very common!) and I shared with her much of
what I know about how and why raw foods and alcohol
are not very compatible and that the most important
work she could now do would be to address the cause
of her emotional eating and "odd tipple" so that she
didn't feel the need to have them as often - if at all.
As we progressed through our session one more thing
came up that was highly relevant - this being that
Marion was often eating two times per night - once
when she came in from work (she saw it as her reward
time for making it through the day and also viewed it
as "tea time" whether she was hungry or not), and the
second time around 9pm when she was getting close to
bed time and "just fancied something sweet".
This would invariably take the form of a few more nuts
and raisins or a raw snack bar - both of which are very
high in calories, slow to digest and quite simply would
just lay heavy in her stomach all night resulting in poor
sleep quality and her body still trying to digest when it
woke up in the morning.
By adding all of the above together it was no wonder
that the experience of "boundless energy" had
escaped Marion (it was buried under all those snacks!),
but the good news was that only a few key tweaks
were required and in only a few days she could be
experiencing a huge shift in her energy levels if she
followed the course of action we agreed.
When Marion called me back two weeks later she was
thrilled to report that she had tackled everything on our
list and had not only started to experience the amazing
energy that she so wanted, but had started to have
some rather interesting insights into how and why she
had been blocking her energy in many other ways too.
With Marion now on the road to consistent boundless
energy it soon became clear that our next call was going
to be pretty much devoted to what kind of mischief she
was going to get up to now that she had it!
Mango & Spinach
Stnoothie
This is a great recipe for getting mas es of greens in quickly,
easily and deliciou Iy.
Makes about 2 pints - ideal for 1 pint in the morning, and 1 pint after
work (if you keep it in the fridge all day it will be fine)
Ingredients
1 bag organic baby spinach (approx. 200g)
1 fresh mango
Directions
1
Rinse and sort spinach, making sure that all leaves are healthy and
good enough to eat or drink.
2Peel and chop mango, placing in the bottom of your blender.
3
Add the spinach on top and blend on full power - add water if
necessary or so desired.
Karen Know/er is The Raw Food Coach. Find
out more about Karen's products, services,
coaching and live food prep classes at www.
TheRawFoodCoach.com or call 01353723133
for more details.
4
Depending on your personal preference, add more water to create a
runnier, smoother drink.
TOP TIP: If you don't like mangos try bananas or any other fruit of
your choice until you find a taste you love. The fruit is not as important
as loving what you drinkl
26 Get Fresh!
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ronman triathlete rendan B azi aI to arah est about h journey
to plant-based pap rformance, a d h campaigning activities to rai e
awareness of the health and environmental benefit of the diet that propelled
him to athletic e cell nce.
"You can be an athlete or you can be a
vegan - it's one or the other. "
B
rendan Brazier heard this verdict
delivered over and over by his
coaches when he first gave up
meat, fish, eggs and dairy. Aged 16 at
the time, Brazier was training to be a
professional ironman triathlete and he was
experimenting with a plant-based diet in
the belief it would help his performance.
But initially it seemed his coaches were
absolutely right.
'" was weak, I wasn't sleeping well, I was
losing muscle and I wasn't recovering
well," remembers Brazier. "But being a
curious person this made me determined
to see if it was possible to achieve what
I wanted to achieve without consuming
animal products, because they were so
adamant it wasn't."
Brazier not only proved his coaches
wrong by becoming a vegan world-class
ironman triathlete; he achieved his goal
in a remarkably short time compared to
the average for the sport. "I attribute that
entirely to my attention to detail in my
diet," he says. "There's nothing else I was
doing differently from other athletes. I
can say now that not only has a healthy
plant-based whole food diet not hurt my
performance; it has massively helped it
compared to what I could have achieved
on the traditional diet athletes follow that
includes animal protein."
Brazier was just fifteen when he decided
he wanted to be an ironman triathlete and
his interest in nutrition grew out of his
realization that success in his chosen field
would require him to have an 'edge' over
the competition. An ironman triathlon
combines a 3.8 kilometre swim, a 180
kilometre cycle ride, and a 42.2 kilometre
marathon.
Brazier started to study what it would take
to get to the top in this sport. Specifically,
he pored over the training programmes
of the leading professional athletes and
compared them to those of average
amateur ones.
"What I saw really surprised me," he
remembers. "They were not that different.
So I started to ask: 'How come some
people manage to beat world records and
others get nowhere?' I worked out that it's
all about recovery. If you can speed your
recovery it's a huge advantage because you
can train again sooner. That was how I first
became interested in nutrition."
When he started out, Brazier knew
nothing about the subject. His extensive
knowledge - the knowledge which
enabled him to write The Thrive Diet,
a brilliant guide to the link between
nutrition, health and peak performance -
is the result of his tireless research, in the
days before such information was available
online. Anything plausible that he read,
he tested out on himself. "I arrived at
this diet through trial and error," he says.
"I experimented with many diets. High
carb, low protein and fat; high protein,
low carbo You name it, I tried it. Each
had one or two good points but the bad
outweighed the good."
As time went on, Brazier became more
and more convinced that vegetarian was
the way to go, despite his initial lack of
success. Further research revealed to him
that such diets are often low in complete
protein, vitamin B12, iron and calcium. "So
I found plant-based sources of all these
nutrients and built them into my diet.
Within a couple of months I started feeling
much better and I continued to improve
from there."
'BeCllllse [',n 110
longer tired and I
dOIl't crave coffee
llld sllgar I've freed
up so rll11ch '''ental
:pace'
Brazier has now been a complete vegan for
15 years and he's been "85% raw" for the
last three. His initial experiments with raw
food were prompted by a friend who was
a walking advertisement for the lifestyle.
He decided to see what it could do for him
and started eating more fruit, more salads
and more chlorophyll-rich greens. He knew
immediately that he was onto something.
"When I started eating high raw I felt
the benefits right away," he remembers.
"My weight went down a little but my
strength didn't so my strength/weight ratio
improved - very important for an athlete. I
noticed I was leaner and had more energy.
I noticed foods digested very easily and
that the body doesn't need to expend
much energy to get nutrients from food."
Brazier did his first ironman triathlon
in 1994 and started racing ironman
professionally in 1998. He continued to
race until 2004 when he was hit by a car;
unable to train for a year following the
accident, his athletic career was on hold.
He used the time to write The Thrive Diet
and also partnered with a sports nutrition
company to develop a replica of the
blender drink he'd been making for 14
years to speed his recovery, and the home-
made whole food bars he used to fuel his
training sessions. And so the Vega range
of all raw energy bars and almost all raw
meal replacement powders was born.
Says Brazier: '" used to think that because
food had calories and calories were energy,
I needed to eat a lot of calorie-dense foods
to have energy so I'd eat things like bread
and peanut butter. But these are processed
cooked foods and take so much effort for
the body to digest that the net energy gain
from them is low."
This concept of 'net gain' is a cornerstone
of Brazier's nutritional philosophy. Some
foods we think of as 'healthy' actually
take more energy to digest than they give
the body. Brazier emphasizes what more
and more in the nutrition field are now
recognizing: that you can get energy from
what you're not eating as well as from
what you are eating. In other words, if
you are eating foods that rob your body of
energy, giving up those foods will increase
your energy levels more than anything you
could add to your diet. Or, as Brazier puts
it: "You can get energy from conservation
rather than from consumption."
The initial positive effects Brazier noticed
on going high raw were, it turns out, only
the tip of the iceberg. Since then, he has
noticed a whole host of other benefits,
most of them wholly unexpected. Number
one on the list: better sleep. "The line is
no longer blurred between being asleep
and being awake as it is for a lot of people
who don't sleep that well during the night
and don't feel fully awake during the day
either," he observes.
"When you remove nutritional stress by
eating the right way your cortisol level
comes down meaning the body can
get into delta sleep. This is the deep,
rejuvenating sleep, when the body repairs
tissues and cells. It can only do that when
cortisol levels are low enough. When I
wake up I'm rested and I can go all day,
and I'll sleep as soon as I want to. I don't
have to sleep as much these days. It's a
huge benefit to have an extra hour or
more in the day to play with."
Another knock-on effect of this: no more
coffee or sugar cravings. "When people
have such cravings it's often not because
they're hungry, it's because they're tired,"
Gel Fresh! 29
30
he says. "Many people who are not
sleeping properly are in a spiral of using
these substances to borrow energy all the
time, so they're stimulating their adrenals
temporarily, then they're fatigued again.
Breaking the cycle can be done with a
good plant-based diet."
A further benefit - the one that excites
him most of all - has accrued from the
combination of the first two: "Because I'm
no longer tired and I don't crave coffee
and sugar I've freed up so much mental
space. Cravings are mental clutter. They
may not always be at the forefront of
the mind but they can be there in the
background distracting you meaning that
ideas don't flow as easily. In this state,
solutions to problems that may come to
you from the subconscious whether you're
awake or asleep, don't come. Remove that
clutter and suddenly they do. It has really
made a big difference to me in this area
and to others I've spoken to also."
A fourth marked improvement Brazier
has noticed: in his pre-raw days he used
to suffer from inflammation in his joints
aher training. That is now a thing of the
past, meaning he can get away with much
shorter gaps between training sessions.
Get Fre h!
Today, he eats a simple diet centred around
lots of fruit, salads, leaves, avocadoes and
sprouts. He also includes the powders
and bars from his own range. "Before
Vega bars came out I used to spend an
hour or two every few months making a
huge batch of bars to put in freezer," he
remembers.
The cooked part of his diet? "Sometimes
I drink pasteurized coconut water when
I can't get fresh. It's such a great source
of electrolytes. Once in a while I'll eat
brown rice with avocado and lemon juice,
or a baked sweet potato. I make a pizza
unlike anything you've tasted before.
The crust is made of lentils and wild rice,
and it's topped with marinara sauce and
veggies. You can do it in the dehydrator
but I usually bake it in the oven at a low
temperature. I'll have that once a month
or so."
He doesn't juice much as he has found that
on such a high-raw diet he needs to drink
a lot less than he used to. "I don't drink
much of anything because I get so much
fluid in what I eat and I'm not consuming
the kinds of foods that dry you out by
taking water from the body," he observes.
So what advice does Brazier have for those
who are inspired to follow in his footsteps
- whether to achieve athletic greatness, or
simply better health and more energy?
His first tip is to take it slowly: "Any kind
of change is stressful for the body. If you
allow yourself the time to change, you'll
have a greater chance of success than if
you try to do it overnight with a 'new
year's resolution' mentality."
His other top tip: focus on inclusion not
exclusion, because: "Once you eat enough
good foods you have no room for the bad
ones. Add a smoothie each day and a salad
each day. Even with just one healthy meal
and a healthy snack a day you start to feel
so much better that you want to do more.
It happens naturally; you don't have to
force it. One raw meal and one raw snack
a day and you start to appreciate natural
flavours; you develop a different palate.
"Take the person who is addicted to
potato chips and thinks they can't live
without them. If they can stop eating them
for a while and focus on natural flavours
they will soon find the potato chips taste
so synthetic they can't eat them anymore.
This change of palate can take anything
from six weeks to six months. But once you
get there things are so much easier for
life."
The bigger picture
Born in March 1975 in Vancouver, British
Columbia, Brazier continues to call the
city home. These days he is on the road
a lot, not only promoting his nutritional
philosophy and his range of products, but
also campaigning. Although he initially
adopted a plant-based diet purely for
health reasons, like many he has become
passionate about the wider benefits and
he dedicated a whole chapter of The
Thrive Diet to a discussion of the impact
of our food choices on the world around
us. As Brazier stresses, you can't separate
health and environment; the two are
intertwined.
"The quality of food depends greatly on
the quality of soil it is grown in. When the
food-producing-earth becomes polluted, so
do our bodies. Since food acts as a conduit
for nutrients in the soil, each time we take
a bite of food, part of the environment
becomes part of our bodies. Not to care
for the environment is not to care for our
personal health."
Brazier belongs to campaign group The
Physicians Committee for Responsible
Medicine (PCRM), which works to raise
awareness of the role nutrition plays in
preventative health care and advocates
a plant-based diet - both controversial
stances in the US political arena. On
behalf of PCRM he was invited to speak
at a congressional briefing on Capitol Hill
in Washington DC last year, sharing his
expertise on the benefits of healthy food
choices and the role a nutritious diet can
play in the prevention of most chronic
diseases currently plaguing Americans.
Earlier this year he was again summoned
to Washington along with other PCRM
representatives to attend meetings to
encourage Congress to vote against the
notorious Farm Bill - the bill which grants
massive subsidies for the meat and dairy
industries and also subsidises a substantial
part of the corn and grain destined to
become livestock feed.
"The Farm Bill allows an industry that can't
survive on its own to continue to exist, H
says Brazier. H It provides the crutch that
keeps it going. This is not a sustainable
approach and the Farm Bill is not beneficial
long term since many of these foods are
the root cause of mild to major heath
problems."
'H01V is it that fa t
food re taura1l1 all
ell a lUl111b"rger
that took several
gallons of oil to
produce for a dollar,
yet all orgallic apple
costs ,nore? '
"With the current price of oil being what
it is, and the amount of energy that
is required to produce meat, the cost
would be exceedingly high if government
subsidies didn't exist. How is it that fast
food restaurants can sell a hamburger that
took several gallons of oil to produce for a
dollar, yet an organic apple costs more?"
It's now becoming more widely known that
food production and transportation guzzle
more fossil fuel than anything else, and are
therefore the number one contributor to
artificial global warming. The message that
is not quite out there in the mainstream
yet is that each of us can significantly
reduce our personal use of fossil fuel by
shifting to a plant-based diet. "Simply put,
it takes less energy to grow plants for food
than it does to raise animals," says Brazier.
"Ten times more fossil fuel is needed to
create a calorie of meat than a calorie of
plant protein."
He adds: "Energy cost and burning fossil
fuel aside, a 2006 UN report found that
cows and methane-producing manure piles
from cattle contribute to 18 percent of all
greenhouse gases. That's the equivalent
of 33 million cars. Additionally, 11 pounds
of grain and 2,500 gallons of water are
needed to produce one pound of beef.
More calories are needed to produce meat
than it returns to its consumer; this results
in a net energy loss which of course is not
sustainable. "
Although it is over a decade since Brazier
challenged his coaches' outdated views
on nutrition and proved them wrong,
little has changed in the sports world.
Professional athletes are among the
biggest consumers of animal protein due
to the enduring myth that you can't build
sufficient muscle or reach your athletic
potential without consuming plentiful
amounts of meat, fish, eggs and dairy.
Brazier is living proof that this theory is
wrong. In fact, his experience and research
have led him to the conclusion that there is
no better way to meet the body's protein
needs than a high-raw plant-based diet, as
it provides it in a form that is so easy for
the body to digest and utilize.
"Most people can get away with eating
about 20% less protein on this diet,"
he says. "I now eat less than half the
recommended RDA of protein for someone
of my size but at no cost to my strength
or endurance and I am still able to build
muscle."
Is he an anomaly, or could anyone thrive
on his diet - from the world class athlete
to the average person who wants to feel
better and have more energy? '" really
do believe a healthy vegan diet will work
for anyone but you do have to transition
properly. More people are trying plant-
based diets than ever before but fewer
are sticking to them because there are so
many vegan junk food items available.
Tofu burgers, soy ice cream and so on. Eat
too many of these processed foods and
of course you're not going to feel great.
People go back to how they used to eat
and say the vegan diet didn't work for
them. But a whole food vegan diet with a
lot of raw - that will work."
Brendan Brazier is the author of The Thrive
Diet and the creator of the Vega range of meal
replacement powders and bars. available in the
UK from www.fresh-network.com. He writes
a weekly blog on glivingtv.com. From the next
issue of Get Fresh!. Brendan will be writing a
regular column on optimum nutrition and peak
performance.
Get Fre h! 31
The art of mak-ng
hea thy changes
It. n tju. t a qu . ti n f \ hat u 11 cl t cl in ord r t improv ur
h alth but h u go about it P t in nt.
32 Gel Fr sill
T
he human body is an amazing,
highly complex piece of natural
engineering and there is still much
that we do not know about it. You don't
have to be a doctor to start taking more
care of your health, just in the same way
that you do not have to be a mechanic to
know that you can't fix a Ferrari with a
mallet and an axe.
Imagine a path going off into the distance
and that when you are on the path you
are healthy, but the further off the path
you stray the unhealthier you are. It is easy
now to imagine that the longer you stray
off the path and the further away from
the path of health you travel, the harder it
is going to be to find it, let alone get back
on it. Not being aware of what is going on
in our body is like being blindfolded and
therefore completely unaware when you
have strayed off the path
The first step to improving our health is
changing our approach to health and how
we think of our body. To get it right is not
easy despite what anybody might tell you
and it is far more complex than just eating
a certain diet. We are all highly complex
chemistry-Iabs-on-Iegs made up of trillions
of individual cells that are all working and
communicating together.
Anyone of our organs mayor may not
be working efficiently and on top of
this there are many complicated systems
within our body that may also be blocked
or congested in some way, so our own
personal road back to that path of health
will be completely different from anybody
else's.
Our body chemistry is defined by genetics,
by our parents and their diet throughout
their lives and how we were fed during
the years up until we began making our
own dietary choices. Every time we change
our diet we change our body chemistry,
either in a positive way or a negative way.
Drastic changes to this chemistry can upset
the body and put stress on certain organs,
especially if there is some weakness already
present.
Let's get the diet thing out the way:
everybody is on a diet, all the time. The
food you put into your mouth is your diet
whether you choose that food consciously
or whether you eat whatever is put in
front of you. Out of this choice you are
creating a certain internal terrain within
you. Everybody on the planet is different
at a chemical and cellular level and so
one person's superfood may be another
person's not-50-SUper food.
Diet is the most underrated factor in
human health today. Our body needs a
complete spectrum of essential nutrients
in order to function properly, and those
nutrients come from the food we eat. If
what the body needs is not in the food we
eat, then our body goes without, but it
is able to compensate and make do with
what it has to work with. It is because of
this amazing ability of the body to be able
to adapt to dietary deficiencies for years
on end that people say such things as: "My
diet can't be the reason for my illness - I've
been eating this food for years!"
"Every time e
change our diet we
change our body
che""istry, either in
a positive way or a
negative way. "
Nutritional deficiencies can be caused by
either eating the wrong foods in the first
place, or the way the food was grown or
by the way the food was prepared. Take,
for example, folic acid which is a key factor
in the reproduction of red blood cells.
Here is a quote from a medical textbook:
"Folic acid is a normal constituent of green
vegetables, some fruits, liver and other
meats. However, it is easily destroyed
by cooking." This is just one important
nutrient, so imagine if the body is lacking
in lots of nutrients on a regular basis?
