Keeping up with DT

There are 2 new ways to keep up with me, if you are interested in that sort of thing.

The first is twitter. I don't know how regularly I'll "twitter", but I am on there at least. My page is:

https://twitter.com/trunkybeat .

The other is a cool thing I've learned to do with my RSS feeds. Feed-readers are an amazing thing, and now you can keep up with some of my favorite news articles, blog entries, sports stories, or life commentaries. Check it out, and I hope everyone starts doing this. It is a neat way to share interesting, thoughtful, or personal things without having to email a link to everyone you know. My feed reader of choice is google, and the link to my shared feeds is:

http://www.google.com/reader/shared/02053383542510281468

Let me know which stories are more interesting to you!

Raw Meet-up

For the newest JaxRaw meet-up, which was held this past Saturday, January 24, we met up at my favorite restaurant, which you know as the Present Moment. At first I was skeptical, because I envision all the meet-ups as being pot-luck luncheons where we all meet up and try each other's recipes. Yes, this one was more pricey, but we gained some valuable info and had just as much fun as at any other meet-up! We were also able to take some friends (Nick and Bella), and they had a blast!

We made contact with a few more important folks at the meet-up (namely Ian and Adam), and I added a few books to my wishlist ("Enzyme Nutrition" and "Raw Foods for Busy People"). We also got to try some GREAT food! Besides our now-usual raw chili (which I am happy to say that we have now replicated at home!), we got to try some indian food (tempeh, marinated veggies, and curry) as well as Chocolate Chip Cherry ice cream for dessert (it was amazingly creamy--very close to the good stuff down at Glazer Farms in Miami). The currey was also not the same as the kind they sell at Glazer, but it was very good in its own way.

I would be remiss if I did not mention the RAW BLUEBERRY PANCAKES that we had when we went to Present Moment earlier this month to celebrate an amazing achievement of mine (and a sign that the Living Foods lifestyle will allow your body to do AMAZING things): one year with no signs of cancer! Or course, that is another (neglected) post altogether... Anyway, they (the pancakes) were absolutely incredible. We are trying to think of a good time that we can go there in the morning, and just get a couple of plates of those for breakfast, as Ivette now has the place open for business in the mornings. There is also a fruit plate available that sounds good as a breakfast item.

Some of the other foods that we've made at home recently are:

• Green Applesauce (the only ingredients are parsley and apples)
• Lemonade
• Chocolate milkshakes
• Baklava
• Whipped cream (great as a fruit topping or as a layer on the baklava!)
• I have to mention the chili again. This stuff is going on the menu when we start OUR raw restaurant!

Pretty amazing stuff.

Sunday Selection: The Word of Wisdom

The word of wisdom is a wonderful thing! I have thought about it a lot since I converted to being a raw vegan in November 2007, especially as it pertains to my family and me. I wanted to get some of my thoughts down in my blog, even if it causes some “discussion” (hopefully healthy and not contentious). Curious yet?

As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (a.k.b.s.a. [also known by some as] the Mormon Church), I have always been taught the Word of Wisdom, which is found as a revelation from the Lord in the Doctrine & Covenants, Section 89 (click here to read it in its entirety).

12 Yea, flesh also of beasts and of the fowls of the air, I, the Lord, have ordained for the use of man with thanksgiving; nevertheless they are to be used sparingly;
13 And it is pleasing unto me that they should not be used, only in times of winter, or of cold, or famine.

Well, growing up, I was always taught to somehow justify eating meat sparingly by maybe trying to limit it to once a day or even just "one meat per meal." After all, does it not say that the Lord has ordained meat for the use of man? Somehow the “only in times of famine” part got swept under the rug as we all justified it as being the natural way to eat—everyone eats like that today, so why not us?

I also like this part, which comes before the meat part:

10 And again, verily I say unto you, all wholesome herbs God hath ordained for the constitution, nature, and use of man—
11 Every herb in the season thereof, and every fruit in the season thereof; all these to be used with prudence and thanksgiving.

Well, I originally became a raw vegan so that I could get healthy and eliminate the possibility of a cancer returning to my body. Some wonderful side effects have been that I lost 100 pounds, became even more health-conscious than I already was, and gained a greater appreciation for animals as well as ALL of God’s creatures. Life is wonderful!

