We Like It Raw - Raw Food Goodness

Mihir's Raw Food Round II.... I'm making a come back!

Hey everyone, this Mihir Kothari from the WLIR Squad and this is my Raw food Round Two post! If you don't want to read the full summary here is the short version.

Short version: I was overweight and sick. I moved in with Dhrumil during my college years and started eating raw. I felt great and transformed my life, but I didn't stick with the rawness. I've since gained back the weight, but I hate it and am ready for change. I'm starting by sharing my story today. Raw Food Round 2!

Full story: During my freshmen year in college (Aug 2001) I was roommates with WLIR editor Dhrumil Purohit. At the start of college I was a non-vegetarian that had many healthy issues that effected me on a daily basis. I was overweight, had acne, terrible asthma and heavy grass allergies. After living like this for years, I was committed to change! It just so happened that my eagerness to change was matched with right knowledge it would take to produce change....thank to my health mentors Nature Love and Dhrumil Purohit.

After one month of living with Dhrumil  my world had been turned upside down. I turned completely Veg-Raw from non-vegetarian at the skip of a beat. 4 Months into my change I had lost around 65 pounds. With this change, my life had finally taken a turn for the better!

I looked good, felt great, and my confidence was sky high! I felt as though I was untouchable. I had become the complete opposite of what I was before. Not only had I lost weight, but I had reversed my asthma, cleared my face and had no grass allergies anymore.

At the start of my sophomore year in college, I moved home and started eating a diet heavy in cooked foods again. Now, 8 months after graduation, I have gained weight again approximately 40 pounds in total since I had lost all the weight initially. Not only have I gained weight, but I break out more often, and my asthma is back.

I hate wheatgrass....and now I know why!

A few weeks ago Sarma and I were taking about this weird syndrome that a lot of raw foodist go through after having been raw for at least a year or so. It is called the "I can't stand wheatgrass and if you feed it to me I'll vomit syndrome." I use to LOVE wheatgrass...you know, like a fat kid loves cake and all. But then all of a sudden something happened. I didn't know what that something was, but it happened after about one year of being raw. Thanks to an email forwarded to me by long time raw foodist and visual artist Erez Sitzer, I may have an answer!

It turns out that indoor grown wheatgrass is filled with mold! Nasty! And after years of cleaning up your diet, according to Carol Macintosh (expert-outdoor-wheatgrass-lady), you become more and more sensitive to the mold till it starts to make you down right nauseous. I knew I wasn't feeling sick for nothing.

Anway...check this conversation out between reporter Steve Diaz and Carol Macintosh of evergreenjuices.com. It will help you get a better understanding of why you may be better off staying away from growing more trays and downing more of thoes double shots!

Steve Diaz: I'm speaking to Carol Macintosh. She is the owner of Evergreen Wheatgrass Juice. Carol, you were talking about the difference between indoor wheatgrass and outdoor wheatgrass?

Macintosh: Right. Wheatgrass, for the most part, has been grown on trays for 60 or 70 years. That's the only way people know how to grow it. That's the only way that's available. My father started growing it 18 or 19 years ago, and he did grow it indoors for seven years. The difficulty with wheat, whether you grow it indoors or outdoors, is there's a certain percentage of seeds that do not germinate and that's part of farming. A mold grows on the seeds that don't germinate. When you grow it on the trays, usually the seeds are so close together that the leaves of the good stuff will actually absorb the mold up into the plant itself. So even though you cut above what we call the "mold line" and wash it off, it's in the plant itself and you can't get rid of it.

A lot of people are very sensitive to mold and it's very common that people get headaches with wheatgrass. Sometimes they get nauseous and what we were taught and told our customers was, "Oh, you're detoxifying. That's why you feel like you want to throw up and why you do throw up." We believed that until one of our customers had an anaphylactic reaction and almost died because she reacted to it so severely. He called in the middle of this anaphylactic reaction, trying to figure out what to do with this lady, and they told him it was a good thing: It was a healing crisis; it was a strong detoxification and (they told him) to give her more wheatgrass.