The important thing is to take care in
how you prepare the food you eat and
be aware that heat does destroy some
nutrients and different nutrients get
destroyed at different temperatures.
Even if the required nutrients are in the
food you eat. the body still then has to
break the food down into its individual
components before the nutrients can be
utilized by the body and reconstructed into
things it can use to fuel and help repair
it. The quality of those nutrients depends
on the quality of the food that they have
come from.
Imagine if you gave a builder second
grade materials to build your house
with: you would no doubt end up with a
second grade house! Current conventional
thinking wishes us to believe that no
matter what you throw down your neck,
your body will miraculously transform
it into top quality raw materials with
which to reconstruct highly complex
cellular structures, repair bones, create
brain chemicals and complete the infinite
number of other highly complex functions
needed for us to experience health.
So with all the above in mind, here are my
top tips for making healthy changes.
1
Start thinking of your body as a
complex chemistry lab. What kind
of internal terrain are you creating on a
daily basis? Begin thinking more about the
quality of food you eat, how you prepare
it and what you are actually eating it for.
2
Start making healthy changes sooner
rather than later. It is easier to stay on
the path than trying to get back on it. The
further off it you are the harder it gets to
turn around.
3
Find out where you are health wise
before you begin making major
radical changes. You can't read a map
unless you know where you are starting
from.
4
Work on both ends of the spectrum.
By this I mean begin gradually cutting
down on the things that you instinctively
know are doing you harm and at the same
time begin slowly introducing the things
that you hope are going to improve your
health. Remember: your body may not like
drastic sudden change.
5
Stay focused on the bigger picture.
Don't get so fixed on your diet that
the rest of your life falls apart. Health has
many factors: physical, nutritional and
emotional to name but a few.
6
Allow your body to get back on top
of things. Rest is another seriously
underrated health activity. Give your
body a chance to catch up. This may mean
resting during the day. Find time for
yourself, relax, address emotional issues
and let your cells repair in peace without
any other distractions.
Pete Vincent is a healthy lifestyle motivator
with a passion for getting people interested in
their health through cellular health awareness.
He can be contacted by email at pete@
cellularhealthinvestigation.com or by telephone
on 01353 659271. For further information visit
www.cellularhealthinvestigation.com
Get Fre Ir! 33
Overcom-
9 Cancer
Cancer isn't the death sentence conventional medicine conditions us to think it
is, but a call to upgrade every area of our lives, says Dr Brian Clement.
34
B
iology and the adjoining
conventional sciences have had a
decades long desire to unlock the
puzzle that creates cancer. Since the early
1970s, European and North American
governments have poured billions of
dollars into the endless research that has
come up empty. Today cancer is a larger
culprit than it has ever been and touches a
far wider group of people.
Cancer is the second most common killer of
children in the majority of western
countries, second only to accidents.
Recently the American Disease Control
Center reported that those SS years and
younger can expect half of their group to
contract some kind of cancer during their
life. This statistic holds true in Britain, Ger-
many, Canada and France and is close to
the truth in most other European nations.
The Hippocrates Health Institute was born
out of our founder's success over colon
Get Fresh!
cancer. Ann Wigmore was diagnosed by
Harvard doctors in Boston who left her
with a grim prognosis of death within six
months. Her courage in raising herself
above this devastation and utilizing simple
methods of healing learned as a girl in
Lithuania liberated her from this disease.
In the mid 1950s she founded what is now
known as the Hippocrates Institute.
People similarly diagnosed began
gravitating to her centre in Boston. The
Institute's mission has always been to help
people to help themselves. Byeducat-
ing and handing the power back to the
person, the person can responsibly bring
about their own recovery. Today we have
tens of thousands of people worldwide
who testify to the power of self determina-
tion via the living food program.
Science sadly suspects cancer to be
renegade cells whereas our fifty years of
clinical research has exposed the reality
that cancer is a reflection of our now
destructive environment. This environment
is not isolated to where we live and work;
it includes the way we think, the way we
act and equally the way we perceive. Com-
bining squelched imagination and limited
expansion with chemically laden soil, foods,
clothes, homes, offices and furnishings adds
up to a cellular nightmare.
Each of our trillions of cells independently
thinks on its own. These solo universes
gather together to become the very organs
and skeletal structure that physically shape
us into human form. When these
independent cells are confused by the
larger environment they begin to act in
strange ways in the hope of protecting
themselves. These abnormally thinking
cells begin to congregate and scheme to
overtake the order of the human system.
In science this activity is called mutagenic.
The larger picture would be the commu-
nity of healthy cells working together to
allow the bodily systems to function at
their highest degree, and then a criminal
element of saboteurs sets out to overtake
balance by imposing their own physical
impression.
With a microscopic view of cancer harvested
from decades of work on the frontline of
this disease, we have established a method
for people to learn and employ tools
so that balance once again reigns. Each
healthy cell requires protein, vitamins,
minerals and fatty acids to create its
structure. Additionally, its fuel which
allows it to function and interact with a
larger whole is hormones, oxygen, phyto-
chemicals and enzymes.
Enzymes are the carriers of electrical
charge to these cells which empowers
them to move and shield themselves from
free radical damage (the cause of disease
and premature aging). When someone is
fully nourished by consuming a harmonious
balance of raw organic living food with
the emphasis on sprouts and fresh organic
greens they will achieve both the structural
nutrients and the critical fuels necessary to
maintain strength and symbiosis in the cell,
in the organs and skeletal structure, and
in the totality of the human anatomy and
consciousness.
Addressing the physical manifestation of
the body is not wholly a physical process.
Most important is the psychological
interaction that a person has with their
own belief system and then to a lesser
degree the world they reside in. Proof in
point comes from allopathic medicine's
term "spontaneous remission". This is
where an individual has been clinically di-
agnosed (scanned, blood tested etc.) with
a disease (Le. cancer) and within either
hours or days no longer shows any sign of
this disorder.
On the other hand the common trend is the
observation after diagnosis of a tumour (or
other disease) that it begins to grow rapidly
and becomes more acute. What separates
the experience is one's own perception,
born in the brain, transferred to the mind
and imagined at whatever level a person
has moulded from former life experience.
Those who have familiarized themselves with
their own powerful survival mechanisms
generally joined the first spontaneous
remission group. Those who carried the
burden of inexperience generally mimic
the authoritative prognosis of the
professional. One's key in changing this
prepatterned process is to erase precon-
ceived notions on the expected outcome
by radically forcing change in all areas of
life. Uncomfortable as it may initially be, it
will environmentally break the spirit of the
renegade cells by positive reaction since
they can no longer tap energy from their
negative allies in sabotage.
Hippocrates guests each receive individual
and group psychotherapy. This enables
them to switch perception gears, allowing
them the freedom to forge new
experiences including change to pure food
and building and maintenance of the body
through movement. Spiritual acceptance
of themselves is a further important spoke
in the wheel. When this is achieved and
all energies are together moving in the
positive direction of growth, less room is
allowed for the deviant cells to reside.
Samantha Young from Toronto in Canada is
a middle aged woman with five daughters,
a happy life and a good relationship among
her family. She began to feel ill and was
devastated to receive the news from her
doctor that she had pancreatic cancer.
Pancreatic cancer is known as incurable
and one of the worst by the allopathic
community. Given up for dead she began
to look into herself and develop the
strength required to supersede this
ominous situation.
When arriving at The Institute a decade
ago she was shaky and unsure yet
passionate about life. Embracing the
lifestyle and utilizing its tools to strengthen
mind and will and the Hippocrates living
food diet, she conquered the so called
dreaded disease. She stated "Taking total
responsibility for my health has not only
brought about my own survival. It has also
elevated me to the understanding that
life begins with me. You are one with the
authority and responsibility to move
forward and to change anything in your
life. Like me, you can squelch any limita-
tion presented to you."
Cancer is not a death warrant. It is an
opportunity to fine tune yourself so that
you can maximize all that you do and all
that you think. After personally working
with tens of thousands of people that
have healed themselves from cancer I am
convinced that this contemporary
catastrophe is more so a state of bad living
and bad thought. So many people have
arrived at Hippocrates after being told of
their imminent death. A large percentage
of them are alive and healthy today. There
is never a time that one should give up.
Living cancer free
* Do not strengthen cancer by
considering it powerful. Consider it
temporary.
* For a minimum of 10 minutes a
day visualize yourself free of
cancer and its causative cells.
* Socialize with supportive people
not negative facilitators of the
status quo.
* Spend a minimum of 30 minutes
per day early morning and late
afternoon in the sun.
* Read and listen to positive
testimonials from people who
have conquered cancer.
* Consume a 100 percent green
living food diet emphasizing
sprouts, wheatgrass juice and
green juice (organic fresh green
vegetables and sprouts).
* Avoid fruits, their juices and any
and all forms of sugar, Le. honey,
maple syrup, rice syrup, corn syrup,
agave and so on.
* Do not eat three hours before
sleep. Emphasize sleep and rest
totaling eight to nine hours
per day.
* Laugh, sing, dance, romance and
most of all love, starting with
yourself.
n ~ .::.., Brian Clement CN, NMD, PhD
is director of the Hippocrates
Health Institute in Florida.
For over two decades Brian
has been at the cutting edge
of living foods research
and education. For more
information see
www.hlppocratesinst.com
Gel Fresh! 35
The greatest threat of childhood diseases
lies in the dangerous and ineffectual
efforts made to prevent them through
mass vaccination... there is no convincing
scientific evidence that mass inoculation
can be credited with eliminating any
childhood disease.
Or Robert Mendelsohn, Paediatrician 1979
T
his quote is from nearly 30 years
ago and since then the debate
on the safety and effectiveness
of vaccination has continued to rage,
especially over the last decade. As a
naturopath I am asked almost daily about
my view on vaccination and whether it is a
good idea for someone to vaccinate their
child or indeed themselves.
It is a complicated issue with one side of
the debate stating that vaccines are the
only way to prevent dangerous disease,
and the other proclaiming that they are
ineffective, dangerous and a potential
medical time bomb.
There is a common perception that
vaccines were the reason that infectious
diseases declined in the 19th and 20th
century. This is certainly being disputed
by some researchers. According to the
British Association for the Advancement of
Science, childhood diseases decreased by
90% during the 100 years between 1850
and 1950. This is attributed to advances in
sanitation and hygiene which resulted in
widespread reduction of disease and the
improvement of overall public health.
The first inoculation produced was the
cowpox vaccine. It was believed to protect
people from smallpox. However, there
was already major decline of this disease
before the vaccine was introduced. In
England in 1867 a mass compulsory
vaccination program began. Within four
years, 97.5% of people between the ages
of two and fifty had received the vaccine.
The following year England experienced
the worst smallpox epidemic in its history
with almost 45,000 deaths. Between
1871 and 1880 the incidence of smallpox
escalated from 28 to 46 per 100,000. Some
medical historians have concluded that the
smallpox vaccine had little to do with the
reduction of the disease.
Vaccination in the early 20th century was
not without its critics. A growing number
of physicians were publicly opposing it.
Indiana physician, Dr. W.B. C1arke, stated
"Cancer was practically unknown until
compulsory inoculation with smallpox
vaccine began to be introduced. I have had
to deal with two hundred cases of cancer,
and I never saw a case of cancer in an
unvaccinated person."
From 1911 to 1935 in the USA, the four
leading causes of childhood death by
infectious diseases were diphtheria,
whooping cough, scarlet fever and
measles. However, by 1945 the total death
rates from these causes had declined by
95% - this was before the implementation
of mass immunization programs.
In modern times, death rates from polio
had reduced dramatically by the 1950s in
the USA before the introduction of the
vaccine in 1955. However there was a 50%
increase of reported cases from 1957 to
1958 and an increase of 80% from 1958
to 1959. By 1960, death rates from polio
started to rise. Jonas Salk, the inventor of
the Salk polio vaccine, himself testified
before a Senate subcommittee that nearly
all outbreaks of polio in the late 1950's and
60's were caused by his polio vaccine.
In Europe, polio declined in countries that
both embraced and rejected the vaccine.
In 1989, the country of Oman experienced
a widespread polio outbreak six months
after achieving complete vaccination of its
population.
"Cancer was
practically
unknown until
compulsory
inoculation with
smallpox vaccine
began to be
. d d"
lntro uce
The protective nature of other vaccines
is also under dispute. A World Health
Organisation (WHO) trial involving 260,000
people, that was undertaken on the BCG
vaccine for tuberculosis, found more cases
of TB in the vaccinated group than the
unvaccinated and concluded that there
was no evidence of a protective effect
from the vaccine.
Vaccine researcher Adam Phillips concluded
that: "It is unclear what impact vaccines
had, if any, on the decline of infectious
diseases in the 19th and 20th centuries"
How do vaccines work?
As written by the Association of the British
Pharmaceutical Industry: "When we catch
a disease naturally, we usually produce
antibodies to the organism that causes it.
Antibodies are proteins in the blood which
remember the organism which caused the
disease, and can recognise it and inactivate
it when we come into contact with it
again. Without us actually experiencing
the disease, vaccines teach our body's
immune system to produce antibodies
and identify certain potentially infective
organisms even though we have never
come into contact with them."
However, some scientists have discovered
that the presence of antibodies only
indicates that the immune system has
come into contact with an antigen and not
that there is necessarily protection from a
specific disease.
What is in a vaccine?
Although there is much academic dispute
about the ability of vaccines to prevent
disease, there is even more controversy
about the safety of the seemingly bizarre
cocktail of substances present in vaccines.
Vaccines contain incredibly toxic and
poisonous ingredients. They contain agents
such as antifreeze to improve shelf life
and stability. Some of these agents are
to prevent the vaccine from becoming
Gel Fre h! 37
INGREDIENTS OF
COMMON VACCINES
Hepatitis B Vaccine
Produced using thimerosol, aluminum hydroxide.
yeast (residual < 1 percent yeast protein)
Philip Weeks is a Master Herbalist,
Naturopath and Licensed Acupuncturist. He
sees patients from all over the world at his
dinics in Hereford and London. For more
information see www.philpweeks.org or
telephone 01432 265565.
Overall, vaccines have a suppressive
effect on the immune system, creating
cellular conditions that prevent the
body from responding to viruses,
bacteria, parasites and fungi, and
seriously impairing its ability to
overcome disease.
In the next issue, safe alternatives
to vaccination, what you can do
to remove the toxic effects of past
vaccines, and remedies you can use
when travelling to areas where
vaccination is recommended,
In a New Zealand study into the effects
of vaccination, 23% of vaccinated
children in the study group develop
asthma, as compared to none of the
unvaccinated children.
I find that when patients have multiple
allergies such as to foods. pollen and
other substances, vaccines are often the
root cause.
our immune system may be exhausted
by multiple mass vaccines.
This is not surprising when you consider
that many people have received up
to 40 vaccines by the time they reach
adulthood!
I find that people's overall immune
capacity is depleted by vaccinations
and that this needs to be addressed in
order for them to become well again.
My findings are not uncommon. The
Arthur Research Foundation in Tucson,
Arizona estimates that up to 60% of
Due to the 'thimerosal' and aluminium
content of the annual flu vaccine, an
expert at the 1997 International Vaccine
Conference related that a person who
takes five or more annual flu vaccine
shots has increased the likelihood of
developing Alzheimer's Disease by a
factor of 10 over the person who has
had two or fewer flu shots
Vaccines are manufactured using a
disturbing array of animal and human
tissue including foetal calf blood, chick
embryo fluid, monkey kidney cells and
human diploid cells which are derived
from aborted human foetuses.
There has been a very public debate
regarding vaccines and their link to
autism. In the past 10 years, the number
of autistic children has risen from
between 200% and 500% in every
state in the US. Some believe that this
sharp rise in autism is linked to the
introduction of the MMR vaccine in 1975.
In my clinic I frequently see cases of
vaccine damage. With bio-resonance
testing I find that it is a common
toxicity factor which blocks people's
ability to heal themselves. Many cases
of chronic fatigue, particularly in
young people, can be tracked down
to a vaccine such as Meningitis Cor a
Tetanus booster.
infected or to improve its performance.
Common ingredients like formaldehyde
are known to be carcinogenic, while
aluminium has been linked with senility
and autism.
I discussed mercury in the previous issue
of this magazine to raise awareness of
this substance's toxic nature. However
not only is it being put in peoples
teeth; it is also being injected into
them! Its technical name in vaccines
is 'thimerosal', which is a mercury-
based vaccine preservative. It has been
recently withdrawn from the DPT
vaccines (diphtheria-pertussis (whooping
cough)-tetanus, given to infants in the
UK in three separate shots administered
at two, four. six and fifteen months of
age) because of possible autism links.
However, it is still present in plenty of
others.
E
Rabies Vaccine
Produced using betspropiolactone, aluminum
phosphate, sodium ethylmercurithiosalicyate
(thimerosol), phenol red. Medium: foetal rhesus
monkey lung cells".
MMR
Measles Mumps Rubella Live Virus Vaccination.
Produced using sorbitol, neomycin', hydrolyzed
gelatine. Medium: Measles and Mumps: chick
embryo. Rubella: human diploid cells (originating
from human absorbed foetal tissue).
, Antibiotics such as gentamicin are an ingredient
of vaccines used to reduce the inevitable bacterial
contamination coming from the mediums and
cultures of animal and human (cadaver and
foetal) blood. albumin or tissues used in the
vaccine production. However this does not provide
protection from viruses.
,. The presence of animal tissues can trigger a host
of autoimmune disease reactions.
... Bloodstream contamination with casein is
implicated in triggering pancreatic autoimmune
response affecting the production of insulin in the
beta cells of the pancreas.
Rubella and Mumps vaccine
Produced using neomycin', sorbitol, hydrolyzed
gelatine. Medium: human diploid cells (originating
from human absorbed foetal tissue)' ,
Hepatitis A
Produced using formalin, aluminium hydroxide,
phenoxyethanol, (antifreeze) polysorbate 20,
residual MRCS proteins (from medium) Medium:
human diploid cells (originating from human
absorbed foetal tissue)"
DPT
Diphtheria, Whooping Cough and Tetanus
Produced uSing aluminium phosphate
formaldehyde, ammonium sulphate, washed
sheep red blood cells", glycerol, sodium chloride,
thimerosol (mercury, recently discontinued).
Medium: porcine (pig) pancreatic" hydrolysate of
casein *.
Chicken Pox Vaccine
Produced using sucrose, phosphate, glutamate.
processed gelatine. Medium: human diploid cells
(originating from human absorbed foetal tissue)" .
Flu Vaccine
Influenza Virus Vaccine, Trivalent Types A&B.
Produced using gentamicin' sulfate, formaldehyde.
polysorbate 80, tri-n-butylphosphate, thimerosol,.
