Thought I would share a special moment for all who can attend!  Feel free to forward.  Much love, light and gratitude!  Smile.

Blissings, Ani


Happy Living Foods Year
Reconnect    Rebuild    Rejuvenate
Join us for the
Living Foods Lifestyle ®
 
2 Week Program
January 4 – 17, 2009

Restore Health and Longevity

Who should attend?
Our core two week program is for all students who will benefit in their individual journey toward health, peace, and harmony.
What does the program offer?

Enjoy the core Ann Wigmore Program where you will work with certified instructors educating you in learning the Living Foods Lifestyle ® and in preparing healthy living foods. This program provides students with health educational classes and hands-on living food preparation techniques, while experiencing the beauty of tropical Puerto Rico.
What is included in the program?

The program consists of the basics of the Living Foods Lifestyle® classes, accommodations and access to healing relaxation therapies.
•    Lodging at the Institute
•    All meals
o    The opportunity to access healing relaxation therapies like yoga, Reiki, myriad massages, chiropractic, psychological and colon therapy for an additional charge.  One therapy per participant ($65.00 US$ value) is offered free of charge.
•    Classes will include the basics of the Ann Wigmore Living Food Lifestyle®
•    Living foods food preparation interactive classes
•    Structured exercise and relaxation classes
•    Airport shuttle
•    Snacks
•    Wheatgrass juice
•    Use of the facilities

What is the cost of the 2 week program?
The Ann Wigmore Natural Health Institute is a nonprofit organization dedicated to teaching wellness to as many people as possible. The two week core program fee range is $1715 - $2825 depending on your choice of accommodations. (Please see our rate page for specific accommodation rates.)

Call: 787.868.6307

NewsTarget.com

Originally published December 19 2007

The Healing Power of Enzymes For Treating Disease

by Charmaine D. Mercado

(NewsTarget) Enzymes may not share the superstar status of certain vitamins, antioxidants, amino acids, and other miracle nutrients in the world of conventional health and nutrition; yet a growing number of studies suggest that enzymes very much deserve a standing ovation when it comes to improving overall health and the successful treatment of numerous diseases.

Enzymes perform an all-encompassing function in the development and maintenance of the human body. Dr. Edward Howell, father of enzyme nutrition and therapy, stated that enzymes are the very substances that make life possible. Yet mainstream medicine has frequently ignored this basic fact, undervaluing the enzymes' vital role in health and underestimating their true potential in overall health, including disease management and prevention. Proponents and advocates of enzyme therapy regard enzyme bankruptcy as a lethal health catastrophe, causing countless bodies to shut down prematurely.

Know Your Enzymes

Bodies of research have identified more than 3,000 types of enzymes in the human body. As organic catalysts, enzymes are known to initiate, speed up, slow down, alter or halt about 4,000 kinds of biochemical reactions. Millions of biochemical reactions take place in our body on a daily basis, including respiration, food digestion, assimilation and transportation of nutrients, detoxification of certain organs, blood purification, movement of muscles, production and regulation of hormones, and cell renewal and repair, to name a few. The enzymes make all these processes possible, and they are destroyed once they complete their respective tasks.

There are three types of enzymes: digestive, metabolic, and food enzymes. Digestive enzymes are produced by the digestive organs that aid in breaking down food into more assimilable forms. The four general classes of digestive enzymes are: amylase, which digests carbohydrates, starches, and sugars found in grains, fruits, and starchy vegetables; protease, which breaks down protein found in meat, nuts, and cheese into amino-acids; lipase, which breaks down fats and oils found in dairy and meat products into fatty acids; and cellulase, which helps digest fiber.

Metabolic enzymes on the other hand are manufactured by the body's own cells to perform highly specific tasks required in regulating the blood, tissues, and organs. They are responsible for the production and growth of new cells, the repair and maintenance of tissues and organs, transportation of blood to the different organs, and detoxification of the cells, tissues, organs, and blood. Metabolic enzymes also carry out the delivery and absorption of nutrients in various organs.

