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Is it important to be All Raw?
By Victoria Boutenko
There have been lots of discussions lately on whether it
is important to stay all-raw or not. In his thorough and sincere
article, “The Hallelujah Health Tip (SM) Issue #404: Why Not
All Raw?” Reverend George Malkmus presents an overview of
the reasons not to eat an all-raw diet. While I strongly agree
with Rev. Malkmus on the psychological side of his perspective,
where he states that, “Most people find it extremely difficult
to go ALL-RAW,” I would like to comment on the two main reasons
he gave for not eating 100% live foods: “…too rapid a detoxification
and too rapid and too great a loss of weight.” Then you may
decide on your own what works best for you.
I agree that it is challenging, almost impossible, for
many people to shift to a 100% raw food diet. We have
a saying in Russia: a habit is one’s second personality; meaning
that our habits are deeply engraved patterns of behavior.
Not only have our own lives been adjusted to living on cooked
food, but the lives of everyone around us. Every modern day
event revolves around eating. Thus, living on a 100% raw food
diet presents a social challenge. When one decides to go
on an all-raw diet, one has to not only change his or her
own habits, but very often to alter multiple aspects of life
such as: changing one’s circle of friends, the places one
goes, and sacrificing some favorite activities. I am aware
of cases when families have even separated because the partners
had different dietary preferences. Some people became lonely
and isolated in order to maintain the all-raw diet. These
are the worst-case scenarios. Some, like myself, were lucky
to have their whole family doing this together. Others happened
to live in already existing, strong, raw food communities.
There is a growing number of people who have been raised on
a predominantly raw diet and didn’t have much to change, like
my office manager Vanessa. I agree that to be all-raw, or
not to be, is not a simple question. It is not only about
diet. This decision encompasses many profound changes in the
whole spectrum of a person’s life. I think such a change must
be considered seriously and carefully. Still, the truth is
that on 100% raw food diet, one feels distinctly better. That
is why this diet is most likely to be used by people who have
serious health challenges.
“To be or not to be [all-raw]?” That was and still is the
question. I believe that it is a matter of everyone’s personal
preference. I personally have several close friends and relatives
for whom I know becoming raw would be next to impossible.
They would have to compromise too many of their daily values.
From time to time I have presented them with nice vegan books
and even steamers to encourage lighter cooking. I have observed
that they use these books and utensils and do benefit from
better eating. At the same time, my friends know that if they
ever wanted to make further changes in their lifestyle, I
would be there to help them.
The part about the difficulty of changing one’s lifestyle
is true, and I totally agree with Rev. Malkmus that this could
be a real challenge. However, I do not agree that an all-raw
diet is less beneficial to human health than a diet consisting
of some cooked food in addition to predominantly raw foods.
Rev. Malkmus states that, “While this ALL-RAW diet brought
wellness to my body, it also brought about too rapid a detoxification
and too rapid and too great a loss of weight.”
I think that a too rapid detoxification happens not as
a result of an all-raw diet but rather a consequence of inadequate
fiber intake, especially when consuming large quantities of
juices. Insoluble fiber is particularly vital for cleaning
the toxins through the bowels. It is found primarily in greens,
peels, nuts, seeds, beans and skins of grains. The human elimination
system is very complex. It has been perfected by nature to
every minute action. I’ll try to explain this complicated
process with a very simple example. Insoluble fiber under
a microscope looks like a sponge, and indeed it serves us
as a miraculous sponge, because every piece of it can absorb
many times more toxins than its own volume. Have you ever
wondered why we always like to have a sponge in our kitchen?
We never use something smooth, like paper or plastic to wipe
dirty counters clean. Sponges are fibrous. They make the job
of cleaning easier by absorbing dirt. So does insoluble fiber.
It grabs the toxins and takes them out of the body and into
the toilet. Insoluble fiber is much better than any sponge
because it can hold several times more toxins than its own
size. I call it a magic sponge.
If we do not consume fiber, most of the toxic waste accumulates
in our body. Our body is constructed in such a marvelous
way that all the toxins are directed to the bowels. This is
the human body’s sewage system. We need to understand that
we have to eliminate many pounds of toxins regularly.
Just as one cannot clean a kitchen without a sponge, the
human body cannot eliminate without fiber. Picture yourself
being challenged to clean some large, dirty space like a garage,
with nothing but plastic wrap. I would give up. The human
body won’t give up, but if there is no fiber, the first thing
that happens is our skin tries to take on the elimination
“job” and as a result the skin becomes rough and bumpy. When
our bowels are clogged, our body attempts to excrete more
mucus, through our eyes, nose, and throat, we sweat a lot
more --the body uses every possible channel to eliminate,
but it’s like pushing the garbage out through the screen window
instead of the door. By consuming enough insoluble fiber we
unlock the door to eliminate toxins from the body the easy
and normal way. From my own observation, I conclude that when
we consume enough fiber we do not develop fast and violent
detoxification.