Medium chick embryos"
Polio Vaccine
Inactivated Polio Vaccine. Produced using
three types of Polio Viruses, formaldehyde,
phenoxyethanol (anti-freeze) neomycin',
streptomycin', polymycin' B. Medium: VERO cells. a
continuous line of monkey kidney cells.
PEel
38 Get Fresh!
GUIDE TO SUPERFOODS
Soju t what is so super
about uperfoods?
Juice Master Jasoll Vale asks what all the hype is about.
40
E
very month there seems to be a new
'superfood' coming into our lives.
They make newspaper headlines,
they're talked about on TV and radio
chat shows and the Notting Hill gang are
usually the first to jump on the all new all-
singing, all-dancing "You will live to 175 if
you eat these berries," band wagon.
At the time of writing this it's goji berries,
acai berries and blue-green algae that are
making the "must have food" headlines.
However, by the time you read this the
new 'superfood' could be anything from
the sap from the rare 'Hindile Tree' which
is only found in the rainforests of Cape
Tribulation, to a rare insect that if crushed
into a powder and added to your acai
smoothie will have you doing cartwheels in
the snow at the ripe ole age of 1DO!
Let 5uperfood be thy medicine...
Let's be clear - ALL fruits and vegetables
designed for human consumption are
superfoods. When Hippocrates famously
said, "Let food be thy medicine", he
wasn't talking about burger and fries.
He was of course referring to nature's
raw superfoods. Fruits and vegetables
aren't just superfoods; they are also super
medicines. The liquid fuel which makes
up an average of 80% of all fruits and
vegetables (even a banana is over 85%
vitamin and mineral-rich organic water)
has been used to successfully treat ulcers;
skin conditions; obesity; cholesterol; high
blood pressure; scurvy; prostate cancer;
lethargy; and the list goes on to just about
every disease known to mankind.
Personally I am big advocate of the all
singing, 'new to us' superfoods. Acai (ah-
sci-ee) berries, for example, contain twice
the amount of antioxidants as blueberries,
and blueberries are already one of the
highest sources of disease and age-defying
antioxidants. In fact, in a recent scientific
study, acai berries earned themselves the
enviable title of 'world's healthiest fruit'
- not surprising as they are considered to
have more antioxidants than any other
fruit on earth.
Get Fre hi
Goji berries contain 18 amino acids (the
building blocks for protein) and spirulina
(blue/green algae), has twice as much
calcium as milk and 58 times more iron
than spinach. The world has got a great
deal smaller since the days of Hippocrates
and we now have access to some of
nature's most nutritious superfoods - foods
we would never have had access to in
times gone by. Some people think it's a
bad thing that we can get strawberries in
winter and cranberries in summer, but I say
bring it on.
The world is changing all the time and all
species grow and adapt. We have found
ways to get these amazing superfoods
from all over the world all year round.
Even acai berries, when picked, only
last one day. However, due to human
ingenuity, we have found a way to 'freeze
dry' the berries and reduce them to a
powder. This powder can be stored for
years and, because it was freeze dried
the very day it was picked, in terms of
nutrient value it's often fresher than what
is regarded as 'fresh fruit' on the shelves
of many supermarkets - fruits which often
have been picked before they were ripe
and stored in cool facilities for anything up
to a year! When this superfood powder is
added to liquid it comes alive once more
(very similar to seeds which lie dormant in
a desert for years only to sprout as soon as
rain hits).
One man's 5uperfood...
I agree though, like anything, you can
always find another side to the superfood
argument. Just because spirulina, for
example, has 58 times more iron than
spinach, who's to say we actually need
58 more times iron than contained in
what is essentially a superfood in its own
right - spinach? Who's to say that just
because goji berries have more than twice
the amount of vitamin Cas an orange,
we need that much vitamin C? Or who is
to say that our body can assimilate the
amount of antioxidants in some of the new
'superfoods'? I mean, a standard mountain
rock has more minerals than your average
apple, but I don't think anyone in their
right mind would believe that just because
a rock is loaded with minerals we should
be eating it as part of some kind of
'superfood' diet.
However, one thing I believe is impossible
to argue about is that 'normal' fruits and
vegetables can be classed in themselves as
'superfoods'. So if you don't buy into the
whole 21st century super berries, super
green algaes and super supplements craze,
then that's your bag and I for one think
everyone to their own.
Personally if there were a berry or some
kind of food you would think instinctively
if left in the wild to your own devices you
would eat it, then I feel it can only be a
good thing - especially when these berries
come from naturally warm climates (due
to my belief that as we originally descend
from primates and therefore from warmer
climates, surly, wet, cold and dark Britain
isn't where we were meant to be!).
Having said that I am a big advocate of the
blue-green algae spirulina and I love a bit
of wheatgrass juice. I even have my own
range of Juice Boosters and 5uperfood
supplements - so yes on one huge hand
I am as sold as it gets on the 'new'
superfoods. Yet at the same time I'm not
entirely sure that however hungry I was I
would pick some algae from a lake and eat
the stuff, or eat grass!
So as you can see, each to their own on
the newly found superfoods that keep
hitting the headlines and will no doubt
continue to. One thing is for sure though:
it is essential that our bodies get some
of nature's superfoods in whatever form.
So if you find you don't eat enough of a
selection of raw fruit and vegetables on
a daily basis, then a couple of spoonfuls
of superfood powders mixed with some
freshly extracted juice or a fresh fruit
smoothie every day will be the best health
and life insurance you will ever invest in.
Jason Vale is an Amazon number one bestselfing
author HIS latest book IS The JUIce Master
Keeping It Simple: Over 100 Delicious Smoothies
and Juices. For more information, visit
www.juicemaster.com.
ot all superfoods are
created equal
By Sarah Best
The su erfood
sceptics
f you believe what you read in the
papers, the word 'superfood' will make
you think not just of natural, raw foods
but a whole host of other substances that
exact a high price in exchange for the
token benefit or two they bring.
For example, red wine is touted by some
as a health-giving elixir and has even been
encapsulated in supplement form because
it is rich in a group of antioxidants called
polyphenols. But you can get these from
other sources (including the grapes the
wine is made from!) without the nasty side
effects. Ergo, red wine did not make our
list! Similarly, we all need essential fats,
but get these from oily fish and you're also
taking in a dose of mercury, dioxins and
any number of other harmful pollutants.
50 you won't find salmon in our guide
either, though you have probably heard it
called a superfood.
In the words of raw lifestyle author and
educator David Wolfe: "An apple is like a
pawn - it has just one move. Superfoods
are the queens on the chess board." We
agree. Space would only permit us to cover
a fraction of the foods we consider to be
superfoods. 50 in the following pages
we bring you the foods we believe, after
much research and extensive consultation
with experts, to be the shining stars of the
superfoods world. 50 what did it take for
a food to make it into our pantheon of
super superfoods?
1
1t is dense in a very wide spectrum of
nutrients rather than just a few. Ideally,
it will contain not just vitamins, minerals
and phytonutrients but also a good range
of essential fatty acids and amino acids.
In fact, the superfoods in our guide are
so complete you could survive on any of
them alone for a period of time and have
most of your nutrient needs taken care of.
We're not recommending this - we believe
variety in diet is the key to optimum health
- but you get the point!
2
1t delivers these nutrients without
any adverse effects. For us to call it a
superfood it has to have benefit in spades,
without a price to pay.
3
1t is raw. Because cooking leads to the
destruction of certain nutrients and
makes others difficult or impossible for
the body to absorb, once a food is cooked
it ceases to be quite so super. Also, when
food is heated, harmful compounds are
formed; in some cases carcinogenic ones.
50 in an unfortunate double whammy,
cooking can lead to the formation of
disease-causing chemicals and destroy
essential disease-busting antioxidants
and phytonutrients naturally present
in the food.
4
1t is relatively easy to source. Ther.e
is a school of thought that says wild
plants are the ultimate superfoods.
Compare edible weeds which sprout up
between paving stones and thrive without
watering, spraying or other interventions
to mollycoddled crops such as wheat and
corn which would quickly perish if left to
their own devices. It makes sense that we
are better off eating the strong survivor
than the weak hybrid. If you know what
you are looking for, wild foods are as super
as it gets. But you do have to know exactly
what you're doing as certain wild foods are
dangerous to consume - deadly even. This
topic is beyond the scope of this guide, and
that is the only reason you won't see wild
foods on our list.
You can think of the superfoods in this
guide as multi-vitamin and mineral
supplements, though that doesn't come
close to describing their power. It is
important to remember that nutrition is a
science in its infancy. We only know about
those nutrients scientists have identified
and named, but our bodies need all those
nutrients they haven't yet discovered just
as much. The only way to ensure you are
meeting all your nutritional needs is to eat
a wide variety of raw foods, and aim to
make superfoods a part of your diet.
Many doctors, scientists and
nutritionists claim that the concept of
the 'superfood' is nothing more than
a clever marketing ploy designed to
increase profits. This view has led to
new EU legislation which will force
companies selling food or drinks
labelled as superfoods to either back up
the claim with proof of their benefits or
lose the superfood label.
One argument put forward is that
superfoods are too super for us; they
are a waste of money and do little more
than give us "expensive urine." We
strongly disagree with this view and so
do many nutritionists. Fifty years ago
we didn't need superfoods, but two big
categories of changes that have taken
place since then mean that we now do.
In brief:
1
The way food is produced and
harvested. Thanks to this, there are
now certain nutrients that most of the
population is deficient in to lesser or
greater extent, including magnesium
and omega-3 fatty acids. All the
superfoods in our guide are rich in at
least one of these; most in both.
2
The fact our nutrient needs are
greater due to all the stress our
bodies must deal with, which includes
everything from environmental
pollution to the frantic pace of modern
life. Unless we are living tranquil lives
in a remote area of virgin rainforest,
chances are we are burning through
vitamins, minerals and antioxidants at
such a rate that we need the superior
quantities superfoods provide.
The above arguments can also be
used to support supplementation. But
superfoods are superior to laboratory-
manufactured supplements, because
they're natural whole foods that the
body can easily recognize, digest and
utilize.
Gel Fresh! 41
GUIDE TO SUPERFOODS
living Foods
D
id you know that there's a whole
class of superfoods which cost
next to nothing, can be grown
anywhere (including on your kitchen
worktop), are loaded with protein,
vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients and
enzymes, all in easily absorbable form,
and even continue to grow in nutritional
value after they're harvested?
Welcome to the world of living foods,
often referred to as sprouts.
And that's only the start. "Many health
benefits make sprouts superfoods, beyond
the vitamin, mineral and protein content,"
says health author Steve Meyerowitz,
also known as Sproutman. "They are
exceptionally fascinating foods."
Put simply, what sprouted foods give you,
you can't get from any other food group.
They are bursting with life force and
the electrical energy your body needs to
thrive. There is much still to be discovered
about sprouts and no doubt their already
established superfood status will only
grow as science continues to document
their unique properties. But sprouts have
long been recognized as a wonder food.
Ancient Chinese physicians prescribed them
for curing many disorders, and they are
used in this way today at the world's most
cutting edge healing centres.
Sprouts are created through germinating
seeds, nuts, beans, lentils or grains. During
germination, a form of pre-digestion
occurs, making their abundant nutrients
extremely easy for the body to assimilate.
Proteins are broken down into amino
acids, fats turn into essential fatty acids
and carbohydrates are converted into
simple sugars. Most amazingly of all,
vitamins and other nutrients that were
not there before are created through the
absorption of atmospheric elements during
growth. For example, dried legumes have
no measurable vitamin C, but sprout them
and they become a rich source of this
nutrient.
The explosion of nutrient levels that takes
place during germination can be off the
charts. When researchers at Johns Hopkins
University School of Medicine tested the
levels of a cancer-fighting substance called
sulforaphane they found it to be up to
50 times higher in three-day old broccoli
sprouts than in mature broccoli - itself
considered a very good source.
In short, sprouts are the ultimate multi-
vitamin, mineral, phytonutrient, enzyme,
protein and fatty acid supplement!
And because they are baby plants with
extremely delicate cell walls, all of
their goodness comes in the most easily
digestible form. The abundant enzymes
further enhance their digestibility. "You
can use them instead of an enzyme pill,"
says naturopathic nutritionist Fiona Corliss.
"Eat sprouts before a cooked meal and
you'll digest it much better."
Living foods are one of the three best
sources of protein on the planet (read
about the others - sea vegetables and
blue-green algaes - in the following pages
of this guide). Not only are these foods
rich in protein; it is in exactly the form
the body wants - raw amino acids. If you
are not feeling strong and energetic on
raw food, protein could be the reason.
Says nutritionist Yvonne Bishop Weston:
"Protein is often the difference between
people doing well on raw food and not."
All edible grains, seeds and legumes can
be sprouted, and some nuts and seeds. Vou
have probably tried sprouted mung beans,
lentils and alfalfa but what about daikon
radish, fenugreek and quinoa? There is a
whole world of living foods waiting to be
discovered! On the next page, two from
this group that are true star performers...
Where to get sprouts
They are showing up in more and more
supermarkets and health stores. But if you
can't find them where you shop, or if you
want to save money, you can easily grow
your own. It takes only a few moments a
day to tend your indoor garden and have a
constant supply of delicious, fresh, organic
vegetables, It is also great way of adding
more raw foods to your diet,
How to take sprouts
They are delicious in salads of any variety.
They can be added to vegetable dishes
such as soups and stews after cooking
and they will help with the digestion
of the meal, thanks to their enzyme
content. Sprouts can be juiced with other
vegetables, and they can also be mixed
with cucumber, apple, herbs and other raw
foods and blended into 'energy soups'.
Sprouted nuts and seeds can be eaten as
is or blended into nutritious milks - either
way they taste wonderful.
Recommended reading
Sprouts, The Miracle Food: Complete Guide To
Sprouting by Steve Meyerowitz
Living Foods For Optimum Health by Brian
Clement
Living Foods for Radiant Health by Elaine Bruce
Sunflower greens
Wheatgrass
You could argue that it's not normal for
humans to consume grass. But it's not natural
to live in polluted cities, eat predominantly
cooked foods or breathe polluted air either.
And there is a growing body of research
which shows that wheatgrass can offset the
efferts of all of the above transgressions and
many others.
Wheatgrass has 92 of the 102 essential
minerals, and a full and perfectly balanced
spectrum of Bvitamins, including B17 or
laetrile which is believed to selectively destroy
cancer cells. It is a rich source of vitamins
A, Cand Eand the minerals calcium, iron,
phosphorous and magnesium. It contains 20
amino acids, including the eight essential
ones the body can't manufacture, making it a
complete protein source. Ounce for ounce it
contains more protein than any animal food.
But it's biggest claim to superfood fame is its
chlorophyll content - it is 70% chlorophyll.
Why is this important? Chlorophyll nutrients
are extremely easy for the body to assimilate.
Chlorophyll is very similar in structure to
haemoglobin, the molecule that carries
oxygen in our blood. The only difference
is that the central element in chlorophyll is
magnesium, while in haemoglobin it is iron.
Like wheatgrass, sunflower greens are young
greens that are a week to 10 days old at the
time of harvesting. (Not to be confused with
sunflower sprouts, which are sunflower seeds
that have been soaked and sprouted for only
a day or two).
Sunflower greens have many other similarities
to wheatgrass. They are:
rich in vitamins and minerals, including
trace minerals
a complete protein source
loaded with chlorophyll
powerfully detoxifying
alkalizing and enzyme rich
They taste a lot better than wheatgrass - they
have a flavour that is earthy and slightly
salty - and can be taken in much larger
quantities. They belong to a family of similar
living foods known as baby greens or indoor
greens. Other members are pea greens and
buckwheat lettuce.
Consuming green living foods is like giving
yourself a blood transfusion," says Jill Swyers,
a living foods consultant who trained at the
world-renowned Hippocrates Health Institute.
"Wheatgrass is a cleanser, healer, energizer,
protector, builder and rejuvenator."
A 2-ounce shot of wheatgrass juice provides
the same nutritional content as about 4
pounds of fresh vegetables. Says Sproutman
Steve Meyerowitz: Wheatgrass is a whole
food supplement. It's so much better to get
nutrients this way than through synthetic
supplements, where factors are isolated and
taken away from their co-factors."
Wheatgrass juice is extracted from the seven
to ten day old sprouts of wheat berries. It
contains no gluten so is suitable for people
who can't usually tolerate wheat products.
As well as being super-loaded with nutrition,
wheatgrass is a powerful detoxifier and is
renowned for its healing properties. It boosts
the lymphatic system and greatly assists in the
removal of waste products, heavy metals and
other toxins from the body.
Where to get wheatgrass
You can buy trays of wheatgrass in some
health stores and farmers markets but it is
"Living greens are one of the most important
things to have in our diet," says living foods
consultant Jill Swyers. "We need the extra
chlorophyll and oxygen they give us."
Sunflower greens are especially rich in vitamin
D and lecithin, a nutrient that contains
essential fatty acids and also helps the body
break down and absorb fats. Lecithin is also
important for liver detoxification and forms a
key part of our cell membranes.
Sunflower greens are not only super-loaded
with nutrition. They are also great for
balancing blood sugar as they are so
protein-rich.
Where to get sunflower greens
If you have the space, the time and the
inclination, the cheapest way is to grow
your own. Refer to one of the books listed
on the page opposite, or search online for
instructions. Once they are ready to eat, they
will keep for up to a week if cut and stored in
an airtight container in the refrigerator.
easy to grow at home. Just refer to one of the
books listed under Recommended Reading
or consult one of the many online guides.
Alternatively, there are companies which
grow it and will deliver it to your home. If
you are in the UK, try Aconbury Sprouts:
ring 019Bl 2411 SS or order online at
www.aconbury.co.uk.
How to take wheatgrass
Always drink wheatgrass on an empty
stomach at least half an hour before eating
and three hours after. Start with a daily
l-ounce shot and when you are ready,
graduate to 2 ounces.
Recommended reading
Wheatgrass, Nature's Finest Medicine by Steve
Meyerowitz
The Wheatgrass Book by Ann Wigmore.
Sunflower greens are becoming more widely
available to buy in the US and across Europe.
They have yet to make their way onto the
shelves of UK health stores, but a company
called Aconbury Sprouts will deliver them
ready grown in trays right to your front door.
For more information see
www.aconbury.co.uk or ring 01981 2411 SS.
How to use sunflower greens
They make a great salad base and are far
superior in their nutrient content to lettuce,
spinach and other leafy raw vegetables.
They are also delicious juiced together with
cucumber and celery, or blended into
energy soups.
Get Fre ht 43
GUIDE TO SUPERFOODS
Sea vegetables
44
Hemp seeds
There are over three million edible plant
species on the planet, but no other can
compare with hemp in nutritional value.