The third kind of enzymes is the food enzymes. These enzymes are the vital life force naturally found in raw, uncooked food. By definition, raw food is food heated below 118 degrees F, the highest temperature in which enzymes can still survive and function. There are a lot of well-documented cases that attest to the wonderful benefits and healing power of raw food. The enzymes present in raw food work synergistically with the other nutrients like vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals, bioflavonoids, antioxidants, and co-enzymes, allowing your digestive system to take its much needed rest and giving your immune system the necessary boost to successfully carry out its search and destroy missions.

The Enzyme and Disease Connection

The problem arises when the body becomes overburdened in producing enzymes due too poor dietary choices like eating cooked, highly processed and preservative-laden foods. According to research, food enzymes are heat-sensitive and die when heated at temperatures above 118 degrees F. When a person ingests enzyme-less food, his body then diverts a lot of its energy to the production of digestive enzymes to break down the carbohydrates, protein, fat, and other nutrients of the food. If a person has been eating cooked, unhealthy food most of his life, his body's line of defense may already be exhausted in its fight against diseases associated with diets high in sugar, sodium, additives, trans and saturated fat, and carcinogenic substances.

This is further compounded by a person's genetic predisposition to certain diseases. The body then struggles more to achieve homeostasis or internal equilibrium, which is needed for all the organ systems to run smoothly and to function properly. Because a lot of energy gets allotted to the manufacturing of digestive enzymes, the production of metabolic enzymes becomes disrupted. The more important tasks of providing immune system back-up, blood purification, and organ detox needed in fighting off disease all take a backseat to the digestion of cooked food. Nevertheless the body does not stop recognizing an unfriendly invasion when it sees one, and in a greatly strained attempt to set all things back to order, it goes on a red-alert mode and uses all its limited energy to follow its natural tendency - which is to heal itself. The body is not meant to be in a state of emergency for a prolonged period of time. When this happens, the body finally breaks down and serious diseases like cancer develop.

Other diseases linked to enzyme deficiency include heart disease, which is a sign of the body's inability to break down fats. Autoimmune diseases such as allergies and arthritis on the other hand are the results of the body's incapacity to digest protein and carbohydrates.

The Enzyme Advantage

Studies indicate that increasing your raw food intake and taking enzyme supplements can be very potent measures in the prevention and healing of certain diseases including cancer. Although raw food already has its own enzymes to digest its own nutrients, the undigested substances circulating in the blood that are responsible for a lot of diseases would need extra enzymes before they could be broken down for elimination. This is where enzyme support comes in handy. The high concentration of enzymes in enzyme supplements can dissolve all the unfriendly substances floating in the bloodstream that are causing damage to various organs. Since bacteria, viruses, and cancer cells are made up of protein, proteolytic or protein-metabolizing enzymes such as protease would greatly assist in destroying pathogens and cancer cells. White blood cells are also heavily dependent on enzymes; a shortage on their supply would therefore result in impaired immune function. It is for these reasons that a megadose of enzyme supplements is usually required to restore health to cancer patients.

Various experiments conducted on enzymes demonstrate their versatility and efficacy. Combined with a proper diet and other nutritional supplements, enzymes can perform tasks that are nothing short of miraculous. The use of enzymes among athletes suffering from injury and patients who underwent surgery accelerated the recovery and healing of both groups. In one study, a marked improvement was noted among arthritic patients consuming raw food. In another study, a control group of hypertensive and obese outpatients experienced a significant improvement in their conditions on a raw vegan diet. Enzymes have also been shown to reduce the side effects of chemotherapy among cancer patients. Countless allergy sufferers reported relief upon increasing their enzyme intake. Other reported benefits include the elimination of digestive and colon problems, hay fever, asthma, inflammation, hypoglycemia, and Crohn's disease.

With all the positive reports that enzymes are receiving, it is only high time that enzymes get the big publicity they so much deserve, and cease to be the underrated nutrients that they currently are.