I had originally intended to eat 100% raw for two years, after which I would switch to an 80/20 diet (80% raw, 20% cooked food [while still not eating meat, milk, or other animal products]). I think Hippocrates teaches that to its students in case they panic at the thought of never eating cooked food again! Whether that "worked" on me or not, I don't know, but I now think we should be taught to embrace that idea and realize that we are the ONLY mammals that cook their food. Isn't that interesting? Isn't it also interesting that affluent diseases like cancer and diabetes have become MUCH more prevalent in the last 100 years or so? But I now have zero intention of returning to cooked food on any kind of regular basis. I have learned too many good things and felt too many positive benefits from this lifestyle and doing the things that I know my Heavenly Father wants me to do. I am raw for life!

Please keep in mind that with this entry, I am not trying to chastise anyone for their interpretation of the Word of Wisdom OR for the way that they live. One of the things that I’ve learned is that we should all have mutual respect for the choices that we all make. I know that our Heavenly Father has a plan for each of us individually. What he has revealed to me and my family doesn’t necessarily apply to everyone else or even anyone else!

I am grateful to be able to share this lifestyle with our little Angelina, and I am happy that she has not only accepted it, but EMBRACED it. She LOVES trying new things and also sharing some of her favorite foods with other friends. Honestly, if you ever think about going raw but are afraid your family won’t get on-board with you, try it with your children! What kid doesn’t like raspberries, blueberries, watermelon, cherries, grapes, carrots, almonds, sunflower seeds, or cashews? What kid wouldn’t REALLY rather have some strawberries, bananas, and nuts than a hamburger? The really cool thing about children eating raw vegan is that they are much less “toxic” than we are, so you don’t necessarily have to worry about if they are getting too much of one nutrient (like a lot of fat or protein from too many nuts). Yes, you should teach them good principles, but their bodies will “talk” to them just like ours will to us and tell them what it is that they need to eat.

I am grateful that I can now "run and not be weary, and walk and not faint" and that "the destroying angel" is "passing by" us (verses 20-21).

Finally, I am grateful to have such awesome friends that not only support us, but are curious enough to attempt some of the things that we have done to change our lives. After all, everyone eats some raw food, so we all have something in common! We are also each at a different point in our own personal journey, and I simply wish to share the things that I have learned with my family through our study of this fascinating topic and through meaningful prayer with our Heavenly Father. I must say though, that I have seen some amazing changes in my friends who have tried it. Will everyone on this planet eventually eat like this? I don’t know, but I sure am enjoying it right now, and I know that much good can be done by sharing these things with others.

Raw Power

Raw Power

The following entry contains a lot of information, but I want to help! Some of it is touchy, but I wanted to put it all in one place so that I can refer people to my findings.

Here goes!

The diet that Alicia and I are on can be called the Raw Vegan diet or the Living Foods diet. Just eat any raw fruits, vegetables (including lots of sprouts), nuts, or seeds! The important thing is not to cook any foods, as cooking any food destroys the enzymes needed to give life and health to your body and also to digest the food. Let me repeat that, because it is very important. Not only are cooked foods hard to digest in the first place, they also have been stripped of the enzymes that are naturally in them before they are cooked (the enzymes die when they are heated to a temperature of 118 degrees F), so they are DOUBLY harder to digest. Raw foods are easier to digest because they aren't hard for your body to process, and the enzymes in them help you to digest them too! I'm sure you've heard how long it takes to digest meat and other foods (1-3 days). Conversely, it only takes your body 2-1/2 hours to digest a raw meal, and only 15 minutes to digest a raw juice. If you eat three cooked meals a day, your body is constantly trying to digest the enzyme-depleted food, and by the time it gets done digesting 1 meal that you’ve consumed earlier, you've already eaten another one. It is very hard for your body to heal itself when this is going on constantly, and very EASY for your body to be susceptible to diseases. Compare that to eating raw (non-pasteurized!) juices and raw foods, and your body has a lot of time to quickly digest the food and then can move on to eliminating cancer cells or problems related to other diseases. Not only was my body able to heal itself from brain cancer (and rid itself of the toxins that the doctors gave me through chemotherapy), but Alicia was able to heal herself from being insulin-resistant (and very close to adult-onset diabetes). Since she started eating raw, her blood sugar has not once been above 100, even after a meal of only fruits! Many people do not know that high blood-sugar is actually related to fat and toxins. If your bloodstream is filled with a lot of hard-to-digest fat (including raw fat), the sugars (even good sugars) that you eat cannot be digested quickly, stay in your bloodstream, and cause problems, ranging from diabetes to cancer to candita (yeast) infections.