Keeping it Real: Not a religion and not about rules

I am sitting in the restaurant Pure Food and Wine, (my home), at my favorite corner table, very late, yet still early enough that it's full of people, energy, and loud music (for which we are often given a hard time, but is just all part of the fun).  The very fact that these LOUD and rowdy groups are here, and very likely, I am guessing, not vegetarian/vegans, in fact warms the cockles of my heart.  How far this “crazy” idea of raw food has come, and yet how far there is still to go…

Given that it's still January (though with the balmy weather in NYC you'd never guess), I'm going to leverage the New Year's theme for one more post… as I've been hearing so much still about resolutions (mostly broken ones!).  I don't like to make resolutions, because I'm one of those people that sees a rule and wants to break it.  If I see boundaries I want to cross them.  People ask about my 'diet' all the time… “Oh… you're not allowed to eat this, are you?”… my stubborn response, at least in my head, is always… I can eat whatever I want… I just don't want to eat that big plate of crispy fries with sweet ketchup.  I swear.

I always remember how I felt, shortly after going raw, when I sat in a midtown restaurant across from a friend who ordered filet mignon (I went straight from carnivore to raw vegan, no inbetween).  My friend, from my Wall Street days past, ate the entire juicy filet, all the fries on his plate, and left behind the ten or so peas that were the only thing around remotely qualifying as vegetable.  At the time, I happened to have just begun my first and only gallstone-cleanse… (again, more on that later - I should really keep a tally of all the things on which I'm supposed to one day soon elaborate).  All I had was a glass of water.  After he ordered, I was preparing myself for a good twenty minutes or so of torture.  My concern was that I would not hear a word of his side of our conversation, as I'd be silently obsessing over what was on his plate - my eyes following fork from plate to mouth back to plate, the way your cat does, if you have one.

I had not eaten anything all day except some horrid tasting oxymag evilness and cider vinegar concoction (that I will never consume again).  Now I was on water.  But very oddly I was not even remotely wanting what he was eating, and it didn't bother me to sit there, and in fact, I forgot about it as we talked and talked.  And after we left, I felt so good.  Relieved, and almost empowered. So when people ask me what I can and cannot eat, I can nicely convey that I can eat whatever I want, I just don't want to eat that.  I'm not following any rules.  It's not a religion.  There's no prescriptions.  No percentages.  I am not among the raw food heads who proudly announces, “I'm 97.5% raw!”… Who's counting?  And who cares?  Get over yourself.  It's a gift just to have this awareness, and feel so great as a result.

What's my point?  Just that this is not difficult, and does not feel like deprivation, as many people assume it would.  What do I really crave?  Foods such as fresh greens, pineapple, avocado… like never before.  It was promised that I'd share recipes, so here is my less than graceful segue into offering up a recipe (with avocado in it, and not already existing in the book).  And SORRY… I'm not going to put exact quantities.  There is no editor to force me into what is not necessary for many recipes, particularly salads.  If I wrote, “8 ounces of greens”… is ANYone going to pull out a scale and weigh them?  I really hope not. 

So here you are: 

WLIR weclomes Dhruva, our newest squad member

WLIR would like to welcome Dhruva Sood, the newest addition to our raw food entourage. Dhruva was born at 1:20 am on January 18, 2006 to WLIR Squad member Sandeep Sood and wife Deepa Sood.

Dhruva is still practicing his typing skills, but in the mean time he'll be sure to post a few audio blogs on what it's like being a baby with a father who loves cucumbers, avocados and gojis and a mother who quote, "Wouldn't drink a green smoothie if it was the last ounce of liquid on earth!"

You know we love you Deepa!

