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

Is Raw the Real Deal?

by Derek Shaw

Raw food provided nutrition for plants and animals millenia before humankind discovered fire. Many believe that early man was vegetarian while others contend that our primitive ancestors were hunters who ate raw meat. Most historians, however, will agree on the fact that the raw food diet is hardly a new trend. Some people even believe that it holds the answer to disease and addiction.

The raw food diet is primarily based on unprocessed, uncooked plants (preferably organic whole foods) like fruits and vegetables, sprouts, seeds, nuts, grains, beans and seaweed. The occasional unpasteurized goat cheese, uncooked egg or raw fish are generally deemed acceptable although most raw-foodists abstain from eating meat and dairy products. Eating raw doesn’t necessarily mean the food must be cold. In fact, anything you eat can be warmed up so long as it doesn’t exceed 104 degrees. Microwaves are off-limits, but you can heat food by using a dehydrator or even the warming plate of a coffee maker. There are many ways of making food palatable without heating. Soaking nuts can soften or extract the shells without steam. Sprouting seeds, beans and grains substitutes the need for cooking.

Raw foods were first promoted during the mid-19th century by Sylvester Graham, an American Presbyterian minister known for vegetarianism and his “Graham” crackers. Graham believed that humans would not become ill if they consumed only uncooked foods. By the 1980s, raw foods such as sprouts, seeds and fresh vegetable juice were popularized by Leslie Kenton’s The New Raw Energy. The book advocated a mostly raw-food diet to prevent degenerative diseases, slow aging, boost energy and maintain emotional balance. Over the past two decades, raw foods have been assimilated into the mainstream. The diet is becoming popularized as many Hollywood stars, such as Demi Moore and Woody Harrelson, are consulting raw-food guru David Wolfe, owner of Sunfood Nutrition based in Santee, California.

Published in the Journal of Nutrition, an October 2005 study on the long-term consumption of raw food found that it lowers total cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations. The diet is generally low in sodium and high in potassium, magnesium and fiber. It can also contain fewer saturated fats and trans-fats. However, experts warn that overdosing on certain substances, such as fruit or nuts, can lead to problems.

“People who experience fatigue are probably eating too much raw fat,” says Susan Schenck, author of The Live Food Factor, a comprehensive guide to the raw food movement. “Seeds and nuts, in particular, are hard to digest and easy to overeat.”
Artturi Virtanen was a Nobel-Prize winning biochemist who first showed that enzymes in uncooked foods are released when chewed. Enzymes are proteins that channel biochemical reactions in the body. Raw foodists believe that eating uncooked, natural foods preserves the body’s enzymes normally designated for metabolic functions and allows them to do other work. Heating food above 120 degrees Fahrenheit is believed to destroy enzymes that could otherwise assist in digestion. They also believe that cooking not only diminishes the nutritional value of food, it also lessens a substance’s “life force” which limits its potential building and curing powers.

“Raw foods are equipped with the living enzymes necessary for their digestion,” describes JP Alfred, owner of Peace Pies, a San Diego-based raw foods company specializing in flax seed pizzas, cashew quiche and hazelnut/raisin crust pies. “Your body stores its own enzymes rather than using them to break down the food and those proteins are then free to fix bigger problems.”

“Cooking changes the molecular structure of food and makes it pasty, oily and sticky, which clings to your ribs,” explains David Wolfe, whose latest book, Amazing Grace, outlining nine principles of raw food living. “The enzymes in raw food serve as &lsquoac-men’ who circulate through the body as natural healers.”

Critics argue that while some enzymes are inactivated when food is heated, humans already possess enzymes in their liver, kidney and stomach for digestive purposes and don’t require additional help. The late Dr. Edward Howell, a noted pioneer in the field of enzyme research, insists that enzymes in food survive the digestive process as well, but some scientists believe that this theory goes against the biochemistry of enzymes which are very sensitive to PH levels. Enzymatic activity is vulnerable to being nullified outside a certain range of acidity.

“Enzymes not used for digestion are absorbed as amino acids and polypeptides,” explains Elaine Keegan, Head Dietician at Grossmont Hospital in San Diego. “My suspicion is that those enzymes are broken down in the intestinal track and essentially rendered useless.”