References:

"Raw Foodism." Wikipedia. 17 October 2007. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enzyme)

"Enzymes." Wikipedia. 13 October 2007. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raw_foodism)

"Enzymes and Longevity." 28 May 2006. (www.dreddyclinic.com/online_recources/articles/aging/enzymes-and-longevity.htm)

Elaine Cutler. "Enzymes." N.d. (http://home.comcast.net/~mjharman1/enzymes.htm)

Ellen Cutler. "Why Enzymes Are Essential to a Healthy Immune Function." June 2006 (http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0ISW/is_275/ai_n16675814)

"Why Enzymes Are Essential to a Healthy Immune Function" Page 2. (http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0ISW/is_275/ai_n16675814/pg_2)

"Why Enzymes Are Essential to a Healthy Immune Function" Page 3 (http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0ISW/is_275/ai_n16675814/pg_3)

Mark Rojek. "The Essentials of Enzyme Nutrition Therapy." 2003. (www.think-aboutit.com/health/TheEssentialsofEnzymeNutritionTherapy.htm)

JM Douglass et al. Effects of a raw food diet on hypertension and obesity. Br J Rheumatol. 1998 Mar;37(3):274-81.

OO Hanninen et al. Uncooked, lactobacilli-rich vegan food and rheumatoid arthritis. South Med J. 1985 Jul;78(7):841-4.

About the author

Charmaine D. Mercado is a freelance writer who is passionate about natural health, nutrition and well-being.

Blissed be, Ani 

We Like it Raw

The ultimate fringe food culture sexes it up for the mainstream

By Becca Campbell and Ritzy Ryciak

(Click on photos for descriptions)

Even within the natural food movement’s inner core, Raw foodists can’t get no love. Tell most folks you limit your diet to just fresh, uncooked fruits, veggies, nuts and seeds, and responses range from bewildered admiration (“Wow. You do that?!? I could never deal&rdquo to bemused skepticism (“uh, whatever floats your boat, I guess&rdquo to snark bordering on hostility (“what are you, a f’ing rabbit?&rdquo. Even the possibility of “increased energy and vitality” — the raw foodie’s beckoning promise — couldn’t persuade most of us to consign to a lifetime of carrots and celery. And so the “Raw Way” has largely remained a path for only the most disciplined zealot and/or narcissistic celebrity with the disposable funds to bankroll a personal chef.

But like any great idea whose time is nigh, raw food is maturing beyond its uncooked beginnings to a lifestyle choice that allows for flexibility, creativity, and above all — (dare we say?) great taste. Glossy cookbooks, fresh new restaurants, raw chocolate smoothies and healthy, happy raw enthusiasts — who are anything but cultish or militant — are moving Raw out of the fringe and into the mainstream.

What Percent Are You?

“The raw food movement is dynamically changing,” observes David Wolfe, author of raw food bibles Naked Chocolate, Eating For Beauty and The Sunfood Diet Success System. With his twinkling eyes, exuberant curls and fondness for embroidered hemp pajamas, Wolfe, a foremost living foods leader, has the Rico Suavocado countenance of a hippie rockstar and the enthusiasm of a five-year-old hopped up on Hawaiian Punch (or, in Wolfe’s case, raw cacao beans).

“It is becoming much more sophisticated in its appeal. Not only in the flavor and texture of the food itself, but also in its ability to appeal to different people. The barriers are falling away.”

One of the more insurmountable barriers has been the idea that to “do raw food” you have to go all the way, eating all raw — all the time.

“We have found that you have to eat 70 to 80 percent raw food to really reap the real health benefits,” offers Wolfe, who supports any raw percentage that people commit to — especially in the beginning. This loosening of the reins has opened the door for the raw-curious to commit to a certain percent of uncooked foods in their diet.

“People tap in the way that feels best to them,” he says, and cites raw chocolate, Spirulina and hemp seeds as great entry foods into the raw diet.

“They get into juices — celery and apple juice — then boom, the whole thing starts rolling. Before they know it they are eating seaweed and sprouting.”