Hemp seeds are a packed with protein,
essential fatty acids, vitamins, minerals,
phytonutrients and antioxidants.
As long as they are consumed raw, both the
amino acids and the essential fats in hemp
seeds are in the ideal ratios for human
nutrition. A high proportion of hemp's
protein comes in the most easily digestible
form known to man: globulin edestin, very
similar to the protein found in human blood
plasma. "Everyone on a vegan diet should
include hemp," says Sejal Joshi, a nutritional
counsellor at the Nutri Centre in London.
Hemp's balance of essential fatty acids mirrors
the diet that the human race evolved on,
which is a 4:1 ratio of omega 6s to omega 3s.
Clinical tests have shown that the standard
diet of today is likely to provide a ratio closer
to 20:1 and in many subjects tested, omega 3
levels are too low to even register.
With soil becoming more and more depleted,
never has it been more important to include
the bounty of the sea in our diets. The world's
oceans are full of the nutrients we need for
optimum health. But we're not talking about
chemical-laden fish; the planet's pollution
levels now mean that the only place on the
food chain to eat is low.
Sea vegetables are a complete protein, as well
as being a rich source of essential fatty acids.
Ounce for ounce, they are higher in vitamins
and minerals than any other food group. They
are also a rich source of chlorophyll, and like
all chlorophyll-rich foods, contain plentiful
magnesium.
Magnesium is one of the most common
deficiencies in the modern diet. According
to estimates, over 80% of the population is
deficient in this essential mineral and some
scientists believe even that is an under-
estimate. Go short on magnesium and you
are missing a nutrient that is critical for the
body's daily cellular detoxification processes,
a pre-requisite for heart health, and a natural
tranquillizer often referred to as the 'anti-
stress mineral'.
Also abundant in raw sea vegetables:
numerous enzymes, including superoxide
dismutase (SOD), an antioxidant enzyme that
Get Fre h!
Consuming the wrong ratio of essential fats -
namely not getting the all-important omega-
3s - has been shown to be a risk factor in
heart disease and cancer, as well as infertility
and other endocrine problems, nervous
system disorders and mental illness.
There is evidence that regular consumption
of hemp can improve memory and relieve
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. It is
also beneficial for the skin: the oils in hemp
moisturise the skin from the inside out.
Hemp seeds are one of the best sources of
vitamin E. "Hemp contains natural vitamin E,
which is much more easily absorbable than
the synthetic form found in supplements,"
says Joshi.
As well as the seeds themselves, you can now
buy quality raw hemp oils. You can also soak
the seeds and blend them into a milk.
"Hemp is a great alternative to soya and
dairy," says nutritionist Yvonne Bishop-
Weston. "Lots of people have soya and
is crucial for controlling free radical levels in
the body.
The Japanese have known about the
nutritional and detoxification properties of
seaweed for centuries. It is renowned for its
ability to march heavy metals and radioactive
elements out of the body.
Sea vegetables are one of only a handful of
sources of iodine in the modern diet, and the
only vegan one. Iodine is a key mineral for
regulating the thyroid gland. "It's very hard
to get enough iodine these days unless you're
eating sea vegetables," says naturopathic
nutritionist Fiona Corliss. "I see so many
people with thyroid problems."
Sea vegetables, also known as algaes,
come in several categories:
Brown algaes Kelp, wakame, kombu, arame,
hijiki
Red algaes Dulse and nori
Green algae Chlorella
Where to buy sea vegetables
They're now available in most good health
stores and supermarkets but if you want
the maximum benefit from your sea-based
nutrition make sure what you are buying is
raw. Nori, dulse, kelp and chlorella are the
four most readily available varieties but most
dairy allergies but hemp doesn't seem to be
allergenic, perhaps because it has not been
intensively used in the diet."
The final piece of good news about hemp: it
tastes delicious!
Where to buy hemp seeds
They are available in any health store and
most supermarkets. For quality raw hemp oil
and unhulled hemp seeds (for sprouting) visit
hemp specialists www.yaoh.com or call
01179239053.
How to take hemp seeds
Hemp seeds can be sprinkled onto salads or
blended into smoothies. However, the best
way of consuming hemp is as a living food.
You will need unhulled seeds for this. Simply
soak them in water for 24 hours, drain and
rinse. Sprouted hemp seeds make a delicious
and super-nutritious milk - just blend with
water to achieve the desired consistency.
of the nori that you'll find in shops is toasted.
Raw is available but you may need to search
online.
How to use sea vegetables
Dulse With its salty and spicy taste, dulse is
delicious in salads. Just cut it into strips and
sprinkle it over. If you find it too salty or
want to keep the sodium content of your diet
down, you can soak it overnight to remove
the salt.
Nori This is rolled into paper thin sheets and
is great for making wraps and sushi rolls. See
Chad Sarno's recipe on pages 62-63.
Kelp Buy it powdered and add it to soups and
salads.
Chlorella Usually comes in tablet form. As
well as being a mercury detoxifier it's also
great for balancing blood sugar. Carry a small
jar around with you and take any time you
feel in need of a pick-me-up between meals.
Bee pollen
As one of the most complete foods in
existence, bee pollen has a long history of
being used to enhance health. Early Egyptian
and Chinese civilizations used it for increasing
energy and stamina, as well as in the
treatment of various illnesses. It has earned
a reputation as a powerful rejuvenator, and
Hippocrates claimed it extended life - a
view with which many experts today concur.
It is also a powerful natural probiotic and
antibiotic.
Bee pollen is one of the richest sources of
protein available. It contains all 22 amino
acids and has more protein per gram than any
meat or fish.
It also contains 28 minerals, 11 enzymes and
over a dozen vitamins. It is not only a rich
source of essential fatty acids (HAs) but
also helps the body absorb them. "This is
because of the sulphur bonds and enzymes
it contains. H says naturopathic nutritionist
Fiona Corliss. "The sulphur bonds work with
the fatty acids, pushing them into cells so they
can be utilized."
Bee pollen also contains another powerful
substance which aids in the metabolism of
fats - lecithin. In fact, these properties of
bee pollen have such a marked effect on the
body's ability to absorb and utilize essential
fats that the best way to ensure your body
makes maximum use of any EFA-rich oils you
take is to consume them together with a
serving of bee pollen.
Bee pollen is a fantastic source of all the
B-complex vitamins. These are water soluble
so must be consumed every day. and stressful
lives plus processed diets deplete them
so rapidly that many of us need an extra
infusion.
Get it fresh!
Given all of the above. it may surprise
you to know that most of the bee pollen
available on the market today has few if any
health benefits. This is because of the way
pollens are processed, which, in the worst
cases, destroys some of the nutrients and
turns the remainder rancid. The only pollen
worth consuming is fresh pollen, which is a
perishable living food product. It must be
kept in the freezer and de-frosted shortly
before consumption.
Superfoods as medicine...
Many people dislike taking dried pollen as
it is hard in texture and unpleasant to chew.
They are usually amazed when they try fresh
pollen for the first time: it is so soft it melts in
the mouth. It also tastes nice - not dissimilar
to honey.
The essential fatty acids found in pollen are
extremely delicate. The presence of air in a
jar of dried pollen causes oxidation and turns
the fatty acids rancid. Vitamin content is also
much lower in dried pollen, including the
vitamin Eand provitamin A that are found in
such large quantities in fresh.
Research has shown that it is only fresh
pollen that has antibacterial and probiotic
properties. In experiments, both fresh and
dried pollen were added to Petri dishes
which were then inoculated with pathogenic
bacteria from the human gut. The bacteria
multiplied quickly in the dishes with the
dried pollen. In the dishes with fresh frozen
pollen the bacterial growth was completely
inhibited.
Where to get bee pollen
Percie du Sert's fresh pollen is available from
www.kikihealth.com
How to take pollen
Store it in the freezer and transfer what
you need for a few days or a week into
an unsealed container in the fridge.
Alternatively, it can be eaten straight from
the freezer - its texture is soft even when
frozen - but you don't get the full benefit
of the friendly bacteria unless it is first
defrosted.
Bee pollen can be taken on its own by the
spoonful, sprinkled on cereals or added
to smoothies. As it is so rich in nutrients,
including powerful detoxifying ones, it is best
to start small, with just a pinch. Gradually
work up to a tablespoon a day. However,
there is evidence that this is a superfood
whose benefits do increase the more you
take, once your body is ready for the high-
octane nutrition it provides, making it useful
for getting through times of stress or low
energy. 8ecause of pollen's reputation as a
powerful energy enhancer it is best taken in
the morning, or at least well before bedtime.
For further Information about bee
pollen
The Healing Powers of Pollen by Patrice Percie
du Sert.
Many vegans choose not to consume
bee pollen for ethical reasons. Other
superfoods will provide everything
in bee pollen so it is by no means
necessary. However, it is possible to get
ethically produced bee pollen, collected
in a way that doesn't harm the bees, like
the one we recommend here.
Although much has been researched and written about the benefits certain superfoods have in healing specific ailments. health arises from the com-
bined effect of what a person is eating, drinking, doing, breathing and thinking. The effect of anyone substance, no matter how super. will depend on
the interplay of it. and all of the above factors, WIth the individual's unique biochemistry. All of the superfoods in this guide can be used as part of a
healing program and are noted for myriad medicinal properties. However, if you intend to use them in this way we recommend professional gUidance.
Gel Fre "f 45
GUIDE TO SUPERFOODS
The uperfood supplemen
They're not quite as super as the
main stars in this guide. But we
couldn't not mention them!
How to take Nature's Living
Superfood
Begin with half a teaspoon daily and
gradually increase to one or more heaped
teaspoons. It can be mixed with water or juice
or sprinkled on food.
Goji berries
All berries are loaded with vitamins,
minerals, phytonutrients and
antioxidants. The most super-charged
berry of all is the goji berry, as it not
only has exceptionally high amounts of
all of the above; it is also a complete
protein source, containing all the
essential amino acids. Virtually unheard
of five years ago, goji berries are now
widely available in supermarkets and
health stores. Eat them on their own
as a snack, mixed with nuts and seeds,
sprinkled on cereal or blended into
smoothies.
Maca
A root vegetable from Peru, maca
has been used for its nutritional and
medicinal purposes since the time of
the Incas. Since being discovered by
modern health seekers several years
ago, it's now widely available as a
whole food supplement: maca roots are
dried at low temperatures and ground
to a powder. It is rich in vitamins,
minerals and phytonutrients and
contains all the essential amino acids.
It is most renowned for its adaptogenic
properties, meaning it aids in balancing
the body's systems, including the
hormonal system. Start with a teaspoon
a day stirred into water or juices or
blended into smoothies.
n ersup The
Nature's Living Superfood contains no
fillers; it is made of 100% wildcrafted whole
foods, including grasses, vegetables, herbs,
fresh water and sea water algaes, enzymes
and probiotics - all dehydrated at low
temperatures to preserve nutrients and life
force.
Amidst all the new products coming on
the market there are two brands that have
been around for years and that practitioners
and patients alike swear by: Nature's Living
Superfood and Pure Synergy. Swyers is a fan
of the former, having seen it bring about
remarkable results in her clients - often
astonishingly quickly. "Even if you're not
ready to change anything else, add this to
your programme and it will make such a large
difference to your life. It cleanses and detoxes
and floods the body with nutrients."
While E3Live is the king of the superfood
supplements, it is not number one in the
convenience stakes as it is perishable and
needs to be kept frozen. Cue the superfood
powders for those times when you need
something you can easily take out and about
with you. There is an ever-expanding array
of these powders on offer and quality varies
greatly. It goes without saying that they need
to be carefully processed at low temperatures
to protect the delicate nutrients and enzymes.
Read the label carefully and be on the
lookout for cheap fillers.
Where to buy Nature's Living
Superfood
It's available in most good health stores. If
you can't find it in one near you order it
online at www.kiki-health.com.
How to take AFA algae
Start with half a teaspoon a day and work up
to a tablespoon or more. Many people report
beneficial effects from taking larger quantities
during times of stress or when extra brain
power is needed. It is also a great supplement
to take to counteract the radiation from
long-haul air travel. E3Live must be stored in
the freezer and defrosted in small quantities,
as needed. Defrost only what you plan to
consume within the next week and store in an
airtight container in the fridge.
The super green powders
"Blue-green algae is a fantastic daily
supplement," says nutritionist Yvonne Bishop
Weston. "Clients feel much better when they
are incorporating it. If they're not feeling
fantastic but they start taking it again they
soon remember: 'That's how I want to feel!'''
Synthetic supplements are not the answer.
There is an ever-expanding range of top-
quality supplements which are derived from
natural whole foods and processed at low
temperatures to maintain nutrients and
enzymes. The supplements below can be
considered 'raw' and they can be a valuable
addition to your superfood arsenal.
Also known as Aphanizomenon Flos Aquae
(AFA), or its brand name E3Live, this grows
in Klamath Lake in Oregon, and tastes
surprisingly palatable. It is a complete protein
and a rich source of naturally-occurring
essential fatty acids, vitamins, minerals
(including hard to find trace minerals) and
phytonutrients. It is also abundant in omega-3
fatty acids, the kind many people are
deficient in. But its most super characteristic
of all is its chlorophyll content: E3Live is
estimated to have double the chlorophyll
content of spirulina and six times that of
wheatgrass juice.
Although a powerful energy enhancer and
detoxifier it is most renowned for its ability
to improve brain function. It is thought to
increase concentration and mental clarity,
and to raise the body's natural level of feel-
good endorphins, making it invaluable in
alleviating depression.
Where to get AFA algae
E3Live, the only brand of truly live liquid
blue-green algae, is available from most good
health stores. It can also be ordered online at
www.kiki-health.com (UK and Europe) and at
www.e3Iive.com (US).
These days most of us need that little (or lot)
more than foods alone can provide - even
superfoods. "The way we were raised, the
lifestyles we live, the way we breathe, food
is not enough," says living foods consultant
Jill Swyers. "We need help. And that is true
whether we live in a polluted CIty or out in
the country."
Liquid blue-green algae
How to contact the experts interviewed for this guide.
Fiona Corliss of Inside Out Nutrition 01424 777820 www.insideoutnutrition.co.uk' Sejal Joshi of The Nutri Centre: 0207 436 S122 www.nutricentre.com.
JillSwyers of liVing Foods For Health 0208 870 7041 www.jillswyers.com Yvonne Bishop Weston of Foods For Life www.foodsforlife.org.uk.
Steve Meyerowitz, author of the 'Sproutman' books www.sproutman.com.
All of the books mentioned in this guide can be ordered from www.freshnetwork.com.
46 Get Fresh!
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Vega is a way of life. I hope you enjoy it as
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and Creator of Vega
Tel: 01372 721711
vvvvvv.cellularfoods.com
Distributed in the UKJEurope exclusively by
RAW IN THE CITY
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Coffee versus Superfoods
In the 6rst instaIlment of a new regular column, Sarma Melngailis reminisces
about her past love affair with coffee and details the raw pick-me-ups that enabled
her to wean herself off it once and for all.
48
I
t has been four years now
that I've been primarily
a raw vegan. Most of the
time. In my online blog and
elsewhere, I openly admit to
"open-mindedness" when it
comes to what I consume. But
sometimes being very relaxed
about it - particularly in the
context of stress and other
distractions - leads to the
formation of bad habits
before we even realize it.
For example... coffee!
What a hypocrite I am... A whole page in
my first co-written book Raw Food Real
World is devoted to how bad coffee is.
It all started two summers ago as one of
my early investors was frequently drink-
ing coffee around me in my office. I was
not sleeping much then and particularly
freaked out about a lot of things going
Get Fresh!
on, and the smell of it was very appealing!
First I'd ask for a sip, then I'd have a few
sips, then I'd just grab the whole cup from
him and he'd have to go get another for
himself.
Before' knew it, I was hooked again. It
was that easy.
I felt like an addict with a secret. I'd run
to the coffee shop for an iced coffee, then
back towards the restaurant realizing I
can't walk in this neighborhood drinking
coffee! What if one of the regulars from
the restaurant sees me?! What then? My
assistant had become my "enabler",
offering to fetch me a fresh iced coffee
anytime I wanted. I truly felt like a "user"
when I finally bought my own ground
coffee. At least now it's organic,
I rationalized. Still, alone in my own kitch-
en, filling the filter (made of unbleached
recycled paper, of course!) with the
aromatic grounds, and waiting for the
water to boil, I felt a bit like the crack-head
with the spoon and lighter.
My conflicted and tumultuous on and off
relationship with this substance has led
me to a few conclusions. I simply do not
do well on coffee at all, tempting as it is.
Not to mention, it gives you yucky coffee
breath if you don't brush your teeth right
away. I also have a theory that it makes
me sweat and in an odd funky kind of
way. Sexy, right? But the worst issue is the
dependency and crashing. I might feel
uplifted for a bit, but then before long
sluggishness sets in.
Is it not also widely known that it
dehydrates you, and inhibits the
absorption of iron and many other miner-
als, and is acidic in your body? Further, it
must certainly be the case that when you
get to the point where a massive migraine
is the consequence of trying to stop sud-
denly, that something is really wrong with
this very popular habit.
Luckily, I finally feel I've weaned myself
off it for good. If I get very little sleep and
crave an extra boost, I mix raw cacao
powder in a bit of nut milk or hemp milk,
whiz it in the blender with some stevia or
agave, vanilla, ice, and some frozen
banana, and pour it over more ice. Much
better than iced coffee, and it's breakfast
too! I've now also recently added goji
berries to my mornings. I might toss a
handful of raw cacao nibs along with
gojis over some fruit, or if I want some-
thing crunchier, a bowl of One Lucky Duck
Grawnola or Cri spies.
How could I have forgotten about these
lovely little red berries? I used to take
them traveling, and was always amazed
at how a handful would keep me from
feeling hungry for hours. A famous New
York cosmetic doctor was quoted in a
fashion magazine as saying that the goji
berry is the number one anti-cellulite
food, because of how loaded they are with
antioxidants. I read this and immediately
wanted to hoard them as I expected a sud-
den worldwide shortage, but luckily they
still seem readily available and affordable.
I am now also on a kick for green shakes.
I will always love green juice, particularly
when I don't want to get filled up. But
when I want to get filled, fresh cucumber
in the blender makes an excellent base, to
which I'll add a bit of honeydew melon,
kiwi and lime, or grapefruit and a bit of
pineapple. To that I add a whole bunch of
fresh coriander and a few kale or col lard
leaves and a few sunflower sprouts if I
have them, along with stevia, a touch of
salt, and a big dash of cinnamon. I like
shakes because to me they make for the
ultimate superfood party.
