Let's face it, changes in diet freak a lot of people out. Raw, vegetarian, vegan ... Many people get freaked out by these terms. Many people don't get it, and when people don't get it there's usually no point in trying to explain it to them. So to clear things up right up front, let me say that I am NONE of what I just mentioned, not raw, vegan, or vegetarian. However I do incorporate all three into my regular diet. I have been doing a lot of raw eating recently, and have always been interested in vegan and vegetarian. But I'm just not ready to give some things up, like Italian sandwiches, an occasional organic hamburger, teriyaki chicken, or even -- gasp -- pizza and beer. So needless to say, I am not 100% raw, and clearly I'm leaving room for cheating, but I am enjoying the benefits of such a modified diet. Some benefits I am noticing are less moodiness when meal time comes close, more energy and mental clarity, a feeling of "lightness", clearer skin, and cleaner "insides" (if you know what I mean).

That said, I've gone out to eat with the guys from work in the past and gotten sideways looks for getting a veggie burger, for ordering tofu, and even had my masculinity questioned for eating a vegetable sandwich that I brought from home. So I know, it gets annoying when trying to eat anything different from the SAD (Standard American Diet). My recent raw ventures of late I'm sure would be even more frustrating for all my 3 times a day meat eating coworkers if they took the time to notice it.

But I think I've stumbled upon a way to avoid all the drama that having a different diet entails. First of all the fact that most of us are reaching or have already reached the over 30 year old mark makes it easier, because now health is a bit more important than it was as a 20 year old, and salads are just as sexy as french fries. But I think the fact that I am making raw alternatives to to traditional dishes is key. No longer am I a hippie eating a veggie patty or that weirdo eating fruit salads and carrot sticks for lunch. Now I have "real" food like linguine and marinara, stuffed peppers, and chili, sometimes I even get crazy and top them with crumbled raw goat cheese! And then tasty fudge and cookies for desert. And the best part .... at first glance no one even knows are living and 100% raw, and no one bothers to ask me "where's the beef?"


Related Links:
Cancer to be world's top killer by 2010
An experiment with raw diet

Labels: 9to5, health, raw diet

I saw this article in the news today about rising cancer rates, and I can't tell you how much it frustrates me to see these headlines over and over. I am no medical doctor, but I have strong beliefs and also have done plenty of reading, and I know that all these articles and studies about cancer are missing the boat. They all talk about cancer detection, smoking, and even the fact that cancer rates are rising simply because there are more people in the world. But all fail to mention any connection between cancer rates and the state of our environment and our modern diet.

People fail to realize that the SAD (standard american diet) can play just as much a role in getting cancer as smoking, drinking, or other more obvious risky behaviors. And also people fail to see the link between cancer and all the pollutants and toxic chemicals that we come into contact with on a daily basis. Too much trust is put into what everyone else is doing and what "experts" tell us. People seem to forget in the face of all these articles that as we as a society get more "modernized" all these health issues seem to increase as well. There are places in the world where cancer is all but unknown, where people live long and healthy lives, and there are also places in the world that have a lot of wealth, medical access, "modern" foods and technologies yet have some of the highest rates of cancer, heart disease, obesity, and diabetes.

People who think that the prevention of cancer is an impossibility should note the following articles:

• Studies with mice showed that is in fact possible for our body to kill cancer cells naturally
• A woman with terminal breast cancer turns to a raw diet and her cancer disappears

I realize that these are just two specific cases, but there are plenty more out there if you only look. That said, I do realize that sometimes cancer may just not be able to be prevented or beaten. But I have seen enough to show that there are ways to significantly reduce the chances of getting cancer. Most of what people eat on a daily basis is loaded with junk that was never meant to be in our bodies, and though we may not see any changes or negative effects of it, you can be sure that over time those things are significantly impacting cellular health. Same goes for all the products that we use on a daily basis, from cosmetics to electronics to cleaning products.

Some day the medical community will wake up to the fact that our bodies are capable of amazing things on their own, and that not everything can be fixed or cured with modern technologies and drugs.

Labels: cancer, diet, health, medicine, raw diet