The American Food Administration recommends 30 grams of fiber
daily. The average American consumes only 12. If you would
like to read more about fiber, you may read my up-coming new
book, Green For Life.
Rev. Malkmus also discusses the reasons why some people become
too skinny on a raw diet. He explains this phenomenon as not
having enough calories. To be honest, I also used to think
this way for several years. Only in the recent years, while
experimenting with blended greens in the form of green smoothie,
have I developed a deeper understanding of this subject. I
think the main reason that some of us rapidly lose too much
weight on an all-raw diet is because we do not have the necessary
concentration of hydrochloric acid in our stomachs. When our
hydrochloric acid (stomach acid) is low, it is then likely
that we develop multiple nutritional deficiencies. In order
to produce hydrochloric acid, the human body has to work very
hard. As we grow older, our body becomes weaker and cannot
produce adequate amounts of hydrochloric acid. That is why
most people have less stomach acid as they age.
As we grow older, we develop gray hair. I have observed that
most people diagnosed with very low stomach acid had noticeably
more gray hair, which is an indirect sign of nutrient deficiencies.
On the other hand, there are numerous well-documented accounts
of people’s natural hair color returning as a result of consuming
blended greens on a regular basis, Ann Wigmore being one of
them.
Blending is similar to chewing, therefore, eating blended
food can make a dramatic improvement to our health. After
being broken down in a high-speed blender, pieces of food
become the perfect size for assimilation. As a result, the
body doesn’t keep the food in the stomach as long but sends
it right into the small intestines, allowing the body to produce
less hydrochloric acid. Consequently, consuming blended foods
saves us energy and keeps us youthful despite of aging.
For many years I couldn’t understand why some people quickly
loose too much weight on a raw food diet. These people simply
cannot stay on a raw food diet because they feel uncomfortable
living their lives with constant remarks from their friends
and relatives about being too thin. I agree that humans shouldn’t
be too skinny. After doing a lot of research about the impact
of hypochlorhydria on assimilation of food, I asked some of
my friends with this weight problem if they had ever checked
their stomach acid level. Several of them got back to me and
reported that they were diagnosed with very low or no stomach
acid at all. Their doctor prescribed HCL pills to take with
their meals. A close friend has been trying to eat raw for
several years and became so thin that her husband became concerned
for her health. She went to a doctor and was diagnosed with
achlorhydria (no stomach acid). Her doctor put her on HCL
pills and she continued her raw food diet. My friend gained
all her weight back.
In order for nutrients to be absorbed, the food has to be
broken in the stomach, both mechanically and with acids, into
very small pieces of 1-2 mm. Raw fruits and vegetables have
the most valuable nutrients in them, but they are especially
hard to digest because their tough cellulose structure has
to be ruptured in order to get all the nutrients out. If there
is not enough stomach acid, the body is unable to receive
all needed nutrients, especially proteins, and deficiencies
start to develop. I have encountered several people with such
a problem who felt as if they were trapped. While eating only
raw food they were able to eliminate symptoms of certain illnesses
that they had, but they became very skinny. Then they would
add cooked food to their diet to gain their desired weight,
but their unwanted symptoms would return. Puzzled, they kept
going back and forth not knowing what to do.
That is why I felt great joy when, after teaching a couple
of classes about green smoothies, I began receiving letters
like this one:
“ Though the raw food took care of my arthritis I was never
able to stick to it longer than two months because on raw
foods alone, I dropped weight so quickly, down to 135 lbs,
that my wife panicked thinking that I was dying, so I had
to go back to cooked foods which made my arthritis return.
When I started drinking green smoothies, my weight stabilized!
I have been raw now for six months and keep my normal weight
of 155 lbs. Thank you!”
(N. H., Canada)
I have already witnessed many cases in which people with
digestive problems were able to greatly improve their assimilation
by adding blended greens to their diets. While cooking makes
the food softer and easier to digest, in the process of heating,
most essential vitamins and enzymes in the food get destroyed.
Blending is a lot less harmful than cooking because it saves
all the vital nutrients in the food.
Based on everything I wrote above, I believe that a 100%
raw food diet is greatly beneficial to everyone’s health.
Adding one quart of green smoothies to one’s daily food makes
staying raw essentially easier. If you would like to learn
more about green smoothies, you can find it among our previous
monthly newsletters on our website: www.rawfamily.com
I would like to mention how grateful I am to Rev. Malkmus
for discussing such important subjects and persistently digging
for the truth. Being a health minister myself, I deeply respect
and admire Rev. George Malkmus for his immense contribution
to human health.
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