"It always tricky
to evaluate how
something specific is
affecting you. I have
given up coffee only to
fall back into the habit
enough times that the
overall conclusion is
clear to me. '
I love to add a splash of aloe vera juice,
a toss of tocotrienols, a spoonful of blue
green algae, some green tea extract, and
yes, maybe some more goji berries - which
blend easier than you might imagine - or
just add goji juice. Or frozen acai, another
increasingly popular so-called superfood.
Aside from being so nutrient dense, what
I love about these crazy concoctions is that
they taste really good. Sometimes I add
strawberries or blueberries or whole
lemons. A bit of mango or white peaches.
And if I don't feel like having it in a glass,
then I'll chop a fuji apple into a bowl,
pour my amped-up green shake over it,
sprinkle it with bee pollen and some whole
goji berries and eat it with a spoon like
cereal - 5uperfood cereal. When this is
what I'm taking in, I feel as if I could not
eat for days and I would feel fine. As if
I've truly nourished myself and am a well
oiled machine.
With so many variables, it's always tricky to
evaluate how something specific is
affecting you. I have given up coffee only
to fall back into the habit enough times
that the overall conclusion is clear to me.
I might crave that initial high and the
flavour, but it's a quick fix that quickly
makes one dependent.
The funny part is, I would slip back into
drinking coffee with a full awareness of
feeling very unclean about it, and I think in
some way that was part of it - I was being
almost rebellious, or thinking that I just
needed it to get me through a particularly
sleep-deprived and work-crazy period of
time. Now, when that urge for a cup of
coffee - even just one - starts to gnaw at
me, I take a deep breath and think about
the characters in Trainspotting.
That always does the trick.
Sarma Melngaifis is the co-founder. owner
and executive chef of premier New York raw
restaurant Pure Food and Wine. She is also
co-author of Raw Food, Real World and founder
and (EO of One Lucky Duck which operates
an online boutique offering selected products
for the raw and organic lifestyle. For more
information see www.purefoodandwlne.com
and www.oneluckyduck.com. The One Lucky
Duck range Is available in the UK from
www.fresh-network.com along with the book
Raw Food, Real World.
Gel Fresh! 49
RAW BEAUTY
Strivingfir Pe!ftction in Complexion
In an exclusive excerpt from her new book) Quantum t i n ~ Tonya Zavasta on
what to do when raw food doesn)t equal radiant skin,
50
T
ravelling as I make my raw food
presentations, I meet many
health-orientated people who
either already primarily eat raw or are
transitioning to the raw food lifestyle,
You know immediately there's something
special about them, They exude high
energy, Their clear eyes emit a light that
seems to go straight to your soul. You
can feel how they bubble with positive
attitude, The catch: you have to be pretty
healthy yourself to pick up on those vibes!
As any raw fooder knows, you have to get
used to people checking you out, deciding
whether it's worth it to go raw, They're all,
it seems, from Missouri, the "Show Me"
state, Okay - just show me this glow! The
fact that you never have a cold or flu, you
have so much energy, you can live on four
hours' sleep, you never have a hot flush.. ,
All good benefits to report, but hard for
people to verify, Curious folk want to
see your health, And where will they be
looking? At your largest organ: your skin.
For women, in particular, a word to the
wise: the raw food lifestyle doesn't mean
an instant transformation from Plain Jane
to Fabulous Babe, Many expect that once
you eat raw you should thereafter always
exhibit a glowing complexion. This is not
the case, Here, I believe, is one reason
why... Many in the raw food community
look down on external beautifying
procedures. Many believe that a quick
splash with water is all that your facial skin
Get Fresh!
needs. But unless you're very young, you
probably won't be that lucky.
I'm not that lucky (and I'm not that
young!) I hope to convince you that a little
attention to your complexion will take
you a long way toward achieving your
rawsome beauty potential.
Your skin's condition reflects your internal
health. Skin problems like acne, blemishes
and dryness are signs of an overtaxed
system, Just as deficiency and toxicity
are the main two causes for illness, they
tend to be the same two causes for most
beauty problems as well. Poor elimination
and poor circulation are two major causes
of negative skin conditions. A raw food
regimen definitely takes care of poor
elimination. But correcting your poor
circulation can use some external help,
When your system gets overloaded, your
body can't eliminate all its waste through
regular channels. Skin eruptions are
excretions of waste materials from the
pores. Dry, oily, or sensitive skin, acne,
and facial blemishes all result from gut
problems, so they do have to be addressed
internally, At the same time, you shouldn't
ignore external measures that can help you.
Here's a fact that's sure to surprise you.
Over half of the dust that accumulates in
your house is from your skin, We literally
shed our skin and grow the equivalent of
a whole new skin every 25 to 30 days, This
shocked my husband Nick, who reports
that he's just tossed out a vacuum cleaner
bag full of his discarded self. The funeral,
he says, was quite touching, though
attendance was thin.
Brushing for beauty
Most people do a dry body scrub, but
not many do dry facial brushing. Though
body brushing is not a new concept, it is
a commonly held belief by many in the
beauty industry that brushing one's face
is not necessary, and perhaps is not even
beneficial. I believe that face brushing is
just as important as body brushing, Dead
skin cells accumulate on the face, just as
they do on the body, Some will slough
off naturally, but these flaky, dehydrated
cells need some help to "get lost." Body
brushing and face brushing are essential
components of a health and beauty
regimen, and should be done daily.
The body is so intelligent that it will care
for our internal organs first. Sometimes,
there's not enough vitality to reach the
skin. Brushing stimulates surface blood
flow and tells the body where it needs to
heal. Exfoliation energizes your face and
improves circulation. All of these steps
result in a better looking complexion.
Exfoliation is necessary to get younger
looking skin. Mature skin needs exfoliation
even more, But the more mature your skin,
the more gradual the approach you need.
When we look at mature skin, what we see
is mostly dead skin cells. These dead cells
accumulate on the surface, densely packed,
making natural exfoliation difficult. This
creates lines and wrinkles, making your
skin more prone to problems, like the
accumulation of melanin, or of brown
and black spots, and small raised beige
lumps. Your body's self-healing processes
can't keep up with years of dietary and
environmental abuse. Here's where raw
foods and facial brushing can help.
When the outer layer of skin becomes
thickened, discoloured, rough, and
uneven, the best way to help the skin shed
built-up layers of dead, unhealthy skin is
to use a good brush. Gentle manual facial
brushing will speed cell turnover, maximize
oxygen intake, strengthen the skin's inner
structure, and reverse the effects of aging.
Such exfoliation will not only even out skin
tone, but will also improve the texture of
your skin.
Tiny bacteria live on our skin. If exposed
to oxygen, these bacteria would be killed
instantly. The easiest protection for some
microbes against oxygen toxicity is to
hide. Anaerobic microorganisms tolerate
oxygen in their surroundings by physically
screening themselves from their worst
enemy. Their shield? Layers of dead cells.
Exfoliation is the most important element
in all skincare. It helps with everything
from aging to acne to dry skin. Brushing
also helps reduce surface skin oils and
can help remove blackheads and other
skin impurities, as well as smoothing
out fine wrinkle lines. Collagen can only
be manufactured in the presence of
molecular oxygen by improving circulation
- thus brushing might stimulate collagen
production as well.
When I am on the lecture circuit, I show
people how I brush and "polish" my face.
It was a challenge to find just the right
brush to optimize my facial routine. All the
facial brushes I tried were too soft. This
softness actually makes sense when you
consider that most people who eat cooked
food generally have more sensitive skin.
We raw food aficionados need something
a little stiffer. I finally found a brush that
was effective and appealing. This may
amaze you, but... 1use a shoe brush with
natural horse hair bristles.
Though designed for polishing shoes,
it is not too harsh for the face. Two hot
tips... (1) Buy a brand new brush. I'm not
sure even raw foods can offer much of
a remedy for a face waxed and polished
to the brilliance of a soldier's drill boots;
(2) Don't tell the guy in the shoe store
what you're using the brush for. We raw
food folk have enough trouble making
ourselves credible to the uninitiated.
Gel Fre It! 51
RAW BEAUTY
52
Many beauty books say you shouldn't
exfoliate more than twice per week. But
by eating raw foods you will become
different, so the advice of traditional
beauty professionals won't work for you.
On raw foods, your skin will become more
supple. Less sensitive, too; you'll find your
skin heals much faster. At first you must be
gentle while brushing, but gradually you
can brush more vigorously. Your face will
begin to glow!
Brushing helps "unglue" dead, dry skin
cells from your skin's surface. By brushing,
the epidermis is exfoliated, leaving a silky
texture. Now that you're regularly ridding
your skin of dead cells, the beauty products
you use - moisturizers, especially - can be
absorbed more effectively. The trick is to
use a good nurturing and healing cream to
accelerate skin recovery time, allowing you
to use your brush daily.
This brings us to the topic of what facial
cream to use. Some people, after going
raw, decide not to use any cosmetics on the
face and body. I understand where they're
coming from. Many cosmetic products
contain toxins. While they're cleansing
their bodies on the inside, it might seem
logical to avoid adding chemicals on the
Gel Fresh!
outside. In fact, when you eat raw, your
body does become even more intolerant of
the wrong cosmetics.
"1 believe that face
brushing is ju t as
inlporlant a bod
bru hinge D ad kill
cells acculllulat 011
the face ju t a
they do 011 the
body. '
Several years ago, I was wandering
through the cosmetic section of a local
department store. A major cosmetic
company was introducing a new anti-
aging cream, offering free samples.
(Now, me - if it's free, I'll try it. Make no
mistake - I may be Russian by origin, but
sometimes I'm a red-blooded American
consumer.) Because I had used this
company's products before, I thought
nothing of using the cream that night.
When I awakened, my skin was red as
a radish and covered with a rash! I was
shocked. Why would my skin suddenly
show such a strong reaction? I'd never
had allergies to any cosmetic products
before. I began to analyze, in hopes of
finding an answer.
My conclusion: Changing your lifestyle as
completely as you do when you go raw,
you become more sensitive to certain
outside influences that previously had no
effect. Some ingredients, never a problem
for a person on a cooked food diet,
become poisonous to a raw food person.
The same thing can happen with skin care
products.
If you want to make your own
mosturizing cream, I admire you. I'll even
provide you with recipes in my newsletter.
I have been 100 % raw for ten years.
Now, even a morsel of processed food will
make me sick. However, carefully chosen
cosmetics don't. Try different products.
See what works for you. Your body,
cleansed by your raw food practices,
will be a good indicator of what product
to use. Trust it!
Gel Fresh! 53
READERS' RAW TRANSFORMATIONS
It's never too late
After 40 years of compulsive eatin& Suz Evasdaughter
gainedfreedom through raw food.
She tells her story here.
to go raw.

55
our years ago I found raw foods and
superfoods, a discovery that has
transformed my life. I lost weight
after decades of overeating, improved my
health and I feel rejuvenated. People say
that once you are middle aged it is much
harder to shift the pounds, but I shifted
stones, effortlessly. I also made dramatic
improvements in my health indicators.
I always tried to achieve a reasonable
weight but always failed, until now. I'd lost
weight before, when I'd starved myself,
but never achieved my ideal weight and
never managed to keep weight off for
more than a few months. With raw food I
dropped three dress sizes, almost without
noticing, in a matter of months whilst still
eating as much as I wanted and feeling
completely satisfied.
For many years I had eaten what I thought
was a good diet. It was a meat free, whole
foods diet with plenty of fresh fruit and
vegetables. Then I learnt about toxic
vegetable oils, the importance of enzymes
and essential fatty acids and bioflavonoids,
and vitamin and mineral loss through
cooking and processing.
My mother died of breast cancer aged only
33 and I became a compulsive eater after
an adolescence of emotional abuse from
an archetypal wicked step-mother. She
managed to rid our family home of myself
and my two brothers within a few years of
her moving in, whilst my father just let it
happen.
I left home at the age of 15 to work in a
hotel in the Yorkshire Dales with only food
and the countryside for comfort. Six years
later I began university having acquired a
Gel Fresh!
clutch of 0 and A levels, and trained as a
nurse to support myself. I had grown up
fearing the allopathic genetic determinist
message that I was at high risk of
following my mother's fate, but fortunately
I refused to accept this grim view.
Approaching 30, I had my own house and
more money than I knew what to do with
so I abandoned my high flying but
alienating career in big business with a
view to sorting myself out. I read as much
as I could about breast cancer, and discov-
ered that it is diet and lifestyle, and not
genetics, that put us at risk of develop-
ing cancer, and that what may seem like
genetic determinism is actually a familial
effect. We learn a way of eating and living
from our families as we grow up.
There are genetic factors but we now
know that genes can be switched on
and off depending on our environment.
I quickly stopped eating meat, though
I continued to eat fish, and limited the
amount of dairy in my diet. I began years
of therapy including training as an art
therapist but I never managed to stop
comfort eating. I went back to big business
much later but this time it was to run my
own business.
I have no doubt that the Universe led
me to raw food. Eventually I read a book
called Creative Visualisation by Shakti
Gawain. I used exercises from it to exorcise
myself of the influence of my childhood,
and learnt to forgive my step-mother. I also
used the same techniques to achieve the
many material benefits that are now part
of mine and my daughter's lives.
Methods similar to Gawain's have re-
cently become popularised as Universal
or Cosmic Ordering. In 2003 I returned to
this method of focusing intent in order
to achieve change. I had spent six years
working too hard, feeling stressed, and not
getting enough exercise. I was determined
to become slimmer, fitter and healthier.
To do this I knew I would have to, at last,
exorcise from my mind the connection
between thinness and serious illness that
had become fixed in me as a child. I put a
photograph of my own face onto a
magazine picture of a slender and healthy
looking yoga practitioner in order to focus
on the body I wanted, telling my uncon-
scious that slimness can equal great health.
When we are absolutely clear about what
we want and determined that we will
achieve it, the Universe answers almost
immediately and not always in a way that
we expect. When we connect with our
true path events conspire in our favour to
help us to follow it. Very soon the Universe
responded to my desires by introducing me
to raw food.
A friend gave me a leaflet for a Buddhist
Retreat Centre in Glastonbury where,
coincidentally, they served only raw
organic vegan food. I booked a weekend
and relaxed into the peace of meditation
and the magic of being at the foot of
Chalice Hill. I was amazed by the variety,
texture and flavours of the raw food and it
felt just right.
Being so impressed by raw food and the
buzz of health that surrounded its
practitioners, on my return home I ordered
some recipe books, managed to find some
local raw fooders, and booked the first raw
food prep course the Universe sent me, in
the Spanish Alpujarran Mountains.
My transition to a wholly raw diet was
gradual but I soon noticed, to my surprise,
..1 had not expected such an
impre sive change nor one lvhich
maintains it elf so easily.
that I had dropped a dress size and then
another and finally another, all within the
space of about nine months. I lost over
three stone. I had also begun going to the
gym two or three times a week to boost
my metabolism. But, I had not expected
such an impressive change, nor one which
maintains itself so easily.
Other dramatic improvements were
revealed in routine tests at the gym: my
percentage of body fat decreased
dramatically, resting heart rate decreased
and peak flow (lung function) increased.
My blood pressure had always been fine
and remained 12106 which is at the better
end of the normal range. I cancelled the
gym after a year but have continued
jogging or walking briskly every day and
my weight has remained constant. In
summer 2006 (two and a half years after
becoming a raw fooder) my total choles-
terol was 4.03; a good result is 5 or below.
My HDL or "good" cholesterol was 1.76
(desirable is 1.2 or above).
Before the radiant health that arrived
with raw food, I had had difficulties with
menopausal symptoms, mostly hot flushes,
night sweats and insomnia. These symp-
toms are an expected corollary of the peri-
menopausal period that most women in
the West begin to experience in their mid
forties. In some Eastern countries there
is no word for hot flushes. Some scholars
argue that this may be more to do with
the status of women in the East.
However, having seen the conclusions
of The China Study, which catalogues
the health benefits of a vegetable-based
Eastern diet, and from my own experience,
I believe that switching to a raw alkalising
way of eating has a powerful impact.
I noticed that if, when transitioning,
I remained raw, I was symptom free and if I
ate cooked I'd have a hot flush shortly after-
wards followed by night sweats. There was
an inevitable one to one correlation.
Although my menopausal symptoms
disappeared I did have other niggling
problems for some time and I know now
that these were related to the increase in
toxins in my blood as my body released
these from the stores of fat it was breaking
down. It was only when I began regularly
drinking green juices (alkalising my system)
that these symptoms fully cleared.
I gave up my business two years ago to
begin living my life the way I wanted and
I am now completely immersed in find-
ing out everything I can about optimal
nutrition. Once I began reading more I dis-
covered that significant and lasting loss of
excess fat, even for the morbidly obese, is
an almost invariable side effect of optimal
nutrition through raw food.
I also discovered the science behind why
this natural way of eating results in radiant
health, greater energy and vitality, a look and
sense of rejuvenation and elevated mood. I
again turned to Creative Visualisation, this
time I learnt to use it to focus on determin-
ing my life's path and, sure enough, one
morning I woke up knowing my path was
to share the message of how raw food and
superfoods can optimise health.
So far I have run food prep workshops,
gourmet dinners and given seminars on
nutrition to local and national conferences
either for free or to raise money for charity. I
also wrote a booklet summarising how a raw
diet leads to improved health and weight
loss, The Raw Route to Perfect Health and
Weight. This was first published in December
last year and is now in its second edition. I've
just finished a booklet on longevity and am
currently working on a more in-depth book
on raw food for optimal health and weight.
I've always dreamed of running a trans-
formation centre for compulsive eaters.
Now I know I have the right methods, I'm
going for it! I offer food prep workshops,
raw lifestyle coaching and raw retreats in
the UK and raw detox retreats on southern
Turkey's Turquoise Coast at a beautiful
eco-holiday centre near Oludeniz, set amid
30 acres of organic pine forest and carob
trees. My integrated retreats are for heal-
ing mind, body and spirit, and combine
yoga, meditation, creative visualisation,
food prep workshops and nutritional talks.
Their purpose is to help participants along
their journey to becoming just as Nature
intended.........the very best we can bel
Visit www.rawdietandhealth.com for more
information or contact Suz at
info@rawdietandhealth.com
Get Pre ,,! 56
SPECIAL FEATURE
01

I
9
ac y as...
Don't get old be/ore your time} says Elaine Bruce - so Jnuch 0/ what we call aginl is
caused by lz/estyle choices.
W
hy is everyone so interested in
rejuvenation? There are some
good and not so good reasons.
Geneticists are excited about the prospects
of repairing and replacing the damaged
and faulty cells which currently lead to
several degenerative and distressing
conditions, for example the so-called
diseases of senility, such as Alzheimer's.