Morning Goodness

Raw Food Boot Camp is hosting their first major event, Raw Food: An Alternative to Weight Loss Surgery, on Monday, March 27th in Tucson Arizona.

Tony White, from www.live-food.com, has a nice set of 114 photo's he took while on visit at Dr. Gabriel Cousens Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center.

Raw Odyssey is the journal of Allison, a 41 year old grad student and reader of welikeitraw.com who has "200 lbs to lose."

UK's prestigious paper, The Independent, has this to say about The Little Earth Café at Triyoga: "The food is well designed and well prepared, by people who can actually cook. The slow pace is calming, the mood passive, and the slightly illicit feeling of being in a "secret women's place" is rather charming."

Reggae producers Sly and Robbie have a created a new rhythm aka beat and guess what it's titled ? Yup! "Raw Food Riddim".

Talk Show Host Montel Williams uses raw food diet to heal MS

In an article on pr.com, celebrity talk show host and Daytime Emmy award-winner, Montel Williams, revealed that his raw food / whole food diet has be a key factor in his emotional, mental and physical transformation.

"It's amazing how good I have been feeling."

Montel also commented that his recent dietary shifts have significantly healed his MS.

"I've been able to mitigate a few of the symptoms that I have or at least lessen their severity. I think the more I stay with this and the cleaner I get, the better and better I'll be."

Montel was diagnosed with MS (Multiple Sclerosis) in 1999 and has since started the The Montel William MS Foundation. The organization is "dedicated to furthering the scientific study of multiple sclerosis."

Montel looks like he maybe writing a book about the entire experience it too! Score one for the veggies!

PR.com: How are you feeling these days… physically, emotionally or otherwise?

Montel Williams: I guess that is in reference to the fact that most of your readers will know, of course I have MS (Multiple Sclerosis) and I've been dealing with this for about seven years. It is an everyday struggle. Every single day I am aware of the fact that I have this illness. But, I've said this since day one, and now it seems to become the new battle cry, "I have MS. MS does not have me." And it's not going to. I exercise every day, I stay on top of my diet. I'm in the process of 'guinea-pigging' myself now for a new book I 'm about to write, about food. You truly are what you eat. I've now been on a six month eating regimen with two different chefs, that has been whole food and raw food chefs, who have been preparing food for me every single day. I'm going to make it simple so that anybody else can do the same thing. It's amazing how good I have been feeling. I've been able to mitigate a few of the symptoms that I have or at least lessen their severity. I think the more I stay with this and the cleaner I get, the better and better I'll be.

1.07 Trillion Dollars a Year

The estimated cost of managing the reality that 1/4 of America will be living with more than one chronic disease in the year 2020.

Figures taken from SuperFoods Rx by  Steven Pratt and Kathy Matthews

Idealism vs Realism

Neat little article from beyondveg.com, the site that puts fear into raw food militants eyes! We're not one of them, so we wouldn't know ;)

Just like all advice.... some ideas make sense and others don't. Regardless, it is still worth sharing and discussing.

Idealism vs. Realism: A Comparison

The raw-foods movement is split into a number of factions, and it seems that no one agrees with anyone else. Some raw-fooders are very idealistic--to the point of extreme dogmatism, while others are very pragmatic and open. The purpose of this article is to contrast and clarify two different approaches to raw (vegan) diets that one might encounter: idealists versus realists.

Based on long experience in the raw movement, it is my observation and opinion that many of the problems of the raw movement have their roots in excessive idealism. A little bit of idealism in raw foods can be good--one can argue that those who try the diet on spiritual or environmental grounds are engaging in idealistic behavior. However, an excess of idealism can lead to a number of problems, some of which are serious.

Let us therefore examine idealism and realism in the context of raw-food diets, on an issue-by-issue basis (below). The material below labeled "I," for Idealistic, represents a summary and synthesis of views one frequently encounters in the movement. The material below labeled "R," for Realistic, is a snapshot of my own views, which are in an ongoing process of growth. I have written this so that others can see the current discussion within the raw movement in a clearer light. (Please note that I am not the only realist; there are many realists in the raw movement.)