Experientially, raw foodists tout many health benefits of the diet including weight loss, increased energy, enhanced reflexes, improved complexion, less pain, better digestion and reduced risk of heart disease, diabetes and cancer. Testimonials of everything from putting AIDS in remission to eradicating grey hair and the disappearance of athlete’s foot are not uncommon in the raw food community.
Despite the growing success of the movement, the verdict is still out on raw foods—mostly because science is still catching up. There are many myths about diet and a lack of hard data continues to hinder the discussion. While it’s true that heating may convert food particles into harmful substances, cooking also makes certain phytochemicals easier to absorb such as beta-carotene in carrots. Raw foodists also contend that micro-organisms actually stimulate the immune system and enhance digestion, but bacteria can also result in food borne illnesses. Evident in the many E-Coli outbreaks of late, vegetables like lettuce, sprouts and green onions must be thoroughly washed before consumption.

Some experience a detoxification reaction when they initiate a raw food diet, especially if they’re accustomed to meat, sugar, and caffeine. Mild headaches, nausea and cravings can occur but usually don’t last more than a few weeks. A strictly raw-food diet may not be for everyone. Time and commitment are crucial to its success. Many ingredients are rare, expensive and made from scratch. Most nutritionists recommend a balanced rationing of raw and cooked foods, and they fear that children on raw diets may be at a greater risk for osteoporosis and anemia.

“I’m mostly concerned about children on raw food diets because kids need more protein and nutrients during their growing years than adults,” Keegan comments.
“I’ve witnessed many healthy kids being raised on raw food diets,” observes Schenck, a former elementary school teacher. “Junk food makes the brain go crazy…after lunch, kids get so hyped on sugars that they overload their pancreas and experience fatigue from hypoglycemia.”

Both the October 2005 Journal of Nutrition and the 1997 position of the American Dietetic Association found that a raw food diet increased levels of homocysteine due to vitamin B-12 deficiency. This can be remedied through supplements or “super foods” like blue-green algae and phytoplankton. As with any diet, a holistic perspective on nutrition is required. But perhaps the best way to dispel skepticism is to try it.

“The very awareness of raw food options will cause shifts in your lifestyle…opt for the salad, and take that shot of wheat grass when it’s offered,” Wolfe recommends. “Ease into the diet by adding in what you can and letting the food work its magic.”

Derek Shaw is a musician, skateboarder and writer. He loves his black lab Spot and Spot loves him. Visit him (and his band) at www.myspace.com/thedoomsdaydevice

(NewsTarget) Following up from my previous report live from the Raw Spirit Festival in Sedona Arizona, I spent two more days at the event, interviewing vendors and exploring the best of the best in the raw foods community. I found some exciting new products to share with you here:

Paul Mamakos at Everything Raw (www.EverythingRaw.com) has a new raw white chocolate bar called the Yoga Bar (http://www.everythingraw.com/yogabar.htm). It tastes fantastic: Light, energetic, and not too dense or overly sweet. I bought a whole box and handed them out to friends. Look for these in health food stores or get them directly from Paul's website. (Paul's company also has a dark chocolate raw food bar that's worth looking into...)

Transition Nutrition (www.TransitionNutrition.com) has introduced an incredibly delicious new Bliss Mix superfood mix made of raw cashews, goji berries, mulberries, macadamia nuts and other goodies. These aren't just commodity items, however: These are premium, organic fruits and nuts, and you can clearly taste the difference. I dare say it's the most delicious raw fruit-n-nut mix I've ever tasted. I actually bought a four-pound package and lugged it around all day just so I could eat some on the drive home. Get some for yourself -- along with over a dozen other raw fruit and nut mixes -- at www.TransitionNutrition.com (This company is also a great source for Royal Himalayan Pink Crystal Salt, cacao nibs, coconut oil, irish moss, goji berries and much more...)

I was incredibly excited to discover a raw aloe product from Herbal Answers, Inc. (www.HerbalAnswers.com). It's called Herbal Aloe Force and it combines raw aloe vera gel with a potent combination of anti-cancer herbs including cat's claw, "Essiac" herbs and astragalus. I'm not sure yet if there's any of the aloe vera leaf sap found in this formula (I'm working on finding that out), and that's important because I like to avoid the leaf sap and just eat the gel. In any case, I immediately recognized it as a highly medicinal cancer-busting formula that I know would be extremely helpful in preventing or treating various forms of cancer.