At the same time the "cut it, stretch it,
remodel it or suck it out" consultancies
promise tauter skin, a better shape and
a more youthful and therefore more
beautiful you.
Then there are masses of ordinary sensible
people like you and me, thinking, "Hang
on a minute, development in medicine
would be wonderful if it could help my
friend's elderly aunt, who has absolutely
no quality of life, or my own uncle who
struggles to live a fraction of his normal
life after two strokes, but.. .wouldn't it be
better to prevent all this premature aging
and degeneration if possible?"
And yes there is an inevitable aging
process. Starting at about age 20, so we
are not just talking about over 50s here.
Absorption of food can be less efficient,
wear and tear affects all parts of the body,
brain connections are not as sharp, and
enzyme activity declines. That is no reason
to expect and accept the conventional
wisdom that we can do nothing about
aging. Even less reason to say that the
common age-related diseases or heart
problems "just happen out of the blue"
or are inevitable because there is a family
history.
There are always some indications, some
symptoms, often years beforehand.
Sadly people may be unaware of how
unbalanced their life has become, or
ignore symptoms, dismissing them as minor
niggles, or even tell themselves that they
have no time to deal with it just now.
The aim of natural rejuvenation, whether
to recover from an illness, or to keep your
body and mind efficiently maintained, is
to preserve all those life-giving processes
as long as possible, with the end result
of prolonging a healthy life. The cost of
doing this is spending time and attention
to be aware of your body and mind and
supplying what they need when they need
it, whether that is food, sleep, oxygen or
just a change of scene.
Compared to previous generations we
have to contend with poorer food quality,
minerals missing from the soil and all sorts
of chemicals and pollution in the air and
water. We live with much higher levels of
pressure and stress, travel more and maybe
don't get the chance of as much fresh air,
exercise or sleep as we'd like. Wherever
we're starting from, we need to be clear
what the aim is and how to get there.
Clear out, clean up and r bu d
We can summarise the whole process
as clear out (detox where needed) clean
up (your own personal act in terms of
balancing food, rest, work, sleep and
fun) and rebuild (looking at yourself as a
whole). Rebuilding is the really
interesting bit of getting to know your
own body, and involves being aware of
family illness patterns and also noticing
changes in yourself over time and finding
out the cause.
First of all, health is not an external thing,
and while eating well is really important,
that is not the whole story. Health is an
ongoing process, where recovery from
injuries and illnesses is fast and thorough,
leaving the body stronger for the sort of
clean-up which comes with a heavy cold or
cough, or from a fever. So the first thing is
not to suppress symptoms with medicines,
but encourage the body to rebalance itself,
and give it a chance, by eating lightly, or
fasting, drinking extra and sleeping more
to let the body recover. It is so important to
look after small children like this. Sending
them to school and playgroup when they
are only half well gradually makes inroads
on their resilience.
Secondly, it's not true that beauty is only
skin deep; it is colon, liver and kidneys
deep - especially colon! If digestion is
inefficient, for whatever reasons, there will
be a sum which the body can't balance.
More food than can be efficiently turned
into nutrition for all the cells in your body
from your brain to your toes eventually
clogs up the system, literally.
The body has to dispose of the waste
products; too many of those and there's
your personal toxic chemical factory with
you night and day! And while the body
is struggling to cope with all this, the
enzymes which power every process in
the body have to deal with this overload
instead of other important tasks like
healing wounds, replacing cells, and
activating a strong immune system. Some
people have much stronger digestion
and elimination organs than others, so
apparently get away with it for years.
Others notice problems earlier.
Rejuvenation, then, is improving your
health from the inside out so that it
shows on the surface. It is exactly the
same process as preventing all those
degenerative conditions, or avoiding
premature aging. It is a gradual and
ongoing process, based on the healthy
balanced ways you choose to live. It
doesn't matter what your starting point is
as long as you start to look after yourself
now. Some of the benefits will show
surprisingly quickly, with bright eyes and
clearer skin, others will take longer, but
will gradually be making inroads on toxic
build-up and using all that enzyme power
more and more effectively.
Starting at the top, the first thing, yes
really the first thing, is to sort out stress
levels and emotional issues, especially
long-standing ones. They not only take
an enormous amount of energy to deal
with (or suppress) daily; negative emotions
actually produce toxic chemicals. So that
is the first thing to clear out of the way.
Use Bach Flower remedies, find out how to
use Emotional Freedom Technique (simple,
easy and in your control) or talk to your
choice of therapist to get it sorted.
Detoxing is a subject in itself, and outside
the scope of the present article, so I will
just include the basic things everyone
can do to help digestion and elimination.
The first is drinking enough good water
Get Fresh! 59
60
every day without fail; two to three litres
depending on your weight. Secondly,
consider a spring clean every few months,
with a herbal detox and a course of
colonics. If you have not done this before,
you will receive invaluable information
about the state of your colon from a good
colonic hydrotherapist.
Thirdly, use as much live raw food, in
juices, smoothies and salads daily as you
are comfortable with, and gradually
decrease the proportion of cooked food
until you reach your best personal balance.
The details of a high proportion live food
diet are well documented elsewhere, so
for today I want to concentrate on some
essential foods to include, and some things
to be wary of, and the reasons for these.
Brain food and exercise
Staying at the top for a moment, your
brain needs feeding, especially with the
right kind of oils. Some raw diets do not
include enough, so make sure you get
enough avocados, seeds and nuts. Seeds
and nuts need to be in a digestible form
(soaked, sprouted, ground and stirred
into smoothies or made into sauces), and
everyone can use a small amount of flax oil
every day. The seeds and nuts are mostly
omega 6, so the flax oil will supply the
omega 3 to balance it.
This is especially important as we get
older, and some people of all ages notice
that their memory improves quite quickly
when they take an oil supplement. You
will have to discover the right amount for
you, and take enough but not too much.
However if you are gaining weight, don't
cut right back on oils. A small amount of
oil is essential, and if you gain weight, look
first at your carbohydrates and your daily
exercise levels!
Challenge your brain
Your brain needs to be used to keep the
complex patterns of thought and memory
sharp. So never stop learning new things:
study a new language, learn a new skill,
make yourself a reading list, and test your
powers of logic with puzzles like sudoku,
and your lateral thinking with cryptic
crosswords.
Your eyes need greens
Actually your whole body needs greens,
and red and yellow, orange and blue,
every day. "m mentioning this at this
point, because more and more children
and young people seem to need specs,
while comparatively few older people
escape without needing reading specs, or
worse, cataract operations or treatment
Get Fresh!
for conditions like macular degeneration.
All the greens and the coloured berries
contain lutein, which is essential for eye
health, so it is worth having as much as
possible every day.
Lutein fruit smoothie
In summer and autumn, make a delicious
fruit smoothie with any of the berries,
(raspberry and blueberry go well together)
and add a couple of peeled kiwi fruits. Use
an apple also and add as much fresh young
spinach, or some kale, or chard, or broccoli
florets, as you can get in while keeping
the full fruit flavour. It's delicious as it is,
but thinking back to brain food, add some
ground seeds, your daily ration of flax oil
and a spoonful of lecithin granules to help
to digest the oil. This gives you a fantastic
creamy smoothie with an oil and protein
boost to keep you going for hours.
It's also so easy to digest and is full of
enzymes as well.
'"'Rejul Plll1tiOIl.,
thell., i i'1IprOl,ill
fY
your health frOll'
the illside Ollt so
that it shows 011 the
I'. ., ..
. "':, ace
Later in the year, if you want something
hot make a veggie soup version with
carrots, red onions and as many of the
green vegetables as you like. Cook them
very gently in simmering water and blend
when only just tender.
Aim for a less acid system
However much raw or cooked food you
eat, the single most helpful way to choose
what you eat is to emphasise the alkali-
forming ones, because toxins in the blood
and tissues mean an acid system, and the
potential for disease.
So increase your intake of fresh ripe fruits
and vegetables in the form of juices,
smoothies, energy soups and salads, and
decrease the acid forming foods: animal
protein, grains, dairy products and starchy
foods. A body having to deal with too
much acid forming food is going in the
opposite direction to rejuvenation, so you
need to reverse this. Anyone on high rawl
live foods already is unlikely to be over
acid, and if so it's worth looking back at
the first requirement, that is, deal with
longstanding negative emotions. They can
tip you into an acid state no matter how
much alkaline-forming food you choose.
Free radicals and oxygen
We all know how important oxygen is to
human life but it is useful to know how
free radicals work and the damage they
can do throughout the body. There are
several kinds, and are mostly produced
within the cells during oxygen metabolism.
They are essential in the right numbers
and keep the cells breathing. They have a
free electron, which hooks on to another
structure, so that they can have a pair. This
leads to trouble, and accelerates the aging
process when there are too many.
They attack cells everywhere the blood
stream goes, including the brain, so
it is essential to keep the damage to
a minimum. The cell membranes are
vulnerable to this attack and in general
terms they then produce other chemicals
which further damage the tissues. So while
we need oxygen to breathe, the way to
avoid forming free radicals is to avoid
polluted air, especially smoking, and eat
as much antioxidant food as possible. All
the fresh raw fruits and vegetables have
antioxidant properties, and there are
natural antioxidant supplements you can
take both to avoid and repair free radical
damage. Lutein is a powerful antioxidant
and there are powdered greens which you
can stir into that lutein smoothie.
Sugar
We don't need to spell out how bad sugar
is for us. I will just first mention that it
gives your sugar balancing mechanism too
much work to do, even leading to diabetes
in time, which in itself shortens life.
Secondly it mops up your B vitamins, very
likely leading to deficiencies. In the
context of today's discussion it is the
"hidden fat". This means that excess sugar
has to be stored in fat cells. Well we all
know that, but now we are discussing the
links between toxicity and degeneration,
we need to realise that the toxins we want
to clear out in order to rejuvenate are
stored in the fat cells. This is one reason
that when you do a juice fast or a week or
two on all live foods, you lose weight. Not
just because you stop eating concentrated
carbohydrate, sugar itself and other foods,
but because the detox process involves
shedding the fat cells in which it is stored.
Stop. Start Rebalance. Review.
Rejuvenation is gradual and ongoing. It
requires you to do a physical and mental
overhaul of yourself, with some help for
specific problems you notice or suspect.
It may not be possible for everyone to
rejuvenate, long term or to their maximum
potential, with foods alone.
It saddens me to say this, as for decades I
helped others back to health and strength,
and experienced superb health myself, on
what I consider to be the best food lifestyle
that exists, that is Ann Wigmore's original
Living Foods Programme. In the past few
years I have been privileged to learn from
soil scientists and others that deficient
soils mean deficiency of nutrients, and am
constantly learning the implications of this
for health.
A few essential m nerals and vitamins
Sometimes we need to take supplements.
Most people - whether vegan, vegetarian
or meat eaters - don't get enough B12.
In fact you may need all the Bvitamins
from time to time. Pregnant women are
generally advised to take B3, for example,
to ensure healthy development of their
baby, as well as B12.
In the UK and many other parts of the
world from where we import our food,
both boron and selenium are missing from
the soil.
Boron helps the body to use calcium, and
deficiency has been found to be a basic
cause of arthritis, a painful and debilitating
degenerative disease which can be so easily
avoided, and treated, by supplementing
with a boron formulation, as long as
foods which make arthritis worse are also
avoided.
Selenium is needed as an antioxidant, to
deal with free radicals, and cancer forming
agents, for a healthy heart, and for male
reproductive health. Deficiency is often
shown by a family history of cancer, and
signs of premature aging. You can eat a
couple of Brazil nuts every day, but this is
such an important mineral, which ought
to be in all our food, that a supplement is
worth considering.
Some useful tests and procedures
Even established raw fooders will benefit
from a thorough overhaul, and those
who already confidently live this way as a
matter of course, might think about having
some specific tests. They may well turn up
some deficiency that is easy to put right.
Similarly a homocysteine test, especially for
those with heart problems in the family.
Women and especially older women need
to know if there are ongoing hormone
imbalances, and anyone who struggles
with chronic low energy needs to
find out why, and particularly to rule
out toxins in the system which could
come from almost anywhere. Common
reasons are from agricultural sprays,
radiation incidents, and your own
teeth. Live blood analysis shows you
free radical activity and cell damage,
and allows you to track your progress.
A good acupuncturist will advise you on
rebalancing at the basic energy level,
and an Iridology consultation gives you
an excellent idea of your strengths and
weaknesses.
So with the caution that most of us,
sooner rather than later, would be wise
to find out which supplements we need,
the process of rejuvenation can be
summed up as;
Stop c1ogging/polluting/overloading/
poisoning/stressing yourself.
Start detoxing/unloading/repairing/
resting/restoring! nourishing yourself.
What will be the results?
* If you make a few basic but
significant changes in what you eat
every day, aiming for a less acid
system
* If you add in enough sleep and
exercise and fresh air,
* If you include the natural foods and
supplements needed for top level
maintenance
* If you keep down free radical, fat and
toxin levels as much as you can
* If you make a start on unloading
unwanted emotional baggage, and
* If you stick to it for a year
You will gain energy, your brain will be
clearer, your memory improved. You will
be calmer, more able to cope. You may
well lose weight, and your skin and eyes
will be clearer and brighter. Your muscles
will be better toned, and you will be
altogether stronger on every level.
Actually you will experience some of these
fantastic results in weeks and months, but
when you see how far you can get in a
year, in spite of some stopping and starting
(we all do that) you'll be well on the way
to getting what you want out of your
personal rejuvenation programme.
You won't want to stop there, and
any concerns about eating and living
differently from other people, avoiding
the chips, choc and cake, (or the excess
starch and dried fruits if you've already
abandoned those); going to bed earlier
sometimes, going for a run instead of
watching the soaps; will seem very minor
compared to how you feel and look. Your
friends will want to copy you.
No need to get worried about having
lots of tests. When there's a good reason,
the right one can help you to correct a
problem before it becomes a bigger one.
And that's where we began, by agreeing
that preventive medicine is a great deal
preferable to corrective or palliative
treatments after getting sick.
What better than to start now for
yourself? You might make a few notes
about how you are now and what you
want to achieve, and maybe take a good
close-up photograph of yourself before
you start, and another one in autumn
2008. If you'd like to send them, I'd love to
see how you are rejuvenating!
flame Bruce IS the found r i1nd d,rectot of The
UK Centre For Livmg Foods. An exp rienced
naturopath, Elame has lived and taught the
Uvmg Foods programme for 25 years She
runs experiential and detox courses iJnd also
practItioner trammg. She c n be contacted at
f/ame@ftllingfoods.co.uk For mOr mformation
see www.livingfoods,co.uk
Gel Fre II! 61
Canape
Meaning 'couch' in French, canapes
are small, decorative, bite-sized finger
food, usually served on bread or
crackers, warm or cold.
appetizer. A bite-sized morsel to tickle
the palate before a meal.
Appetizer
A small starter, and first course in a
multi-<:ourse menu that is larger than
an amuse-bouche. Most appetizers
require silver to eat, unlike the passed
options of the canape and hors
d'oeuvre.
Hors d'oeuvre
Bite-sized morsel before a meal;
usually finger food.
BonAppfWtJ
I have chosen the following recipes
to give you a taste of some of my
favourite dishes that will help that
first impression last and keep your
guests awaiting the next dinner party.
See page 66 for sources of mgredlenrs marked
With a
Amuse-bouche
French term for a small, plated
For larger parties it is easier to serve
bite-sized fare, but the challenge is to
create a small taste that gives guests
a glimpse of the meal to follow-
piquing their interest while delighting
with a balance of tastes (acid, sweet,
fat, salty, spicy, cooling), levels of
taste (subtle, sharp), and texture.
The greatest joy of food service is
to bring fresh, organic, sexy food to
the masses, and the best way to do
so is by focusing on superior quality
ingredients and presentation in all you
offer your guests.
nt to impre ? ''hether. ou arc p
be or th me I gue t rl i e or tarting COlII menu
toppin opp tizer th . tir t imprc ion j al the mo t imp >rl nt-
ncl u uall, what the diner rcmemb hod 11110.
Get Pre h!
There are a number of ways to
showcase these first impression recipes
for your guests; the most common are:
I
've always had a passion for pure
food and clean service especially
when it comes to hosting parties.
It all starts with the highest quality
organic ingredients you can find, an
innovative yet simple menu prepared
and presented with a delicate hand,
and attentive service with a smile.
62
e etable aki
Parsnip, Sesame White Rice
Makes lcups
White 'rice', shitake, sweet peppers, daikon and wasabi aioli
Vegetable Sushi Maki Roll
1 nori sheet
2 ounces parsnip or cauliflower rice (see recipe below)
, red pepper cut into thin strips
daikon sprouts
1/2 cup shitake mushrooms sliced thin and marinated in equal parts
nama sho d olive oil
Wasabi a" recipe on the right)
6 cups cauliflower florets or peeled parsnip
1Y2 cups pine nuts
3 Tablespoons flax oil
1 Tablespoon toasted sesame oil
1 Tablespoon sea salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
3 Tablespoons green onion or chives minced
2 Tablespoons black sesame seeds
In a food processor, pulse all ingredients until finely
minced (white rice consistency). Use this as a base and
add multiple variations. Serve with sushi maki or as a
side for salads.
Wasabi Aioli
2 cups cashews soaked 10-12 hours
1/4 cup olive oil
1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1Tablespoon agave nectar
2 cloves garlic
1/4 inch piece of ginger root
3 Tablespoons green onion
2 Y2 Tablespoons wasabi powder, or 1/4 fresh wasabi
root finely shredded*
1 Tablespoon sea salt
In high speed blender, blend all ingredients until
smooth. You may need to add water to get desired
consistency.
To assemble
Spread 1/3 cup parsnip rice evenly over nori
sheet. Be sure to leave a bit of space on
: . .
~ ~ , , ~ , , ~ ' ~ ~ r : ~ . ~ top and bottom for rolling. Continue
to assemble as per diagrams
opposite, stacking assorted
vegetables in centre.
Tuck, roll and slice
into 7 pieces and
serve with wasabi
and shoyu.
Ca he Chee e u Poi re
Five peppercorns, aged balsamic:, crispy pepper lavash
1
1n a high-speed blender, blend the
soaked cashews with probiotics and
lukewarm water, or rejuvelac, until
smooth.
2
Allow to sit in a glass bowl covered
with a towel in a warm place for 14-
16 hours to culture.
3
When finished culturing, hand mix
in the remaining cheese ingredients:
nutritional yeast, onion powder, fresh
nutmeg and sea salt. Press the cashew
cheese firmly into a springform pan.
4
While still in the pan, sprinkle the
peppercorn and coarse salts on top,
creating an even crust.