Raw Momentum builds

Recognizing the emerging raw trend, restaurants have started to offer more uncooked options on the menu, with everything from raw appetizers, smoothies and desserts to full tasting menus. After discovering the raw food movement, world-renowned chef Charlie Trotter co-authored the top-selling RAW cookbook with chef Roxanne Klein. He now offers regular raw tasting menus at his five star eponymously named Chicago restaurant and foresees big things for raw food’s fine dining future. “I think, in the future, all chefs will need to have an awareness of how to prepare raw food,” Trotter told online gourmet network Epicurious. “It will be just another component of a well-rounded culinary education, like learning about butchering or pastry.”

Chicago-based Lisa Persico, chief mixologist of The Amazing Starr Barr, a raw elixir bar-for-hire, has found her services increasingly requested to replace the usual alcohol cash bars at art galleries, fundraisers and weddings. Using exotic superfoods like maça, goji berries, spirulina, and raw cacao, she creates smoothies and cocktails that uplift the spirit without alcohol.

Persico recently spun her craft at a special preview party for the new eco-friendly Butterfly Social Club, the windy city’s first “raw bar” (as in saloon). Nightclub owner and raw enthusiast Mark Kleman opened Butterfly to showcase raw food creations, clean drinks and superfood elixirs, many of his own secret design (hint: he’s all about the maça).

Natalia Rose, author of The Raw Food Detox Diet and a nutritionist in New York, finds more clients interested in raw food from a cosmetic and physical point of view, but also witnesses added benefits. “Some people get into raw food to drop a few pounds or reverse aging, but they come out a better person. They become a more enlightened, conscious person.”

That certainly was the case for Chicago-based Kokopaulli, an energetic raw food activist, who says he experiences a deeper sense of spirituality on the raw food diet.

“When you eat raw food it’s like standing under the sun and getting everything you need,” he muses. “It is effortless.” Kokopaulli grew up Catholic and began altering his diet by giving up meat for Lent. He shifted from eating vegetarian to vegan and finally landed at living food because he wanted to feel “more vibrant.”

“The world can get more out of me if I eat something vital and alive.”

Weekend Rawriors

“Raw food used to be an exotic diet and lifestyle for people really hardcore into health food,” says David Wolfe, who put up the first raw food website in November of ’94. “Now it has opened up and is more accessible.”

The Internet remains a key tool in the development of Raw culture, where raw foodies meet, swap recipes, share tips and offer support through the rough periods.

Still, legions of online Raws cannot match the tangible transformative power of a real face-to-face community, like the one that has grown up around California’s Café Gratitude. Max O’Neil, a regular, expresses sincere gratitude for the sense of connection the café brings. “I go to Cafe Gratitude to be with others who care about the earth and their bodies,” he says warmly.

With four locations in the Bay Area, and plans to open an LA restaurant in the coming year, Café Gratitude welcomes the newbie, the raw-curious and the weekend rawrior with open arms. “We invite people to come in and try [the living foods lifestyle] on,” says Matthew Engelhart, who co-owns the café with his wife Terces. Engelhart believes this can best be accomplished through a “transition diet” into raw, explaining, “if [going raw] is austere and regimented, people are just going to give up and not have the breakthrough.”

Or breakdown... Jennifer Adler, a Washington-based nutritionist, natural foods chef and adjunct faculty at Bastyr University contends that there are very real health reasons for finding your own way — and comfortable percentage — to do the raw food diet. “Any of these extreme diets, whether you are pushing vegetables or protein shakes, is going to affect each body differently,” says Adler. “Many nutrients like protein, biologically available fatty acids and zinc are hard to get while on the raw diet. And some nutrients are better absorbed if they are cooked.”

Adler cautions emergent Raws to pay close attention to their calorie and nutrient intake. “Especially in a lot of women, there can be an underlying eating disorder,” Adler points out. “The raw food movement can lend a structure to that.”

She relates a story about a client who was very protein deficient. The client discussed the deficiency with Adler and decided to eat raw, organic eggs to get more protein in her diet.

But she didn’t feel comfortable telling her Raw boyfriend about her decision. “She ended up hiding the eggs,” remembers Adler. “That type of stuff gets to me. But I do think that the movement itself has a lot of very positive components.”