By the way, you probably already know this, but nobody pays me to be listed here. I bring you the best products I find, and I earn nothing from these companies or these product sales. I remain in service to my readers, and money cannot buy my recommendation.

Is there a quack in the audience?

At one point during the festival, the main stage featured a panel of keynote speakers from the event. Dorit, David Wolfe, Jameth Sheridan, David Carmos and Shawn Miller, and several other key speakers took the stage. Most of the Q&A was incredible informative, covering topics like how to protect parents from prosecution from ignorant Child Protective Services officials who somehow think that not feeding children processed foods is some form of dietary child abuse.

At one point, an overzealous audience member who was obviously at the wrong festival started getting pissy with David Wolfe and, with microphone in hand, ranted off a series of personal attacks. (Didn't the guy know that personal attacks should be reserved for blogs and websites?) I noticed he had his fifth and sixth chakras all blown out the front, and I actually felt sorry for him, but the audience basically told him to pipe down and took away his microphone, returning the Q&A to topics of interest to real raw foodists who are far more interested in learning how to transform the world than bashing each other over minor differences in philosophy.

And that's a good point to mention: If you gather a hundred raw foodists in a room, you'll get a hundred different opinions on exactly what's the right raw food diet to follow. But in truth, they're all probably 95% in alignment, with only minor variations based on personal experience or nutritional knowledge. All raw foodists agree that returning to a living foods diet is crucial for the future of life on Earth (human life, plant life, animal life, etc.). And all raw foodists also agree that consuming raw living foods is an important foundation for spiritual growth and the evolution of human consciousness.

If that last phrase seems odd to you, I'll ask you to suspend disbelief and learn more about raw foods before deciding what's true about it. I can tell you from experience that it IS true: The more living foods you eat, the higher your vibration becomes. Before long, you find yourself connected to all living things, thinking thoughts of global peace and compassion for all living things. It's not hocus pocus, it's simply attunement to the vibration of living plants (and the absence of angry meat energy or processed foods pollution). People who support war are almost entirely angry meat eaters suffering from chronic, diet-induced degenerative disease.

Raw foods artists, musicians and more...

Getting back to the vendors at the Raw Spirit Festival, one of the featured artists of the day was Manaca from Hawaii (www.ManakaMusic.com), a raw foods vegan vocalist and musician with inspiring lyrics who lives an authentically high-vibration lifestyle.

A world-renowned sound healer, Mark Patterson, also known as The Human Singing Bowl, offered some chanting and overtone singing for the audience. Steve "Sproutman" offered an enlightening lecture on the healing power of living foods nutrition, and Yumi Kukuchi came all the way from Japan to talk about her remarkable sustainable living projects in her home country.

Jameth Sheridan, founder of HealthForce Nutritionals (www.HealthForce.com), offered a passionate speech on health myths and truths. His company is the maker of the exceptional superfood product Vitamineral Green, a favorite supplement of raw foods vegans. He's introducing a new product called Fruits of the Earth which I haven't tried yet, but hope to soon review here on the website.

Viiktoras Kulvinskas, one of the "fathers" of the raw foods movement, spoke twice at the event, and Victoria Boutenko (author of numerous raw foods books and an influential visionary in the movement) also offered her wisdom to the audience. See www.RawFamily.com to learn more about the Boutenko family's journey to health using raw living foods.

Patricia Bragg, one of the most adored senior members of the raw foods community and a living legend in natural health, joyfully toured the grounds, hugging people and smiling her way from one pavilion to the next. You can see her family's products at www.Bragg.com where you'll find the story about Paul C. Bragg, a man who was decades ahead of his time in teaching natural health principles to a nation embracing junk food. (Much like nutrition pioneer Weston Price.)

Astarius blessed the audience multiple times with the droning of his didgeridoo. Learn more about his incredible healing music and available audio CDs at www.astarius.com

Tommy Anton also performed for the audience (www.TommyAnton.com), and we were all fortunate to be blessed with the presence of Dorit, a raw foods author and radio show host (www.IamHealthyRadio.com).

Many other artists and speakers participated as well, and sadly, I was unable to be in three places at once to see everybody perform. My apologies to anyone who is not mentioned here, but should be.