Crispy Lavash
Makes 45 trays
Cashew Cheese
2 cups cashews soaked 12-14 hours
3/4 teaspoon New Chapter
Probiotics* dissolved in 1 cup warm
filtered water, or 1 cup fresh rejuvelac
2 Tablespoons nutritional yeast, small
flake
1/2 Tablespoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon fresh powdered nutmeg
1Y2 teaspoons sea sa It
Crusted with:
3 Tablespoons coarsely crushed mixed
peppercorns (white, green, pink,
black, Szechuan)*
1/2 Tablespoon coarse sea salt
1 cup golden flax seed, ground into
powder.
1/2 cup almonds, finely ground
3 cups red bell peppers, seeded and
chopped
2 cups yellow bell pepper, seeded and
chopped
2 Tablespoons onion powder
1 Tablespoon cumin seed, ground
1 Tablespoon dried oregano
1 Tablespoon coarse chilli, dried
1Y2 Tablespoons sea salt
Service
1
1n a food processor, process all vegetables
and spices in batches until smooth. Stir
in the ground flax and almond flour, until
thoroughly mixed. Salt to taste.
2
On dehydrator Teflex sheets, spread
cracker batter evenly about 1/4 inch thick.
Score with a rubber spatula to the desired
size and dehydrate at 110 degrees for 1214
hours. Half way through the drying process
I recommend flipping the crackers onto the
screen and off the Teflex. Store in an Ir
tight container.
Unlatch springform pan and remove cheese.
Using a cheese slicer or a thin knife, slice the
desired wedge per serving. Garnish plate
with a drizzle of aged balsamic and organic
olive oil. Serve with a small pile of crispy
lavash or your favourite crisps.
64 Gel Fre 1I!
acadamia Caprese
Tarragon crusted macadamia cheese, semi dried tomato,
Maine smoked salt, green garlic oil
Macadamia Caprese
Serves 8
2 cups macadamia nuts soaked overnight in filtered water,
3/4 teaspoon New Chapter Probiotics* dissolved in 1 cup warm
filtered water, or 1 cup fresh rejuvelac
1 Tablespoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
dash nutmeg
2 Tablespoons nutritional yeast (optional)
1 teaspoon sea salt
tarragon, chopped
chives, chopped
black pepper, coarse
2 cups baby mizuna, or baby spicy green mix, tossed with olive
oil prior to service
8 semi-dried tomatoes, sliced in half (see recipe)
coarse Maine-smoked sea salt (hickory or apple smoked)
green garlic oil (see recipe)
Semi Dried Tomato
8 vine ripened tomatoes, with stem
Cajun spice mix, or dried chilli flakes
coarse sea salt
1
Make a small X slice on the bottom of each tomato and put in
large bowl. Pour hot water (not boiling) over the tomatoes, be-
ing careful not to break the stem. Cover, allow tomatoes to sit for
10 minutes then remove and gently place in an ice bath to chill.
2Carefully peel off the skin, making sure stem is not removed.
3
Place tomatoes on a screen dehydrator sheet and sprinkle each
with spice blend and course sea salt. Allow to dehydrate for 4-6
hours, until outside of skin is a bit firm and semi dried.
Serve tomatoes chilled with caprese
1
1n a food processor, blend the macadamia nuts and rejuvelac
(or diluted probiotic) until smooth, leaving a thick consistency.
2
put mixture in a cheesecloth bag and place in a small strainer
with a bowl under, and covered with a towel. Allow to culture
for 12-14 hours. Be sure to place a weight on top of each cheese
bag, such as a gallon container.
3
When cultured, hand-mix in the onion powder, nutritional
yeast, white pepper, nutmeg and sea salt.
4
ROII cheese into a log shape, then roll cheese log into in the
chopped chive, tarragon and black pepper, to cover the entire
surface.
Green Garlic Oil
1 cup fresh chives
1/2 cup parsley chopped
2 cups mild organic olive oil
pinch of sea salt
3 Tablespoons young garlic coarsely chopped
11n high speed blender, blend the chives, parsley, and sea salt.
2
Using a fine mesh strainer or chinoise, pour mixture through,
slowly stirring out the oil. Discard pulp, or use in another
recipe.
3
Toss the chopped garlic in the 'chive oil', and allow to site for 1
day to infuse.
4
use a dropper, or small spoon, and drizzle on plates for an
extra kick!
Service
Using a small and rectangular plate, gently slice 3 pieces of the
cheese roll per plate. To assemble plate, place small
amount of baby greens tossed with olive oil on one
end and continue to lay in even line; cheese, half
of semi dried tomato, cheese, tomato, cheese.
Finish the plate with smoked salt and drizzle
of green garlic oil.
Get Fresh! 65
Clementine Tarts
Macaroon crust, clementine sorbet, citrus zest, lavender syrup
Coconut Tartlet
2 cups dried coconut
1/2 cup cashews
3 Tablespoons agave
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon zest
1/4 teaspoon Celtic salt
fresh citrus zest as garnish
1
1n a food processor, process the coconut,
agave, lemon zest and salt until mixture forms
a ball and is fully blended.
2
line small tartlet shells with plastic wrap. Press
1-2 Tablespoons coconut crust mixture into
each, press firmly around the sides (and flutes if
using fluted moulds). Store in freezer until ready
for use.
Clementine Sorbet
2 cups coconut meat of 1Y2 cups soaked cashews
1 cup clementine juice
2 whole clementines, peeled
1/4 cup agave syrup
Pinch of sea salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh nutmeg shavings
1
1n a high-speed blender, blend all ingredients until
smooth.
2
Either pour in your choice of sorbet maker, (Paco Jet*
being my personal favorite), following manufacturer's
instructions, or line a square container with plastic wrap and
pour in blended mixture.
3
Freeze, pop frozen block out the following day, slice in
strips and put through a gear juicer, with the solid plate
for a delicious sorbet!
Lavender Syrup
1/4 cup dried lavender flowers
1 cup agave
11n a high-speed blender, blend for 1 minute.
2Pour through fine strainer to remove remaining bits.
Service
Place 3 tart shells on each plate. Using a 1-ounce scoop,
scoop clementine sorbet on each. Garnish with fresh long
strands of citrus zest. Finish the plate with lavender syrup
and sprinkled fresh lavender flowers and/or clementine
segments.
66
Hard-ta-find ingredients
Probiotic Powdered Formula - For raw cheeses
*New Chapter www.newochapter.com
Gourmet Peppercorns - Great gourmet ingredients.
*Jr. Mushrooms and Specialties
www.jrmushroomsandspecialties.com
Pace-Jet Sorbet Maker - Best sorbet maker on the market!
*Vital Creations www.rawchef.com
Fresh Wasabi - Certified organic fresh wasabi root
-Real Wasabl www.realwasabi.com
Smoked Sea Salts - Great variety of quality smoked Atlantic rock salts
-Maine Sea Salts www.malnesealsalt.com
Gel Fre h!
Chad Samo is one of the world's
leading chefs spedalising in raw
and living foods. He is currently
executive chef at The LifeCo's
Saf chain of exclusive raw food
restaurants. He is also director
and founder of Vital Creations
Culinary Services. Through
his consulting work he has
assisted in establishing some of
the world's premier raw food
restaurants and spas. For more
information see
www.rawchef.com. Chad's book,
Vital Creations, is available from
www.fresh-network.com.
Ask Alissa!
A]i a Cohen is an internationall recognized writer peaker and con ultant on raw and living
food. Ali a fan include hundred who ha e maintained ucce ful weight 10 e, healed
them elve of a myriad of di ea e and wear by her imple and fun approach to fanta tic
health. A]i a i author of the be telling Living 11 Live Food book and DVD set and i
becoming a regular on American T . For more information vi it www.aJiacohen.com.
67
T
his time I'm going to combine
two of the questions that I am
frequently asked. Both of these
questions are about using a dehydrator
so I think I can answer them together for
a pretty good overview of dehydrators
and what you can do with them. Readers
asked:
Uf keep reading about dehydrators - what
are the benefits of having one and should
fgetoner
"Help! I've just bought a dehydrator and
nothing is coming out right"
Your dehydrator will be your 'raw food
oven'. I use mine often to make all kinds of
delicious meals!
You can use your dehydrator to give foods
a thicker, firmer consistency like nut loaves,
lasagne, pizza, cookies, breads and burgers.
When left in your dehydrator longer, foods
can take on a crispy, dry texture, like real
crackers. Though certainly not a necessity,
a dehydrator will allow you to prepare a
much wider variety of items that will have
the taste of having been cooked. This can
be important, especially when you are first
starting out.
So while you do not have to have a
dehydrator to go or stay raw, many people
crave foods like breads, crackers and
crunchy items after starting the diet. They
seem to be the one thing that is hard to
mimic if you do not have an appliance
that actually dries out the foods to get
the consistency and texture of the cooked
food from your past. Some people use an
oven, set on a low temperature, to warm
their foods. This will work to a certain
degree to warm things up, but it will not
produce the crunchy dried out effect that
a dehydrator will produce. You will not be
able to make most of the recipes that call
for dehydrating in a regular oven.
The dehydrator is very easy to use. You
just place the food on the trays inside the
dehydrator. Whole pieces of food can lie
directly on the trays. If you are making
something that would run through the
holes on the trays, use a flat sheet devoid
of holes, such as a piece of parchment
paper or the special non-stick Teflex sheets
which you can buy with your dehydrator.
They're worth the investment as they wipe
clean easily and last forever. So for
example, when making banana fruit
leather from banana puree, place the
parchment paper or Teflex sheet on top of
the tray and spread the mixture out onto
the paper. When using the trays without
the paper on top, the food will dehydrate
at a quicker rate because the air will be
able to circulate around and through the
food. For this reason, I recommend that
when you do need to use parchment
paper, you flip the food once and
remove the paper when the item you are
dehydrating is firm enough.
For example, when I make my tortilla
bread, I spread the mixture out onto a
sheet. I then leave it for a few hours to
dehydrate and firm up a bit and once the
top is solid to the touch I flip the bread
over. The food doesn't have to be hard
all the way through; just not runny and
soupy. To flip the bread over, I gently place
a tray (without any paper on it) on top of
the bread (this makes a kind of dehydrator
tray sandwich.) I then take the two trays
with the food in the middle and gently flip
it over, so that the bottom tray with the
parchment paper is now on top.
I then remove top tray and the parchment
paper. The bottom of the tortilla bread,
which is still moist, now faces up allowing
you to continue dehydrating until the
bread is done, but in a much shorter period
of time.
What temperature should you use? I leave
my dehydrator at 110 degrees normally.
Make sure your dehydrator features a
temperature control to enable you to
maintain temperatures below 112 degrees,
thereby preserving the enzymes. Most
models without temperature controls have
thermostats starting at 140 degrees or
higher. These will destroy all the life-giving
properties you are trying to maintain.
Just like an oven, the first time you make
something in your dehydrator, you will
want to keep checking periodically for the
readiness of the food. After making
something once or twice, you will get
a feel for how many hours it will take
and how the texture is after that
amount of time.
You will most likely leave crackers and
things that you want 'crispy' and 'hard'
in for 8, 12 or even 18 hours or so. It may
seem like a very long time, but I usually
make my crackers in the late afternoon,
place them in the dehydrator and leave
them overnight. By morning they are done.
It's hard to 'overcook' them as you are
trying to get them as crispy as possible.
If, however, you want to make something
that can be flexible and soft like pizza or
corn tortillas, you would leave those in for
a shorter amount of time so they do not
get hard and crispy. If you are 'warming'
something or just getting something to
'set', like my chilli or pesto stuffed
mushrooms, you can leave them in for
roughly 4-6 hours.
You can see now that it really depends
on what you are making and the texture
you're trying to create. Once you practice a
few times it should become second nature,
just like it is for most people to use an
oven. Experiment and have fun! You can
create amazing meals with a dehydrator!
Overleaf are some are some of my easy
favourites for you to try.
G (Fresh!
68
Pizza
Trust me: any craving you have
f01' pizza will be taken care of
with this recipe! Crust, cheese,
sauce and toppings...just like
the real thing, only better! I also
make this pizza without the
chee e and I love it. 0 if you
can't eat a lot of nut this is still
the perfect recipe.
Easiest Crust
2 cups ground flax seeds (not soaked)
1/2 cup onion
2 celery stalks
1 carrot
1 large tomato
2 large cloves garlic
1 teaspoon sea saIt
1/2 cup water
Creamy Cheddar Cheese
1/2 cup pine nuts
1/2 cup macadamia nuts
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1 1/2 cups red bell pepper
1/2 peeled lemon
2 cloves garlic
1 Tablespoon Bragg
liquid ami nos
Marinara Sauce
2 1/2 cups tomatoes
12 sun dried tomatoes, soaked
3 dates, pitted and soaked
1/4 cup olive oil
4 cloves garlic
2 Tablespoons parsley (optional)
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
1 teaspoon sea sa It
Toppings
Any assorted vegetables of your choice. I like
to use avocado, mushrooms, spinach and
onions.
Get Fresh!
69
For Crust
Combine all crust ingredients
in a food processor until well
blended and smooth.
Remove from processor and
place on a Teflex sheet on top
of a mesh dehydrator screen.
Smooth crust into 1/4 inch thick
large circle.
Make the edge of the circle a
bit thicker, like a pizza crust
would be.
Dehydrate crust for 2 hours at
105 degrees, then flip off Teflex
sheet and onto mesh dehydrator
screen and dehydrate for another
couple of hours until firm but not
hard or crispy.
For Cheese
In a food processor, blend the
cheese ingredients until smooth
and creamy.
For Sauce
In a food processor, blend the
tomato sauce ingredients until
smooth.
To Assemble
Remove crust from the
dehydrator and flip the crust
back to its original side before
topping so you have the thick
outer crust that you moulded
facing upward.
Spread cheese sauce over the
pizza crust. Leave a 1/4 inch of
space near the edges of the crust.
Pour marinara sauce over the
cheese on the crust.
Top with your favorite
toppings.
Place pizza back into the
dehydrator and dehydrate
at 105 degrees for 6-10 hours
depending on desired texture.
I usually put the cheese sauce
underneath the tomato sauce
because it looks prettier and is
easier to spread. Experiment with
the toppings and dehydrating
times to suit your taste.
Crepes
My absolute favourite, hands
down. You won't believe how
delicious they are, how easy
they are to prepare, and how
beautiful they look served
on a white plate surrounded
by whole strawberries.
Crepe Shells
5-6 ripe bananas
Filling
1 cup macadamia nuts
1 cup cashews
1 large lemon, juiced
4 teaspoons honey
2 teaspoons Bragg liquid aminos
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons water
Strawberry Sauce
1 Y2 cups strawberries
1-2 Tablespoons honey
For Crepe Shells
Place bananas in a food processor and
blend until smooth.
Remove from processor and spread
about 1/8 inch thick on to a Teflex sheet
on top of a dehydrator screen.
Dehydrate for 14 hours or less. Begin
checking the bananas a few hours before
to make sure they are formed, pliable, and
solid in texture, but not getting crispy.
Remove from dehydrator and slice into
strips (about 4" x 2")
For Filling
Place filling ingredients in a food processor
and blend until smooth.
For Strawberry Sauce
Combine strawberries and honey in a food
processor and blend until smooth.
To Assemble
Place scoops of filling on to banana fruit
leather strips and roll up.
Pour strawberry sauce over the rolled up
crepes.
It's important to let the crepes
sit for at least a couple of hours with the
strawberry sauce on top. The sauce will
soften the fruit leather and make it "crepe
like" instead of hard and chewy. These are
also great the next day.
Gel Fres1I!
70
Altnond Butter
& Raisin Cookies
The e cookies have an unusual taste from the
buckwheat, but I've been making them for years
and I just love them. I like the fact that they are
not too sweet.
Gel Fresh!
2 cups sprouted buckwheat
2 Tablespoons almond butter
1 Tablespoon vanilla
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon honey
1 cup raisins, soaked 1 hour
Place all ingredients, except raisins, in a food processor and
blend until smooth.
Remove mixture from processor and place in a bowl.
Drain the raisins and mix them into the other ingredients by
hand.
Form into cookie shapes on a mesh dehydrator screen.
Dehydrate at 105 degrees for 8 hours.
The cookies should be firm but not hard. These cookies are
delicious with a cool glass of creamy almond milk.
FOOD
oco c
Ith Amy L vln
aw cacao is an ancient food that dates back over 3,000
years. Revered by Mayan and Aztec cultures, theobroma
cacao (the word cacao originated from the Maya word
Ka'kau') literally translates as "food of the gods",
For centuries on end, we in the west only consumed this delicacy
in its cooked form. But now raw chocolate is back and whether
you're at a festival or a farmer's market you're increasingly likely
to be able to find it. In the past three years over 10 companies in
the UK alone have begun manufacturing raw chocolate bars.
With its ancient tribal history, it seems raw cacao brings with it the
great mystery of creating the perfect chocolate recipe. A handful
of ancient cacao combinations guide us in our quest to modernize
raw chocolate to appeal to the masses.
The recipes that follow will allow even the least experienced in
the kitchen to achieve incredible results. These are merely a base
from which to launch yourself into the creation of spectacular
raw chocolate. You'll notice that the main components of a base
chocolate recipe are raw cacao nibs or powder, fat and sweetener
(for example, almond butter, chocolate powder and agave nectar).
The following recipes are extremely rich and decadent so don't
make the mistake of thinking you can eat foods like this every day
and still experience health and vitality! However, they are ideal for
those occasions when you want a treat that really hits the mark.
I encourage you to allow raw chocolate to captivate your child-
like tendencies to play with your food and enjoy the process of
creating!
Gooey Chocolate Almond Fudge
Makes: 8 x 20g pieces
170g raw almond butter
30g or 3 Tablespoons agave nectar
30g coconut oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 Tablespoons water (to assist in blending)
30g or 3 Tablespoons raw chocolate powder
14 tsp nutmeg (optional)
Blend wet ingredients (if there's excess oil on top of the
almond butter, discard or save for later use); add a little water
as needed for the mixture to blend.
Add dry ingredients and blend again.
line a baking tin with cling film and spread the fudge mixture
into it. Cover and refrigerate until the fudge has become more
solid - and yes, still gooey!
Cut into small squares and serve with assorted fruit such as
berries, bananas and apples.
Alternatively, for less gooey fudge, put the mixture into
silicone bakeware moulds (very flexible moulds that can be
found in most good cook shops in various shapes from hearts to
tarts) and freeze until solid.
Chocolate almond dip
Follow the recipe above omitting coconut oil and adding an
additional 3 Tablespoons of water. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours
before serving with berries or slices of apple, pear or banana.