An increased sense of community and support were just a few of the &ldquoositive components” that attracted Monika Kinsman, executive director of the Raw Network of Washington, a non-profit clearinghouse. Kinsmen is one of the many raw foodists who came to the movement after a profound health scare — in her case, a weight of 220 pounds and cholesterol level of 300 that convinced her to get serious about her health.

“I had to throw out my pots and pans, and find others on a similar path,” says Kinsman, who attributes her new 160-pound physique and 200 cholesterol level to eating raw. “I had to make a commitment. I needed to find support.”

What began as a quest for community ultimately turned into a mission to spread the Raw gospel. “It’s not enough to just have a restaurant or a store,” Kinsman enthuses. “We want to educate, provide resources and support people through the emotional transition of going raw.” She now assists with Raw NOW’s area potlucks (rawwashington.org), and has seen a great turnout of people and inspired raw creations like banana crepes, green smoothies and cacao desserts.

“When I was invited to this gathering, I thought there would be a lot of hippies or people I couldn’t relate to,” admits a Raw NOW first-timer. “Now I see that there are all different kinds of people, in a similar place as me.”

Green Plate Special

That “similar place” in which burgeoning Raws are finding themselves includes the realization that personal health and habits affect the larger world.

Rod Rotondi, owner of LA’s trail-blazing Leaf Cuisine is convinced raw restaurants are pushing the eco agenda. “Every time you eat something, there’s a whole chain that you’re accessing going back to the farm, says Rotondi, a 13-year raw veteran. “What we eat has a huge environmental influence. As people demand change in what they eat, their dollars will shift the economy, the agricultural market and, ultimately, our environment.”

Leaf features tasty, affordable raw dishes along with to-go materials that are compostable, non-toxic cleaning products and a delivery truck that runs on biodiesel.

While Rotondi adheres to a 100 percent raw diet himself, he meets customers where they are. “I don’t think being tight and strict is healthy, in general,” he says, adding that if you are going to eat a Big Mac, at least be conscious and enjoy yourself while you are doing it.

“As you transition from cooked food to raw food, you’ll be drawn to more and more living foods. You’ll eat that way because you want to, not because you think you want to. The change will just happen. You don’t have to try because it’s not about willpower.”

Rotundi envisions raw restaurants replacing convenience stores. “Where you used to see pickles, ketchup, potato chips, and doughnuts, you’ll see raw foods. Every supermarket will have a large raw foods section.”

He may be on to something.

“One of the things that we are looking at is a more designated section in a higher profile area of the store,” says Justin Jackson, executive coordinator of purchasing for Whole Foods in Northern California, describing the “more dramatic” raw food launch the natural food chain has in the works.

While Jackson couldn’t elaborate in great detail on the new raw products headed to shelves (as early as June), he did admit Whole Foods plans to introduce some new “raw food concepts” — frozen, refrigerated and room temperature foods — in the very near future, adding that it is the responsibility of businesses like Whole Foods to help people through the challenges of eating raw by providing easy access to a variety of quality products.

“We have recognized that raw foods are something that our customers want,” says Jackson. “And we don’t think [the demand] is going to go away.”

For the true believers, though, raw food’s permanence lies not in motive or market share, but in the simple altruism that good in equals good out.

“There are very few universals out there, but all people respond well to clean air, water, and high nutrient foods,” concludes Butterfly Social Club’s Mark Klemen. “If we, as a people, all ingest more nutritive foods in their cleanest, freshest and most complete form, this entire planet changes for the better. Each individual receives greater health and the benefits of actions that support the good works and practices of many. It’s the ultimate in fair trade.”

Since writing “We Like it Raw” Becca Campbell and Ritzy Ryciak have gone fifty-percent raw and become devoted “weekend rawriors.” Raw chocolate smoothies and Spirulina shakes are their new Sunday staples.