Lastly, one of the stars of the show was, without question, the incredible raw foods cuisine created by Bruce Horowitz (www.TheSunKitchen.com). I was absolutely blown away by the living foods meals served at the event. They were more flavorful and nourishing than any cooked food I've ever eaten (no kidding). The fact that they were able to serve this food to 2,000+ people was absolutely amazing. Sure, the food was a bit late, but who cares? This was worth every minute standing in line. I became an instant fan of Bruce's cuisine, and I've made a note to make sure I invite him for a future interview. Bruce trains raw foods chefs at culinary institutes throughout Oregon and California. He's a young living legend in the raw foods community.

What did we learn?

When you look at the event in its totality, it's worth asking the question, "What did we learn at this event this year?" Here's my own observation of the main points:

• We learned that raw living foods is a fast-growing movement. The event attracted ten times as many people this year compared to last year, and next year looks to be even larger.

• We learned that raw living foods people are the healthiest people you'll find anywhere. They're far healthier than mainstream consumers, healthier than processed food vegetarians and infinitely healthier than Atkins Diet followers. If you're looking for people who are genuinely healthy, go hang out with raw foods people! You won't find a happier, healthier bunch of people anywhere except perhaps in the mountains of Tibet.

• We learned that high-vibration living (higher consciousness, compassion towards living things, spiritual awareness, etc.) goes hand-in-hand with following a raw foods diet. Simply ingesting the energy of living plants transforms your body, mind and spirit, with no additional effort on your part. Any person who eats raw foods for 90 days will absolutely, without question begin to see the world in a very different way.

• We learned that living the raw foods lifestyle isn't just about nutrition. It's about being with nature, experiencing artistry, dance, movement, music, and so on. This movement transcends the nutritional aspects of raw foods nutrition.

• We learned that raw foods living is FUN! This event was a blast. Typical natural health events like the Expo West trade show is stuffy and boring by comparison. If you wanna have fun, hang with raw foods people (or go live at the Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center for a few days www.TreeofLife.nu -- you'll have so much fun with Phillip the raw foods Jedi that you'll forget all about the cooked food you left behind!).

I will, of course, be present at the event next year, and in the next few weeks, I'll be posting a way you can sign up for the event at a discount. We'll bring together a large NewsTarget group of participants who can share this fun, yet incredibly important experience in 2008. Mark your calendars: The event is on Sep. 12 - 14, 2008 in Sedona, Arizona.

I'll keep you posted on the sign-up process and schedule. Hope to see you at next year's festival!

###

About the author: Mike Adams is a natural health researcher and author with a passion for teaching people how to improve their health He has authored and published thousands of articles, interviews, consumers guides, and books on topics like health and the environment, impacting the lives of millions of readers around the world who are experiencing phenomenal health benefits from reading his articles. Adams is an honest, independent journalist and accepts no money or commissions on the third-party products he writes about or the companies he promotes. In 2007, Adams launched EcoLEDs, a manufacturer of mercury-free, energy-efficient LED lighting products that save electricity and help prevent global warming. He also launched an online retailer of environmentally-friendly products (BetterLifeGoods.com) and uses a portion of its profits to help fund non-profit endeavors. He's also the CEO of a highly successful email newsletter software company that develops software used to send permission email campaigns to subscribers. Adams is currently the executive director of the Consumer Wellness Center, a 501(c)3 non-profit, and practices nature photography, Capoeira, Pilates and organic gardening. Known as the 'Health Ranger,' Adams' personal health statistics and mission statements are located at www.HealthRanger.org

Blissed be, Ani 

Rejuvenation with Raw Foods and Enzymes
Enzymes are protein molecules found in all living cells.  Enzymes are the spark of life that catalyze and regulate all bodily biochemical reactions.  Approximately 2,700 different enzymes in the human body can combine with co-enzymes to form approximately 100,000 biochemical substances that enable us to see, hear, feel, move, think, reproduce and digest our food.   Raw foods provide the most natural source of one of the most important elements of our well-being – enzymes.  All raw foods - vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, meat and dairy - provide in the very food itself, specific enzymes for the body to fully digest it.