Get Fresh! 73
Chocolate Truffles
As made at 'The Food Clinic' in Brighton
Makes: 12 x 30g truffles
275g raw cashews
200g cacao nibs
90g light agave syrup
Vz Tablespoon vanilla extract
pinch finely ground Himalayan Crystal Salt
1 Tablespsoon spring water (or as needed)
74
Separately grind the cashews and cacao nibs into a fine meal
using a Vita Mix blender or a coffee grinder (the cashews
will release their oils and become nut butter like - that's a good
thing).
Combine both meals in a food processor. With the food
processor running add agave, vanilla and salt and mix
thoroughly.
Taste the mix at this point to see if it's sweet enough for you. If
not add more agave before adding water.
Again, with the food processor running, drizzle water as
needed until the mixture comes together into a ball. If the
mixture is crumbly add more water. If the mixture is too sticky and
wet add more cashew and/or nib powder.
Once you have reached the desired consistency and flavour, roll
the mix into evenly sized balls (2Sg or , tablespsoon each is a
good size) and refrigerate.
*Note once this mixture has been cooled it's nearly impossible
to reshape or mould so work with it while it's fresh and at room
temperature.
Get Fre fz!
Variations
For decoration
Refrigerate truffles for 30 minutes then roll in raw chocolate pow-
der for that real truffle look. You can also use mesquite powder,
lucuma powder, chopped nuts or orange zest.
Add to mixture before rolling
Peppermint oil, 3 drops
Orange oil, 5-7 drops
Substitute' Tablespoon of raw almond butter for 50g of
cashews
Pinch of cayenne pepper and 'A teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
, teaspoon cardamom powder, zest of , lime and 1 Tablespoon
lime juice
Essential oils generally state on the bottle Nnot for internal use
N
,
but you'll find, if you contact the company. that it's okay in small
quantities such as those suggested above. Visit www.nhr.kz or ring
07273236524 for high quality essential oils approved for internal
use in small quantities.
Chocolate Bars
Makes 12 x 409 bars
(depending on the moulds you use
www.homechocolatefaetory.com
sells a wide variety of chocolate moulds)
200g coconut butter or cacao butter
150g chocolate powder, finely sieved
50g lucuma powder, finely sieved
50g carob powder, finely sieved
109 vanilla powder, seeds from 2 vanilla pods,
or Y2 Tablespsoon vanilla extract
pinch salt
Melt the coconut butter, either over very low heat
in a saucepan on your hob or in a porringer (double
boiler/saucepan).
Using a high speed blender, blend all ingredients on
medium speed until smooth and evenly combined.
Scrape the sides of the blender jug with a spatula and
blend once more.
Pour into preferred moulds and refrigerate until set
or, if you're in a hurry, place in the freezer for 10 to
15 minutes.
Variations
For added sweetness, mix in by hand
Dates, chopped - 50g
Raisins - 50g
Goji berries - 50g
Mulberries - 35g
Xylosweet - 25g (mix in while blending)
Flavour combinations
Add oils and butters in during blending and fruits and
seeds by hand at the end.
50g raisins, 4 drops peppermint oil and 50g cacao
nibs
5 drops lavender oil and 50g chopped almonds
5 drops bergamot oil and 50g chopped walnuts
50g goji berries and 75g sunflower seeds (soaked,
sprouted and dehydrated)
2 Tablespoons tahini, 50g raisins and 5 drops
peppermint oil
Amy Levin is a raw chef and chocolatier at The Raw
Chocolate Company. She teaches raw food classes in
Henfield, East Sussex.
For more information email
amy@therawchocolatecompany.com
or call 01273 677821
Pictures by: Sama Mara www.samamara.com
Fennella Fudge remembers her week 0/ Juice camp' and we review a new raw food
and yoga retreat in Spain.
Juice Master's Ultimate Mind &
Body Detox Retreat, Bordubet,
Turkey
"I can't go to Turkey!" cried my friend
Sal one Thursday morning. She hadn't
suddenly been gripped by holidayphobia,
but work commitments had thrown her
travel plans into disarray. Me? Be so
spontaneous as to zip across Europe to
Turkey with two and a half days' notice?
Er... okay then.
She said it was a mind and body detox
retreat with Jason Vale, the Juice Master.
I had visions of chilling out and wafting
around in the Golden Keys Hotel in
Bordubet, gently luxuriating in the balmy
warmth and beautiful surroundings of
Turkey's Lycian coast. Little did I know... So,
my plans for the weekend changed; in fact,
after the 'holiday' my whole life changed...
There really wasn't much chilling, wafting
and luxuriating; I had signed up for
JUICE CAMP.
6 a.m. starts... non-stop activity until
lunchtime...a break... then non-stop
activity until sundown. Hell? For this
middle-aged sofa spud it should've been,
but I had a total blast. By setting aside
my usual cynical attitude and joining in
everything no matter how bizarre or far-
removed from my comfort zone, I had the
best time.
That said, if you think you're under a
military regime, you couldn't be more
wrong; you do as much or as little as
you please. My decision to do the whole
blinking lot was mine alone, but I'm sure I
got more out of it that way!
The surroundings are very special, Juice
Master Jason chooses the venues for his
retreats with immense care. The setting
is very calming, the wooded grounds are
dotted with domestic rabbits and wildfowl,
and a peacock occasionally punctuates
the peace with noisy meows. The river
which winds through the Golden Keys is
home to huge carp and tiny turtles - along
with friendly, inquisitive ducks which
occasionally take a turn round the hotel. A
winding walk through poppy fields takes
you to a beautiful beach from which you
enjoy an awe-inspiring view of sea and
mountains.
I was lucky enough to be assigned the
newest accommodation: a wood-clad
pod-like construction with a bleached
wood interior, funky portholes and a
full height and length sliding window
on to the river and grounds (room 123;
book it if you can!) A word of warning
though, when the frogs start singing, the
cacophony is unreal. You'll never believe
you'll get to sleep, and maybe on the first
night the noises will be startling but by
the time you've meditated, rebounded,
swum, yoga'd, Tai Chi'd, mountain-walked,
jogged and netfootballed your way to
bedtime, nothing will bar your way to the
land of nod.
So what's the regime? The only compulsory
element is the juice - beyond that, after
attending the first game of netfootball,
you're left to your own devices and joining
in or opting out is entirely your choice.
If you're new to the joys of juicing, this is
a great introduction. Juices are all you'll
get for the first three days but they are
so awesomely delicious and filling, you
shouldn't feel in any way deprived. A
couple of people stayed on juice for the
entire week, while the rest of us tucked
into fantastic, freshly-prepared local fare
after the 3-day detox.
Jason insisted that everyone meet up on
the tennislbasketball court on the first
day and here he stirred distant school
76 Get Fresh!
memories in all of us, some clearly so
traumatic that many of our number never
set foot on the court again all holiday. For
the hardier though, a game of 'netfootball'
was on offer mornings and evenings. Oh
the renewed ignominy of not being picked
by team captains... Eventually two teams
faced each other to battle it out with
Jason's invented game of (sort of netballl
basketball, but kicking's allowed too - and
not just of the ball it seemed).
Praise be, I was on Jason's team, as day
after day a mere four or five members of
our team pitched up to battle it out with
upwards of fifteen on the other side!
Jason was indomitable - a Tasmanian
Devil on court - and we whupped their
asses repeatedly despite our depleted
numbers...
The injuries were legion - egg-sized head
lumps, hand sprains, even a goring on the
tennis net post - but the rivalry spurred
us all on and I'm proud to count myself
amongst the hardcore handful, missing
only one match all week to go on a
boat trip.
What a trip! The lovely, swarthy men
at Gulet Sailing chugged us around the
unblemished Lycian Coast, and alas -
having been carefully briefed by the 'Juicy
Team' - dished out our meagre rations: a
couple of bits of fruit. Dropping anchor in
deserted bays we threw ourselves in the
sea and splashed around in the unpolluted
waters, returning on deck to dry out in the
warm sunshine.
Day four, and the evening brings a
welcome return to solids. A good two
hours before dinner was served, we were
circling the dining area in anticipation.
Eventually a glorious buffet groaning
with a mouth-watering array of stews,
salads and sauces is revealed, and despite
Jason's exhortation to savour and enjoy the
food, most of us hoover our plates clean
in seconds flat, and then ignore Jason's
further plea to wait the twenty minutes
it takes for the stomach to register it's
full, and descend on the buffet again. Old
habits die hard; harder still when you've
had no 'proper' grub for three days plus.
"jlli e are all 'Oll'll
O'et for the fir t thr e
day but they are
awe olllely delicious
and filling YOll
shouldn't feel ill ((fly
lVay deprived. "
The gentler activities were led by the
heavenly Ken. If spiritual hippy stuff is
your stuff... he da man. If you're lucky
enough to get Ken's life story, prepare
to be humbled. This is a guy who had a
serious stroke in his early twenties, but has
fought his way to physical fitness against
the odds and is now a yoga master. His
tales of travels in India learning his yoga
skills are bizarre, touching and at times
hilarious. And for those of us who'd never
tried yoga before, his gentle guidance and
encouragement were very therapeutic. He
also teaches T'ai Chi. Alas I discovered I
have neither the grace nor the balance for
this weird discipline!
Ken also taught meditation: 6am would
see a sleepy few swaddled in their duvets
chanting their way to wakefulness. Half
way through the week, having warmed
us to the idea of this low-key meditation,
twinkle-eyed Ken decided to introduce
those daring enough to a Kundalini
meditation. One evening, we were led
underground to a vaulted room with a
bar, tables and a dance floor - a cosy, dark
place where we giggled nervously before
giving ourselves over to the Kundalini.
Essentially, we were encouraged to close
our eyes and let whatever happened
happen. I did my best to be open to it,
but the shaking and wild dancing which
overtook master meditator Ken failed to
so much as cause me a slight tremor in
me. Ken suggested we all keep our eyes
shut, as the sight of all of us trembling and
flailing might put the more buttoned-up
off. Of course we all took a shufty and
exchanged sniggered descriptions of our
antics afterwards.
The staff seemed very bemused by us.
Doubtless used to spending the day
delivering the chefs' culinary brilliance to
chilled out holidaymakers, they watched
as we raced from one activity to another,
fuelled only by the odd bit of fruit and
big glasses of juice. For some the detoxing
effect took its toll and they suffered
headaches, but within a couple of days we
were all on a juice-fuelled (alcohol-free)
natural high! We even managed a pretty
wild, dance-your-face-off party on the last
night, not a drop of booze in sight.
A couple of the daily activities take place
on the idyllic beach so if exercise isn't your
thing, you can let the scenery distract you
from whatever workout you're putting
yourself through. My favourite was
rebounding, or bouncing around to music
on one-person trampolines: the most fun
Get Fresh! 77
Raw Spain Detox Retreats
78
you can have draining your lymphatic
system! Inexplicably, twenty-four hours
later you'll find your shoulders ache as
though you'd spent the day as a hod-
carrier. Then it's time to wind down with
Ken, so we lay our yoga mats out and
await his instructions. It's so relaxing lying
on the beach, and as Ken starts the yoga
session, several people stay crashed out on
their mats and opt for a sunbathing session
instead.
Jason's energy is boundless. He gave
two-hour lectures most days, ranging
from a juicing masterclass to overcoming
addiction. His clear, spontaneous style of
communication is engaging and hugely
entertaining - he's essentially a health
stand-up! Never has recognising your bad
habits been so much fun. It's interesting
to watch Jason's team working with
him. They clearly love him as much as his
Focus on...
What on offer?
Daily yoga and meditation, food
preparation classes, health lectures,
organic living food and juices and holistic
therapies.
Where?
A stylish hotel in Andalucia's Nieves
mountains. The weather is a treat all
year round and it's a perfect spot for
those who want to relax and unwind and
those who are looking for a more active
holiday. The location offers plentiful
organic produce, beautiful views of the
mountains, pristine air and ocean breezes.
What' on the agenda?
The days begin with yoga followed
by meditation overlooking the sea of
pine trees and olive trees. Mornings
are taken up with classes teaching the
basics of raw food preparation: how
to make delicious main courses, pates,
wraps, nut milks, non-dairy cheeses
and desserts. After a gourmet lunch,
afternoons are free so guests can explore
the surroundings. Throughout the week
a wide variety of health-related topics
are covered during evening lectures
which follow the principles taught at the
Hippocrates Health Institute. A number
of holistic practitioners are on site to
offer treatments such as acupuncture,
kinesiology, massage and reflexology.
Get Fr 11!
audience does; his mischievous enthusiasm
is infectious, and he so obviously lives his
own message and deeply believes we can
all achieve better states of health with
comparatively small shifts in mindset.
This is the man who helped Jordan (Katie
Price) lose her post-baby weight, but aside
of guiding those with weight difficulties
he has an inspirational take on tackling
problems with booze, fags and chocolate.
I returned home full of the joys of juicing,
to the extent my husband was convinced
I'd been brainwashed. But you know
what? I've caught him using the juicer, and
in unguarded moments, he even admits to
feeling better. Rather than reaching for a
glass of wine or a bottle of beer to unwind
after work, he now chucks all manner of
fruit and veg into the juicer and feels very
virtuous. Me? I don't juice as much as I
should, BUT I haven't touched caffeine or
Tell Dle about the accoDlDlodation?
A hotel surrounding an Andalucian court-
yard, with rooms laid out according to
the guidelines of Feng Shui. There are 12
double rooms with ensuite facilities and
two suites. The hotel is built of ecological
materials, water is drawn from a depth of
176 metres, and an organic orchard serves
the kitchen. Facilities include a mineral
salted swimming pool - a plunge in it will
both invigorate and speed up detoxifica-
tion.
Who' behind it?
Retreat facilitator Debbie Lee, who
trained at the Hippocrates Health Insti-
tute in Florida. She says: "Easy to digest
nourishment with ample enzymes is the
key factor in restoring the struggling and
weakened immune system. Eating living
foods provides energy and has the ability
to rebuild health, physically, mentally,
emotionally and spiritually. This helps the
body to achieve homeostasis by free-
ing energy to be used for healing and
wellness. When we nourish our bodies
with tasty and beautiful looking food it
makes achieving our natural weight and
optimum health a pleasure."
aw Sp in D tox retreats will run from March
to May 2008 and from September to D cemb r
2008 For more information call (0}79S1 899
898. email infoCrawlivingstyle.com. or see
wwwrawlivmgstyle.com.
alcohol since my trip, and I'm on my way to
being three stone lighter.
So what's the difference to my life? Huge.
I get up earlier, with a spring in my step;
occasionally I'll give meditation a go,
sitting alone and haVing a good 01' chant;
I willingly (yes, really) exercise every day
(some days with full-on effort - others just
to keep everything moving); I feel strong
and motivated, tolerate timewasters less
and love life more. And the good feeling
just doesn't seem to be going away.
Jason Vale runs retreats in 80rdubet and
Montenegro. The next 80rdubet retreat will take
place from 1Sth September to llnd September
1007. For more mformatton about JUICe Master
retreats, or to book a place, call 084S 1301829
or email info@/uicemaster.com. See www.
juicemaster.com for more information.
----- - --
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Get Fresh! 81
A Day In The Life of .. Rhio
Rhio, author of the cia sic Hooked On Raw, is the ho t of an internet radio show by the same name
on Tribeca Radio. Rhio and her partner Leigh divide their time between ew York City and Upstate
ew York where they are fledgling permaculture eco-farmer , growing edible wild foods vegetable,
fruit and nut .
82
R
egardless of when I went to bed
the night before, "m usually up by
7am. My morning routine consists
of drinking two glasses of water upon
awakening, brushing my body with a
dry body brush and/or jumping on a mini
trampoline. Then I do the 'five rites' yoga
exercises and if I have the time, I expand
on those and do a series of hatha yoga
exercise.
For breakfast, I usually start with juice and
then half an hour later have some fruit.
Some mornings I have wheatgrass juice
first, then 20 minutes later a pint of a fresh
juice combination. There are hundreds of
great juice combinations to choose from.
For the last five years, I've been dividing
my time between New York City and a
budding eco-farm in Upstate New York. I
love the farm so much and could live there
year round, but we also are tied to the
city because we make our living there. My
partner Leigh is a songwriter and music
producer and his latest project is an inter-
net radio station that can be heard all over
the world (www.TribecaRadio.net).
There is a lot of raw and healthy lifestyles
programming on the station and I also do
a weekly show called Hooked on Raw. We
have various projects in the works which
keep us coming back to NYC, and we also
Gel Fre hf
love the city as well, because of the
diversity of people and also the great
diversity of things to do. It's really the best
of both worlds.
Leigh and I don't have typical days; it just
depends on what project we are working
on at the moment. For example, this
summer was mostly dedicated to producing
a 3-DVD set on raw food preparation called
'What's Not Cookin' in Rhio's Kitchen'. This
past spring we spent our time expanding
the orchard on our farm by 100 fruit and
nut trees and all kinds of berry bushes, and
we will be doing that each spring until we
have the entire 24 acres planted in a
permaculture paradigm.
For lunch, it's either a salad or a blended
energy soup. I also like to have what I call
soup/salad. I make an energy soup, then I
top it with salad or chopped veggies and
dulse. I like to incorporate in my energy
soups some wild leafy vegetables such as
purslane, lambs quarters, chickweed or
goutweed.
In my earlier years I realized that when
I ate raw food for any period of time, I
would feel great and have lots of energy,
but I wasn't ready to make the commit-
ment until much later. I finally got serious
after losing a lot of weight on a raw juice
fast. I thought, this is just so great - why
go back? I love the flavour of raw food, I
love the way I feel, it keeps me fit in body,
clear in mind and balanced emotionally. If
a fountain of youth exists, it certainly has
to be in nature's raw food.
For dinner, I usually have another salad
and on some days, a nut and vegetable
pate, or a more elaborate prepared raw
dish. I don't feel the need to snack and
usually don't. Between meals, I might have
the water from green or yellow coconuts,
when I can get them in New York, usually
in the summer season. I really love the
water from these coconuts, which is very
refreshing and not as sweet as Thai coco-
nut water. Four times per year, with the
change of the seasons, I do either a green
or yellow coconut water fast or a fresh
juice fast for a week to 10 days.
In the city, I tend to stay up much later,
until anywhere from lam to 3am. When
I'm in the country, I start getting sleepy
earlier - generally between 10pm and
11 pm. I think it's either the extra oxygen
or much lower levels of electromagnetic
pollution. Even if I try to stay up later in
the country, I usually can't do it, unless "m
going out. Something in the country com-
pels me to get more sleep.
Tune in to Rhio's radio show at
www.TribecaRadio.net. Rhio's website,
www.rawfoodinfo.com. o v ~ the raw
food diet and lifestyle, organic agriculture,
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