Keep reading at beyondveg.com

Detoxing vs Sickness

I went through a huge detox this weekend. Probably one of the biggest ones I've been through in quiet a long time and this is my 5th year on the raw track. I always go through a little forced internal cleansing during this time of year, but it felt like something extra was thrown in the mix.

I went from feeling pretty normal running at 95% this past Wednesday night to being totally exhausted and hacking up all sorts of stuff Thursday morning and running at 30%. Now Monday morning I feel even better than I have ever felt and I'm easily running at full capacity.

The natural reaction for friends and family to have when they see someone going through this is, "What is he doing wrong?" I'm sure some even think I've turned to the "darkside" and eaten a flippin steak or pepperoni pizza, otherwise how could I be "sick"?

There is a myth out there that raw foodist don't get sick. The Truth is that no one really gets "sick" in the traditional sense. Mucus, coughing, fever are all surface indications that your body's white cells are kicking ass and cleaning up after the body has reached an imbalance. When you don't get sick is when you have an issue. This is a problem that many elderly and AIDS patience's have. When your body can't get sick anymore it means it doesn't have the resources to fight back.

It just happens to be that people eating a large amount of raw fruits and vegetables are far less likely to reach a state of imbalance in their body, so on the surface they get "sick" hardly ever. Even in my first two years of eating raw, I remember having a headache getting "sick" a total of three times. Each lasted no longer than a period of 2 days and two of the incidents were clearly attributed to detoxing, (the latter to emotional stress).

Is the difference between detoxing and sickness? Totally! Detoxing is the act of the body striving for balance on it's own, choosing to remove toxicity because it has the resources to do so. Whereas sickness or being sick is the body striving for balance primarily as a reaction to what it sees as a threat. This might only make sense if you've experience both personally, but a good distinction is that it actually feels physically good while detoxing, but it physically huts to be sick.

Myth busted! Rawfoodist can and do experience both detoxing and sickness. If you don't know which one you are going through, I strongly suggest seeing someone with some experience in this field or at least doctor who is inline with some idea of holistic medicine.

More to come on this topic soon, but in the mean time I just wanted to throw some ideas out there.

p.s. We've been having some blog issues recently and a few of our readers may notice that some of our past posts are missing. Everything was fixed this weekend on the back-end, now I just need one of our editors to clean things up on the front end. Expect that everything will return to normal very shortly. Thanks for your readership!

Eden Hot Springs Winter Retreat, w/ Chef Joel Odhner

Joel Odhner, the guy who basically pulled off this amazing transformation above (cocaine to coconuts), is hosting an extremely hands-on retreat in at Eden Hot Springs in Eden, AZ. Joel's a great guy and if the WLIR squad can free up their schedule, you know we're gonna be there!

March 1st – March 5th, 2006 in Eden, AZ

Join us for an amazing retreat that combines the undeniable magic of soothing hot spring waters, delectable raw, organic, vegan cuisine, invigorating yoga, inspiring lectures, living food preparation classes and healing body treatments. Our experienced staff will guide you through one of the most profound transformational events of your life!

• Bask in the sun or unwind under the stars in one of five geothermal hot springs pools!
• Experience Invigorating, Heart-Opening Yoga with Kim Sol!
• Gourmet Raw, Organic, Vegan Cuisine with Cosmic Pepper Productions and Rawlifeline
• Lectures and Workshops by Special Guests Steve Adler, Sandi Loytomaki, and more!
• Explore the famous Nature’s First Law Rawfood Superstore & Other Vendors!
• Create Original Music Together around a Sacred Fire under the Starlit Desert Sky!
• Hike Desert Trails and Enjoy Expansive Breathtaking Views!
• For more information please call 1-800-RAW-9197 or email joel@rawlifeline.com