I recently joined this website and am introducing myself. I welcome comments and communication of any kind--it's lonely being a raw foodist! I am 54 and developed an interest in healthful living somewhere way back in my twenties. Some of my biggest influences have been books by: Norman Walker, Paul Bragg, Arnold Ehret, David Wolfe, T C Frye, Victoria Boutenko, Tonya Zavasta, Hilton Hotema, and most recently, Susan Schenck (THE LIVE FOOD FACTOR). I am so excited about the raw food diet. There is no doubt in my mind that it is what we are supposed to be eating. It boggles my mind to see what modern man eats. Sometimes I half way think that restaurants and hospitals are in collusion. The door to the restaurants will inevitably guide you right to the hospital door.

Juicing is one thing I do a lot of and have done for many years. I have bought in to the concept that it is a prime rejuvinator, giving us a virtual transfusion of life-giving nutriment without taxing the body with cycling through all the pulp.

About four years ago I went 100% raw after reading David Wolfe's Sunfood Diet. It was not my first time. I had made a couple of attempts in the past, but was only able to stay on it for about 6 months at a time. This time, though, I THOUGHT I was on it for good. Then, my wife (not interested in being a raw foodist) and I went on a cruise. I decided to allow myself to eat the standard cooked food fare while on the cruise and resume the raw diet after the cruise. BIG MISTAKE! I wanted to get back to the all-raw diet and tried to get back to it, but I couldn't! I drank a lot of fresh juices, hoping to counteract in some way the cooked food. I even went to hear George Malkmus (Halleluiah Acres) speak, and, on another occasion, another "evengalist" of that movement.

Five months ago I went to a Tonya Zavazta lecture and, thank goodness, it put me back in the 100% raw food circle. I am so happy! The addictive power of cooked food is SO strong. Apparently, there are people out there who decide to go raw and just do it, without any going back to cooked food. Lucky them. This time around I have decided to avoid ALL salt--even Celtic or Himilayan salt. I also intend on keeping oils (olive, flax, etc.) down to a bare minimum. Last time I used olive oil routinely on my salads.

In these past 5 months my weight has come down from 183 to 159. I am 6'1", so I think this is a good weight for me. I wouldn't mind going down even more. I love thin-nes. I think a big factor in getting thin is to quit eating salt of any kind. My body looks and feels like the body I had when I was in my twenties!

One thing I would like to accomplish in the near future is to eat moderate quantities. Luckily, on the all raw diet you can eat like a horse and look like a gazelle. To be 100% raw and to eat only what the body requires and nothing more surely is the best way to live long without disease.

When I say the 100% raw food diet I mean: fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds. I do eat raw honey and bee pollen and take green powders. Besides fresh juices I drink only distilled water, but I never drink liquids when I eat.

Recently I re-read The Grape Cure by Johanna Brandt. Ever since I finished reading that book one of the grocery chains here has had a sale on organic grapes ($1.99/lb.) I have bought LOTS and LOTS of organic grapes in the last week and a half. I eat a lot of them, but I juice more of them than I eat. Lately, I have been drinking a lot of grape juice (and nothing else to eat or drink) first thing in the morning. After a few hours I will then eat a good bit of grapes (with nothing else to eat or drink) so that I let the essence of grapes have its way with my body for the first part of the day. I don't have the inclination to go on an exclusive grape diet right now. I think Brandt was right in stating that there is something "special" in the power of the grape. It is a great cleanser and energizer. The more I feel the incredible power, inner peace and positive vibration inside my body and mind from raw food, the more I shrink back in horror over what modern man has done to himself in adopting such an unnatural and toxic diet. No wonder man is SO SICK. How can we be so STUPID?

I hope that I am now on this path for good. I thought I was once before! Maybe for some people it takes a tremendous back-and-forth struggle to finally come out right. I am so greatful for this website. There is so much to be gained from it. I know less than a handful of 100% raw foodists in my area (actually, only three). What a wonderful world it would be if EVERYONE ate man's biologically determined diet.

Any comments are welcome.

Hi and welcome! Some of the people you mentioned as inspiration are ones I don't recognize. I'm going to go look up a couple of them today.

What kind of grapes are you eating and juicing? I'd like to get that book The Grape Cure, maybe I'll see if the library has it.

What area are you in?

I found raw foods when I was 50 and I'm almost 55 now. It was easier in the beginning for me to stay raw, and I've gone up and down now for going on 2 years.

Love,
Prism

Hi, and thank you for responding. I live in Tallahassee, FL. The grapes I'm buying that are on sale are organic but they are seedless. David Wolfe says anything that is seedless is inferior. They have white (really, green in color), red and black. I got The Grape Cure years ago from the Ehret Health Club (www.arnoldehret.org). I noticed that I didn't mention in my intro that I was actually on a 100% raw diet for over 2 years before I came off of it. Now, I've been back on it for 5 months and am so excited about it. I was out for a walk today and actually came across wild grapes (scuppernong, I think) growing in a field! I've read that wild growing fruit and vegetables are much better than what you buy in the store. I filled up my pockets with grapes and came home and juiced them. They had a lot of seeds in them and the bitterness of the seeds came out in the juice. I figured that was probably all the better. I put in some pear and celery and water and enjoyed it. Hilton Hotema is a tad on the weird side as far as his views on the origin of man, but I think there is a lot of truth in much of what he says. The Live Food Factor by Susan Schenck, which I am reading now, is the best book on the raw diet that I have come across so far. I highly recommend it. Victoria Boutenko's idea of eating massive quantities of green leafy vegetables, I think, is a very good one. I bought bunches of organic kale, collard greens, parsley and spinach and blend the greens in my Vita Mix with grapes, strawberries, bananas,etc. I feel much mored balance and centered to get all that green leafy stuff. Having them in shakes you can eat a bigger volume than if you just ate them as is. Were you able to stay on the diet more easily in the beginning because it was all so new? I hope you will be able to get back to 100%. Let me know.

I don't why I'm having a harder time the 2nd time around. I think it's because the SAD foods I choose to 'cheat' with are not the worst offenders that I ate before I ever went raw. They are hard to resist for me. But I'm determined to get back to at least high raw. I recently had 7 days of all raw, 3 days off, and now I'm back to 2 days on.

I started to also eat the green fruit smoothies, adding in spinach and sprouts to mango, blueberries, and banana.

I'll have to take a look at the book, The Live Food Factor..sounds good. I like getting book recommendations. I just bought 80/10/10 from Doug Graham. I'm reading it now.

Enjoy your grapes!

Love,
Prism