Dr. Max Wolf of Columbia University who researched enzymes and hormones from the 1930's through the 1960's, concluded enzyme production in humans diminishes after age 27.  The vital force provided by an abundance of enzymes in a young person ensures recovery quick from illness and injuries and provides flexibility, agility and energy to accomplish great feats.  As we age, depending on our lifestyle, diet and inherent enzyme potential, digestive difficulties may develop, the immune system must work harder, degenerative diseases may appear, and strength, flexibility, endurance and mental acuity decrease.

There are three types of enzymes: digestive enzymes, metabolic or systemic enzymes produced by the body, and food enzymes which must be obtained from the live foods that we eat.  Digestive enzymes are secreted by the digestive system to break down food into nutrients that can be absorbed into the bloodstream.  They are also used to eliminate waste.  The human digestive system secretes the proteolytic protein-digesting enzymes protease, trypsin and pepsin, fat-digesting enzymes lipase and cholesterol esterase, and enzymes that break down carbohydrates, including amylase, sucrase, maltase, lactase, and ptyalin.  Humans don't produce cellulase, an enzyme necessary for digestion of fiber that is present in raw plant foods.  But micro-flora in the intestines can manufacture cellulase if enough of these beneficial bacteria have been established by eating fermented foods. 
Fermentation is a natural way to preserve food and substantially enhances the enzyme content of the food.  This is why most raw foodists eat plentiful quantities of fermented sauerkraut and other plant based fermented foods.

Nature did not design us to make all of the enzymes necessary for digestion, but intended us to ingest most of our enzymes from live, raw foods.  For thousands of years our ancestors ate mostly raw and fermented meats, dairy and plant foods and had few if any of the health problems we have today.   Even today, the native Eskimos who still eat this "primitive origin" diet are recognized as some of the healthiest people on Earth.
Heating food above 105 degrees F destroys the vital enzymes in food, forcing us to rely on our own enzyme reserves to complete the job of digestion.  This dietary situation presents a real problem for modern man, since cooked food dominates our eating.  Plant enzymes are most abundant in vine-ripened fruits and vegetables that are just picked.  In a matter of days after picking, natural enzyme levels typically drop by 50%.  Considering that most produce travels an average of 1,200 miles to get to our table and is often picked unripe to survive the trip, enzyme levels throughout even our organic food supply are deficient.

Systemic enzymes work throughout the body in every system and organ.  Delivering nutrients to the cells and tissues for nourishment and regeneration, they initiate and speed up chemical reactions within the cells for energy production and detoxification. Systemic enzymes provide the necessary energy we use to rebuild muscles, cells, nerves, tissues, bones and glands.  These enzymes also are instrumental in balancing our hormones, regulating our immune system and producing the neurotransmitters that modulate our emotions and enhance mental clarity. Systemic enzymes reduce inflammation, activate healing and relieve pain.  Enzymes clear our blood of undigested food particles and pathogens. And they also dissolve excess arterial plaque, strengthen blood vessels and prevent blood clots. These very same enzymes dissolve scar tissue, adhesions, tumors and cysts.  Finally they regulate metabolism to maintain optimum weight, and they rejuvenate aging muscles, joints and skin.  That's a lot of work to do everyday!!!!

Systemic enzymes are produced by every living cell. However, the liver, pancreas, gall bladder and other organs play a vital role in their production.  Some of the enzymes used for digestion also perform other important functions in the body. When we are deficient in any of these enzymes due to depleted reserves and insufficient dietary intake of raw foods, there are not enough enzymes available in the body for other functions.  Health problems ensue.  More than likely, there will not even be enough enzymes available to completely digest our everyday food.  By eating raw foods and/or taking digestive enzyme supplements with our meals and systemic enzymes between meals, many health conditions can be reversed and healed.

Enzymes and Raw Foods
All raw food enzymes are destroyed by heat.  Most raw food, like our body, is quite perishable. When raw foods are exposed to temperatures above 105 degrees F, they rapidly break down, just as our bodies would if we had a fever that high.  Enzymes, sensitive and yet powerful, help us digest our food, are proteins that break down as easily.  A three dimensional protein structure, enzymes, once they are heated much above 105 degrees F, structurally, molecularly change.

Once raw food enzymes are exposed to heat, they are no longer able to provide the function for which they were designed. Non raw foods contribute to chronic illness, because their enzyme content is damaged.  This damage requires the body to create enzymes to process the food. The digestion of cooked food uses valuable metabolic enzymes in order to help digest your food. Digestion of cooked food demands much more energy than the digestion of raw food. In general, raw food is so much more easily digested that it passes through the digestive tract in 1/2 to 1/3 of the time it takes for cooked food.