Photos, top to bottom:
At raw chef Karyn Calabrese’s self-named Chicago restaurant, there’s no skimping on presentation — or taste.
1. Tiramisu layered with carob puree, strawberries and a mixture of nuts.
2. Karyn’s Stuffed Pizza peppers, cashews, pine nuts, lemon juice, garlic, sea salt, crimini mushrooms, olives, basil, asparagus, onion, zucchini. The crust is Karyn’s mixture of cashes and barley.
3. Karyn’s Raw Ravioli basil scented ravioli (made from turnips with a creamy macadamia nut filling) served with macadamia whipped crème and a side of sun-dried tomato puree.
4. Stuffed Crimini Mushrooms filled with a nut pate.

Get your greens at Leaf Cuisine
5. Who needs tortillas when you’ve got collard greens? Sprouted chickpea falafel croquettes take the place of fried in Leaf Cuisine’s Flying Falafel wrap, bursting with marinated onions, creamy tahini sauce, mixed greens, tomatoes and sprouts, and served with a creamy sunflower seed-cheese “Raw Slaw.”
6. Salad Daze The Trinity Salad at LA’s Leaf Cuisine boasts a holy medley of coconut curry lentils, veggie seed croquettes with tangy tomato sauce, and sprouted falafel with tahini.

Café Gratitude’s...
7. I Am Bliss Raw cacao, hazelnut creme pie (Photo by Cary Mosier)
8. Raw Drinks I Am Splendid Mojito (left): Sparkling wine and water with fresh mint and agave. I Am Worthy (right): kale, beets, celery, apple and ginger. (Photos by Hero)

I Am Woman, Hear Me Raw
Photo: 60-years young, Karyn Calabrese

“I have the longest standing raw food restaurant in the country,” states Karyn Calabrese, owner of Karyn’s Inner Beauty Center, Raw Vegan Gourmet and Fresh Corner Café. “I’m so proud of that because I’m in Chicago, a meat-packing town.”

Through private diet counseling sessions and raw food prep classes out of her home, Calabrese supported her restaurant until it could stand on its own. 20 years later, Karyn’s, a gorgeous 7500 square foot raw mecca in Lincoln Park, provides nutritional counseling, food preparation classes, detoxifying services and mouthwatering living food everyday. “It was just a dream and I stuck to it.”

But Calabrese — a svelte and upbeat 60-going-on-30 known for her 5-inch heels and miniskirts — is the first to admit that the raw road has not always been easy, especially in a breadbasket state like Illinois. Calabrese built her claim to fame on an uncanny ability to recreate beloved foods from “the cooked world” out of raw ingredients — in dishes like raw lasagna, deep-dish pizza and brownies. “Anything that you eat in the other world, I can make in this one,” she asserts.

Calabrese attributes raw foods’ shift in popularity from radical extremists to everyday health and wellness seekers to the trend of “major companies and businesses starting to realize that there’s a market here, and they have to address it. They don’t necessarily have to believe in it, but they’re seeing where the dollars are.” High profile uncooking evangelists like Alicia Silverstone, Woody Harrelson and “Lord of the Dance” Michael Flatley show companies that there is a caché and a dollar value, and industry follows, which make raw food options more varied and widespread.

But while raw’s growing caché might be new, the concept of eating garden-fresh foods is as old as dirt. While humankind discovered fire 400,000 years ago, we didn’t start using it to cook our food until 390,000 years later. “[Raw] is the way God intended us to eat,” says Calabrese, who studied the work of early 1900’s raw foodists Dr. Ann Wigmore and Herbert Shelton.

“Humans are the only animals that voluntarily cook their food, and I do believe this is the way the human spirit is meant to be nourished,” says Calabrese. “I believe that because we walk around so full, with so many chemicals, and toxins and fillers, it can break our connection to spirituality.”

She adds, that with such huge food servings people become accustomed to feeling full and stuffed. “When you eat raw foods, you have room for other stuff to come in,” she says. “Your whole world isn’t about food, and there is a lightness that you feel in body, mind and spirit.”

—Becca Campbell and Ritzy Ryciak

Blissed be, Annie 

Detox Debate

Blissed be, Annie