I know this helped us! My dream is to eventually start "The DT Foundation" to help people get this information. Raw food is going to be a lot less uncommon than it is now. It is not just a "thing" anymore. The best book that I can recommend you read is "The China Study" by Dr. Colin Campbell. In it, he relates how our health is closely related to the foods that we eat. AMAZING science behind eating a plant-based diet!

Quick tip: if you decide to go raw and someone asks you something crazy like “But where do you get your protein from?” ask them—“from where do you get YOUR protein?” Animal protein is just not meant to be consumed by humans. It is the wrong kind of protein.

Here are some web sites from the Hippocrates Health Institute. This is a place that teaches people to live a balanced life and eat a raw-foods diet:

General web site: http://www.hippocratesinst.com/
Sample Videos: http://www.hippocratesinst.org/SampleVideos.aspx
Sign up for their free magazine: http://www.hippocratesinst.com/Magazine.aspx

My wife and I, along with my Mom and Dad, went there for New Year’s this year (December 30-January 6, 2008). It is normally a 3-week detox program, but with our schedule and finances, we all decided to go for one week that time and perhaps try to do the rest later. It was an incredible experience. But I will blog about that later (hopefully).

Sorry this entry is choppy, but some of the thoughts are random. I wanted to get them all down. A friend asked me for “a list of the foods that you eat.” This sounded kind of funny to me, because I had already told him my standard answer—“fruits veggies, nuts, and seeds.” But it is a common question, so I decided to elaborate. Besides “fruits veggies, nuts, and seeds,” there is lots of raw cuisine out there. Just go to any Borders or Books-a-Million and look up their raw cookbooks (uncookbooks?). You shoul be pleasantly surprised!

Here are some web sites of raw food restaurants and recipes. The first one (The Present Moment—our favorite!... just by default though, because it is the only one in Northeast Florida) is in St. Augustine. The rest are in New York City. Another dream of mine (and Alicia’s) is to open up a raw restaurant in Jacksonville. It’s gonna happen, so keep an eye out for it.
Here are the sites:

http://www.thepresentmomentcafe.com/
http://www.rawsoul.com/restaurant.htm
http://www.rawsoul.com/recipes.htm
http://www.raw-q.com/

Most of the foods at these types of restaurants are indulgences for Alicia and I, as even raw-fooders can get too much fat (from nuts, avocados, seeds, oils, etc.). Our diet really is simple! We have a shot of 1-2 ounces of wheatgrass (Google: wheatgrass if you don't know what that is) and fruit for breakfast, and then usually salad for lunch, with a fruit topping, a home-made raw salad dressing, or guacamole and salsa (my favorite). Then for dinner we'll eat fruits, raw soups, and/or something else of the like. There is not much to it! Some of our friends have even started modifying their diets to increase the percentage of raw food that they eat, and to me that is awesome! I think they are seeing the benefits when they really stick to it…

For more info on needing to keep the fat level down, see Dr. Doug Graham's book and philosophy, "The 80/10/10 Diet." (http://www.foodnsport.com/811/index.html). In it, he explains the ratio of caloronutrients that humans should be eating, and why. 80/10/10 refers to 80% calories from carbohydrates, 10% from fats, and 10% from protein. This relates strongly with what I was saying earlier about carb sugars being "stuck" in the bloodstream and causing health problems. See the book excerpt on that very site. Not just for raw eaters! Whether you are eating 5%, 50%, 80%, or 100% raw, vegan or non-vegan, you should follow these ratios as close as possible.

I cannot stress that this thing that we have found is not just to lose weight. It is the way that God, in his infinite wisdom, has designed us to live. It is a way to live the way we were meant to live. Happy. Disease-free. Full of energy and life. It is being with our family for a LONG time. This is important for me, and I hope it is important for you. Please let me know if you have any questions.