Eating dead foods places a burden on the pancreas and other organs, overworking them.  Eventually these organs become exhausted and disease progresses. Many people gradually impair their pancreas and progressively lose the ability to digest their food after a lifetime of ingesting processed foods.
In 1930, under the direction of Dr. Paul Kouchakoff, research was conducted at the Institute of Clinical Chemistry in Lausanne, Switzerland. The effect of food (cooked and processed versus raw and natural) on the immune system was tested and documented.

Dr. Kouchakoff's discovery concerned the leukocytes, or white blood cells. It was found that after a person eats cooked food, his/her blood responds immediately by increasing the number of white blood cells. This is a well-known phenomena called 'digestive leukocytosis', in which there is a rise in the number of leukocytes - white blood cells - after eating.  

Since digestive leukocytosis was always observed after a meal, it was considered to be a normal physiological response to eating. No one knew why the number of white cells rises after eating, since this appeared to be a stress response, as if the body was somehow reacting to something harmful such as infection, exposure to toxic chemicals or trauma. However, the Swiss researchers at the Institute of Clinical Chemistry made another remarkable discovery. They found that eating raw, unaltered food did not cause a reaction in the blood. In addition, they found that if a food had been heated beyond a certain temperature (unique to each food), or if the food was processed (refined, chemicals added, etc.); this always caused a rise in the number of white cells in the blood.

Kouchakoff's researchers renamed this reaction 'athological leukocytosis', since the body was reacting to highly altered food. They tested many different types of food.  Time and again Kouchakoff and his researchers found that if the foods were not refined or overheated, they caused no reaction. The body saw them as 'friendly foods'. However, these same foods, if heated at too high a temperature, caused a negative reaction in the blood, a reaction found only when the body is invaded by a dangerous pathogen or trauma.

Kouchakoff's researchers found the worst offenders of all, whether heated or not, were processed foods which had been refined (such as white flour and white rice), or pasteurized (a process in which milk is flash-heated to high temperatures to kill bacteria), or homogenized (also seen in milk where the fat in milk is subjected to artificial suspension), or preserved (chemicals are added to food to delay spoilage or to enhance texture or taste).

To ensure continued good health, raw foods gift the human body nutrients and enzymes it requires. For illnesses raw foods provide the human body the necessary nutrients and enzymes it requires for healing.   All raw foodists agree: when it comes to radiant health, de-aging and overall well-being, raw is the law!  If you must cook your food, the best way to cook food is to lightly steam, stew, or use a slow crock cooker. Eat as few over-processed and over-cooked foods as possible. The body has a difficult time digesting fried, pasteurized, barbecued, dried, and other over-processed and over-cooked foods which you find in boxed and processed foods.  Consume at least 50% of your food raw, living and enzyme rich. A good vegetable juicing program will easily help you reach the volume necessary to achieve the 50% raw foods percentage.

Blissed be, Ani 

For more information on how to begin your enzyme-rich, living foods life, please contact BodyByBliss ™  for your free consultation @ www.bodybybliss.com or Anne @ bodybybliss@gmail.com.

Howard Stern In Love With Raw Food, Sarma Melngailis

Shock jock Howard Stern has recently started taking a liking to the raw foods diet. Back in February, he visited the trendy NY restaurant Pure Food and Wine and fell in love with the food and owner. Yesterday on his radio show, he professed a return visit and again reiterated the tastiness of the cuisine. The owner, Sarma Melngailis, is in his opinion is “fucking hot.” How’s that for a compliment?

Melngailis is quickly growing as a major star in the raw foods circles — and not just because she’s an excellent cook or beautiful. What I enjoy about her personality is that she seems pretty open and laid back. My conclusions, granted, are based on her soul-baring blog posts, but they seem to paint a pretty clear picture. You can check out her website — and new book here!

Sarma actually joined Josh Dorfman today on The Lazy Environmentalist on Sirius Radio. If you missed the interview, you can pick it up again tonight at 11pm. For more good raw goodness and gossip, be sure to check out the site We Like It Raw!

Blissed be, Annie 

by Gabriel Cousens

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